ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



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was from the house some of those bees 

 would follow me and even to the door 

 of the house. I had just such results 

 as that lately from some bees from 

 queens I got from certain parties. 



Mr. Pyles says, and I believe this is 

 so, the best way for a man who has 

 time to breed his own queens from his 

 stock if you have something good to 

 begin with, and always select from pure 

 Italian stock and breed for results 

 every time and let color be a second 

 consideraftion; and you want results in 

 dollars, ^fou want results in facilitat- 

 ing the handling of honey also, for that 

 means money; if you will do that you 

 will soon have an apiary you can be 

 proud of. I am sorry I 'have not done 

 that right along instead of buying bees. 



Mr. Hawkins — I would like to say a 

 word about bees being cross at one 

 time and gentle 'at others. I never saw 

 a colony of bees I wanted to work with 

 without a veil on. Bees never make 

 any attempt to sting me in working 

 day after day; but I want a veil on. 



The first time I ever saw Mr. Pyles 

 I thought he was crazy. He had a 

 little dust cap on inspecting bees. I 

 waited every minute exgecting him to 

 get stung; he never got* one. I could 

 not walk within half a mile of those 

 bees without getting stung. I would, 

 not want to try it, anyway. 



On the other hand, oftentimes we 

 havg apiaries away from home and we 

 do not know what happens to them_, 

 while we are gone. I have such an 

 apiary where the bees were mean and 

 cross a good many times when I worked 

 with them; I could not see any reason 

 for it. 



Some time after that when some boys 

 moved away from there I found out 

 from a boy who worked for a man oc- 

 casionally during the summer they used 

 to go out to see the bees and if they, 

 did not fly enough for them to see they 

 would knock the hives to see them go 

 out, yet when I got there I did not know 

 what had happened and could not tell 

 why they were so cross. 



Mr. Diebold — It has been my experi- 

 ence that I want a smoker and a veil; 

 smoker first and then a veil, and then 

 I feel perfectly safe. 



Mr. Coppin— ^I want a smoker, same 

 as the gentleman here, and I don't 

 want any veil. 



On the other hand, I am not bee- 

 proof; I get stung. 



On the other hand, if I get stung I 

 generally mark that hive. If I get 

 stung again several times in a short 

 period of time, 'my wife often asks me 

 what hive those bees were in that 

 stung me; and I tell her, such and 

 such a hive, and she says: "Let us go 

 out and kill that queen. It is not worth 

 keeping." So we generally pick out 

 the queens of such hives as that and 

 replace them with something that is 

 more gentle. I don't like to use a veil 

 and don't do it; I don't put on a veil 

 more than once a year. 



Mr. Dadant — You all know I was 

 raised by a man who was better known 

 in bee-keeping than I; I have seen my 

 father working bare-headed among the 

 bees, and when I turned the corner 

 and looked at them they would come 

 after me; I didn't get trained until I 

 was 18. When my father was sick, and 

 the bees were gathering honey, I got 

 up my courage and went to work with 

 the bees and managed to get along. I 

 got lots of stings, but I can handle 

 them with or without a veil; I prefer 

 to have a veil handy; you don't know 

 what minute you may make a miss- 

 move and crush a few bees and then 

 they will get angry. 



I am satisfied that there are men who 

 can handle bees and not be stung, 

 while those looking on will be. 



A gentleman here took exception to 

 my stating thaf'^ome people the bees 

 didn't sting; I didn't mean that; bees 

 sting everybody but there are men that 

 bees will sting very much less than 

 others. Of course bees are quieter at 

 times, and are very much easier to 

 handle in harvest time. 



It is bad to handle them in stormy 

 time and when the weather is cold, 

 early in the morning or late at night— 

 but there is no douht there are differ- 

 ences in men in handling bees just as 

 well as in bees. " - . 



Mr. Stone — Don't you believe the 

 bees learn to know when you have a 

 veil on? 



Mr. Dadant — They don't learn very 

 much. 



Mr. Stone — I put a veil in my hat, all 

 ready to let down. Sometimes I go 

 out and a number of bees will follow 

 me; I put a veil on and they will stay 

 away from me and maybe they will go 

 and sting somebody out around the 

 house, but they can't get at me. 



Mr. Dadant — The reason j'ou are 



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