ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



53 



our program was long. We lacked 

 time. 



1906 HONEY CROP IN TEXAS. 



"How many carloads of honey did 

 Texas produce this season?" 



Pres. Dadant — That is a question for 

 our Texas bee-keepers to answer. I 

 would like to hear from them. 



Mr. Victor — Texas did not have a 

 heavy crop this year.. I think it was all 

 shipped locally, and it would be hard 

 to say exactly. Some seasons we ship 

 a good many carloads, but I did not 

 try to make an estimate this year. Pos- 

 sibly Mr. Toepperwein could give us 

 the information. 



Mr. Toepperwein — Mr. Atwater is up 

 on this. He can tell us. 



M!r. Atwater — I can hardly answer 

 the question, because the season is not 

 quite over yet. I think at the close 

 of the season we will make a very 

 good report. 



FEEDING QUEEN -LARVAE. 



"How long do bees feed the larva 

 before the queen-cell is sealed? Does 

 the age of the larva have anything to 

 do with it?" 



H. Piper — I would like to say that in 

 Texas it takes only 4 days. Then again, 

 the age of the larva has something to 

 do with it. If 1 use a larva over 4 

 days, it does not take so long. 



Mr. Dadant — Mr. Root, let us hear 

 " from you on this subject. 



H. H. Root — These queen-breeders 

 can answer this question better than I. 



Mr. Victor — I don't like to talk on 

 every subject. I think, though, in a 

 matter of this kind, it would be as the 

 first gentleman said. It is from the 

 time the larva hatches, or until it is 

 sealed as a queen. I would say from 

 the time it hatches from the egg into 

 the larva would be between sVi and 

 6 days, and usually about 4^ days 

 after it is transferred from the queen- 

 cell before it is sealed over. 



J. E. Chambers — I wish to say that 

 my experience is limited. I find that 

 a larva is used from 12 to 14 hours. 



Progress in Getting Better- Natured 

 Bees. 



"Has there been any real progress in 

 getting better-natured bees within the 

 last ten years?" 



Mr. France — I think there has been 

 progress in the bee-keeper being better- 



natured in handhng the bee. 



Mr. Hilton — There is no question in 

 my mind but there has been progress. 

 The bee-keepers do not retrograde, and 

 they either advance or else they do 

 retrograde as do all institutions, and 

 from that standpoint I say there has 

 been progress. I know that I got good 

 results by introducing new blood into 

 the apiary annually. It is one of the 

 best investments a man can make, con- 

 sequently I answer in the affirmative, 

 that there has been progress made in 

 the bettering of the nature of our 

 queens and bees in the last ten years, 

 in accordance with the question asked. 



Mr. Aten — I do not believe they have. 

 I believe the gentleman was just talk- 

 ing about the people, that some people 

 get better blood amongst their black 

 bees, but I cannot see that the new 

 blood they are introducing is as good 

 as the bees we had ten years ago. 



Mr. Hilton — I certainly take excep- 

 tions to the gentleman's stand, and I 

 say that we do get more gentle bees by 

 introducing new strains of gentle blood, 

 and I am sure I can bring to. bear the 

 experience of other men that have in- 

 troduced a more gentle strain. I am 

 glad the gentleman called me out, I 

 like discussions, and it is good for us; 

 it is good for us to dwell together in 

 harmony while there is harmony in 

 good, honest discussion, and there is in- 

 formation, and there are those of us 

 who have come 2,000 miles that don't 

 care to go home with empty minds, but 

 we may go home with empty pockets. 

 I want to say that I have been taught 

 something while here. 



Mr. Adkins — I beheve that the intro- 

 duction of new blood has made our bees 

 better-natured. I was not a bee-keeper 

 20 years ago, but I heard my neighbors 

 talk about bees, and they said my bees 

 were gentle compared to those that they 

 had then. 



Mr. Aten — I differ from those gentle- 

 men in this way: I say that I had just 

 as gentle bees ten years ago as I have 

 today; I say there were just as gentle 

 bees in the United States as I have 

 today, and I will stick to that. 



Mr. Coggshall — Mr. President, my ex- 

 perience has been that my bees have 

 been crosser by every blood that I have 

 introduced. I have had bees from dif- 

 ferent queen-breeders, and I take it no 

 better blood. 



Mr. Parsons — I can see, as I under- 



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