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Italians will supersede their imperfect 

 queens more readily than the blacks. 



Mr. Black's choice would be pure 

 Italians, but said that hj'brids are bet- 

 ter to work in the sections than the 

 blacks. 



Mr. Wallace had been breeding Ital- 

 ians for 18 years, and would not have 

 blacks as a gift. He never had any 

 trouble with moth, except in queenless 

 colonies. 



Mr. Dunbar sent for an Italian 

 queen ; she was beautiful in appear- 

 ance, but her progeny were lazy and 

 not satisfactory. Some of the hybrids 

 reared from her were good, but not 

 equal to some of his blacks. 



Mr. Dadant — There is nothing per- 

 fect in this world, and this is an ex- 

 ception, and, as a rule, they are other- 

 wise. 



The Secretary said that blacks were 

 more disposed to rob and tight than 

 Italians ; ho has kept a book record of 

 his home apiary for a number of years, 

 where he has had pure Italians, blacks, 

 and their crosses, and finds by actual 

 observation, that the Italians and 

 hybrids produce from J to i more 

 honey than the blacks, and the pure 

 Italians lead both. They will defend 

 against robbei'smnch better, and super- 

 sede their imperfect queens much more 

 readily. 



SPACE BETWEEN THE SUPER AND HIVE. 



" What space, if any, is best between 

 the super and the hive ?" 



Mr. Smith said f of an inch. He 

 uses a wedge to hold sections to place 

 against the outer case. 



Mr. Dadant — For comb toney, I 

 would use the Foster case, with clamp. 



The Secretary uses f of an inch 

 space between the supers and brood- 

 frames. 



SOWING ALSIKE CLOVEB SEED. 



" Will it pay to sow Alsike clover 

 seed ?" 



Mr. Wallace sowed some last year, 

 and is much pleased with it. His bees 

 just swarmed on it — he found 20 on it, 

 to one of red clover. The hone}' gran- 

 ulates sooner than other honey. The 

 hay is good, but the yield is not so 

 large as red clover. The seed yield is 

 equal to that of the red. 



The Secretary said that it will pay 

 to sow it ; the hay is fine, and less in- 

 clined to chaff and dust. His experi- 

 ence was that it is hard to cut with a 

 mower. 



Mr. Dadant tried it 18 yeai's ago ; 

 sowed it alone, and it fell down badly. 

 He has not tried it since, but believes it 

 to be meritorious. 



Mr. Black sowed some two years 

 ago, and got a good stand. He cut it 

 with wheat stubble. Cattle ate it 

 splendidly. Oft' of 20 acres he sold 



sILiO worth of baled hay. The yichl of 

 seed was good. 



SECTIONS WITH FOUR BEE-SPACES. 



" Are sections with bee-spaces on 

 all four sides an advantage ?" 



Mr. Dadant had tried them and 

 found that the bees take to them more 

 reudil}'. They are more in accordance 

 with nature, and moi'e accessible in 

 cold weather. Thej- are better venti- 

 lated, and bees are not separated so 

 much. 



The Secretary had never tried them, 

 but said that they are certainly more 

 in accordance with nature. We should 

 cater to the bees' nature and habits as 

 nearly as we can. 



Mr. Smith had not tried them, but 

 doubted if the bees would attach the 

 honey so well to the sides of the 

 sections. 



Mr. Dadant — They attach the honey 

 to the sides of the sections better than 

 in the closed-side sections, but they 

 cannot be glassed so well. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



"Which is the best method of in- 

 troducing queens ?" 



Mr. Wallace, after removing the old 

 queen, puts the queen to be introduced 

 into a wire cage, usually allowing her 

 to remain caged for 48 hours in the old 

 hive, before releasing. He also drops 

 honey on the queen before releasing 

 her. 



Mr. Dadant cages the queen 48 

 hours, and lets the bees release her by 

 gnawing the comb with which he 

 closes one end of the cage. He has 

 also used advantageously .sweet water 

 scented with peppermint, to sprinkle 

 them. 



COMB HONEY vs. EXTRACTED. 



" Is there any logical reason why 

 comb honey should receive a prefer- 

 ence over extracted honey, as regards 

 taste, desirability, etc. ? If so, what 

 is it ?" 



Mr. Wallace said that it was more 

 in looks than taste. 



Mr. Dadant — Extracting may cause 

 it to lose its essential oils to some ex- 

 tent, and it will granulate sooner than 

 that in the comb. It is prejudice more 

 than any logical cause. We must cul- 

 tivate more of a demand for it. 



Mr. Black said that the question was 

 intended for him personally, as he 

 claims to detect a material difference 

 in taste. He also claims that looks go 

 far towards governing the taste, and 

 also that the comb is good for the 

 digestive organs. 



The Secretar}' said that the question 

 was his, but nothing personal was in- 

 tended. He simply wished to know 

 the cause of so many objections to ex- 

 tr.acted honej'. He has had much ex- 

 perience in selling extracted honey. 



and knows many of the objections to 

 be groundless. He takes exceptions 

 to Mr. Black's ideas that the wax in 

 comb honey is health-giving, but held 

 tliat, on the contrary, it was detrimen- 

 tal to the health. He believed that 

 when be(;s are disturbed, they are 

 liable to emit some of the venom from 

 the sting upon the combs, which prob- 

 ably explains why so many realize 

 griping pains aftereating comb honey. 

 This is avoided in extracted honey. 

 He thinks that one cause of prejudice 

 is due to the old methods of " strain. 

 ing" honey through a sack, in con. 

 nection with dead bees, old, dirty 

 combs, pollen, etc., giving the honey 

 a very unpleasant, rank taste, and 

 which is still confounded with our 

 wholesome extracted honey. 



Mr. Black — That does not tally with 

 my methods. We did not get our 

 strained honey that way. We excluded 

 the pollen and dead bees. 



Mr. Frank said that it made no dif- 

 ference to him, so that he got the 

 honey. He gave the preference to the 

 extracted, as he could put it on both 

 sides of his bread. 



WEIGHT AND MIXING OP HONEY. 



" Does all honey that is pure, weigh 

 the same, and will it mix ?" 



The Secretary said that Spanish- 

 needle honey will weigh one pound 

 more per gallon than clover honey. 



Mr. Dadant — I cannot mix thick 

 honey, except by warming. Fall honey 

 will weigh more than spring honey. 

 Any good, cured honey will weigh 11 

 pounds per gallon, and none over 12 

 pounds. Linden honey is not so readily 

 cured as other honey. 



The Secretai-y had some experience 

 in mixing honey, and it can only be 

 done by heating it quite hot. He had 

 mixed some rank linden honey with 

 fall honey, and it made a very salable 

 honey. 



GETTING THE BEST RESULTS. 



" How shall we get the best results 

 from our bees in a financial point of 

 view ?" 



Mr. Smith — Work the queen for 

 strong colonies. Early feeding should 

 be practiced to start the queen to lay- 

 ing, in order to be ready for the first 

 honey-flow. 



Mr. Dadant — I would avoid rearing 

 drones as much as possible, as they are 

 consumers, and not producers. I would 

 rear drones from such colonies as 

 would be suitable crosses for queens, 

 and prevent others. One colony prop- 

 erly sn))plied with drone-comb will 

 rear suflicient drones for an apiary. 



The Secretary — No man can prevent 

 bees from rearing drones, entirely. I 

 have frequently noticed drone-brood 

 in worker-cells. 



