ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



127 



time I have a lot of combs full of that 

 stuff to melt later on; they will pile it 

 in wholesale. 



Question — How can you liquefy 

 honey so it will remain in liquid form? 



Mr. Bull — The only thing I have ever 

 found that will make honey granulate 

 is air in it. Take that air out and you 

 have to heat the honey thin enough 

 that the air will rise to the top. 



Question: Can slightly soured ex- 

 tracted honey be safely fed after 

 spring opens? Assuming that the 

 honey is entirely free from disease? 



President France — I would say, yes. 



Mr. Bull— Heat it first, though. 



President France — But let me cau- 

 tion you as to buying honey from un- 

 known sources for spring feeding. 



One of the most extensive bee- 

 keopeis in the state of Illinois inocu- 

 lated his bee yard with American foul 

 brood by feeding honey that had come 

 from an unknown source. 



He found it had come from western 

 Tioney from an infected yard in Utah. 



Question: What rental is a fair 

 one for a bee yard? 



Mr. Bull — Fifty pounds of honey. 



President France — Well, now, that 

 will depend all on local conditions. In 

 some places that would be an abund- 

 ance; in other places your bees may be 

 more of a nuisance to the owner than 

 you think for. 



Mr. Stewart — Then don't put them 

 there. 



President France — Oftentimes the 

 •owner of the land will put up with the 

 bees if I will give him a little rental. 



If you can get a permit for a long 

 term of years you can afford to put up 

 a building with a cellar to it. 



$10.00 a year, whether the season is 

 good or bad, and have the use of the 

 larm buildings; again, he is looking 

 after my interest; at any time if any- 

 thing is of my interest to know he 

 can call me up by telephone. 



Mr. Kildow — That lies with the in- 

 -dividual. 



Some places you can get it for noth- 

 ing; other places you have to pay. 



For one yard I paid $15.00; the next 

 yard, three miles from that one, I gave 

 the owner a little honey. 



Mr. Wheeler — One thing in regard 

 to the amount you pay; that hinges a 

 little on the amount of trouble your 



bees are, whether or not they are a 

 nuisance. 



I have been a long time finding out ^ 

 the best place for bees: It is in pro- 

 tected places where there are plenty 

 of trees. 



Bees are more of a nuisance in the 

 prairie, in open places, than where they 

 are obliged to go up above the trees. 



They will behave where they are sur- 

 rounded by bushes and trees and have 

 to get in the air before they start out 

 on the trip. 



Watch it a little, and whatever yards 

 you have you will be astonished at the 

 difference there is among some of the 

 bees as to how they act in regard to 

 stinging and chasing. 



In one yard I have a high fence. I 

 find that, with the trees and a high 

 fence, the bees never molest any one; 

 they have to go up in the air to get 

 their line and get off without ever com- 

 ing down to the ground; but where 

 they are in the open and can see every 

 object passing and moving about, they 

 chase after them. It makes a great 

 difference. 



Question: Is co-operative buying 

 worth while? 



President France — Let me give you 

 a little illustration: 



In one corner of our state we formed 

 a little local bee-keepers' association. 

 The question came up on supplies. , 

 Could we co-operate and buy supplies 

 cheaper? With larger purchases you 

 usually get a better discount. They 

 elected one of their number to do the 

 buying of supplies for all the members. 



It proved so nicely they called a 

 summer meeting, and said: 



Why not put some man now in as 

 salesman of our product? 



The entire crop was disposed of at 

 one deal. All brought their honey by . ■ 

 notice to the car and received cash for 

 goods. 



All were so pleased that they wanted 

 to do the same thing next year, and all 

 would have been well had that con- 

 tinued, straight; but there came an 

 hour when that honey was sold and in- 

 structions were given to pay for it in 

 two checks. 



Suspicion arose and we found there 

 was a profit going to this individual 

 party that had hot been agreed upon, 

 and the organization has gone and is 

 among the things of the past. 



