good ones. At the Chicago Convention, 

 many gave only the dark side ; saying that 

 bee-keeping was at an end, wanted to dis- 

 pose of bees, hives, etc., the general spirit 

 was gloomy. Disaster comes to every busi- 

 ness, not only to the honey producer, but to 

 all. Sometimes wheat and corn are raised 

 in too great abundance to be profitable ; 

 again prices go high on account of short 

 crops. We now come to consult our local 

 interests — how to winter our bees, to get 

 them through the spring, to prepare for the 

 next seaeon's honey-crop, and dispose of it 

 if we get it. In behalf of the citizens I ex- 

 tend their hearty congratulations to you 

 over the pleasures of the present meeting." 

 L. H. Scudder, said he was disappointed 

 at this meeting ; he had not expected to see 

 so many here; he thought they would remain 

 at home, because discouraged at the hard 

 rows they have had this season ; but he was 

 glad to see that they were not disheartened, 

 and stand strong for future efforts. He said 

 he had been through such seasons before, 

 and had a great deal of pleasure with the 

 experience. Some stuck to it and went 

 ahead, and but few gave it up entirely. 



The Composition of Royal Jelly. 



•Question : What is the Royal Jelly made 

 of, that is fed to queens ? 



O. Clute. I think but very little is known 

 on this subject ; some think it is made of 

 young bees and water. 



Overstocking. 



Question : How close ought apiaries to 

 be kept to each other ? How many colo- 

 nies to each ? 



D. Rider. One season a friend of mine 

 had 270 colonies ; we had 100. Of course 

 these bees got their stores from the same 

 district ; that was a very successful season, 

 we got a large yield. This year my friend 

 had about 160 or 170, and we had about the 

 same. At the close of the white clover run 

 he had 2,400 lbs., and we 1,010 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted, and 1,200 lbs. in the prize box, and 

 in a few days the honey season was over. 



O. Clute. * Does not this question depend 

 more on the various sections, and more or 

 less flowers in different places. Put 100 

 cattle on 10 acres in a dry season and they 

 would soon be out of food. On a larger 

 area they would not get short. 



L. H. Scudder. I have been troubled to 

 answer this question. We claim this to be 

 one of the best sections for honey in the 

 world. In Germany as many as 2,000 colo- 

 nies are kept to the square mile, while we 

 think 500 to the square mile is too many. 

 Take one apiary of 150 colonies and get 

 their yield ; then take another out of your 

 range, and see if it does any better with less 

 bees ? 1 thought I was overstocked because 

 I did not get what I thought I ought to. D. 

 D. Palmer had a low yield this year, 

 but his neighbor, with less bees did no 

 better. Your bees that only get a little, 

 would do better if you only had half as 

 many. 



Geo. Bischoff. A square mile in Germany 

 is as much as 24 square miles here. 



E. D. Godfrey. I should think by this 

 year's report that we are all overstocked. 



O. Clute. Small apiaries get no more 



honey than large ones of 100 or 200 colonies. 

 Some who have the largest number in one 

 place sometimes get as much per colony as 

 any with a less number. As long as the 

 pasturage is good, we get as much from a 

 large number as from small lots. The sea- 

 son in Canada, this year has been very good 

 and large crops are reported. 



Purity in Breeding. 



Question : Are Italian queens reared by 

 black bees, as pure as those reared by Ital- 

 ian bees ? 



E. D. Godfrey. I do not think it will have 

 any effect at all. 



O. Clute. I think all experimenters say 

 that the feeding of young Italian queens by 

 black bees does not in any way effect the 

 nature of the Italian bee. They compare 

 it to the same principal of one hen hatching 

 another hen's eggs. 



Thos. Dunn. I got an Italian colony last 

 fall ; divided them, put a frame of brood in 

 a black colony, and the queen reared there 

 is a lighted one than the old Italian queen. 



Eggs Producing Queens and Workers. 



Question : Are eggs that produce a queen 

 and a worker the same ? Is it not the food 

 that develops the queen ? 



A. Reynolds. One egg is put horizontally 

 the other perpendicularly ; I think this makes 

 some difference. 



O. Clute. There is no question but that 

 the amount of food and room given makes 

 the difference in the development of the 

 queen or worker bee. 



Ripening of Honey. 



Question : If, during a honey season, the 

 honey be extracted from a hive every two 

 or three days, will such honey ripen or be- 

 come thick ? 



Geo. Bischoff. I can see no difference 

 between sealed or unsealed. I extracted 

 some last fall ; in two weeks it was candied 

 like lard. 



Will. M. Kellogg. I have extracted such 

 honey and could see no difference as to 

 quality, where it was allowed to stand for 

 some time in jars covered with cloth and 

 board, so that the air could circulate freely. 

 If canned up, I think it would sour. 



O. Clute. In reading the various bee peri- 

 odicals I find that some bee-keepers extract 

 every three or four days. In California it is 

 put in large reservoirs and drawn off from 

 the bottom and it is said their honey ripens 

 perfectly. It is also done in the East. This 

 question has a very important bearing. If 

 we can extract every three or four days, we 

 can get a much larger yield. 



Geo. Bischoff. 1 think the weather makes 

 much difference. In hot weather uncapped 

 honey looks foamy ; I do not think such 

 honey would keep. 



D. Rider. Have extracted 1,010 lbs. from 

 20 two-story hives, 10 frames to each story ; 

 those on the top had been extracted the fall 

 before, and contained very white comb, we 

 put some of these on top during our large 

 honey flow, and soon found the queen up 

 there, which induced the bees to climb up 

 and store a great amount of honey. It was 

 all capped over in a short time : in one week 

 1 extracted twice, and it was all sealed. 



