138 



EIGHTH ANNUAL, REPORT OP THE 



Prices of Bees. 



"If an undesirable colony of bees is 

 ■worth $10.00, how much is a good col- 

 ony worth?" 



Mr, Whitney: There ought to be a 

 standard price. If somebody comes to 

 me and wants to buy a colony of bees 

 and a double -walled hive, I want 

 $10.00 for it, whether it is black, Cau- 

 casian or hybrid. I want $10.00 for a 

 colony of bees; and I wish that every 

 member of this association would fix 

 that sort of a price on their bees and 

 stick to it. Perhaps they would not 

 sell very many, but they would get 

 somewhere near what they are worth. 



President Tork: What is a good 

 colony worth if you got near what that 

 was worth? 



Mr. Whitney: I think I would hare 

 given $10.00 for that colony of bees to 

 know something abut it. 



Mr. Moore: I am another $10.00 

 man, and have had a $10.00 price on- 

 bees for the last ten years. If I can 

 raise $10.00 worth of honey, are they 

 not worth that? I have to deliver that 

 colony and give good advice for the 

 next three or four years, telling them 

 about it, so I think I give $10.00 worth 

 all right. 



Mr. Whitney: I don't deliver them. 



Mr. Horstmann: My prices run from 

 $6.00 to $150.00. 



Size of Bees. 



"How do the Italians, Carniolans 

 and Caucasians compare in size?" 



President York: There is a differ- 

 ence in Italians, as there are some 

 golden ones and different kinds — there 

 is pretty nearly as much difference as 

 in other strains. Tou will find quite 

 a difference in all of them. 



Mr. Whitney: There is quite a 

 difference in the same strain at differ- 

 ent seasons of the year. Bees some 

 times oome out of winter quarters in 

 the spring poor like the cattle, and 

 need feeding. Tou can fatten them up 

 as you can stock. The Italian bees 

 then — what is known as the three- 

 banded Italian — are atoout as large as 

 any bee that we find; larger than the 

 blacks. The Carniolans I don't know 

 so much about. 



Best Hive- Cover. 



"What make of hive- cover Is the 

 best for this locality, and describe the 

 best hive-cover." 



Mr. Kannenberg: I think the "Ex- 

 celsior" hive-oover is about as good a 

 hive-cover as there is made. 



Mr. Arnd: I think there is no cover 

 on the market as fine as the "Colora- 

 do" cover, with the inner cover; it is 

 the heaviest, best made cover in the 

 market today. 



Mr. "Moore: I want to ask more 

 about this cover question. I would 

 like to get somebody's experience on 

 metal covers. My experience with the 

 wood covers is bad, and I find the ac- 

 tion of the rain and sunshine even- 

 tually pulls them apart, and that 

 makes a place for the rain to get in. 

 Isn't it better to have a metal cover, 

 or tin over the top, if you please? 



Mr. Arnd: There is a metal cover 

 called the -."Acme," It is flat, with 

 heavy sides, and it has tin over the 

 top. We have now a cover that we 

 make specially to order with galvan- 

 ized iron. It also has an inner cover, 

 which gives a narrow ispace like the 

 "Colorado" cover. It is a warm cover 

 in winter and cool in summer, I don't 

 think either that cover or the "Acme" 

 cover will crack. 



Mr. Moore: Have you used them 

 on your hives? 



Mr. Arnd: I have used them. 



Mr. Wilcox: I have some that have 

 been used for thirty years, that have 

 been made of lumber and well covered 

 with tin, and they are in good con- 

 dition yet, so that tin is the most 

 economical. 



Mr. Moore: What color do you 

 paint them? 



Mr. Wilcox: Ours are painted rath- 

 er a light color, nearly white. 



Mr. Moore: They are much too 

 cold in the spring for the best results. 



Mr. Wilcox: I don't know as that 

 affects the temperature of the bees 

 very much if you have any packing 

 on top under the cover. The cover is 

 made two inches deep, and there is 

 packing underneath, consequently the 

 sun does not affect them under that. 

 I advocate dark-colored hives for 

 spring use, and keep them all sum- 

 mer. 



Mr. Kannenberg: I have handled 

 many covers, and tried them. I have 

 had covers with air spaces in them, 

 with tin on top, such as Mr. Arnd 

 spoke of, and the covers were made 

 of %-inch thickness, and I would not 

 have those covers if anybody would 



