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President Millcson vead his annual 

 address, and presented tlie Associa- 

 tion witli a liandsonie blaclc gavel 

 adorned witli the gilt letters, "C. S. B. 

 A.," and decorated with a bee. 



Mr. Pratt moved that the gavel be 

 accepted by this Society with thanks, 

 as a memento of Mr. Milleson's public 

 and private devotion to the interests 

 of apiarists. 



Itce-Hoiises. 



Mr. Do Vinney aslved Mr. Knight the 

 advantage of a bee-house. 



He replied that one could handle 

 twice the number of bees he could in 

 hives. 



Mr. Pratt said, after hearing Mr. 

 Knight's description, before and after 

 seeing his house, he had erected one, 

 and thouglit it well suited to this 

 climate. His is 8x16 feet, with a 

 matched floor. It stands a foot from 

 the ground, and he will bank it up to 

 keep the wind from blowing under it. 

 The covering is of matched lumber, 

 his boys having shingled it. He lined 

 it with tar paper. It is only 5 feet 

 high — it ought to be six. It has no 

 windows, but a gable which opens ; the 

 sides are battened. It holds as much 

 as 44 hives, and is cheap ; as an ordi- 

 nary' box will do for a hive. 



Mr. Knight spreads a builap over 

 the frame. Pound sections are placed 

 on tlie top. He believed they would 

 winter better than when out-of-doors. 



Mr. Cnshman, of the Delta Associa- 

 tion said he noticed his "ABC " book 

 advocated placing hives 7 feet apart, 

 yet these were close together. Is there 

 not danger for a tight where they are 

 so close ? 



Mr. Kniglit — The boxes are two feet 

 apart, and the hives above one another; 

 one has 38, another 62 colonies. The 

 alighting-boards are differently col- 

 ored, and the entrances are different, 

 so there is no trouble. 



Mr. Pratt, last summer, had his hives 

 differently colored, }'et tliey were a 

 few inches apart in a row. 



Mr. Pratt moved that a standing 

 committee of three be appointed on 

 the disease of bees. Carried. 



The President then appointed R. H. 

 Rhodes, H. Knight and Wm. Davis. 



Elislia Milleson was re-elected Presi- 

 dent unanimously ; J. M. Clark was re- 

 elected Secretary ; and Mrs. R. H. 

 Rhodes, of Arvada, was re-elected 

 Treasurer. For Vice-President-at-large, 

 Mrs. Millie Booth was i-e-elected. 

 County Vice-Presidents, Alfred Cnsh- 

 man, Montrose ; H. Knight, Arapalioe ; 

 E. Easley, Jefterson ; Mrs. S. J. Plumb, 

 Weld ; j. L. Tracey, Boulder ; A. C. 

 Alfred, Larimer. Other Vice-Presi- 

 dents were left for the executive com- 

 mittee to appoint. 



S. R. Pratt was elected on the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee. 



Calilbrnia Honey. 



Mr. Cornfortli said that for 3 to 5 

 years there had been a .shrinkage of 

 about 15 per cent, of California honey. 

 Tliis jear the shrinkage had been 

 greater. Last year the sales of Cali- 

 fornia honey amounted to about 145- 

 000, tlie Eastern lioney to about |3,000, 

 tlie import lieing a little less than 

 $50,000. Our honey is preferable to 

 California, as Mr. Clark's waj' of pack- 

 ing 24 pounds makes it more salable 

 than the 50-pound packages of Califor- 

 nia honey. Moreover, California has 

 not been as careful in selecting, the 

 lower sections being of inferior value. 

 Uniformity shoulil he practiced. In 

 California there are four assortments ; 

 about two years ago a firm put it up in 

 blue boxes with a glass front. They 

 have made quicker sales ; the average 

 weight of sections is about one pound. 

