ILLINOIS STATE BKE-KEEPEKS ASSOCIATION". 



55 



are moved 6 inches, the bees are lost, they 

 begin to look around. 



The Secretary — Do they drift before j^ou 

 can get them back? 



Mr. Dadant — They drift at any time 

 after they are moved, at least that is our 

 experience. That is why we pack them 

 on the spot Our leaves are there, and 

 all we need is a piece of chicken netting 

 six or seven feet long and we wrap that 

 around the leaves. If you do not have 

 leaves, use something else. If your hives 

 are all close together and near a straw 

 pile, pack them in that. We have our 

 hives 4 feet apart, so we can walk around 

 without disturbing the other colonies. We 

 do not like to move them on account of 

 drifting. It is simple enough to fill a cap 

 with leaves, put the straw mat on the 

 frames, then the cap with leaves, and fill 

 that netting* and put it around the hives, 

 with the front open so they can fly any 

 time that it is warm. The front is always 

 south, or nearly always. 



Mr. Bowen — We have listened to a great 

 many wise remarks from wise men through- 

 out the State on how to take care of bees. 

 I think that the average person taking a 

 single wall hive with a wind break and 

 plenty of stores, will have just as many 

 bees working next spring as the man who 

 goes to so much trouble about packing and 

 all that. 



Now as to putting the absorbing packing 

 on the top, that may be a good idea, but 

 when it absorbs the moisture, that freezes 

 when it gets cold and it takes time for that 

 to thaw out. There is nothing better 

 than dead air, if we can get it. 



If the moisture is not there it will not 

 freeze. If you give your bees plenty of 

 ventilation, the moisture wi^l not remain 

 theie. The principle of ventilation is, as 

 the air gets warm it rises, and when it gets 

 cold it drops. As the air goes up from the 

 cluster of bees to your honey board, or 

 whatever you have above, and as it cools 

 it draws up to the side of the wall and then 

 down again, and you have complete cir- 

 culation. In forty-odd years I have never 

 had one single hive ice-bei^ed, and I have 

 not paid very much attention. I usually 

 have a sealed top. As to the matter of 

 putting on your absorbing mat, whatever 

 it is, I do not think that is any benefit at 

 all. I do not like to put my judgme 

 against the wise heads of the State, but [if 

 you take a single wall hive and give it 

 good wind break and plenty of storei 

 your bees will come out in the spring read 

 to do business, as quick as any other way 

 you can fix them, and less expense. 



Mr. Root — ^Whaf part ot the State do 

 you come from? 



Mr. Bowen — Right down here, about 33 

 miles west of this, same latitude as this. 

 One winter, when both Brother Stone and 

 I started in with 65 colonie.*, he lost all 

 but five and I had lost only five. That 

 was the same latitute, only a few degrees 

 difference in temperature, I suppose no 

 more than two degrees at any time. Now 

 then, it is only a matter of opinion about 

 working those things, and after we have 

 heard all this talk, I think we will go 

 home and do just as we please. 



The Secretary — I want to help out his 

 theory. The eight that I had left were 

 very light below, and I had left on the 

 extracting frames, full story on top and 

 those eight were the only ones that went 

 through and they were the only ones that 

 had those frames on top, I left the honey 

 for them to eat. Those went through 

 all right. They did not have any packing, 

 they just had the benefit of the dead air 

 in that super. 



Mr. Dadant — What percentage did you 

 lose? 



The Secretary — I lost 80 per cent, 

 sixty colonies. Only eight or nine were 

 left. I have got back to 40. I am not 

 increasing, but I want to say in regard to 

 the shed, I have always had my bees in 

 the shed. The shed runs in this direction, 

 southwest and northeast and they face the 

 southeast the back of the shed was a tight 

 board fence, the roof running up to the 

 front, and it got in the way, when I would 

 tier my hives up, I had to have a board 

 along this way to put the roof on, and this 

 got them considerably out of the weather. 

 But I got so that it was too much trouble 

 for me to get under there and lift them off, 

 and I set up a derrick. I put a box on 

 the ground that is just as high as the board 

 the hive stands on, and then I have a 

 board about that wide,- 6 feet long, and I 

 lay it on the box and then I raise the 

 hive enough to shove the board under; 

 then I raise the hive again enough to put 

 a broom handle under, and roll it out 

 without any trouble. Then I use the 

 derrick to suspend the case that has the 

 honey in it, raise the honey while I put 

 the bee escape on, and let them down. 

 In that way I can go and lift them off 

 easily. 



Mr. Dadant — Did you have them under 



e shed when you lost 80 per cent? 



The Secretary — Yes, some of those that 

 I lost were under the shed and some of 

 them were out on the stand. 



I think the greatest prop orl ion of those 

 that lived were under the si sd, but the 



