ILLINOIS STATE BEE-ICEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



129 



drifting from one hive to .another have 

 more to do with it than I give them 

 credit for. They are the nurse bees; 

 they are doing the feeding. 



A man who was making a careful 

 observation had, on one side, Golden 

 Italians; on the other side, a little of 

 everything; to my surprise we could 

 find the young workers going in nearly 

 any hive; they were not brought up 

 there, but they were finding th«eir way 

 in and they will accept young bees al- 

 most anywhere. 



Question: Does the production of 

 honey pay the producer? 



Mr. Bull — I think the mere fact we 

 are here answers that question. 



Mr. Stewart — Maybe it does. The 

 last thirty-five years, taking into con- 

 sideration the amount spent for hives, 

 appliances and time, it has not paid 

 50 cents a day to the producer. You 

 don't see a man, depending upon the 

 production of honey for a livelihood, 

 sending his boys to college; it doesn't 

 pay the producer. 



Mr. Wheeler — I think Mr. Bull's an- 

 swer sounds well, but there are other 

 reasons leading up to our coming into 

 the bee business — other questions. 



We find that the country is flooded 

 with literature telling how much 

 money people make producing honey; 

 that the bees work nights while they 

 sleep. The mails are full of it. This 

 induces people to begin to keep bees. 

 I regret to say that thirty or forty 

 years ago I was fool enough to go into 

 it. 



When you get thousands of dollars 

 invested, your lines drawn, your work 

 laid out, you have to stick to it; 

 you keep looking for a better year, and 

 you continue from one year to the 

 next. 



It is the sorriest day that I ever had, 

 when I started in to keeping bees as a 

 business; this I can say after an ex- 

 perience of forty years, keeping bees. 



I think this idea of Mr. Bull's sounds 

 well and is true, in a way, we would 

 not be here unless it pays. I am one 

 of the fellows who has gotten in so 

 deep I cannot get out. 



Mr. Kindig — I believe it would be an 

 unprecedented example of business 

 that was 100 per cent a success. The 

 history of the business of the United 

 States 95 per cent failure. 



Now if you are going to say: Does it 

 pay, it looks to me as though you had 



to compare it with some other things 

 that pay, or don't pay. 



My experience and observation is — 

 although I am very glad to have peo- 

 ple think it doesn't pay — it is all right 

 with me; my experience and observa- 

 tion is that bee business pays ;is well 

 as any other business; it pays for the 

 amount of capital invested and labor 

 employed. 



Mr. Miller — The bee business, like 

 every other business, does not pay 95 

 per cent of those who go into it; the 

 other 5 per cent are' making good. It 

 is the 5 per cent who study the busi- 

 ness and have executive ability ciiough 

 to make it pay. It is a cold day when 

 an efficient bee-keeper can't make from 

 §10.00 to $25.00 a day, or more. 



Mr. Williams — The question is a 

 vital one and we ought to take it seri- 

 ously. If bee-keeping does not pay, 

 why doesn't it pay? That is the ques- 

 tion. If it can't be made to pay, we 

 had better quit; if it can, let's go 

 ahead and find the reason why it is not 

 paying and make it pay. 



Question: How do you blend honeys 

 of two colors so the streaks will not 

 show or the heavier honey settle to the 

 bottom? 



Mr. Bruner — Don't try to blend the 

 light honey with anything; don't try 

 to put it in with the heavy honey. 



Mr. Coppin — Is the dark honey heav- 

 ier than the light honey? 



Mr. Bruner — That is the way the 

 question reads — "the heavier honey." 



I think, by that question is meant 

 light colored honey; light colored 

 honey and dark colored honey; they 

 will mix pretty easily if you blend 

 them hot. 



Mr. Kindig — In, regard to trying to 

 blend honey, cold; my experience is, 

 you go up against that granulation 

 proposition right away; blend it cold 

 if you want to have it granulate. It 

 brings in bubbles of cold air. 



Question: Is honey stored for food 

 next spring fit for that purpose if there 

 has been fermentation? 



President France — It is possible we 

 may feed honey that has slight fer- 

 mentation in the spring. I would ad- 

 vise not to do it. 



I would want to warm it and get the 

 fermentation out of it. 



Mr. Wheeler — ^What is the use of 



