30 



SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



RECESS. 



After recess the meeting was called to 

 order by the President. 



The Secretary stated that he had in his 

 possession a letter enclosing a fee with no 

 name to show who had sent it, postmarked 

 "Comland," and he asked that anyone 

 possessing information regarding the writer 

 communicate with him. 



QUESTION BOX. 



Question — Is it too late to re-queen? 



Dr. Baxter — I suppose he means at this 

 time. 



The President — ^Who has had experience 

 along that line, who will answei; that 

 question? 



Mr Kildow — It is too late for me. 



Mr. Dadant — If you wanted to put the 

 queen into a colony that was either queen- 

 less, or had a worthless queen, I believe it 

 could be done on a warm day. 



Mr. Pellett — My experience has been 

 that it has been difficult to get a queen 

 accepted after all activity stops in the fall. 

 The percentage of loss is extremely large. 

 I have tried it out in a limited way, after 

 the normal activity of the colony has 

 ceased in the fall and the loss is so great 

 that it makes it rather desirable to wait 

 until spring. 



Mr. Dadant — My reason for saying that 

 it might be done is that we unite colonies 

 at this time of the year and if we kill one 

 of the two queens, they usually unite 

 fairly well and accept the other queen. 

 That is why I thought it might be done. 

 Of course I would want it done by quick 

 introduction. I would not want to in- 

 troduce the slow way, the 48 hour way, 

 releasing the queen with candy or honey. 



Question — ^What is the best plan to use 

 in uniting the nuclei? 



Mr. Kildow — That would depend upon 

 the conditions. If you have a good honey 

 flow, they will hold together almost any 

 old way, but you have to use a great deal 

 of caution, especially using a newspaper 

 between the two. It is a good way, but 

 if there is a good honey flow, you can put 

 them together almost any way and they 

 will stay. 



Mr. Pellett — The newspaper plan would 

 not work late in the season. 



Mr. Kildow — I do not know about that. 

 I just finished up one last week with the 

 newspaper. 



The President — I frequently unite col- 

 onies, that is weak colonies, and I never 

 use a newspaper or anything else. I just 

 take the combs out of one hive of bees 



and I put them in another, but I do that 

 very late in the season, just at this time 

 when they are kind of dull and do not fly. 

 I never had any trouble at all. 



Mr. Kildow — I think one thing ought 

 to be taken into consideration as to the 

 man that is handling them. A man 

 handling bees who has had experience, can 

 handle them when another man that has 

 not had any experience cannot do it. It 

 makes all the difference in the world who 

 it is, the time of the year and everything. 

 It is pretty hard to lay down a hard and 

 fast rule. 



The President — Yes, I agree with you 

 there. 



Question — Is it safe to use sections and 

 fqupdation supers from American foul- 

 brood colonics? 



A Member— ^I should say no. 



Mr. Heinzel — I would not be afraid of 

 putting them in while the honey flow 

 was on. 



Dr. Baxter — T still think, for the average 

 man I should saj^ no. 



Mr. Pellett — I certainly would not use 

 them in another apiary where there had 

 been no diease, but if it was in an apiarj' 

 where the disease was present and there 

 was no particular danger of spreading the 

 disease, I certainly would not throw away 

 any supers that I had, I would use them 

 in the same apiary, because there is very 

 little danger of spreading American foul- 

 brood excepting through the honey. Yet, 

 I am like Dr. Baxter, I would not take 

 any chances on taking any kind of equip- 

 ment from an apiarj' that had disease to 

 one that was free from disease. 



Mr. Kildow — I do not think there would 

 be a particle of danger if the foundation 

 had not been drawn out or honey put in 

 the comb, but with the comb drawn out, 

 honey deposited in it, it would be sus- 

 picious. If the foundations had never been 

 drawn out, I do not believe there is a 

 particle of danger. 



The Secretary — Then, Mr President, it 

 would be safe, if there had never been any 

 honey there, to say that it was all right. 



The President — Yes, if the combs had 

 not been drawn out and used it would be 

 all right. 



Question — What has been done with bees 

 in combless packages? 



The President — Who has had experience 

 along that line? 



Mr. Heinzel — I have had a lot shipped 

 through from the South; they arrived in 

 very bad shape. -< 



The President — Has any one else had 

 experience? 



