ILLIXOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIOX. 163 



I have had bees packed now in Idaho three winters. The first 

 winter we packed, the bees filled their hives full of honey dew and it 

 did not do any good to pack them, they died just as badly in the packs 

 as they did outside. The next winter it was such an open winter that 

 it did not matter whether they were packed or not. The winter we 

 are going through now is the third time that I had the bees packed in 

 four-colony cases, and they are having quite a favorable winter andl 

 expect that they will get through in good shape, but so far I haven't 

 had any particularly beneficial results from packing in the four-colony 

 case in the west. 



Now, I think we have entire different conditions there from what 

 you have here, and it is an expense, in time more particularly. A bee- 

 keeper who produces honey in commercial quantities and depends 

 upon that for his living, who has to do all of this work of packing and 

 unpacking with hired help, it really is quite an expense, and it delays 

 later operations. That has been my serious trouble, and in doing it 

 at the right time or getting it done. Labor has been hard to secure 

 and men who understand the handling of them have been hard to 

 secure, but if I could see that I was making any money by it I would 

 be a little more enthusiastic. However, I have not given up yet, I am 

 going to put some more money in it and try it out a little further. 



A Member. — What kind of packing material do you use? 



Mr. Foster. — The only thing that we have available is chaff. 

 Nearly all the chaff that I have had available was oat chaff. We 

 have picked it out as carefully as we could. I use from eight to fifteen 

 inches, and I am going to use more. In my experience the best way of 

 wintering bees is to have an old hive with a loose cover that will blow 

 off once in a while in the winter, so that they will get plenty of air 

 and moisture and ventilation, and they come through better than most 

 any way. 



There is one thing I want to say, and that is that I believe that 

 10,000 bees of the right age are worth 100,000 at the wrong time. I 

 have secured 200 pounds of surplus after the first of September from 

 a one-frame nucleus in July, and it does not seem to make any difference 

 how many bees you have in a hive if you have got them the right age 

 and they come on just right. I do know that my colonies which pro- 

 duce the larger crops are those that are not too strong in May. We 

 have a long-drawn-out season; we really don't get a good honey flow 

 until August, 



A Member. — What part of Idaho are you in, may I ask? 



Mr. Foster.— I have bees in the Twin Falls district, seven or 

 eight miles from Twin Falls, and then I have bees in Colorado. I 

 have never operated any bees personally in Idaho; the bees in Idaho 

 are leased. And so far I have secured larger average crops in Colorado 

 than I have in Idaho. 



A Member. — What part of Colorado? 



Mr. Foster. — I operate in Montrose and Delta Counties in. 

 Colorado, and in Boulder and Adams Counties. 



A Member. — How cold does it get in Colorado? 



Mr. Foster. — We have had it down to 10 below zero for a very 

 few days this past winter, and we have had an open winter, a very 



