;i'--'--yK^,-m^. ;■;;">■■'; 



90 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



honey. You buy supers and frames for 

 bulk comb once for all time to come. 

 When you buy supers for sections, the 

 sections are sold with the honey, and 

 you have more to buy each year, and 

 new separators every 2 or 3 years. And 

 the shipping-cases cost more than for 

 bulk comb. It is much more trouble 

 and time to pack it than to pack bulk 

 comb, and much more apt to get broken 

 up in shipping than bulk comb. And 

 it takes double first-class freight-rate. 

 Bulk comb honey takes fourth-class 

 rate, less than one-half what it takes 

 to ship section honey. Another great 

 advantage in producing bulk comb 

 honey is that we can get the bees to 

 work in the supers much earlier than 

 we can in sections, and they can get 

 in larger clusters to get up heat suf- 

 ficient to produce wax much better and 

 faster than when they are cut up into 

 so many departments. All bee-keep- 

 ers that have tried both kinds will 

 readily testify that they can produce 

 from one-half to twice as much bulk 

 comb as they can section honey. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet again at 1 130 p. m. 



THIRD DAY — Afternoon Session. 



Pres. Dadant — As the Resolutions 

 Committee are not yet ready, we will 

 proceed with the Question-Box. 



Wages of Apiariajst Hired Help. 



"What should we pay experienced 

 hired help in the apiary?" 



Dr. Bohrer — Let Dr. Phillips answer 

 that .question. 



Dr. Phillips — We never hire help ex- 

 cept by the year, and the work is en- 

 tirely different from ordinary apiaries. 



Mr. Jones — In our district it is hard 

 to get competent help, and we pay all 

 the way from $15 to $30 and $35 per 

 rhonth, but it is mostly at these prices; 

 but we don't get experienced labor. 



Mr. Hyde — I think the part of the 

 country in which we live has a good deal 

 to do with that. I could not tell you 

 what you should pay in Colorado or 

 any State in the North, but I hire from 

 2 to 4 men each year during the sum- 

 mer season, and I have generally paid 

 about $30 down to $18 for the best ex- 

 perienced men; but this would not apply 

 in North Texas, as labor is worth twice 

 as much as it is in this part of the 

 State; but since I have been down here 



I have been paying $30 for the best labor 

 I get. 



Mr. Victor — I have paid as high as 

 $40 per month for some of my help, and 

 I don't know but that the $40 help paid 

 me as much as 2 men that did not know" 

 much about it. The balance of my help, 

 I had rather they did not know much 

 about it; but I want one experienced 

 man, and I would like to have one man 

 in charge of each apiary that knows 

 what is to be done, and pay from 75 

 cents to $1.00 a day for the labor, and 

 from $30 to $40 for a man that knows 

 how to do something. 



Mr. Hyde — I aimed to make that ex- 

 planation. The others^ I call helpers, and 

 the apiaries are under the charge of that 

 man. 



Mr. France — I am a good ways from 

 home, but experienced bee-keepers, 1 

 would infer from that; and it is a hard 

 question, indeed, in our part of the coun- 

 try to get men that will work for some 

 one else. Most of them want to work 

 for themselves in our country, and I 

 have to take the other side of it, and 

 use their hands and my ability. We can 

 not get experienced bee-keepers — they 

 all want to work for themselves. 



Dr. Bohrer — Well, you have to pay 

 for such as you do get, don't you? 



Mr. France — I have had students for 

 several years, who attend our State 

 Normal School, and during the vacation 

 I can get them at reduced prices, pay- 

 ing about 80 cents to $1.00 a day and 

 their board; but if I have to go outside 

 of that class of labor I have to pay 

 more. The man who is living across 

 the road from me has charge of the ex- 

 tracting and casing. He goes with me 

 from one apiary to the other; he does 

 the handling of the machinery, etc. I 

 give him $2.00 a day and his dinner ; but 

 he extracts about 4,000 pounds a day, 

 and rides 6 or 8 miles a day. It has been 

 suggested that the Information Bureau 

 ask for such bee-keepers, so if you know 

 of any, let it be known. 



Pres. Dadant — We will now hear from 

 the Committee on Resolutions. 



The Secretary read the report as fol- 

 lows : 



Report on Resolutions. 



Whereas, The National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, in convention assembled, 

 has been royally received by the bee- 

 keepers of Texas and the citizens of 