 He was pleased to see our State 

 growing ; the Horticultural Society has 

 grown from nothing; creameries dot 

 our State, and bee-keepers are organ- 

 izing. These organizations will grow 

 with the State, but other States are 

 growing, so there is no possibilitjf of 

 flooding the market with tirst-class 

 honey if properly put up. When you 

 are organized and rely upon local 

 trade, j'ou can do nothing. The cream- 

 eries were unheard of five years ago, 

 now farmers can send their milk to 

 the creamery, and the butter is more 

 uniform than if many tried to work 

 alone. He believed our honey would 

 bring more in European markets than 

 any other honey, as our comb honej' is 

 so bright and clear. The amount 

 handled in California is falmlous. He 

 had seen buildings 25x50 tilled, and 

 they said that was nothing. 



Levi Bootli said that the "Pure- 

 Food " bill now before Congress was 

 just what we needed to pi'otect us, 

 and moved that we ask our represen- 

 tative to further its passage. Carried. 



Honey-Plants for Bees. 



The question-box was opened, and 

 to the question, " Which i.s the best 

 honey-producing i)lant ?" Mr. Knight 

 said clover was tlie best, alfalfa gave 

 the most honey. 



Mrs. Rhodes preferred sweet clover, 

 as alfalfa did not always produce 

 honey. 



Mr. Cusliman said that sweet clover 

 was a nuisance in tlie hay crops ; they 

 got more than tliey wanted in their 

 alfalfa seed from Utah. Alsike clover 

 had been recommended ; the Colorado 

 bee-plant was good, and had been sold 

 in California for a high price. In his 

 region there was a barren desert, but 

 water would make the land do well. 



President Milleson said sweet clover 

 was the har^h^st to kill of any of the 

 clover plants, but you could not pro- 

 duce one-tenth as much honey from 

 the same ground on any other plant. 

 If you were to plant ten acres alone 

 for honey-produetion, it will not pay 

 as much as alfalfa ; because you can 

 get hay ami honey. Let it stay before 

 cutting; if you lose one cutting you 

 will gain. 



Rev. Rhodes said that sweet clover 

 was the only plant that would yield 

 after a frost. If you have hay-seed.s 

 in your alfalfa, you cannot sell it well; 

 but keep it for seed, and you can sell 

 it well. He had said we could pro- 

 duce more honey than any other coun- 

 try with our alfalfa, but we cannot use 

 alfalfa for liaj' and honey both. One 

 year they had no bloom but of the 

 broad-leafed milk-weed honey ; it was 

 as nice as any honey he ever ate, so it 

 was hard to say which was the best 

 plant. The main objection to sweet 

 clover was, that it was good for noth- 

 ing but hone}'. 



President Milleson asked if he had 

 not been obliged to catch his bees and 

 wash oft' tlieir feet on account of the 

 honey sticking to them. 



Levi Booth said you need not fear 

 sweet clover, if you cut the alfalfa, as 

 it was a biennial and died out, but you 

 must cut in the ditches. 



Rev. Rhodes said you could kill the 

 milk-weed if you cut it just before it 

 was ready to bloom. It would bleed 

 to death. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 Wednesday, March 20, at 10 a.m., to 

 meet at the Chamber of Commerce. 

 J. M. Clark, Sec. 



HONEY-PLANTS. 



Hints to those Who Want a 

 Ooud €rop of Honey. 



Written, for the American Rural Home 



BY K. S. RUSSELL. 



Who is there who has handled bees 

 and made them his associates, who will 

 doubt for a moment that these indus- 

 trious little misers will appreciate any 

 iniprovcnient in their home and plan- 

 tation, and doubly repay any judicious 

 outlay toward supplying them any 

 suitable plants from which to extract 

 the lioney ? I believe that a bee is not 

 happy except when employed gather- 

 ing the sweets that Nature stores in 

 certain plants. 



Now is the time to lay the founda- 

 tion for an abundant honey harvest. 

 If you have no willows near your api- 

 ary, procure a few roots or cuttings, 

 and plant in low land near the apiary. 

 This will bring the earliest pollen, 

 which is the most useful. The bark 



