ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



117 



Thej' had the same advantages in 

 bee yards, and pasture, one having two 

 hired hands and making hard work of 

 it; the other doing it easily and enjoy- 

 ing his life with his bees. 



Mr. Wheeler — Was he uncapping and 

 running the extractor, too? 



President France — In either case this 

 one man was doing the uncapping and 

 running the extractor. With the ex- 

 ception: Here is a gasoline engine 

 running the extractor, and the other 

 man had an engine for power to run 

 his two frame machine. 



President France — But I figure that 

 time is money with my bees, the same 

 as with myself. Did you ever stop to 

 think of that? Right here is one of 

 the things I have learned: (Illustrat- 

 ing the wire cage.) In the north this 

 is more noticeable than in central and 

 southern Illinois. How many days do 

 we have honey flow? Almost count 

 them in two weeks. 



Is it not up to us to have those hives 

 running very full of bees beginning 

 with the honey flow? If we are going 

 to do that, we are not only bee -owners, 

 bu bee-keepers. We are drawing on 

 that queen to that extent that she has 

 served her mission and you are better 

 off without her. 



Bid her goodbye: "You have served 

 your mission;" no swarming, young 

 queen takes her place a little later. 



You don't want that queen fllling the 

 hive body just during the honey flow. 



If our bees' time is worth money, we 

 must economize so as to save expense 

 not only of the bees, but with our help. 

 As for me, I have dropped three Ijired 

 hands by having a bee house at each 

 yard and an outfit at each yard. The 

 first outlay costs considerable, but I 

 hope it will last for years; within fif- 

 teen minutes from the time we arrive 

 we are in working order; the machine 

 bolted to the floor; the honey runs 

 through the fioor, through a tin tube to 

 the gravity strainer and storage tank 

 below; no chance of spilling the honey 

 — and the convenience of having every- 

 thing right there in the yard. No one 

 there to watch the faucets and at the 

 close of the day your honey is ready 

 to be canned. 



I thought seriously of putting an auto 

 between my home yards as a means of 

 quick transportation, but I am hardly 

 yet ready to abandon my bee house. 

 , You can go out in the morning when 



the weather is so that you can, being 

 outdoors and indoors the same, and put 

 your bees quietly in the cellar and you 

 are home again in the evening. 



A good many of our bee cellars are 

 not so that they can be properly ad- 

 justed and ventilation is an important 

 factor. 



Before coming here, I took an old- 

 fashioned automobile, my horse and 

 buggy, and went to my out yard to ex- 

 amine my cellars, the ventilation and 

 temperature. I could see only, in one 

 cellar on the top wall of one, a few 

 drops of moisture; that was the only 

 place there was any condensation; the 

 temperature was from 43 to 48 degrees. 

 Forty-two degrees is about the proper 

 temperature. 



You want to keep a uniform temper- 

 ature as near as possible and the bees 

 will regulate the balance. 



But we should have our paper. 



Mr. Bruner — I have listened to Mr. 

 France talk a good many years, and 

 this is the first time I ever heard him 

 give a talk telling me where I could 

 save labor in producing honey. 



To tell me how I can get the most 

 honey from my hive with the least 

 work — that is bee-keeping. 



Mr. Miller — Mr. Bull and I operate in 

 the same county. He has, I think, six 

 yards, not very large ones; I have five 

 somewhat larger; so we are in com- 

 petition in one .sense, but we are very 

 good friends. 



Mr. Bull has an auto truck, no build- 

 ing, no land. 



I thought it best, where I did not own 

 lands, to purchase 'and have buildings 

 at three of these j^ards; from the other 

 two I haul in an auto. 



Whether or not it is advisable to 

 have buildings, will depend somewhat 

 upon the distance. 



The distance from my yards is about 

 fifteen miles from my home yards. It 

 would not be practical to haul those 

 supers and appliances I have to my 

 home yard. While, if my yards were 

 close at hand, as his are, I think it 

 would be proper. 



As Mr. France has said, I think it is 

 more convenient to have a building at 

 your yard. You have everything there. 

 If you happen to forget something on 

 your trip it is there waiting for you. 



It is convenient when the weather is 

 inclement; you can work inside instead 

 of outside, and, if you are fifteen miles 



