L. H. Scudder. We cannot follow Cali- 

 fornia ; they have no rain fall there to pre- 

 vent working ; it is dry here, with occa- 

 sional rains ; their honey becomes very 

 thick, our's contains more water. Let ns 

 try experiments next season for ourselves. 

 In California they try to get over all their 

 colonies once a week. It has been said that 

 it is not safe to extract till it is all capped, 

 and many dislike to own that they do it. 



E. C. Crane. The first sections I took off 

 last year I put in the cellar ; in four weeks 

 some of it was sour and not tit to sell. My 

 extracted honey did not candy tili March. 

 That extracted last June and July is already 

 candying. I have honey that was extracted 

 all at one time, one jar candied, the other 

 not. I think that from old dark comb it 

 candies first. 



L. H. Scudder. Were those combs all 

 empty and put on at the same time ? 



E. C. Crane. Nearly so. 



L. H. Scudder. The honey might have 

 been gathered from different sources. 



The Best Age for Queens. 



Question : To what age may a queen be 

 profitably kept? 



E. D. Godfrey. Until this year, when a 

 colony did not give me 25 lbs. of surplus, I 

 pinched the queen's head off, but if I were 

 to follow that plan this year, I would only 

 have 2 queens left. I would not keep them 

 over two years. 



E. C. Crane. I much prefer young queens. 



O. Clute. I think they have the capacity 

 of laying a certain quantity of eggs. Hens 

 are created to lay about a certain number 

 of eggs, and poultry men try to get all these 

 eggs in two years. Is not this also true in 

 regard to bees ? Queens can lay about 2,000 

 eggs per day. If we can persuade the 

 queen to lay all her eggs in two years, it 

 would be much better. As soon as bees can 

 fly in the spring I would feed two to four 

 tablespoonfulls every day, in order to getthe 

 colonies strong for the first harvest and the 

 queen laying to her full capacity. Stop 

 feeding when honey flows, and begin again 

 when the flow ceases. I would keep the 

 queens laying by stimulating, during the 

 whole season when no honey flows. 



D. Rider. In feeding bees early, is there 

 not danger of the young brood being killed 

 by frost? Have had that experience this, 

 year. 1 generally feed in a large reservoir 

 behind the hives. 



O. Clute. I think Mr. Rider is right. In 

 a sudden change to cold weather much 

 brood might be injured. I think the bee- 

 keeper of the future will use the chaff hive, 

 which gives a warm dry nest for the bees. 

 Any change after the last of March or the 

 first of April, causes no danger in these 

 hives. 



E. D. Godfrey. I do not think it neces- 

 sary to feed to promote brood rearing if the 

 bees are properly protected and wintered. 

 If they have plenty of honey and it is 

 desired to feed, uncap some of it. 



O. Clute. There seems to be a large 

 amount of testimony given in favor of 

 stimulative feeding to promote breeding, in 

 foreign countries as well as at home. The 

 general weight of testimony is in favor of 

 it. 



Feeding Bees. 



Question : Will it pay to feed bees now 

 to winter them over ? 



0. Clute. If one has a fair quantity of 

 bees, enough to winter if they had food 

 enough, a feed made of % water, % sugar, 

 would be good, 15 lbs. of sugar costing $1.50 

 would make 20 lbs. of feed which ought to 

 keep a colony through. I think it will pay. 



L. H. Scuddtr. 1 have kept bees through 

 the winter in a cellar with 5 lbs. of honey ; 

 after they are taken out they consume more. 

 I had better success with such than heavier 

 ones. Have had sugar granulate in combs 

 and feeder. I think sugar syrup ought to 

 be well boiled. The different kind of sugar 

 used must determine the amount of water 

 required. 



Paul Lange. With the Langstroth hive 

 on the winter stand, how would you feed 

 during winter ? 



L. H. Scudder. You cannot feed in the 

 winter, it is too much trouble. 



E. D. Godfrey. I fed 5 barrels of sugar 

 one fall, 18 lbs of sugar to 1 gallon of water. 

 One quart of syrup makes 2 lbs. when 

 sealed in the comb. For summer feed 

 would use % water. 



D. Rider. I have wintered on 10 lbs. and 

 less. If you want to winter well, feed in 

 the fall ; make a pretty thick syrup, use a 

 large reservoir behind, back from the apiary, 

 out of doors. There are but few bees of 

 other persons near me. We always equalize 

 our colonies before feeding. In less than a 

 half mile a molasses factory was started, I 

 was losing many bees, I fed as much as 20 

 gallons a day of thick syrup, it kept my bees 

 at home and did not start them at robbing. 

 I kept the entrances nearly closed. 



L. H. Scudder. 1 think you cannot do a 

 worse thing than to give bees honey in the 

 open air. They are more eager for comb 

 honey than extracted. I prefer to feed with 

 combs of honey from stronger colonies. 



D. Rider. This year it was dangerous to 

 open a hive on account of robbers and I had 

 to resort to outside feeding. I have fed 

 comb honey the same way. 



L. H. Scudder. I desired to do some ex- 

 tracting but the robbers pitched in, and got 

 very thick. 1 use a portico hive and in 

 moving, I cover these porticos with wire 

 screens. I put these wire screens on the 

 hives before I began to extract. The rob- 

 bers got into the hive, and 1 closed it up and 

 went on to the next ; the robbers would get 

 their fill of honey and try to get out. After 

 the bees got the loose honey taken care of 

 in the hive, they were ready to fight, and 

 took good care of the robbers. I then took 

 off the wire. I can work all day and have 

 no trouble, even at this time of year. 



E. D. Godfrey. I prevent robbers from 

 working at such times by smoking every 

 colony in the yard. 



Feeding Flour. 



Question : Is it advisable to use rye flour 

 in the spring ? 



Geo. Bischoff. My bees are very fond of 

 it ; they got so that they looked for it every 

 time I came into the yard. Some think it 

 is injurious. 



H. Brown. 1 have never fed rye ; I take 



