ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEE'PERS' ASSOCIATION 



137 



ful and make no mistake, and at the 

 right time she will handle just as well 

 as the Italian, but if you happen to 

 make a slip you cannot' subdue them 

 with smoke; it is quite impossible, 

 and they will follow you, not only 

 around the yard, but through two or 

 three dark rooms, into a light room, 

 and sting you. 



Some years ago some one recom- 

 mended to me a Cyprian queen mated 

 with an Italian drone; those bees par- 

 took of the temperament of the drone; 

 I found those bees as gentle as Caro- 

 lians; you can't keep them there, and, 

 as Mr. Baxter said, I don't want a 

 particle of Cyprian blood among any of 

 my bees; you can detect it, if only to 

 a slight degree. 



Dr. Bohrer — I want to supple- 

 ment what the gentleman pre- 

 ceding me said with regard to 

 the temperament of the Cyprians. 

 I don't think that the average 

 bee-keeper has any real use for them, 

 because there are other varieties that 

 are so much better. It would be hard 

 for me to believe they didn't have a 

 whole lot of stings instead of one a 

 piece. I have smoked them, and have 

 loaded them down with honey, but it 

 didn't make them good natured at all. 

 I caged the queen; put her in the ihive, 

 and left them, and in due time I lib- 

 erated that queen, but got stung badly 

 every time. The best thing is to give 

 them an Italian queen and get rid of 

 iUtie stock as soon as you can. A hornet 

 is not in it; they act half way decent. 

 Cyprians are not half as decent as the 

 hornet. r 



Mr. Cavanag'h — I want to say one or 

 two good words for the Cyprians. They 

 are good honey gatherers, and they 

 resist European foul brood very well; 

 also the Caucasian bees are good re- 

 sisters. They are equally as good as 

 the golden Italian; however, I am not 

 sure of my stock, which are the Cyp- 

 rians and which the golden Italians, so 

 my judgment does not amount to very 

 mudh. 



Keeping More Bees. 



"Is it better to keep more bees, or 

 to keep less bees better?" 



Mr. Cavanagh — It is better to keep 

 more bees, and keep them better; it can 

 be done. • 



Mr. Holtermann — There is no doubt 

 there are a great many bees in the 

 country that should be kept better than 

 they are. 



Mr. Baxter — It all depends upon the 

 capacity of the bee-keeper; if he can't 

 keep more bees better, he better keep a 

 few bees and keep them better; but if 

 he is able to keep more bees, the should 

 keep them and keep them better, and 

 he will do better. 



Dr. Bohrer — I am so much in favor of 

 all bees being kept well; I don't like to 

 sell a colony of bees to any person who 

 does not understand the habits of bees 

 and can take care of them. It is a sort 

 of loss to bee-keepers of the country 

 to sell bees to people who know abso- 

 lutely nothing about bees. There is 

 one of the fruitful forces at work in 

 tihe spreading of foul brood all over the 

 country. I won't sell a colony to my 

 neighbor, unless he will learn how to 

 take care of them and attend to the 

 business carefully. 



Mr. Kannenberg — That reminds me 

 of a colony of bees I sold la^ spring to 

 a lady. She was awfully inclined to 

 learn about bee-keeping, but I tell you, 

 that all summer long I had to do the 

 business for that woman, to 'keep her 

 a going; she would telephone me every 

 little while: "Mr. Cavanagh, what is 

 the matter with my bees?" and that is 

 the way it kept on, and when they com- 

 menced to swarm I told her how to 

 hive them, and the bees came out at 

 8 o'clock in the miorning, and she 

 thouglht they would go back them- 

 selves; she left them hanging until 11 

 o'clock, or about noon, and then the 

 bees flew off, and 5 minutes afterward 

 she telephoned me that "the bees are 

 all gone; they didn't go back into the 

 hive." 



Mr. Wheeler — I don't like to take too 

 mudh credit to myself, but I sent that 

 lady to Mr. Kannenberg! 



Pres. York — Mr. Hutchinson was 

 asked to write a paper along this line. 

 The secretary will please read it at this 

 time. 



The following is the paper written 

 by Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, of Flint, 

 Mich. : 



Intensive Versus Extensive Bee- Keep- 

 ing. 



Tour Secretary has asked me to give 

 a short paper on. "Is it better to 

 keep more bees, or to keep less bees 

 better?" This question could be an- 

 swered in four words: "It depends 

 upon circumstances." It may be worth 

 while, however, to consider the cir- 

 cumstances. 





