56 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



ised to begin that this winter in the 

 Farmers' Institute. 



If we could have the right kind of 

 men follow up, with the help of the 

 Farmers' Institute, we could develop 

 a wonderful interest in bee-keeping 

 and also lay the foundation for suf- 

 ficient appropriations to do the work 

 we want to do. 



Mr. Root — These men work with the 

 organizations of the state. 



You have a man right here, that I 

 think would be worth a dozen men 

 that go down to Washington — Dr. Bax- 

 ter. 



President Baxter — Gentlemen, you 

 have heard the suggestion of Mr. Root, 

 and I would suggest you entertain a 

 motion that the Committee on Resolu- 

 tions be instructed to draw up a reso- 

 lution in accordance with the sugges- 

 tion of Mr. Root. 



Mr. Stone — I make a motion that the 

 Committee on Resolutions be instruct- 

 ed to draw up a resolution in accord- 

 ance with Mr. Root's suggestion. 



Motion seconded and carried. 



President Baxter — What is your 

 further pleasure? 



Mr. Pyles — If it is decided to have 

 an evening s^'ssion, I would suegest 

 that we adjourn until seven-thirty 

 o'clock. 



President Baxter — There are one or 

 two questions here: 



Question — Is it advisable to re- 

 queen at the end of the honey flow? 



President Baxter — Who will answer 

 that question? 



Mr. Root — I find that our colonies 

 that winter best are those that are 

 headed by young queens. A young 

 queen will ay eggs in the months of 

 August and September or later, where 

 an old queen will stop at that time; 

 that means that the colony is headed 

 by young bees. 



We took 400 colonies to Appalache, 

 Florida; we thought we would keep 

 those colonies breeding right along. 

 We found that in every case where the 

 queens had done full service that 

 summer by fall they would not breed. 



If one can afford it he could buy 

 queens, but I say that a large honey 

 producer can raise his queens if he is 

 on to his job. 



If I were a large producer, you can 

 count on the fact I would raise my 

 own queens but I would re-queen 



every fall except those that have had 

 a good record. 



I am in favor of keeping a queen if 

 she is good at least two years; if she 

 is not, I favor destroying her as soon 

 as possible and replacing her. 



Mr. Howse, of New York, who is a 

 practical bee-keeper, says that he re- 

 queens every summer, late in the sum- 

 mer. The reason he wants to re-queen 

 late in the summer, he wants the 

 queen to be at the height of her pro- 

 lificacy the following spring. He 

 wants to have his queens raised late 

 in the summer for good breeders; 

 young queens in the following spring, 

 and replace them in the fall. 



It goes personally against the grain 

 with me to kill a good queen that is 

 only a year old, but if she is worthless 

 or of no value I want to destroy her 

 and replace her as soon as I can. 



Mr. Coppin — It makes a lot of work 

 for the bee-keeper, if he has two or 

 three hundred colonies of bees, to 

 know the age of each queen and to 

 replace them, and unless he knows he 

 is going to get some benefit from 

 doing it he is apt to neglect it. 



Mr. Pyles — It is evident this matter 

 can be thrashed out satisfactorily to 

 each individual bee-keeper. All you 

 have to do is to try it along these lines. 

 You can demonstrate it. I believe it 

 would pay to re-queen. I have noticed 

 that my young queens winter better 

 and go into work better next spring 

 than those two years or more old. 



It looks as though it would be a 

 criminal waste to kill a good queen. 



The question about the age of a 

 queen — I have seen queens old and al- 

 most helpless at three weeks old; 

 have seen tested breeders good at 

 three years old after I bought them; 

 it depends on the individual queen. 



Mr. Coppin — How do you keep a 

 record and know the age of the queen? 



Mr. Pyles — I do my work like the 

 President; he manipulates and hQ 

 knows the condition of the hive; dur- 

 ing the busy season of the year I ven- 

 ture to say if there was a case of 

 superseding, or attempted swarming, I 

 would know. 



President Baxter — I would say I 

 woould in no instance supersede a 

 queen as long as she is doing satis- 

 fac+orv work. Some of the best queens 

 I have are two and three years old. 



In my home apiary this year, when 



