74: 



SEVENTEEXTII AXXUAL KEPORT OF THE 



yards. I had one yard that was an ex- 

 ception. It was a peculiar condition. 

 Never before have I known bees to make 

 honey after the first killing frost in the 

 fall, to any considerable extent. But in 

 this jard thej^ made no honey previous 

 to that, and the honey in that yard was 

 made almost entirely from golden rod, 

 excepting in years when we got clover. 

 The golden road was late and it blossomed 

 after the frost, and for about five days 

 those bees were very busy carrying golden 

 rod honey. 



Another peculiar thing about it was that 

 the honey instead of going into the bot- 

 tom of the hive, nearly all went into the 

 supers, then I had a condition in which 

 there was no honey at the bottom, but all 

 at the top, so I had to remedy the matter, 

 by placing the filled combs below. In that 

 way I endeavored to feed the bees, but 

 they are still lighter than they should be. 

 As I said before, the three main reasons 

 are the lack of nectar in the clover; sec- 

 ondly, bad weather; and third, the early 

 frost. They should have gotten honey in 

 August, from the heart's ease, and some 

 of the yards were near where they could 

 get mint, but the weather was against 

 them, and then the fall flow was cut off 

 by the frost. 



Mr. Wheeler — We didn't have that frost 

 here. We didn't have frost here till very 

 late. 



Mr. Gill — 1 think most of us are agreed 

 that the cool weather had a great deal to 

 do with it, but I am wondering if that 

 might have been overcome to some ex- 

 tent, where two men lived close together, 

 by some stimulative feeding in tht; spring, 

 and lots of care. Suppose we have an 

 instance where one man had his bees in 

 good condition, so that he got som-j crop, 

 whereas the other man didn't give his bees 

 any care in that direction, and didn't do 

 any stimulative feeding, and he didn't get 

 any honey. Could the condition have been . 

 overcome more than we did overcome it? 



The President — I presume it could in 

 many cases. 



Mr. Stewart— Mr. Chairman, I would 

 like to ask a question about bee-keeping. 

 Of course, you can all tell me. I have a 

 hive that I want to run for extracted honey. 

 I have all the comb that I want. It 

 doesn't swarm during the season. I have 

 another hive of equal strength, but I have 

 no combs. I have plenty of hives and 

 frames to start with. Of course, I put on 

 those supers or starters; they swarm. A 

 prime swarm comes out I will hive that 

 swarm and kill the queen, in the usual 

 time they will swarm again, maybe two 



or three times. I will hive those swarms 

 again, I will let those bees go until fall. 

 I will shake the bees off, extract the honey 

 and melt up the combs. Which one will 

 give me the most money? 



The President — You have the question, 

 who will answer it? / 



The Secretary — We would have to know 

 what the honey flow is from. 



Mr. Stewart — It doesn't make any diff- 

 erence. 



The Secretary — It makes all the diff- 

 erence in the world. A great deal would 

 depend on the source of honey. If from 

 a* late fall flow the several swarms would 

 ha\% a chance to build up and maybe 

 would gather more than the one left with 

 combs. With a clover flow the reverse 

 would be true. 



Mr. Stewart — Clinch your teeth in that 

 awhile, you fellows that know it all. 



Mr. J. C. Wheeler — I didn't understand 

 the first part of that question. Do you 

 mean by that, that one hive will swarm 

 naturally, and in the other that j'ou shake 

 them out of the comb? 



Mr. Stewart — In the first colony I have 

 all the combs that I want, and I run it for 

 extracted honey. 



The Secretary — Was that a swarm? 



Mr. Stewart — The old colony. I have 

 all the combs I want. I run it for extracted 

 honey. It doesn't swarm during the season. 

 I have another hive of equal strength. I 

 have only frames and hives with starters 

 in. Of course, I put on honey supers, that 

 started the swarm. I kill the queen. In 

 the usual time they will swarm, maybe 

 two or three times, again, and I will hive 

 those swarms on starters; I will let them 

 go until after the honey flows in the fall, 

 and shake the bees off, and extract the 

 honey. Which hive will give me the most 

 money? 



Mr. Coppin — Mr. President, I would 

 say the one furnished with plenty of 

 combs. With the supers we had this sum- 

 mer, we got a half a dozen swarms from 

 that one hive. When fall came, though, 

 I didn't have any honej"^ in the whole four 

 or five swarms, there wasn't any honey 

 there. Between them I might have got 

 thirty or forty or fifty pounds of honey. 



Mr. MacNeill— Another thing you didn't 

 figure, and that is how many swarms you 

 would lose. 



Mr. Stewart — You fellows figure it out. 



The Secretary — I believe for myself I 

 would take the one that didn't swarm, and 

 had plentj' of combs. We might take a 

 standing vote on that, and see how we 

 stand one wav or the other. 



