ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



133 



The farmers of Illinois are going 

 more and more to the fertilization of 

 the land. 



If we could get the farmers to use 

 sweet clover we would have a honey 

 flow every year. 



Question — How shall I feed bees in 

 winter with no honey in sight? 



Mr. Bodenschatz — I think the best 

 thing is to use sugar, candied or syrup. 



Mr. Wilbert — Which way would you 

 make your candy? 



Mr. Baldridge — Is that question — How 

 shall I feed bees in winter? 



Mr. Dadant — Yes — "with no honey in 

 sight"? 



Mr. Baldridge — I feed them in Sep- 

 tember or in August. 



Mr. Wheeler — Why is that question 

 always put in a bee convention, Mr. 

 Chairman? I do not think it is the 

 place for it. 



I think the Journals or the bee papers 

 will tell you what to do. 



The feeding of bees: Bee-keepers 

 bring up that question nearly every 

 time we have a meeting. We are told 

 in every periodical that is written how 

 to feed, and how to mix it and what to 

 do. It is used as a handle against us. 

 I do not blame you for w-anting to 

 know something that you do not know, 

 if you do not, but at the same time 

 every paper that you get hold of will 

 mention this. 



Pres. Kannenberg — Buy an ABC in 

 Apiculture — Mr. Miller will tell you 

 how to feed bees in winter. 



Mr. Wheeler — I have an idea that 

 Dadant's Revised Version of Bee-keep- 

 ing would do it. 



Question — Is it customary to wash 

 new honey cans and pails?* 



Mr. Bull — In regard to pails — I would 

 say, whether it is customary or not, it 

 is proper. I would not care to eat 

 honey myself without having the pail 

 washed. I wash my pails and rinse 

 them and dry the water out over heat. 

 You have to do it with friction top 

 cans. The 60 lb. cans I would wash 

 the same way, but would not wash 

 them until I got ready to use them. 



Mr. Bull — If I use cans the second 

 time I leave the hpney in them until 

 I. get ready to use them, and then wash 

 them. Drain the water out the best you 

 can. There will be about a teaspoon- 

 ful left in a 60 lb. can; holding it up 

 cornerw^ays and then straight you will 

 get practically all of it out. If the can 

 is pretty hot with hot water, the heat 



of the can will draw most of the water 

 out. 



Mr. Bull — There is one way to get 

 all the water out; if it stays long 

 enough, right side up in the sun, it will 

 get all the water out. 



Mr. Wheeler — I have tried for days 

 to dry cans out that way and failed. 



Question — Why do manufacturers 

 make "V" edges on frames ? 



Mr. Dadant — I suppose this means 

 the "V" edge on the Hoffman frame. 



Mr. Van Wingarden — It is very evi- 

 dent that the bee-keeper wants that 

 and that is the reason they make them. 



I think if we had no "V" edge on the 

 Hoffman frame tlTere would be less 

 propolis. 



Mr. Dadant — I think they are made 

 both ways; at least we make them 

 both ways. 



Mr. Bull — All I have to say about the 

 Hoffman frame, I wish that I did not 

 have them. I use a plain frame with 

 a middle spacer. The frames of my 

 supers are nailed up without any spacer 

 on them. You have a frame that is a 

 frame. If you drop that frame you 

 cannot hurt it any. It does not break 

 the frame to drop it. Does it leak a 

 little? Certainly, they are bound to, 

 but the frames will hold. 



Mr. Kindig — ^Do I understand you use 

 the metal space frames? 



Mr. Wheeler — That binds the top bar 

 down; you can walk on them if you 

 want to and j^ou cannot break them. 



Mr. Dadant — Your frames are not in- 

 terchangeable, then? 



Mr. Bull — No, I don't want them to 

 be. My extracting frames never go 

 into the brood chamber. 



Question — What is the best waj- to 

 melt up old combs? 



Mr. Bull — I used the Hatch press; set 

 the combs out in boiling water; wash 

 them out good and use the Hatch 

 press. If you w^anted to do it in a 

 wholesale way, you would want some- 

 thing larger. 



Mr. France — Just one thing I would 

 like to call your attention to; with old 

 combs or otherwise, do not overheat the 

 wax; if you do you will spoil it. 



Mr. Bull — Do not let the water and 

 wax bubble up, because the water bub- 

 bling will make little round holes of 

 that wax; there w-ill be just that much 

 waste. Do not allow your wax to boil. 

 Stir it up and, as soon as it gets hot 

 enough, run it through the press. 



