ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



39 



and start with the wrong hive, but 

 you can understand what hive to get 

 from your neighbor bee-keeper if he is 

 keeping them. 



I don't believe in starting in by get- 

 ting hogs, sheep, cattle or anything 

 you start to raising and go in on a 

 large scale. I believe in going in on 

 a small scale and getting the practice, 

 and you are much surer not to make a 

 mistake than if you go in larger. 



Dr. Miller: Supposing a man comes 

 and says, "I will get some bees next 

 spring," would you advise him to get 

 the bee books? 



Mr. Stone: No, sir. How can any- 

 one understand what he reads till he 

 has some practice? I would have to go 

 right to the book again. I don't think 

 any person has a perfect memory of 

 what he reads. 



I wouldn't advise anyone to go 

 into it very largely and depend on 

 making a specialty of it till they have 

 worked large enough to have out-api- 

 aries. I don't know a successful spe- 

 cialist that has just one apiary. He 

 has to have a good many and know 

 how to use them before I would advise 

 a specialty. 



Mr. Spracklen: My experience in 

 bee culture comes from personal ex- 

 perience. When I started I got a 

 nucleus with a queen and from that 

 I have run to one hundred and seventy- 

 five (175). A year ago I had qHiite a 

 loss. In July and August they starved. 

 I was sick and they used all the honey 

 and I lost about sixty (60) stands of 

 bees. 



My advice is to get a good hive, one 

 that you can rely on, and stay with it. 

 I am bothered myself with two-styled 

 hives. I first used the improved sim- 

 plicity top bar, it is only fourteen and 

 one-half (14%) inches long. I have 

 found out it is a mistake and quite a 

 job to change from that to a longer 

 one, although I use both I shall discard 

 the top bar. I got too much experi- 

 ence, but I think the journal and bee 

 book of the standard would be what he 

 would need and some Italian bees. 



Mr. Hartmann: I was the one who 

 asked the question and a great many 

 different opinions have been given to 

 me. I have been recommended to the 

 A, B, C Book. We have heard a great 

 deal about good hives. What is best 

 to one man is not best to another. 

 This brother on my right says he has 

 all kinds. Some say mixed bees do 



better than just one kind. If mixed 

 bees do better, why not have them? 

 This brother said he would not keep 

 the Italian bees long before they would 

 be mixed. 



Mr. Moore: The A, B, C Book is the 

 best book for a man to study. There 

 are other good bee books, but I would 

 advise all men to get the A, B, C Book. 



Dr. Miller's Forty Years Among the 

 Bees is a good book. A man needs 

 considerable experience. And use the 

 Langstroth hive with the Hoffman 

 brood frame made the L size and 

 eight (8) for comb honey and ten (10) 

 for extracted. 



Dr. Miller: Of the different frames 

 I have tried the Hoifman staple spaced 

 and the Dancenbaker, I like the Hoff- 

 man spaced frame better. I have had 

 several sets of frames. I bought bees 

 in from others. 



I would advise a beginner to get a 

 Hoffman frame and a Langstroth hive. 

 You can get them from any firm. I 

 expect there are dozens of factories 

 that make them. Far as the bee pa- 

 pers are concerned, I take the three 

 papers today, and I wouldn't miss any 

 of them. 



I think Mr. York's paper for a be- 

 ginner is the best and it contains more 

 for a beginner than a paper published 

 for those more advanced. The other 

 papers are good, though. 



Mr. York: I would like to ask Mr. 

 Moore regarding the staple spaced 

 frame, would it separate? 



Mr. Holekamp: Where a person is 

 working for extracted honey, any frame 

 that has a high edge is all right, for 

 often he wants to use the same frame 

 in the super as in the chamber. 



Now, I am using the Hoffman frame, 

 but I have got all kinds of frames. I 

 bought all kinds, and I am trying to 

 get them out of the way, and I am 

 getting them out. 



For the body chamber I prefer the 

 Hoffman frame. When I want to take 

 them to the apiaries they do not fall 

 together in the hive and mix the comb. 

 For extracting I like a narrow frame, 

 otherwise a frame and bars of the 

 same size, because it is so- much easier 

 to uncap. The Hoffman frame is not 

 so hard, but when they ^re to a ten 

 (10) frame hive it is very difficult to 

 uncap them, but all around I would 

 advise the Hoffman frame. If it is 

 difficult, it can be uncapped without 

 spoiling the knife in doing the work. 



