OJ 



SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



our folks took a single frame. They 

 reared queens from a single frame. 

 The 20th century idea .is that the best 

 colony is none too good for rearing 

 queens. Beginners would better not 

 try to rear queens until they have 

 settled warm weather and great big 

 strong prosperous colonies to get them 

 from. 



Mr. Dadant: If you have plenty of 

 bees in a small hive you could then 

 rear a good queen. If you can get 

 such a large number of bees concen- 

 trated on that one patch so that they 

 TV-ill feed the queen with enough royal 

 jelly, you can reaf a good queen from 

 a small colony, if crowded. 



Dr. Miller: One of the things that 

 I have had to fight about within the 

 last few years was the saving of the 

 life of any queen reared early in the 

 season. Sometimes a colony will rear 

 a queen in April. My own judgment 

 is that the proper thing to do is to 

 take off the queen's head. My assist- 

 ant says, "Let them try." Miss Wil- 

 son, how many times have we gained 

 anything by saving life? 



Miss Wilson: Not many. 



Mr. Wheeler: You are not alone in 

 that. I have women at my house. 

 They are always sorry to see a queen's 

 head come off. 



Dr. Miller: You can rear a queen 

 3 weeks before swarming time by put- 

 ting 10 colonies together, but I don't 

 want queens reared from that kind of 

 a colony. 



Mr. Dadant: "Why? 



Dr. Miller: I don't know. You want 

 all favorable conditions. Nectar must 

 be coming in. You can feed, but not 

 as well as to have the nectar coming. 

 You must have warm weather. How 

 many think you can rear good queens 

 S weeks before the time that bees will 

 naturally swarm — in this latitude? 

 How many think that good queens can 

 be reared before the middle of May? 

 (3.) How many think good queens 

 can not be reared before the middle of 

 May? (6.) The middle of May is 

 different in different years. 



Mr. Kimmey: I had a very good 

 queen two years ago. 



Mr. Taylor: Can a good queen ever 

 be reared 'before the middle of May? 



Unanimously, "Yes." 



that question. I have been called by 

 the Legislature, or rather by the com- 

 mittees of the Legislature, to advise on 

 the matter of foul brood, if it is con- 

 tagious. I was with the secretary of 

 the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation. The member of the Leg- 

 islative committee held in his hand 

 a letter which he had received 

 in which it was said that bee- 

 keepers will be injured by a foul 

 brood law because the inspector 

 will burn the colonies, and the supply- 

 dealers will sell more goods. He did 

 not give the letter writer's name. In 

 the afternoon we went back and gave 

 the name, as we thought it was. The 

 letter was opened and that was the 

 name. 



Bee-Space or Quilts Over Frames. 



"Is a bee-space over the frames next 

 to the cover preferable to the use of 

 quilts there ?" 



12 said "Yes," and 2. "No." 



Objections to Foul Brood Laws. 



"What is feared by those who object 

 to a foul brood law?" 



Mr. Dadant: I would like to answer 



Learning About Bees. 



"What have you learned this year 

 in keeping bees that is any good?" 



Dr. Miller: I don't know. How 

 many think you have learned some- 

 thing this year that is any good? (3.) 



Mr. Taylor: I don't know as it is 

 very new. But it is new to me. Often 

 there is a great deal of question as 

 to how to keep down increase of col- 

 onies. When a swarm issued I shook 

 out all the bees from the combs and 

 set the frames on weak colonies with 

 a board between. This is good. 



Mr. Chapman: I have learned some- 

 thing new to me. Heretofore I have 

 taken extracted honey off the hive and 

 extracted immediately. This year I 

 took my honey off with bee-escapes 

 and set the honey away until late in 

 the fall, and at my convenience I ex- 

 tracted. I kept the honey in a warm 

 room. 



Mr. Wilcox: I used to store honey 

 until fall before extracting, but I don't 

 now. Y'ou can store it a little while; 

 but it is likely to granulate, especially 

 in unsealed combs. It is advsiable not 

 to store it, especially in the fall. 



Mr. Wheeler: Did Mr. Wilcox use 

 bee-escapes 25 years ago? 



Mr. W^ilcox: I used them as soon 

 as described in the bee-periodicals. I 

 don't use them now. 



"What have you learned to avoid?" 



Mr. Dadant: We have learned to 

 avoid discouragements, because in most 

 discouraging seasons we are closer to 



