228 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 23, 1905. 



But you ask, Is it true that prices have doubled? and ask The 

 Farmer to give a single instance of a case in which any manufactory 

 lists a hive at double the price at which it listed it at any previous lime. 

 This is the greatest break in your whole article. Would you please 

 name one single manufactory that hasn't doubled prices on supplies, 

 and many have trebled? 



I have before me bills paid in 1879, 1880, 1881 : 8-frame Langstroth 

 hive, V.2 story, nailed and painted, 75 cents. That was before the day 

 of sections, but eight 5-pound boxes were furnished with glass sides. 



In 1889 hives took a drop. I bought, that year, 100 hives, 10- 

 frame, l^.,' story, in the flat, at 50 cents. When sections came on the 

 market they were sold at $1.75 per 1000; later on, sandpapered both 

 sides, $2.00 per 1000. This as late as 1897; since that time they have 

 doubled in price. 



At the first-mentioned date honey sold in the comb at 25 cents to 

 30 cents per pound. In 1883 I sold my entire crop at 17 cents, and 

 paid $1.00 each for 10-frame l^o -story hives, and $2.00 per 1000 for sec- 

 tions; and now, when the best comb honey must be sold at 11 to 14 

 cents, extracted at 7 cents, delivered, they ask $2.45 tor an 8-frame IV.^- 

 story hive, and $5.00 per 1000 for sections. 



Is it any wonder that bee-keepers are going out of the business? I 

 have a list of 51 bee-keepers that have quit the business on this ac- 

 count alone. 



Therefore, I say, bee-supplies are unreasonably high, and much 

 higher than prices of lumber would warrant, or the prices of honey 

 can pay for. Look over the many supply-dealers' catalogs and note 

 the stereotyped price-lists; no matter whether in the lumber region or 

 200 miles away, all are printed from the same type, showing the com- 

 bine. So I say, bee-keepers, make your own hives or quit the busi- 

 ness. E. A. Morgan. 



However interesting Mr. Morgan's figures may be, are they rele- 

 vant? The request, as repeated by Mr. Morgan, was for " a single in- 

 stance of a case in which any manufactory lists a hive at double the 

 price at which it listed it any previous time." That single instance 

 Mr. Morgan !ias not given. Ii is not said he can not do it, but he has 

 not done it; and his paying double, or five times as much one time as 

 another, does not meet the case. Neither does the intimation that 

 every manufactory has " doubled prices on supplies, and many have 

 trebled " meet the case. Supplies in general, including sections, were 

 not under consideration. A look at the clipping, page 99, will show 

 that Mr. Morgan was advising that bee-keepers could make their own 

 hives, and the request was for a hive which was listed at a price double 

 the price of a previous year. 



But Mr. W. R. Ansell, of Minnesota, comes to the rescue of Mr. 

 Morgan, giving a clear instance that is directly to the point. He has a 

 catalog issued by one of the Wisconsin manufacturing establishments 

 less than ten years ago, in which the 8frame IJo story Improved 

 Langstroth-Simplicity hive in the flat, in lots of five, with fixtures 

 enumerated, is quoted at 65 cents each ; and the same thing is now 

 quoted at $1.70 each. 



It certainly does not seem that an advance of HU percent over the 

 prices of nine years ago is warranted, and if there is no mistake in the 

 case, there is good ground for considering the question somewhat 

 debatable, whether the beginner shall maKe or buy his hives. That 

 question may be further considered hereafter. 



In the meantime, as the request for a doubling of list prices has 

 not been answered by Mr. Morgan, but by another, there may be noth- 

 ing unfair in asking him to make good his directly implied statement 

 that prices have been doubled within a year. For he says the statement 

 from Washington last January (presumably January, 1904) caused a 

 doubling in prices. Will he give us a specific instance? 



Since the foregoing was written an attempt has been made to com- 

 pare prices of hives in the catalog of 1896, issued by one of the larger 

 manufactories, with those of 1905 by the same firm. Attempting to 

 compare prices of the same hive, In lots of 10, there is found in one 

 case an advance of 50 percent ; in a second case the advance is 64 per- 

 cent; in a third case, 69 percent. This may not be entirely exact, for 

 it is not easy, in comparing the catalogs, to make sure that one has 

 exactly the same thing in each. In other hives the advance may be 

 more, or it may be less. The comparison is, however, sufficiently re- 

 liable, in all probability (and any one can make such comparisons for 

 himself) to warrant a doubt as to a general doubling in the price of 

 hives, to say nothing of the doubling within a year. 



