1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



191 



that there may be perfect contact all along 

 the line. 



Dip the spoon in the melterl wax and take 

 up about half its capacity. Bring it quickly 

 to the left end of the top bar; turn the handle 

 of the spoon away from the body and pour 

 out the wax, at the same time running the 

 spoon from one end to the other. The left 

 hand, slightly resting on the upper edge of 

 the foundation, presses it down on the top- 

 bar, and at the Same time the lip of the spoon 

 presses the lower edge against the board, 

 thus getting perfect alignment. The bar be- 

 ing on a slope, the melted wax runs rapidly 

 downward, just enough being caught in the 

 depressions of the foundation to make a per- 

 fect cement. 



When all three sheets have been fastened, 

 the frames should be reversed and the melt- 

 ed wax applied on the other side. 



Lastly, a word of caution as to the handling 

 of the trames once the foun ation has been 

 fastened. The wax sets very speedily, but 

 it takes quite a while to harden, so the sheet 

 of foundation must never be out of per- 

 pendicular. To reverse the frame, lift it off 

 the rack and turn it slowly end for end. 

 When the second application has been made 

 lift the frame by both bands; lower one un- 

 til the top-bar is perpendicalar then change 

 hands and bring the top-bar horizontal, prop- 

 er side up. 



The hiv*> is, of course, the best place to 

 store the frames uniil they are wanted for 

 use. 



Victoria, B. C. 



THE LEGAL CC^TROL OF BEE TER- 

 RITORY. 



An Actual Case where No Law could 

 Help Matters. 



BY J. L. BYER. 



With a good deal of pleasure we have read 

 what Dr Miller has to say in defense of his 

 position on the question of the legal control 

 of bee territ-^ry and before going further I 

 wish to make it clear that, while 1 may have 

 intimated in a former article my inability to 

 understand the doctor's attitude on this 

 question, yet I never for a moment question- 

 ed his sincerity and h -nesty in the matter. 

 I am placed in quite a difficult position in at- 

 tempting to combat the arguments advanced, 

 from ♦he fact that the proposition on which 

 Dr Miller bases all his theories on the ques- 

 ti<»n at issue is, in nur opinion, entirely un- 

 tenable I refer, of course, to the statement 

 made by him that "if ever bee-keeping is to 

 stand upon a firm basis like other lines of 

 busin^ss, there must be such a condition of 

 affairs that the bee-keeper ^hall feel just as 

 secure against interference as the stook- 

 rais- r who is assured by the law that his 

 fields shall be occuped by his cattle and his 

 alone." 



With all due regard for the opinion of oth- 

 ers, I hold that the two cases are not at all 



parallel; for before the stock-raiseT* has such 

 privileges he must either own the land or 

 pay an adequate rental for the same — some- 

 thing that it would be impossible for a bee- 

 keeper to do in the many thickly settled 

 communities where so many bees are kept 

 to-day. As regards Australia and some oth- 

 er sparsely settled sections, we admit, as we 

 did in a former article, that legal control of 

 territory for the bee keeper might be possi- 

 ble; but, as pointed out in that same article, 

 conditions that are applicable in such places 

 would be entirely impossible in the more 

 thickly settled communities. 



I have already stated that I regard the 

 doctor's "foundation stone" as an impossi- 

 ble proposition in so far as bee-keepmg is 

 concerned, and I may as well say at once 

 that my belief is that all who contemplate 

 going into bee keeping as a business may as 

 well realize at the first th;it it is a business 

 of many uncertainties, and be prepared to 

 cope with the overstocking and other prob- 

 lems incidental to the calling, just as miners 

 and other s engaged in uncertain occupat ons 

 expect the various ups and downs natural to 

 the work from the very nature of the same. 

 After all is said and done, it is gratifying to 

 know that very few real bee keepers do en- 

 croach upon others, as here in Ontario, at 

 least, it is quite rare to hear of a man mov- 

 ing bees near another who has located be- 

 fore him. At present I can recall only one 

 instance that has come to my notice, and in 

 that case one of our extensive producers 

 moved right across the road from another 

 bee-keeper; and 1 wish to say most emphat- 

 ically that, unless there were mitigating cir- 

 cumstances that were not revealed to me, 

 the bee keeper who did the moving is about 

 fifty percent less of a man, in my estimation, 

 than he was before I heard of the matter. 

 As we have never been in the locality where 

 this happened, all we have on the subject is 

 second-handed, and we do not feel as well 

 qualified to speak as though personally aware 

 of all the facts. 



The supposition that Dr. Miller advances 

 regarding Mr. Jones moving to a locality 

 suitable for maintaining .00 colonies, and 

 then having another man move in near him 

 with an apiary, is unfortunately too true in 

 reality in so^ie few cases; but when we go 

 to suppose what would happen in a se tied 

 community where there were a number 

 keeping bees, if a law were passed giving 

 control of all the territory to one man — well, 

 language fails me, and I can only appeal to 

 imigination. 



"There's no such conflict about a cow pas- 

 ture; and why should there be as to a bee- 

 pasture? " As we have already stated, the 

 cow man. in order to get such exclusive 

 rights, either owns or rents all the land his 

 cows 'oam over. Let a bee keeper comply 

 with these conditions, and then the two 

 cases will in a slight degree be parallel, and 

 not before. 



Right here at my home I have a c^se that 

 is not m the supposition class; and after ex- 

 plaining the matter I will ask Dr. Miller to 



