ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



49 



time; if you get to smoking them and 

 give them lots of time they will punc- 

 ture very badly; but if you brush them 

 off as fast as you can get them off the 

 other side they won't have time to 

 puncture. 



Mr. Moore — I would rather make an 

 extra trip to an out apiary and have 

 an escape board than to try to take 

 them off without one. The smoking of 

 bees enough to drive them out when 

 they are so reluctant to leave is liable 

 to leave a tainted taste in that honey. 



In regard to the zinc queen excluders: 

 Mi*: France states that he has exchanged 

 all his zinc queen excluders for modern 

 wood and wire; that he has tested 

 hives with and without excluders side 

 by side and in every case the one with 

 excluder the same season paid for itself 

 over the one without the excluder. 



Mr. Moore — I have used both kinds, 

 both the zinc and the wood and wire 

 excluders, and I would never buy an- 

 other zinc excluder — the wood and wire 

 is so much ahead of them there is no 

 comparison. 



Mr. Coppin — I am something like our 

 President with his wheelbarrow; I had 

 a supply of zinc and never speculated 

 in the wood and wire. 



Mr. Moore — In regard to the steam 

 heated uncapping knife: I have never 

 had any experience with the steam 

 heated uncapping knife; if we had had 

 any crop of honey this year I would 

 have had one. 



Mr. Dadant — We tried it in one apiary 

 in 1913; it worked fine. There is no 

 question about its being practical. 



I believe in the northern districts Mr. 

 France likes it much better than we 

 would in the south because his nights 

 are cooler. "We don't find it of a great 

 deal of advantage except in extracting 

 for our fall flow; our honey gets thick 

 and stiff and the capping sticks to the 

 knife, but the ordinary knife for a 

 small flow works very nicely. 



Mr. Moore — In the last number of 

 Gleanings a writer stated that in ex- 

 tracting he had been used to using, a 

 common butcher knife; that he tried 

 the regular uncapping knife but could 

 not make a success of it, and he took 

 out his butcher knife and that worked 

 to perfection; he used the shallow 

 frame; he claims that he can work 

 quicker and faster and better with the 

 butcher knife than with the uncapping 

 knife. 



Fres. Baxter — I tried it but never suc- 

 ceeded. 



Mr. Dadant — I believe the reason w^hy 

 the Bingham knife is better, is that the 

 blade is made thinner; the new uncap- 

 ping knife is not perfected; they are 

 working on them now endeavoring to 

 get something better; the old Bingham 

 knife, with as thin a blade as it has, 

 works much better. 



Pres. Baxter — Our Bingham knife I 

 bought 35 or 37 years ago; I don't be- 

 lieve you can improve on the Bingham 

 knife. 



Mr. Moore — The next thing he speaks 

 of is the likelihood of the brood combs 

 in the fall containing an overload of 

 pollen; that the lifting or weighing of 

 the hive will not tell the amonut of 

 pollen or honey for winter. "A care- 

 ful inspection of combs is necessary." 



Mr. Baxter — There is a good deal in 

 that. 



Mr. Moore — There is lots in that. 



"(15) Cappings should be well broken 

 up and placed over tinned wire cloth 

 one-fourth inch mesh to drain out the 

 honey in them." 



Mr. Baxter — That is the same as our 

 uncapping cans. 



Mr. Moore — "(16) Full sheets brood 

 foundation in wired frames. The founda- 

 tion then lightly painted with melted 

 wax prevents sagging." 



Mr. Moore — Have any of you ever 

 tried strengthening foundation in this 

 way ? 



Mr. Coppin — We do that at the end 

 of the frame to keep the wire in place 

 at the ends; we ver^ often put a little 

 wax, especially if we are going to haul 

 them in the country for a waj^s. 



Mr. Moore — Mr. France puts full 

 sheets brood foundation in wired frames 

 and lightly paints the foundation with 

 melted wax. There is a California man 

 who has a patent to prevent the founda- 

 tion from sagging. He has a patent 

 on the process of painting the founda- 

 tion to prevent sagging. I tried this 

 process of painting that wax; put in 

 full sheets of foundation, ordinary 

 frame without any wires in and 

 painted both sides lightly with 

 extra Ivax, put them in the 

 hives and had them drawn out and I 

 could not find a particle of sagging on 

 those combs. I think it is a good 

 wrinkle, and especially if you have 

 wired them; it does not seem to make 

 any difference; the bees w-ill work that 

 excess of wax into the shape of the 



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