Further, we wish to refer briefly here to Mr. Morgan's advice to 

 bee-keepers as given in the last sentence of his letter. It barn lumber 

 should double in price, would he advise the farmer to quit farming or 

 stock-raising? If mowing machines should double in price, we suppose 

 Mr. Morgan would advise farmers to make their own, or quit making 

 hay! 



To us it doesn't seem to be so much a question of what bee-sup- 

 plies cost, as it is what price can be realized for honey. The bee- 

 keeper that can get a net price of say 15 cents a pound for his comb 

 honey, and average 75 to 100 pounds per colony annually, isn't going 



to object to paying a fair price for hives once in 10 or 20 years. So it 

 appears to us. 



We want to say further, however, that we have no use for trusts 

 or combines that are formed for the purpose of raising prices and 

 keeping them raised. And if any bee-keepers can save money by 

 making their own hives and other supplies, they certainly would be 

 very foolish to buy them ready made. We do not manufacture or have 

 for sale any hives, so we have nothing whatever to do with fixing the 

 prices at which they are offered for sale. If bee-keepers do not make 

 their own, no doubt all kinds of hives can be bought in the market at 

 all kinds of prices. It buying, " You pays your money and you takes 

 your choice," as our German friend would say. 



Treatment of Chilled Bees. 



Whether you believe that a colony of bees freezes to death or 

 starves to death makes little practical difference, but it is of much 

 practical importance for every beginner to know that a colony with 

 stores exhausted and apparently dead is not always beyond recovery • 

 indeed never, if taken in time. It you find a colony apparently dead' 

 without knowing how long It has remained in that condition, don't 

 give it up for lost, but at least give it a chance. If it has only re- 

 cently succumbed, and if the day be warm, it may be necessary only 

 to sprinkle on the cluster a little diluted honey or syrup to bring it 

 back to lite. If the day be cold, take the colony into a warm room 

 and warm it up. In any case it will be better to take the bees into a 

 warm room. Watch for signs of life before giving any food. Don't 

 be in a hurry ; it may sometimes be an hour before you see the bees 

 begin to move, but if they haven't been too long motionless you may 

 be sure that after a little you will see a leg begin to move here and 

 there, and as soon as they move they are ready for a lunch. Many a 

 good colony may thus be saved. 



IHtsceUancous 

 Hcips ^ 3 terns 



J 



To Jlinnesota Bee-Keepers.— Mr. Wm, Russell, an officer 

 of the Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Association, informs us that the Asso- 

 ciation's Foul Brood Bill (House Bill No. 563) has been introduced 

 and referred to the Committee on General Legislation. Minnesota 

 bee-keepers are urgently requested to write their senators and repre- 

 sentatives in St. Paul at once, asking them to be sure to support the 

 Bill when it comes up either in the House or Senate. 



Rev. Dr. John Dzierzon, the " Father of German Bee-Keep- 

 ing," is thus referred to in a late number of the British Bee Journal: 



On Jan. 16 this venerable beekeeper entered upon his 95 year 

 having been born in 1811. He has been a bee-keeper for 70 years and 

 has a world-wide reputation for his work In advancing apiculture 

 The principal scientific discovery of his was parthenogenesis— that is 

 reproduction without fecundation. This was known to exist in other 

 insects in the first half of the 18th century, but it was in 1835 that 

 Dr. Dzierzon commenced to think about it, and in 1842 to 1844 

 he made known his ideas in Frauendorfer Blaetter. In 1845 he pub- 

 lished his discovery in the Bienenzeitung, and this drew the atten- 

 tion of scientists to the subject. " The Dzierzon Theory " as this 

 was called, was subjected to the most searching investigation by 

 Siebold, Leuckart, and others, and, although still denied by some is 

 generally accepted as true. The Allgemeine Zeitung fur Bienenzucht 

 prints some very pretty verses dedicated to this veteran, and also gives 

 extracts from papers eulogizing him at the time of his bee-keeping 

 jubilee 20 years ago, and mentions the honors conferred upon him 

 We are sorry to hear that Dr. Dzierzon is at present unwell and 

 he has our best wishes for his recovery. ' 



The Mondeng Mfg. Co.— This company is represented on the 

 first page. The members of the firm are Messrs. Chas. Mondeng, J. W. 

 Hare, and L. H. Burke. 



Their new factory is located opposite Bryn Mawr Park, in Minne- 

 apolis, and affords a beautiful view. It is surrounded by natural 

 woods, and running creeks make it a very picturesque site. 



Though practically a new one, their factory is fitted up with the 

 latest improved machinery, and is equipped to compete with the best. 

 Their prospects for a good future are very encouraging. 



Mr. Mondeng is a practical bee-man, and has an apiary adjoin- 

 ing the factory ; having also been in the bee-supply manufacturing 



