The Bulletin. 19 



movable cap on top — do better, yielding, according to sixteen reports, 

 an average of 27% pounds, v^orth a little less than 10 cents, making 

 a value of $2.60 per box. The frame hives, which have a super 

 virith movable frames, do much better yet, for an average of forty 

 reports shows a yield of 37% pounds, worth a little over 11 cents 

 per pound, making a return of $4.13 per hive. These figures speak 

 emphatically, and, as between the crude plank box hives and the 

 frame hives, the number of reports is large enough to render the 

 record quite reliable. The log "gums" rank lowest in yield, and 

 the honey brings the lowest price. The crude plank box hives yield 

 twice as much, and the honey commands a better price, while the 

 frame hives exceed the box hives by ten pounds in yield, and the 

 honey commands a still higher price. Clearly it is a mistake for any 

 one who keeps bees for profit to depend either on the "gums" or the 

 plain boxes, for the difference in yield, accentuated by a difference in 

 price, makes a very decided and striking difference in the value of the 

 honey crop that is gathered and sold. The difference in price is based 

 upon the fact that honey is regarded as a luxury rather than a neces- 

 sity, and the consumer would rather pay a higher price for the sake of 

 having it pure and in neat shape. Hence, the low price for honey 

 from "gums," the higher price for honey from the rough plank boxes, 

 and the iest price for the honey that is made in the extracting frames 

 in the "super" of a frame hive. And the very highest price of all is 

 paid for it when in the little one-pound sections, which are a neat and 

 handy table size, and especially if taken off as soon as the cells are 

 filled and capped, before the combs are discolored. 



It has already been pointed out, under the discussion of "Races or 

 Varieties of Bees," that the three races most used in this State differ 

 in their yield of honey, and it would be a very nice thing to figure 

 out the exact difference for each race of bees in each kind of hive, 

 but this is too fine a point for the records now in- our hands to justify. 

 Enough to know that on the whole the Italians do test, and that the 

 hees of all races do test in the movable frame hives with super. 



It is no part of the purpose of this Bulletin to say that any one 

 make of frame hive is better than others, nor is it even necessary 

 in all cases for a bee-keeper to buy a complete stock of any of the 

 patented hives. Many of our bee-keepers make their own hives and 

 frames, and often they invent certain little modifications which ren- 

 der them different, from any and all other makes. It is always ad- 

 visable for a bee-keeper who makes his own hives to have one standard 

 model hive after which all others are made of precisely same dimen- 

 sions so that frames or supers can be exchanged from one hive to 

 another without difficulty. We venture to say that, if we could call 



