ILLINOIS S-ilrATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



63 



"Where did it originate, and how? I 

 have never seen any cause for it. 

 When I commenced bee-keeping I 

 could have done nothing but for the 

 Information received from the cata- 

 logues of bee- supply dealers and bee- 

 papers, particularly the American Bee 

 Journal and Gleanings. I don't see 

 what the producer would do without 

 the supply dealers and publishers. I 

 can not see how you can separate their 

 interests. Their conduct might be 

 wrong; they might adopt fraudulent 

 means; but I don't know when they 

 have. I believe that it is for our in- 

 terests to preserve a better state of 

 feeling between the producers and 

 supply dealers. 



Mr. Moore: I move that it is the 

 sense of this convention that the pub- 

 lishers, bee-supply dealers and pro- 

 ducers are essential to each other. 



Mr. Taylor: It is necessary to make 

 some distinctions here to understand 

 the question. Mr. Wilcox discussed 

 the question as to whether the supply- 

 dealers and producers could get along 

 without each other. The question is 

 whether their interests are antagonis- 

 tic. They can not get along without 

 each other. The bee-supply dealers 

 must have the bee-keepers, and the 

 bee-keepers must have the supply- 

 dealers, etc." That doesn't touch the 

 question as to whether their interests 

 are antagonistic. It is one plain ques- 

 tion of bee-keeping that the ranks 

 should not be very greatly extended. 

 The interests of supply dealers and the 

 interests of publishers of bee papers are 

 very antagonistic to that. Their inter- 

 ests are in increasing the number of 

 bee-keepers to as great an extent as 

 possible. That is no reason why we 

 should not pull together. And we may 

 sometimes want to curb supply- deal- 

 ers in some directions, and may criti- 

 cize editors in regard tto their attitude 

 on the honey market. But we should 

 pull together. Criticism should be 



taken in good part. Publishers and 

 bee-supply dealers ought to be able to 

 stand criticism. 



Mr. Moore's motion carried unani- 

 mously. 



Wintering Bees Out-doors or in a Re- 

 pository. 



"Is it better to winter bees in chaff 

 out-doors or in a special repository?" 



Mr. Taylor: In this locality is is 

 better to winter in a repository. It is 

 a saving of stores if you winter bees in 

 the cellar. 



Mr. Wilcox: It is a saving of the 

 life of the bees. I don't winter them 

 successfully out- doors, but do in a 

 special repository. 



Mr. Whitney: I winter bees out- 

 doors successfully. Perhaps if I had 

 a good cellar I iriight use it. But it is 

 a double-walled chaff hive that I use. 

 I have had no trouble. As to stores, I 

 don't know whether they take more or 

 not. Some one says that they take less 

 stores outside than they do inside. 



Mr. Taylor. I have experimented 

 upon that point several years. I 

 weigh my hives when I carry them in, 

 and when I put them out, and those 

 that I winter out-doors I weigh the 

 same way. There was quite a great 

 difference in the consumption of stores 

 in the colonies in the cellar and out- 

 side. Bees wintered in the cellar use 

 an extremely small amount of stores, 

 sometimes only 3 pounds; from that to 

 8 or 9. There was one time when they 

 didn't winter very well, that they used 

 considerably more in the cellar. As a 

 rule, they don't use more than half as 

 much indoors as out. 



Mr. Whitney: Out-door wintering 

 gives the bees an opportunity for a 

 flight. That is very favorable. Per- 

 haps that counteracts the larger 

 amount of honey used. 



On motion the convention adjourned 

 to meet in 1908, at the call of the Exec- 

 utive Committee. 



