Vol. XVII. 



APRIL 15, 1889. 



No. 8. 



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\A. I. ROOT, MEDINA, OHIO. [^^S^T^^j^SSSSSL 



OUT-APIAEIES-NO. V. 



RENTING. 



"Up FTBR settling- upon a location for an out-apia- 

 gflk ry, make sure to have a distinct understand- 

 jRw ing as to the rent you are to pay. If the 

 -^*- landlord says, " Oh ! never mind, we'll not 

 quarrel about that," leaving- the matter to 

 be settled some time in the future, don't leave it at 

 that. There is a chance for a very wide difference 

 of opinion as to what is right, and that difference 

 will probably never be any less than when you 

 start. Tndeed, unless you know your man well it 

 may be well to have every thing in writing. Per- 

 haps I ought to add, also, that your man should 

 know ytm well; and if you haven't already estab- 

 lished a reputation for being a thoroughly upright 

 man, I advise you to commence putting in 24 hours 

 of every day, seven days in the week, working at it. 

 It is difficult to give any advice about what rent 

 should be paid, as so much depends on circum- 

 stances. If land is worth $4.00 per acre, annual 

 rent, and the presence of the bees makes no trouble 

 whatever, I see no reason why the bee-keeper 

 should pay more than $4.00 per acre for the land he 

 holds from cultivation. A tenth of an acre is suffi- 

 cient ground on which to place 100 colonies, so that, 

 in the case supposed, 40 cents would be a fair an- 

 nual rent. But the flying bees may prevent horses 

 from working anywhere near the hiv^es, and thus, 

 practically, 1 he bees may occupy an acre or more of 

 ground. Besides, the farmer may dislike to have 

 the bees around, and $40 added to the 40 cents 

 would not reconcile him to their presence. Refer- 

 ence to page 946, Gleanings for Dec. 15th, 1887, will 

 show what a diversity there is in the views and 

 practices of some of our leading bee-keepers. Some 



say the same price as the land could be rented for, 

 for other purposes. Some say it depends on cir- 

 cumstances, and wisely decline to set any figure. 

 Prof. Cook thinks the rent should be only nominal, 

 as the bees are a benefit to the farmer. Dr. Mason 

 says he can get plenty of places at $5.00; $8.00, 

 $10.00, $15.00 to $25.00, are mentioned by others, 

 while Mr. Wilkin, in California, thinks $100 is a 

 moderate rent for a good location where 300 or 400 

 colonies can be kept with exclusive control of the 

 bee-pasturage within a radius of three miles. Mr. 

 France pays 25 cents for each colony, spring count. 

 Dadant & Son pay one-fifth of the honey crop. This, 

 however, includes not only rent, but house-room 

 for extracting, for spare supers, boxes, crates, etc., 

 and the board of men and team while at work. 

 Capt. Hetherington, who is probably the largest 

 out-apiarist in the world, pays uniformly $15 for 

 each apiary, and P. H. Elwood does the same. 



From all this we learn that " circumstances alter 

 cases," and also that in actual practice bee-keepers 

 are very liberal in the rent they actually pay. I 

 think this is decidedly advisable. The matter of 

 rent forms a comparatively small part of the ex- 

 pense at any rate; and the good will of the family 

 where the bees are kept has a cash value of consid- 

 erable amount. I think I should always want to pay 

 a little more than the farmer thought actually right. 

 Be careful to manage so there shall be no annoy- 

 ance from the bees on account of carelessness on 

 j'our part. In my own practice I have never been 

 able to have my landlords agree to take any regu- 

 lar pay. In two places I have relatives, so that in 

 one case only was there a cold-blooded business 

 transaction, and in that case it was hardly so after 

 the first year, for Mrs. Belden insisted it was a 

 pleasure to see us come: and here I may as well 



