ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIOX 



123 



smell of f^ulphuric acid; I made up my 

 mind it came from the foundation, 

 ^ome way or other. 



Mr. iHViltermann — How many swarmed 

 out? 



Mr. Wheeler — Nearly all; 100 of 

 them out of 113. I lost, I think, 45 

 that wiere united with others; they all 

 went together. I went back to that 

 yard, and found bees as high as that 

 table, all in one hiye. I clipped all 

 my queens, and in that way kept them 



Mr. Holtermann — If he took out 

 three pound.s, and used brood-founda- 

 tion, under ordinary circumstances, he 

 got all out of it but two ounces. I 

 haye taken frames, put the foundation 

 in it, and weighed it; knew the amount 

 of wax; then, after the bee.* drew it 

 out, weighed it again, and found about 

 21/2 ounces of foundation I used, and 

 after the bees drew it out, there were 

 five ounces; that is fifty ounces to a 

 ten-frame hive. 



LJ. I I ii tT -.-A 



Xo. 1 — Ferguson UNC.^rriNC, M.^chixe in Actuai, Opkration. 



from going away. I 

 the whole thing if I 

 my queens. 



would ;have lost 

 had not clipped 



Amount of Wax in Combs. 



"What amount of wax can be se- 

 cured from one set nf ten brood- 

 combs?" 



Mr. Wilcox— I have heard Mr. France 

 answer that question, and he melts up 

 more wax than any one I know of. In 

 many cases, three pounds can be taken 

 from ten brood-combs: I have never 

 taken over two pounds myself. 



A ^Member — Were those combs built 

 on foundation, or were they natural 

 combs? 



Mr. Wilcox — I could not answer 

 that. As for niy own, they were 'built 

 on natural combs; what Mr. France's 

 were, I don't know. I think he made 

 that answer at the National conven- 

 tion a year or two ago. 



Ferguson Uncapping Machine, 



President Yurk — We have with us, 

 Mr. Ferguson, to give us an illustration 

 of his uncapping machine. 



Mr. F^erguson demnnstrated his un- 

 capping machine at this ti:!ie, and 

 spoke as follows: 



The first rcqui.'^ite of a practical 

 uncapi)ing machine is a knife that will 

 do good work under any condition to 

 be found in everyday work. 



This form and arrangement of knives 

 has been used enough to jirove beyond 

 ciuestion that they will work under 

 any practical working conditions, and 

 I have usfd them on cimibs which 

 were just from the hives, on a hot day, 

 and in that soft, iila.^tic condition in 

 which the cell- walls would collapse 

 and bend a goo.] deal easier than they 

 would cut; I have kept filled combs 

 in a refrigerator f. ir several hours, 

 and then uncapped them without 



