ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION". 



31 



Rev. Warber — I have had two colonies 

 come that way and they came all right, 

 but within about ten days after that I 

 had to double them up with others. 



Mr. Pellett — I have had an opportunity 

 to observe the package business quite 

 extensively during the last two years, 

 although I have Tiot had any practical 

 experience with it personally. In Canada 

 last year I visited a number of extensive 

 honey producers who shipped north pack- 

 ages from the extreme southern part of 

 Alabama and some of these packages had 

 been held up at the point of entry and even 

 though there was delay on account of the 

 customs, still some bee-keepers reported 

 that they had been able to build up single 

 pounds in the season and produce as much 

 as 60 pounds of surplus. Of course that 

 was the most favorable report that I found. 



The President — Compared to how much 

 by the home colonies? 



Mr. Pellett — I do not know just what their 

 returns were, I do not recall about that, 

 but most reports were that a single pound 

 of bees was not enough, that you should 

 have at least two pounds and better three 

 pounds in order to make a colony, if you 

 expect to get surplus at the end of the 

 season. There have been reports of loss 

 in shipments, but there seems to be a 

 great difference in this respect from 

 differenct dealers from time to time, as 

 given to the American Bee Journal. Last 

 spring I visited nearly all the pound 

 package dealers in Georgia, Alabama and 

 iVIississippi. I noticed a great difference 

 in their method of preparation. The 

 dealers who were feeding from the top of 

 the package were having no trouble at all, 

 the bees were coming through all right. 

 The fellows who put the candy at the end 

 of the package, so that the bees had to 

 break the cluster, were having a little 

 trouble. When we stop to think of it, it 

 is a simple explanation. You know bees 

 always cluster about their stores and to 

 bore a hole at the end of the stores, clear 

 away from the cluster, and put the candy 

 thei«, makes an unnatural condition, and 

 the bees have difficulty in getting their 

 stores in transit, while, where the candy is 

 placed directly over the cluster, the bees 

 can cluster in a natural way and get their 

 honey with a minimum of exercise, and I 

 think that one thing alone explains a great 

 deal of. the difficulty in getting all the 

 packages through. 



Of course, there are a good many con- 

 ditions that neither the shipper" nor the 

 producer has any control over. You can- 

 not insure careful handling on the part of 

 express companies, but the reports from 



those who have tried the matter extensively 

 are very much in favor of the pound 

 package. The men who started in two or 

 three years ago, and bought two or three 

 packages in experiments, increased the 

 number, I think this year they increased 

 the numbers enough to start a whole 

 apiary. Of course it has been an unfavor- 

 able season this spring, but the results of 

 those who tried it out last spring exten- 

 sively were quite favorable. 



Rev. Warber — I had a pound from Ala- 

 bama last spring billed on the 15th of May, 

 which was not delivered until the 15th of 

 June. The one pound of bees not only 

 filled the eight frames of the hives, but 

 also produced several pounds of surplus 

 honey, although the white clover season 

 was practically a failure the past season 

 and only the fall season was good. 



Mr. Erbaugh — Will you state whether 

 you had the colony ready for the clover? 



Mr. Warber — I got it about the begin- 

 ning or the middle of June. 



Mr. Erbaugh — How long did it take to 

 get ready? 



Mr. Warnei-— Till the fall. 



Mr. Erbaugh — The general impression 

 among up-to-date bee-keepers is that it is 

 pretty hard in the spring of the year to 

 get a combless package ready for the 

 honey flow, that is, the white clover flow, 

 if you only get a pound of bees, but if you 

 get two and a half or three pounds, the 

 bee-keepers of Northern Michigan are of 

 the opinion that they can have that colony 

 ready in just as good a condition as an 

 old colony. That is the impression among 

 quite a few good bee-keepers. They are 

 actually considering that as the method of 

 increase and some are considering doing 

 away entirely with wintering colonies. Of 

 course we question the wisdom of the 

 procedure, but if you get two and a half 

 pounds and they arrive reasonaly early, 

 you can have them in good condition for 

 the white clover flow. 



The President — This is a very important 

 question, because if some of us want to 

 increase our apiaries it w^ould be a sure 

 way of doing it. If you want to buy 

 colonies you cannot do it so well, you 

 have to go a long distance to get them. 

 It is an important question, and we will 

 bring it up later on, when other members 

 come who have had experience in that 

 line. 



As Mr. Erbaugh just mentioned, I be- 

 lieve if you get them early enough, in the 

 right locality where there is plenty of 

 fruit bloom, it will be, easy enough to 

 build them up for the white clover crop, 

 but getting them as late as this gentleman 



