144 



EIGHTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



Mf. Moore: On the summer stands? 



Miss Candler: Yes, sir. 



"Has any one had experience with 

 wrapping paper around hives for win- 

 ter or spring, and with what results?" 



President York: Has anybody else 

 had experience with tarred felt or 

 any other kind of paper? 



Mr. Moore: If no one has anything 

 to say, that brings up a question that 

 has been discussed at great length — 

 the color of the outside of the hive, 

 or the paint. To my mind, it is ma- 

 j terial to have a dark color. Every- 

 one knows that black absorbs all of 

 the rays of the sun. White does 

 not absorb any of them. When you 

 have a white cover it is glanced off, 

 as if a bullet would strike there and 

 glance away. The moment a ray of 

 sunshine strikes a bee-hive with a 

 black tarred paper, the ray goes right 

 down in there, how deep I don't know, 

 but it goes deep enough to be a very 

 material matter in keeping up the heat 

 and life of the bees. 



Mr. Whitney: The kind of hives I 

 have been accustomed to using are 

 painted white, with perhaps some trim- 

 ming; but the packing around the hive 

 and over the top is so great that even 

 though the outside of the hive were not 

 painted, I don't think the sun would 

 have any effect whatever. There is 

 heat enough in that hive, in that pack- 

 ing, to keep the bees warm without 

 any rays at all; they generate heat. 

 Put a thermometer in there, and you 

 will find it is up to 90 degrees even in 

 cold weather. It seems to me that this 

 talk about white paint on the outside 

 of the hives, the objection to it, is a 

 mistake. When we have the bees all 

 packed good and warm with a thick- 

 ness of cushion and planer shavings 

 around the outside, or boxes, as have 

 been described, I don't think the rays 

 of the sun cut any figure at all. 



Mr. McClure: A person would have 

 to watch if he used just a single-wall 

 hive and used tarred paper. The sun 

 would not affect the bees. Would not 

 the bees be liable to come out in cold 

 weather and get stiff, and not be able 

 to go back again? 



Miss Candler: I always thought they 

 were, but I have never had any trouble 

 at aJl. I think I lose fewer colonies 

 with paper than w^en I used packing. 



Mr. Moore: Some of the friends may 

 have forgotten that Dr. Miller does not 



paint any of his hives, and he attrib- 

 utes some of his success to the fact 

 that he does not paint them. They be- 

 come almost as black as 'black paint, 

 and he says it is a great help in early 

 fall and late spring in helping the bees 

 keep up the temperature. 



Miscellaneous. 



President York: I don't remember 

 ever attening a convention of the Chi- 

 cago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation that has kept up as lively a 

 fi.re of questions as this one. It has not 

 lagged a minute. We have had a pro- 

 gram all the time, and you have helped 

 to make it. Dr. Miller attributes the 

 success of our convention to the fact 

 that we do not have long-winded pa- 

 pers — but something new coming up 

 all the time. I want to thank you, as 

 j'our president, for your patience with 

 me as your presiding officer. I have 

 tried to be fair. I do not suppose I 

 have suited everybody, but I have done 

 the best I could. I hope next year we 

 will have a larger attendance, that you 

 will have a good crop of honey, and 

 that you will bring some one with you. 

 ■^Ve ought to have at least a hundred, 

 or more. The Chicago -Northwestern 

 Bee -Keepers' Association stands next 

 to the National in the interest of' its 

 meetings. I have been to other conven- 

 tions in other parts of the country, 

 and it seems to me there is no other 

 meeting that compares quite with ours_ 

 in the interest that so many take in it, 

 and I think" one reason is because of the 

 question-box program. I am sure we 

 are always glad to have with us the 

 members of the old Northwestern Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, that used to meet 

 here twenty-five years ago — Mr. Bald- 

 ridge, Mr. Wilcox, Dr. Miller and Mr. 

 Taylor. We could not get along with- 

 out these old war-horses. Of course 

 we are glad that new ones are coming 

 here to take our places, and it Is by 

 the. infusion of new blood that we can 

 keep up the interest. 



Mr. Horstmann: I would like to ask 

 whether this association went on 

 record as favoring a foul brood law for 

 Illinois. 



President York: Yes, sir; we passed 

 the resolution just before dinner to- 

 day. 



Mr. Whitney: I wish to ask whether 

 the members of this association have 

 all received notice of the election of 

 officers ifor the National, to forward 

 their vote. 



