ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



141 



iMr. DTiff — I would say they are a 

 little better than the average, some of 

 them. I don't think, so far as I can 

 judge, they are as good, but almost as 

 good; very nearly as good; I will be 

 able to tell more about it next year 



Mr. Wheeler — I wasi wondering how 

 long you have been requeening from 

 this queen. 



Mr. Dufe— 'This year, from 40 to 50. 

 Of course I have reared previously 

 6, 8 or 10, but none have ever turned 

 out as good as she did. 



I don't know from whom Mr. York 

 got this queen. 



iPres. York — I think I know where 

 she came from. 



Mr. Smith — Mr. York told me where 

 she came from. I wrote to that breed- 

 er and he said he had nothing over 3 

 years old. This queen was an acci- 

 dent. That is, she wasi purchased from 

 a good queen-breeder, and has been 

 kept all these years, and that isi how 

 the queen has been discovered. 



Mr. Saxe — Don't you think you might 

 get a queen like that; and not get an- 

 other? I remember one time when I 

 was a boy, I had the finest pointer dog 

 he was as smooth and slick a pointer 

 there was in our country; he was an 

 offspring from a setter and a pointer; 

 as you ever saw. We bred him to an- 

 other pointer, and that other one was 

 partly setter and partly pointer. I 

 think in bees it is the same. Is there 

 anything in constantly breeding from 

 the same drones in the same yard, or, 

 rather, is it better to breed from some 

 onther yard? iSome of the finest stock 

 we have in the world are inbred stock, 

 but they don't average that way 



Mr. Fuller — About future breeding of 

 these long-lived queens, with reference 

 to the effect of the drone on the life of 

 the progeny of this queen, I would like 

 to ask this question — 



Mr. Smith — I will state my object in 

 asking for these long-lived queens. It 

 was so I could have drones from long- 

 lived queens to mate with queens that 

 corae from long-lived stock. I have 

 arranged with all the bee-keepers 

 within two miles of me that I know. I 

 live in the city, in a very thickly 

 settled portion of the city, near a park 

 of 60O acres, and my bees get all their 

 honey from that park, practically. 

 The bee-kQepers have agreed to trap 

 all of their drones — keep traps on their 

 hives all summer, if I will rear some 



drones from these long-lived queens. 

 I have a theory that I evolved from 

 the study of all the efforts I have 

 heard of, with regard to mating queens, 

 and it is this: 



I have four walls, 40 feet high. I am 

 going to put my queen colonies with 

 virgin queens in on the ground. I have 

 yet to determine where I will put the 

 drones, but somewhere between the 

 ground and 40 feet high. I don't ex- 

 pect to have any queens in my yard 

 under 4 or 5 years old. I believe when 

 the queen goes out to take her wedding 

 flight that she will mate with some of 

 those drones, especially if there are 

 none other within 2 or 3 miles. Whether 

 that succeeds or not, I don't know; it 

 has to be tried out. It is going to cost 

 something. I shall offer no queens for 

 sale until I know in reason that it 

 works, and then probably not offer 

 them for sale, for I doubt if the bee- 

 keepers throughout the country would 

 pay me for the time and trouble that 

 it would take to purchase queens in 

 that way. 



There is one man who has a queen 

 that he has advertised' very largely; 

 he says she is 4 years oldi, and not for 

 sale. The best I could do with him was 

 to make a contract to furnish me a 

 few dozen virgin queens that I intend 

 to put into my yard and let them mate 

 witJhi those drones, I don't know whether 

 I can come to an agreement with Mr. 

 Duff to get the use of that queen to 

 rear drones or not. If I think more of 

 her than he does, I will get her, pro- 

 vided I can raise the price. 



Dr. DufC — I think I will keep that 

 queen as a "keep-sake." You are en- 

 tirely w^elcome to what larvae you want 

 from her. ■ 



:, Weak Colony. 



"When shall a colony be called 

 weak?" 



Mr. Wilcox — A weak colony is one 

 that has less quality than they ought 

 ±0 have at that particular season of the 

 year. I use the word "weak" and 

 "strong" with reference to the number 

 of bees in the colony. 



Sour Honey to Feed to Bees. 



"Can sour honey be used as bee- 

 food?" 



Mr. Wilcox — Yes, if not too sour; the 

 spring is the best time of the year. 



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