ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KHEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



103 



together, I would not be able to take 

 care of my bees; with those double- 

 walled hives and naats that I 

 use, it is very easy to pack 

 them quite securely, and in such 

 a way that they will winter well. 

 We know that the bees in winter-time 

 will eat from below up. When it is 

 twenty degrees below zero, how are 

 they going to get over to the other 

 combs unless they can go above? Yoii 

 take the temperature of a hive of bees 

 in cold weather, the heat is from above 

 and they have to go over above if 

 they get over at all. Lay a small stick 

 of wood one-half inch in diameter over 

 the top of your frames; they get over 

 that just as easy, from one frame to 

 another; you have everything in a 

 nutshell, but done quickly and se- 

 curely. I would not want to take care 

 of a lot of stuff to cumber up the 

 workshop. 



Mr. Cavanagh — The point is, with 

 those cases I spe&k of, there is heat 

 enough; so that the bees can go 

 around behind the combs if they want 

 to; they are warm enough so that tney 

 can go anywhere they want to; tuose 

 bees are comfortable, no matter how 

 cold it is. I *on't advocate that kind 

 of a case, although I' used them at one 

 time. 



Mr. Baxter — To make the most 

 money with the least expense is my 

 motto, and I want to do away with 

 those things that require a lot of 

 work, and get results; that has been 

 my aim, always. 



Dr. Miller — ^And what does Mr. Bax- 

 ter use? 



Mr. Baxter — I take a little piece of 

 wood — a stick about one-half inch in 

 diameter; lay it on top the frames; 

 put the mat over that, and leaves on 

 top, and the bees below, with space 

 between. 



Dr. Miller — There is locality again. 

 I don't want to be bothered with 

 that stick; he has too much parapher- 

 nalia for me! I don't want to bomer 

 with picking up that stick; my bees 

 are hanging down in a cluster below. 

 It is locality, I tell you! 



Mr. Baxter — I can winter mine, 

 thirty degrees below zero, and have 

 done it, out-of-doors. I have colonies 

 in hives that \have stood for thirty 

 years on the same spot. 



President York — ^We had one con- 

 vention member who said he had the 

 same bees he had thirty years before! 



A Member — I agree with the doctor; 

 I don't want so much paraphernalia 

 around as Mr. Baxter has. A chaff 

 hive is rather handy, but it is too 

 heavy to lift around. 



Mr. Baxter — I never lift them. 



Mr. Cavanagh — We run for extract- 

 ed honey. 



Mr. Baxter — I produce extracted 

 honey. There is nobody here who gets 

 more pounds of honey per colony. I 

 reported here in this same convention 

 in 1883, forty colonies had thirty- 

 three barrels of honey — 600 pounua per 

 barreL 



Mr. Cavanagh — The point I want to 

 call attention to is that the doctor 

 said the locality had a lot to do with 

 it. I have made so many different 

 experiments on wintering this year. 

 The man who helped me pack the 

 bees, I said to him: "Now, if there 

 is another single way we have not 

 tried to pdck bees, I want you to help 

 me to think of it." We packed them in 

 bunches of eight; we packed them 

 singly; we made some with closed en- 

 trances; we used tar felt; we made 

 little holes so they could look out; we 

 left other entrances open; in most 

 cases we packed those bees in boxes 

 of eight, that is, four with their backs 

 together. I am not ready to report 

 on these experiments as yet. I don't 

 think the chaff hives would do for my 

 system of management. 



Mr. Baxter — Don't you think that 

 rould be a bad way if you had your 

 entrances to the east or west or north? 



Mr. Cavanagh — I would as soon have 

 them to the north. 



Mr. Moore — My brother has bees; 

 he bought chaff hives at an expense 

 of $400, but he will never do it again. 

 He Starts with a floor about a foot 

 from the ground; puts saw-dust be- 

 tween the hives; over the whole he 

 has a cover, a metal cover, absolutely 

 storm-proof; he can pack his bees at 

 much less expense than the expense 

 of a chaff hive; he leaves them out 

 year after year; he can put probably 

 three supers on each side. He runs 

 for extracted honey exclusively. 



Mr. Holtermann — Does he leave 

 them that way in the summer? 



Mr. Moore — Oh, yes. 



Mr. Baxter — I don't want people to 

 understand I advocate chaff hives. I 

 had those hives; I happened to get a 

 certain number of them, and I have 

 had them ever since. At first they 



