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ILLINOIS. 



The State Fair Bee and Honey 

 Exhibits. 



Written fen- the Prairie Fanner 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



People who do not go to the Fairs 

 have no idea of the good times that we 

 old. Fair-going bee-keepers have. JoUj- 

 times, aud long to be remembered, 

 holding mutual-admiration meetings 

 around the hone}- exhibit. Friendships 

 are there formed that last for a life- 

 time. 



Although the past season is the 

 poorest one known to modern bee- 

 keepers for the production of honej', 

 there was a good exhibit of both comb 

 and extracted honey. 



One bee-keeper from Iowa had an 

 exhibit that would have filled the 

 whole space allotted for this product 

 bj" the Fair-Association, and yet he 

 had goods unpacked. He was indig- 

 nant that he was not able to display 

 his exhibit, and a little -riled" when 

 his hives, sections, etc., were called 

 carpenters' stuft", and when he was 

 ordered by the Superintendent to get 

 them out of the way, so that visitors 

 could pass around. 



It does not appear right to mo that 

 such a gi-eat industry as the production 

 of honey and the rearing of bees, which 

 are essential in the fertilization of the 

 bloom of fruits and clovers, should 

 have to take a back seat in order to 

 give place to a real-estate advertising- 

 scheme from Nebraska, with a big 

 stufled sow aud a litter of pigs. 



I <loubt very much if the grain used 

 in this display ever saw the State of 

 Nebraska, for, when I reminded the 

 exhibitor tliat he ouglit to show the 

 honey from that State, he asked me to 

 sell him .some to jiut with his exhibit, 

 to take to St. Louis. 



Fully one quarter of the building 

 devoted to agriculture was occupied 

 by these real-estate advertisers, to the 

 detriment of honest tillers of the soil. 



When a bee-keeper requested space 

 to exhibit his fixtures, lie was told to 

 take them out-of-doors — to a corner of 

 a platform — and show them there. 



What matter, if a few bee-keepers 

 are discommoded, provided that the 

 railroads and land-boomei's from 

 another State are accommodated ? 

 They pay two dollars and get the 

 whole end of a building for a '-hog 

 palace," containing a lop-eared sow 

 with five pigs, when Illinois has better 

 ones with eleven following each of 

 them. Much liner ones could have 

 been seen alive and grunting in pens 

 devoted to their use. 



'• Observing hives." containing bees, 

 had to be packed closely together on 



the floor, in such a way that their con- 

 tents could not be seen. Ventilation 

 was very poor in this building, and 

 man}- bees died. How gladly would I 

 have put that miserable apology for a 

 hog (a regular str.addle-bug), out-of- 

 doors, and given the producers of 

 honey a chance ! My command would 

 have been like that of the gentle Gali- 

 lean : "Take these things hence." 



My own toes were not trod on, for I 

 had nothing on exhibition in this de- 

 partment except extracted hone.y, and 

 I was given sufficient space to ex- 

 hibit it. 



WHO TOOK THE BLUE ? 



Why, Iowa on both comb and ex- 

 tracted ! "Tell it not in Gath," If I 

 am not mistaken, there was not a 

 pound of comb honej^ on exhibition 

 from the State of Illinois. 



The Iowa exhibit of extr.acted honey 

 was in fancy small pails of glass with 

 metal tops, costing 13 cents each by 

 wholesale. These pails will be awarded 

 the blue at all Fairs wherever they go, 

 over packages put up in the best mark- 

 etable shape. Why shouldn't they, 

 for they are so pretty, and people 

 like gilt. 



QUEEN-BEES. 



A number of these were on exhibi- 

 tion, and a breeder of this little stock 

 claimed that half a dozen of his were 

 stolen. The theft could not have been 

 committed by a bee-keeper — for bee- 

 keepers are all honest — but by some 

 collector of insects who inferred that 

 they were of no value, and belonged 

 to some crank. 



What a pity that these fine queens 

 should have a pin run through them 

 and be stuck onto a block labeled. 

 Ajiis MeUifi(M. 



Peoria, Ills. 



[The Managers of the Illinois State 

 Fair have long been a disgrace to the 

 State. The premiums on bees and 

 honey are ridiculously small, and their 

 rulings show their incapacity. For 

 these reasons the exhibits have been 

 very small, and crowded for room to 

 properly show them. — Ed.] 



HIVES. 



Advantages Derived from Using 

 Large Bee-Hives. 



Written Sor tJie American BeeJourtial 



BY BYRON HAMS. 



On page 265, Mf. A. J. Fisher calls 

 for a discussion of large vs. small 

 hives. I have used all sizes, and if 

 my croiJ of honey was from basswood 

 or clover onlj', I should practice the 



Doolittle plan ; if my crop was like the 

 Uadants'; or.as I suppose their crop is, 

 viz : first, white clover the last of May, 

 through June and the first week or 

 two in July ; second, smart-weed more 

 or less on until golden-rod and Spanish- 

 needle l)loom, which is generally 

 about Sept, I, which, in a good sea- 

 son, would uiake almost a continual 

 honey-flow from about May 20 until 

 frost, with a short rest the last of July 

 and first of August. I have some little 

 acquaintance with their loc.alit}', and I 

 think it is about the same there as 

 here ; such being the ease, we want 

 large hives, and a large brood-nest the 

 year round. We get a good "board- 

 bill" out of the large arm}- of workers 

 that Mr. Doolittle objects to. I have 

 never had too much brood or too many 

 bees at any time of the season to suit 

 me, and I let the queen have full swa}- 

 at all times. My greatest trouble has 

 always been to keep room enough for 

 the queen ; nearly always I have to 

 extract the lower frames. I use a 10- 

 frame Langstroth hive, and often have 

 them three stories high. 



An advantage of no little importance 

 with the large hive and non-contrac- 

 tion, is the winter stores aud the 

 quality of the same. It is no little 

 satisfaction to me to know that mj- 

 bees have an abundance of the verj- 

 best of honey for winter, and, with the 

 Muth plan of wintering, I can rest 

 content in full confidence that my bees 

 will greet me with a glad hum the 

 next April, and be read}' for the clover 

 " when it comes again." 



If I should have any little, puny, 

 sickly colonies, that need division- 

 boards, and all the extra fuss of side- 

 packing, and giving an extra comb 

 every three or four days, I would 

 double them up until they were strong 

 enough to take care of a 10-frame hive 

 with 10 combs in it, and let them do 

 their own fussing afterwards. With a 

 large hive, .and plenty of good stores 

 the year around, we are blessed with 

 but few such colonies. 



Worcester. Mo.. Oct. 15, 1890. 



WINTERING BEES. 



The 



Elements of Successful 

 Winlering. 



Written for the New Y<jrk World 



BY B. BEN,IAMIN. 



While many successful bee-keepers 

 winter their bees on summer stands, I 

 think that the majority of Northern 

 apiarists favor wintering in cellars. 

 Dry, pure air and a proper and uniform 

 temperature are the 2 prime essentials 

 in successful wintering ; these, in my 

 opinion, cannot be so perfectly con- 



