ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



37 



A Member: The quality is fine. 

 About as fine as I have procured for 

 our market. I have customers that 

 prefer it to any other Icind of honey 

 that I can get. And the heartsease, 

 they call it spring honey when it is 

 fall honey. 



Question No. 3. 



Is it safe to feed bees sour honey in 

 the spring for a stimulating brooder? 



Dr. Miller: In the spring when bees 

 can fly daily it is safe to feed them 

 anything they take. It is very different 

 than feeding for winter use. 



Question No. 4. 



What is the best way to cut sec- 

 tion foundation? 



Mr. Lee: I think the best way is 

 to have the pieces cut at the same 

 time they are placed in the section. 



Mr. York: "What machine is it? 



Mr. Lee: I made it myself. I got 

 the idea from that machine that Mc- 

 Carthy made. Instead of that founda- 

 tion being carried outwards and cut- 

 ting holes in the foundation pieces be- 

 tween two runners I make the founda- 

 tion myself eight or ten feet long. 



The Chairman: Dr. Miller, will you 

 please tell us how you do? 



Dr. Miller: I take the strips, I think, 

 fifteen and one -half inches long, and 

 I use both top and bottom starters, 

 and the same strip will be cut into 

 part top and part bottom an 

 equal number of each. And 

 I have a frame to lay over. I put 

 two bars seven inches deep of those 

 strips of foundation, that is, of the 

 fourteen feet. You can take a differ- 

 ent number but that is a convenient 

 number, and put them side by side, 

 seven feet, for this form rises over it 

 with little strips against it. I use my 

 knife, as that is very much easier. 



It is a little after the style of a 

 miter box. I could very quickly show 

 you. 



It is simply a number of strips at 

 the proper distance apart and two 

 strips crosswise, and that is laid on 

 top of the foundation, and that gives 

 the right size. 



In cutting it I use a common knife, a 

 pocket knife part of the time or a 

 casing knife. A casing knife is good 

 for cutting across so as to have a sharp 

 angle. Some cuts we cut clear through 

 the whole thing. 



Mr. York: Perhaps some would like 

 to know the depth of the starters at 

 the top and bottom. What is the 

 width of each? 



Dr. Miller: I don't know. 



Mr. York: Well, the lower ones? 



Dr. Miller: The foundation inside 

 is about four inches deep, and not 

 quite four inches wide, a space 

 of about one-eighth (%) of an inch 

 at the bottom starter and five-eighths 

 (%) of an inch at the top. 



Mr. Pyle: I was the person who 

 wrote that question. I thought some- 

 body would gain information from that. 



Some men say, I take a strip and 

 cut a strip at a time. 



I just take a pound of foundation. 

 Take a sharp casing knife that has a 

 rough edge and put the knife in water 

 and they will never stick together, 

 and you can pack them up and let 

 them lay several years with paper be- 

 tween and they will never stick. Take 

 a sharp casing knife, put it in water 

 and it will cut nice and clean. 



Dr. Miller: Cut with the paper be- 

 tween the parts? 



Mr. Pyle: Yes, sir. 



Dr. Miller: When using the little 

 sections ? 



Mr. Pyle: It does not stick if cut 

 with the cold, rough knife. 



Question No. 5. 



How would you advise a beginner to 

 start in the bee business? 



Dr. Miller: Not very long ago I 

 was asked the question whether it 

 would do to start just with buying a 

 queen. I said it would not. 



Mr. Moore: I would suggest that the 

 best way would be to get a few good 

 bees and a good bee journal and a , 

 good number of good bee papers. Take | 

 one colony of bees and by steady work- ' 

 ing with them and by natural increase 

 he would have all he would want. 



Mr. Pyle: I received an answer of ' 

 Dr. Miller years ago stating, get two 

 or three bee books and a bee journal 

 and read them two or three years 

 and then a smoker, and then start the 

 bee business. 



Mr. Moore: I think he needs a little 

 actual experience along with the jour- 

 nal. 



Question No. 6. 



What kind of bees are the best to 

 start with? 



