ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



107 



sion, that I have kept bees for 17 years. 

 I started with one colony; never have 

 gotten any outside blood in my apiary, 

 and from that one colony I now have, 

 of the original strain, 11 colonies of 

 bees. I have never had an afterswarm. 

 I have been in a location where we 

 always had plenty of honey. The least 

 amount of honey that I ever had was 

 30 pounds to the colony; the most was 

 70 pounds; and right here in Cook 

 County. I believe that I have a strain 

 of bees that are considerably non- 

 swarming. From what I have heard of 

 afterswarms and such matters here in 

 convention, I have always considered 

 that I must have been very fortunate 

 to have had a non-swarming strain of 

 bees to start with. 



Mr. Wilcox — I asked that question, 

 because I wanted to know, and not be- 

 cause I knew as much as the rest; but 

 I have studied it for 20 years. I know 

 something about it, and I agree pretty 

 nearly with Dr. Miller, that there is a 

 little in the hereditary tendency, but 

 not enough to rely upon it altogether; 

 that it is possible that the Caucasians 

 may be more inclined to swarm than 

 some other races or strains, but, after 

 all, there is evidence on both sides. I 

 have noticed, some seasons, when I pro- 

 duced comb honey, in examining my 

 hives, that the colonies all started queen- 

 cells at about the same date. I have 

 gone through my apiary and found al- 

 most every colony preparing to swarm 

 at the same time. Now the question 

 was, whether they contemplated the sea- 

 son and what was coming, and prepared 

 for it, or what would cause them all to 

 take that notion at the same time. I 

 then reached the conclusion it was the 

 hatching period, and the prospect of a 

 honey-flow, or something of that kind. 

 There is a good deal there worth con- 

 sidering. I have, however, had some 

 colonies that did not swarm, never 

 swarmed, and I don't know whether I 

 could make them swarm or not. I 

 never tried to. But they didn't. They 

 were prolific and good honey-producers. 

 I followed the queen up in one particu- 

 lar case. I had an excellent crop of 

 honey and the bees never swarmed, and 

 her progeny — as I reared queens from 

 them — was not inclined to swarm. So 

 there is something in that hereditary 

 tendency, but how much I would not 

 care to say. I want to know more 

 about it. I know that I can prevent 

 an apiary from excessive swarming, in 



comb or extracted honey, by giving 

 them surplus room and good ventilation 

 a little before they are ready for that 

 — a little too soon rather than too late 

 — and giving them shade, plenty of it, 

 will check the swarming impulse very 

 much. 



Mr. Meredith — While bees may be 

 bred to a certain extent non-swarming, 

 possibly the same relation may apply to 

 bees as does to poultry. The Mediter- 

 ranean class, including Leghorns, as we 

 usually keep them, are non-sitters, but 

 if they have their own way, where they 

 can go out into the brush and lay their 

 eggs, I think that they will have the 

 sitting fever the same as any other 

 breed of chickens; and I think, possibly, 

 that same rule might apply to bees that 

 if they get back to their natural rock 

 cavities, or logs, they will swarm just 

 the same as ever. 



Using Quilts Over Frames. 



"Are quilts worth enough to bother 

 with?" 



Mr. Wilcox — What do they mean by 

 "quilts?" 



Mr. Chapman — Covering for the 

 frames in the hive. 



Mr. Wilcox — An enameled cloth is 

 not a quilt for covering the frames. 

 That is used for another purpose. A 

 quilt is used to prevent the heat from 

 escaping at the top, and an enameled 

 cloth is used to prevent the cover from 

 sticking. I used to use the enameled 

 cloth, and I have tried a good many 

 times to use a board, but it causes me 

 more trouble than it is worth, so I con- 

 tinue to use the enameled cloth. 



Dr. Miller — Allow me to suggest that 

 there are three alternatives in that. 

 One is the quilt, another is the enameled 

 cloth, the other is to use the naked 

 frames ; and it might be worth while, 

 instead of discussing the matter, just to 

 take a vote on that, how many prefer 

 the naked frame. 



Pres. York — How many prefer the 

 enameled cloth, just raise your hands? 

 5. How many prefer quilts, raise your 

 hands? None. How many the naked 

 frames, without anything over them? 12. 



Mr. Whitney — It would depend upon 

 what that quilt is used for. I would, 

 prefer a quilt for certain purposes. I 

 do not know the difference between the 

 enameled cloth and the board, because 

 I use the enameled cloth and I know 

 nothing about the other. But I use 



.-ss^a&^j^^!!^!^^ 



::nii&Hi£^^ .V. 



.'.'^._ .._ 



