58 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 28, 1904. 



I would say, don't do it. If you mean the best for success — 

 now you may buy one for $S.oo in the spring, you may buy 

 one for $2.00 or for $1.00, but if you pay $1.00 for a queen 

 in the fall, and buy five queens for five colonies and you lose 

 them, then you are out your $5.00 which you might just as 

 well have had in your own pocket as in the other man's 

 pocket ; but of course he didn't think so because he had queens 

 ■ to sell. A great deal of this is gotten up like the patent 

 medicine man, all sorts of diseases, and you must think you 

 have some of them. You can diagnose your own case, and 

 his medicine cures it. and you buy his stuff. 



Mr. Starkey — Let me tell you the best way to introduce 

 a queen. I agree that Mr. Abbott's plan is all right, but 

 I want to give you an improvement on it. [Laughter.] His 

 way would be to open the hive and put the queen on top. Put 

 the queen on the inside of the cover. 



Mr. Abbott — Any place about the hive where the bees 

 can get at her. 



Mr. Starkey — I would only open the hive once. He will 

 open it twice. I have to open the hive only once because I 

 put the queen in the box that she shall remain in until the 

 bees take her out by eating the honey or candy between. I 

 introduce her in this manner. Now, of course, lots of men 

 introduce queens that way, but that way will work. Now, in 

 regard to the best time, we will have to say for what purpose. 

 If a man wants to change a colony of bees, kill the old queen 

 and introduce a better one, the fall of the year is a good 

 time. Mr. York knows whether or not I have been buying 

 them, because he sold them to me. I am not speaking for 

 Mr. York, or any other man, but bees certainly do introduce 

 nicely in the fall. As to robbing, they will rob whenever 

 you examine them, if you happen to get robbers at them. If 

 I have had any time to introduce after the harvest was on. 

 I don't remember it. I have introduced several since. I be- 

 lieve the fall is the better ; you can get the queens cheaper, 

 and you can get them more promptly, because the bee-men 

 have them on hand. That is the great difference over the 

 spring-time, but you have to carry her over the winter If 

 you count on losing your bees. I say, don't introduce them. 

 If you wait until spring when the queen is once laying, there 

 is just as much chance of robbing, and I believe it is better 

 to do it in the fall. Then another advantage, you have got 

 no brood to lose when you open the hive to find your queen. 



Mr. Abbott — Let me make that a little clearer. Now. 

 what I mean, I won't open the hive but once. I sometimes 

 have four or five queens. I sell queens, to illustrate. There 

 are four or five that I want to get. I take these cages and 

 put them on top of the frames under a cloth and turn them 

 down so that the bees can get at them. May be I want to 

 introduce one of these to that colony. After they have been 

 on the hive 48 hours I take any one of the five or si.x I had 

 on there. I first hunt out the old queen and kill her, and 

 make it so the bees can get at the candy. I want them to 

 do it in about an hour, and if I don't think they will do it 

 in an hour, I make a hole so I think they can eat it in an 

 hour, and I go on about my business, and I have never lost 

 a queen by that process. 



Mr. Whitney — I have no doubt it is a good way to in- 

 troduce a queen, but we seem to digress from the subject. 

 The question is not how to introduce a queen, but what is 

 the best time. I read in Gleanings, "I think you can easily 

 Italianize your bees in the fall ; in fact, that is the best sea- 

 son of the whole year in which to do it." Now. I haven't 

 listened to any argument here yet that has satisfied me that 

 it is. It may be the experience of others, possibly, but, in 

 our locality, we haven't had good success in introducing the 

 queen in the fall. It was almost impossible to keep the bees 

 from robbing the colony after you open it in a certain season. 

 I thought I could manipulate a colony of bees and do almost 

 anything I wanted to with them, but I came pretty nearly 

 being beaten trying to introduce a queen in the fall, and I 

 never had any trouble introducing a queen during the sum- 

 mer-time ; I have never had any successful robbing during 

 all my experience of seven or eight years, until this fall. 



Dr. Miller — I want just to refer to that point. With 

 Mr. Abbott's plan he saves 48 hours of the queen's laying 

 1h cause he puts the caged queen in there, and leaves her 

 there with the old queen, and he saves that 48 hours' laying. 

