President Hoot. The reason why the 

 queens reared in full colonies are better, 

 is that such a colony must be an extra 

 good one, and must afford all the essen- 

 tials for rearing a good queen. The egg 

 deposited is exactly the same, and it is 

 hatched just the same as if the bee is a 

 worker. There are persons who say they 

 can rear a better queen by supplying 

 only eggs and the larvae, and these get 

 more attention in this way than when 

 there are other bees. I do not believe 

 tins. We should breed when there is 

 a flush of feed, and in the swarming 

 season. There is a reason for later 

 •queens being good. We can get our 

 stock purer in this way. We make a 

 colony queenless and the drones are de- 

 stroyed. If our queens are reared late 

 in the season, when it is colder, that is 

 against them. I do not believe it makes 

 any difference whether the egg is depos- 

 ited in the cell for the queen or not. 



Mr. Betsinger. A double-handful of 

 bees in a small box will rear a queen 

 just as well in the summer. I have 

 known of queen cells being built 

 outside the hive— on the under side. 

 This was done with the thermometer at 

 90°. Queens reared artificially, I can 

 prove, are just as good as those reared 

 naturally. Take a hive with a dozen or 

 more queen cells, and graft in these nat- 

 ural cells ; under what condition would 

 these be raised — natural or artificial ? 

 They would ordinarily have been work- 

 ers. There can be no difference in the 

 result. Queens, naturally, are reared in 

 3 or 4 weeks ; artificially, they are reared 

 in a much longer time. 



Keeping Comb Honey. 



Mr. Waters. What is the best mode. 

 •of keeping box honey after taking from 

 the hive, whether in the dark or light, 

 whether cold or warm V 



Mr. Betsinger. My experience has 

 been to lead me to keep honey in a warm 

 place. I never let the temperature go 

 below 80°. From 90° to 95° is about 

 right. I keep the honey in a dark room , 

 as it keeps it lighter colored. Keeping 

 honey in a warm room makes it thicker 

 and heavier. I do not care if every 

 cell is unsealed, the honey will become 

 so thick that it will not run out. When 

 the temperature goes below 60° the 

 honey gathers moisture, and is thin. 



Mr. Alexander. I prefer keeping 

 honey in a dark warm room, but not as 

 hot as Mr. Betsinger advocates. 



Mr. House. The higher the tempera- 

 ture is kept, the heavier, thicker and 

 less liable to break, the honey becomes. 

 £ keep my honey in a warm room on the 

 south side of the building. Honey 

 needs a pretty high temperature to cure 



well. It will be better flavored and 

 keep better in a warm room. 



Mr. Waters. The greatest trouble is 

 with the moth worm where kept warm. 



Mr. House. Some writers claim that 

 honey should be brimstoned. I am not 

 in favor of this. After taking out your 

 honey, put it in a room where the mil- 

 lers cannot get at it, and you do not 

 need brimstone. It injures the flavor 

 of the honey to use brimstone. Italian 

 bees will not allow millers to get in. 

 Natives allow millers to get into the 

 brood-chamber. 



Mr. Betsinger. The miller is in the 

 comb. A little brimstone is necessary. 

 I put it under the honey which stands 

 two feet four inches from the floor. Put a 

 piece of tin under the honey to prevent 

 the honey or house catching fire. After 

 lighting the brimstone, shut the doors, 

 and leave it 24 hours. Treat the honey 

 thus every 4 weeks. Do not use too much 

 brimstone. No definite amount can be 

 given. The amount must be determined 

 by experience. By treating honey thus 

 you can keep it almost forever. 



The President. Has Mr. Betsinger had 

 any bad effects from over-heating V 



Mr. Betsinger. Only from founda- 

 tion comb. This will crumble at 135 , 

 where natural comb will stand. 



The President. I had intended to 

 bring with me a box of honey placed in 

 a warm room, and cured too rapidly. 

 There is no question that the honey was 

 injured. I am not in favor of very 

 warm rooms. In my judgment we 

 want a moderately cool room. I think 

 the largest honey raisers do not prefer 

 warm rooms. I am not an advocate of 

 brimstone. It is not often that I find it 

 necessary. Mr. House's experience is 

 that of very many of our best bee-keep- 

 ers. Such boxes as seem to be affected 

 should be kept away from the rest. I 

 should prefer a moderately warm and 

 very dry room. Mr. Hetherington who 

 raises honey by the ton, does not find it 

 necessary to use brimstone. If we use 

 a very warm room, we shall be obliged 

 to use brimstone. 



Mr. Snow. Boxes that contain any- 

 thing darker than ordinary honey, I put 

 away, and use brimstone on. I keep 

 my honev up stairs, with a wire screen 

 at the window. It is dry and warm. 



Mr. Betsinger to the President. It 

 makes no difference how white the 

 combs, are about the moths hatching. 

 Of course they will hatch quiekerwhere 

 there is pollen. Mr. Root objects to 

 keeping honey in a warm temperature. 

 but does not state his objections. He 

 knows, however, that the temperature 

 best for bees, from ii7 'to 102 . is best for 

 honey. Imitate nature. 



