ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



97 



give all his time to it, it seems to me 

 he ought to make a success of it. 



There are bees — and bees. We have 

 different kinds of bees and we know- 

 that bees will behave differently. 



About small and big bees: If a bee 

 is fed well, especially during the time 

 the honey is coming in, they will look 

 heavier, fatter, bigger; if a bee is 

 starved, it will shrink. 



Mr. Coppin — I have noticed some 

 small bees and black bees at that. I 

 am not thinking it was on account of 

 color of the bees, but on account of 

 age of the hives the bees were in. 



A farmer gave me a hive of bees 

 one time, thirty-seven years old. I 

 finally tore the hive up, after I kept 

 it a year. I transferred it and found 

 some of the cells in the combs were 

 so small you could not expect a bee 

 of full size. 



Mr. Wheeler — I am in, hopes we will 

 stick to the one point you made of the 

 eradication of foul brood by change in 

 stock, because these other questions, 

 as to the size of the bee, the breed of 

 bees, breeding for honey, is an old 

 thrashed out subject; but you, Mr. 

 President, are in a position to know 

 just how much truth there is in this 

 point of stock of bees helping us to 

 eradicate the disease among the bees, 

 and I wish the folks here who haye 

 anything to say on that point would 

 stick to" it, because I want to learn if 

 there is anything in the bee that will 

 help me in eradicating the disease. 



If we can stick to that and learn 

 all we can on that point, I believe it 

 will be of value to every one here. 



Mr. Bull — In regard to bees being 

 immune to European foul brood: Euro- 

 pean foul brood went through our 

 ' country six years ago; I don't think 

 there was a colony of bees in my part 

 of the country that didn't have it. I 

 requeened with Italian queens and 

 since that time have not seen the first 

 sign of European foul brood. Off goes 

 the head of the poor queen, the first 

 chance I get; I have no fear of foul 

 brood as long as I keep up my stock. 



With American foul brood, that Is a 

 different proposition entirely. 



Mr. Kluffer — I don't know whether 

 I can call myself a bee-man or bee- • 

 keeper, because this last year was my 

 first experience. 



I hear a few things often that are 

 kind of Greek to me. 



I would like to know how this foul 

 brood is carried. Does a young queen, 

 after making her virgin flight, make 

 any other flights after that, and is 

 the disease carried by the queen or 

 by the bees from other apiaries? 



Is it carried by the queen after the 

 virgin flight, or by the bees? Does 

 the queen make any other flight afteJ 

 the virgin flight? 



Mr. Smith — The queen goes out with 

 the swarm; no other time. 



President France — Any one want to 

 answer as to the probable cause of 

 the spread of disease, in reply to his 

 question? Mark the difference be- 

 tween American and European foul 

 brood. 



Mr. Rohr — It seems to me that if a 

 queen is a good queen she will put 

 the hive into good condition; if there 

 are a lot of bees, then the disease will 

 be fought. 



It is just like the human body; as 

 long as the body is healthy and strong, 

 contagion will not attack us so easily 

 but, if we get weak and run down, 

 it will. It is the same with bees. If 

 a colony is not strong, it is exposed to 

 disease. 



I have read of the statement and be- 

 lieve it is true, that more or less every 

 colony of bees has some kind of dis- 

 ease, especially foul brood, but that 

 colony that is full of strength will ex- 

 pel those diseased conditions. If we 

 have a good queen and she will fill up 

 the hive with strong colonies we will 

 get rid of it. 



Mr. Stewart — The question was: 

 "The Value of Young Queens." What 

 is a young queen? When is a queen 

 old or young? Is it usually advisable 

 to kill your queens before they get 

 old? Is it advisable to kill your 

 queens every twelve months, or shall 

 we let nature do some of your se- 

 lecting? 



Is it advisable to requeen at the 

 end of the honey flow? 



Is it well to try to buy queens and 

 get them into the hive as early as 

 possible? Is it well to buy from the 

 south? 



Those are some questions I would 

 be interested in, in connection with 

 the value of young queens. 



If there can be any fixed rule as to 

 when a queen is old — and what are 

 the signs to look for to decide whether 

 a queen is young or old — I would like 

 to know. 