 Now, don't settle down right away to that. When he takes 

 away the old queen and liberates that queen, that queen 

 doesn't commence laying right away, and the interference is 

 more than two full days, because if the queen does as they 

 do with me, they will sometimes be several days before they 

 begin to lay, and when they do they begin on a small scale. 



and he saves that, too, and that makes his plan that much 

 better ; and after all there isn't so very much difference, and 

 you cannot put in a new queen and have the laying go on 

 without any loss. Set that down. 



The convention then adjourned to meet at I '.30 p. m. 



FIRST DAY— Afternoon Session. 



After Pres. York called the meeting to order, the audit- 

 ing committee made its report thus, which was duly approved, 

 and the committee discharged : 



Dr. Miller — Mr. President, your committee has the honor 

 to report that we have examined the treasurer's books and 

 found them correct. 



Pres. York — I see on the program that the first thing 

 after dinner is the President's Address. It is a good thing it 

 didn't come before dinner. We probably all feel better about 

 it now, and can stand it. 



PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



Another year of bee-keeping experience has rolled around 

 since last we met. To many of the bee-keepers of the central 

 portion of our country it was a year of abundance of swarms 

 and of honey. To some it brought the largest crop of honey 

 they had ever had. Consequently to-day they wear a broad 

 smile in addition to their good clothes. 



Perhaps on account of the unusual crop, it seems the 

 price of honey has weakened a little lately. But this ought 

 not so to be. There is never enough honey produced to sup- 

 ply all who would eat it if they only knew its true value as 

 a food. The fact is, a lot of people do not know that their 

 health would be better — their life pleasanter and sweeter — if 

 they would add to their regular daily "bill of fare" the honey 

 that bee-keepers produce and offer for sale. Some day I 

 hope to see honey advertised in the daily newspapers, along 

 with Uneeda Biscuit, breakfast foods, etc. When the people 

 once realize what a healthful food honey is, there will be no 

 further trouble about keeping up the price to where it ought 

 to be. 



THE ILLINOIS BEE-KEEPERS' LAW. 



Since our last meeting, the committee then provided, in 

 conjunction with the State Association, has secured an appro- 

 priation for bee-keeping in Illinois, amounting to $2,000 for 

 a period of two years. Already an inspector of apiaries, Mr. 

 J. Q. Smith, and a deputy inspector, Mr. Herman F. Moore, 

 have been appointed under the law. Another spring they 

 can be called upon, and will do what they can to help put an 

 end to bee-diseases in this State. 



While this law applies only to Illinois, all bee-keepers are 

 interested in it, regardless of what State they may live in: 

 for every State added to the list of States having laws in the 

 interest of bee-keeping makes it just so much easier for the 

 States without such laws to secure them. 



CO-OPERATION AMONG BEE-KEEPERS. 



This is a subject that received considerable attention at 

 the Los Angeles convention of the National last .A.ugust. 

 Something has been done about it in a few of the Western 

 States, but it seems that not much effort has been made to 

 get the bee-keepers of the Central and Eastern States together 

 for their own benefit. Ours is a large country. If you doubt 

 it, just make the trip to California even from Chicago (in- 

 cluding a walk down and up the Grand Canyon), and I think 

 you ■ will agree that we have a big country. There is no 

 question in my mind, but that bee-keepers should form com- 

 mercial organizations, for the control of the marketing of 

 their product. But liozv can it be 'done? It is very easy to 

 say a thing ought to be so and so, but it is quite a different 

 matter to make it so and so — or, in other words, to do it. 



I haven't the least doubt that properly organized and 

 conducted, honey exchanges would be most excellent things 

 for the producers. It would also help the consumers to have 

 confidence in honey, when they could be assured that all "Ex- 

 change" honey is absolutely pure, because bearing the "Ex- 

 change" label or brand. There are great possibilities along 

 these lines, I feel assured, but I am not wise enough, or suf- 

 ficiently experienced, to lead the way to success. However, 

 I am interested enough to be willing to do what little I can 

 to help stir up the subject until such time as it shall result 



