-.^-^^.KT^r^ - •' ■ / -v 





■^ V ■-"■?'. ■> . ■^r^-\"^^^^^v^^'?W^^'-'X^- 



146 



NINTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



there is some one who has tried it, I 

 would like to hear from them. 



Mr. Wilcox — I can only say I don't 

 know, altthiough I have tried both plans 

 a great deal in my life- time; I never 

 saw any difference. 



Mr. Whitney — In saying that comb 

 honey can be produced without sec- 

 tions, I don't say I would recommend 

 it to the average bee-keeper. I think 

 I would not,- but where anybody has 

 plenty of time, as' I have, and always 

 have had, ever since I kept bees — I 

 spend most of my time in the bee-yard, 

 studying the bees — he can produce a 

 good comb honey witibout separators. 

 Mr. Hand does it; Mr. Morrison says 

 it can be done; but, as I said before, 

 I don't think I would recommend it to 

 the average bee-keeper, because he 

 has not the time; he does not spend 

 the time in his yard to give it atten- 

 tion. 



Honey in a Beer- Keg. 



"Will bees produce as much honey 

 in a beer-keg as in an eight or ten- 

 frame hive?" 



President York — Bees in this coun- 

 try don't use beer-kegs! 



Mr. Huffman — I know of a man that 

 used a two-gallon jug; tihat is not a 

 beer-keg, but it would hold beer! 



A Member — No, certainly not; tell us 

 which has the largest capacity, and I 

 can tell you which would produce the 

 most honey. 



Fall Breaking of the Bee-Cluster. 



"Is breaking the cluster of bees late 

 in the fall injurious' to a colony?" 



Pres. York — ^How many think it is? 

 (Four.) 



Double Hive For Wintering Bees. 



"What are the advantages of the 

 double -hive chamber for wintering?" 



Mr, Wilcox — il am decidedly in favor 

 of double chamber for wintering, if I 

 winter bees out-of-doors; I would not 

 do it in the cellar. 



Mr. Whitney — I have always felt that 

 a division in there was a detriment; if 

 I could make it practical I would cut it 

 out. 



Mr. Holtermann — That is one reason 

 wily I thought I would like the hive. 



Mr. Wheeler — There is too much ven- 

 tilation through there; that is just my 

 notion, however; I have no proof of it. 



Mr. Holtermann — ^I know there are 



thousands who have that kind of hive, 

 who argue that that was an advantage, 

 in that the bees could move about and 

 ■change places in the cluster, which they 

 cannot do, for instance, in the hives I 

 use — the Langstroth as well. I have 

 felt disposed to admit that it was su- 

 perior to the Langstroth frame which I 

 use. I would like to hear sometning 

 more on that. 



Mr. Wheeler — I winter bees out-of- 

 doors; when I first started in I began 

 with some of those, and I think Mr. 

 Heddon wrote to me if I would not 

 send him a testimonial. I didn't answer 

 him because I didn't know. I watched 

 the thing closely, and of course when 

 the hive is new and the frames are new 

 and no bur- combs between the frames, 

 I think there is too much ventilation; 

 the bees didn't seem to work as well in 

 those hives a& they did in the others 

 (the Langstroth); as soon as they be- 

 gin to get old, the combs are more or 

 less connected; there is not as much 

 ventilation, and the bees are drawn 

 more closely together; where the tops 

 of the frames are covered with bur- 

 combs, they are almost the same as 

 solid frames, except the holes. 



Mr. Holtermann — Might not your 

 method of packing have a little bearing 

 on it? 



Mr. Wheeler — It might. 



Mr, Wilcox — Don't more bees smoth- 

 er in winter for want of air than those 

 that suffer from too much ventilation? 



Fall Feed for Bees. 



"How much honey is equivalent to 

 twenty pounds of feed — half sugar and 

 water — for fall feeding?" 



Mr. Holtermann — Depends on how 

 you do it. 



Mr. Thompson — ^I estimate about 12 

 pounds. 



Mr. Holtermann — I don't think there 

 would be that much. I think anybody 

 who would be foolish enough to use 

 half sugar and water to begin with, 

 they would make a mistake, for their 

 fall feeding; for fall feeding I would 

 not take anything less than two pounds 

 of sugar to one of water, and then feed 

 that as rapidly as possible. 



Mr. Huffman — How early do you 

 feed? 



Mr. Holtermann — I don't think it is 

 wise to feed too early, for this reason: 

 If you feed early, sugar syrup is the 

 best possible stores you can get for 

 wintering. Where you feed, as in our 



•.y -,'' L.^.-^^:it.- 



