156 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 1 



ever, that, like Dr. Miller, I wish very much 

 that we might control certain territories, 

 although the question of overstocking has 

 never given me any sleepless nights. To 

 compare a cow pasture to a bee pasture 

 seems to me like comparing a man's money 

 in a bank to the fish that swim up and down 

 a navigable stream which is owned by the 

 people (the country), but in which fishing 

 can be carried on without restriction. The 

 money in the bank the man owns in fee sim- 

 ple; the fishing privilege costs him nothing; 

 but, according to the measure of his success, 

 so the danger of others benefiting by his dis- 

 covery increases. It is now about two years 

 since I pointed out that one is rather partial 

 toward apiculture if he says a territory be- 

 longs to a bee-keeper because he first locat- 

 ed there with his bees. But if the visits of 

 bees to blossoms are a good thing, and if a 

 large number of bees in a section insures a 

 greater yield of clover seed, alfalfa seed, 

 buckwheat, fruit, etc. (and surely it does 

 one year with another) , then more than the 

 interests of the bee-keeper must be consid- 

 ered. Not alone is the quantity of the crop 

 greater, but recent experiments have shown 

 that the seed, owing to cross-fertilization in- 

 stead of continued inbreeding, is more vig- 

 orous; in fact, it is probably no Utopian 

 dream to look forward to a time when seeds 

 will have a higher value on account of the 

 cross-fertilization being assured by reason 

 of the apiaries in the vicinity, resulting in 

 greater vigor and strength of the plants rais- 

 ed from that seed. 



We as bee-keepers can not agree on nor 

 give conclusive data concerning what con- 

 stitutes overstocking; much less are we able 

 to decide on the number of colonies (or, 

 rather, bees, for colonies vary much in 

 strength), which under any condition will be 

 sufficient for a good C[uaniity and quality of 

 seed in a given locality. Now, since this is 

 true, what legislative body, acting judicious- 

 ly and intelligently, could pass a law on the 

 subject? If any one is bold enough to say 

 that this could be done, then I am sure that 

 the editor and all the readers will gladly give 

 him space to declare himself and to submit 

 his evidence. 



I already feel quite sure that the limit of 

 profit to the bee keeper, when the question 

 of overstocking is concerned, is by no means 

 the limit of advantage to the grower of the 

 crops above mentioned. What I mean is 

 that, when there are too many bees kept in 

 a district for the bee keeper to secure the 

 maximum amount of honey, it would still, at 

 times, be to the advantage of the crop-grow- 

 ers to have even more bees; and, in the fram- 

 ing of a law, surely the crop-growers must 

 be considered. 



As I stated before when referring to this 

 subject, we want to have our cake and also 

 eat it. In other words, so far as it suits me 

 I want to lay claims to the blessing that the 

 bees are to the growers of certain crops, and 

 yet to suit my own ends I should have to ig- 

 nore that phase of the matter in determin- 

 ing this question of overstocking.. The grow- 



ers should not be allowed to keep more than 

 a certain number of colonies, nor should they 

 be allowed to reach the limit of benefit to 

 their crops. This all proves to me that, dif- 

 ficult as tne question is of solution from the 

 bee-keeper's standpoint alone, from the 

 grower's standpoint already indicated it is 

 still more difficult and the moral aspect more 

 complicated. 



Now let us turn to the solution of the prob- 

 lem from the standpoint of bee-keepers only. 

 I know of men, situated in excellent locali- 

 ties, who have perhaps ten, twenty, or twen- 

 ty-five colonies, and who think that no one 

 else should locate within a mile of their yard, 

 or even several miles; in fact, there is a case 

 just now that has come to my knowledge of 

 a man who has only four or five colonies of 

 bees, and who grows fruit and alsike clover. 

 This party was annoyed because a bee-keep- 

 er put an apiary near him, although the 

 other farmers about wanted the apiary on 

 account of the fertilizing which the bees 

 would do to the blossoms in the vicinity. 

 This shows that the estimate of anyone man 

 as to what constitutes overstocking may be 

 very far from correct. 



Another bee keeper within a half-mile ra- 

 dius purchased at different times over one 

 hundred colonies of bees, and entirely bought 

 out the other bee-men. Some think that this 

 man has man has no right in that locality be- 

 cause he does not live there. 



A bee keeper for six or more years has 

 moved to a given locality to get the benefit 

 from a certain honey-flow. When he first 

 moved in, another man a mile away kept 

 about fifty colonies. This last party produc- 

 ed comb honey entirely, and he also hunted 

 and fished parts of the year, thus making his 

 living. Now, he lost nothing by reason of 

 the first man moving in, for he became quite 

 a large producer of extracted honey, and 

 has gained enough confidence in the busi- 

 ness to increase nis apiary to over one hun- 

 dred colonies. He is an honorable man, and 

 yet he thinks that the first bee-keeper who 

 was in the habit of moving his bees in for 

 the particular honey- flow, and who had done 

 so all the other years, should now, owing to 

 changed conditions, move away, and that in 

 not doing so he is not acting the part of a 

 consistent Christian. 



One more illustration: A man I know has 

 lived and kept bees near a certain city for 

 over twenty years. About a mile from his 

 last apiary a farmer has gradually increased 

 his bees until he has over one hundred colo- 

 nies. The farmer, too, has kept bees for 

 nearly twenty years. Last year the first man 

 moved all his bees away, yet retained his 

 bee-house and grouijd for the apiary. The 

 farmer helped him move, expectmg to have 

 the location more to himself. Now a third 

 party, whose duties necessitate his presence 

 in the city every working day, has located 

 one hundred colonies about a mile from the 

 farmer. He probably would not have done 

 this had not the first bee-keeper moved 

 away. Now what would you do, Dr. Miller, 

 in a case of this kind? and what would hap- 



