96 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



loss. In answer to this we may siy that so 

 far conditions liave not been unfavorable 

 where the bees have been properly protect- 

 ed, indoors or out. The winter, up to the 

 first of January, was very mild all over the 

 United States. This put the bees in fine 

 condition. Then it turned cold and stayed 

 cold, with one or two rises of temperature — 

 enough so that the bees could turn over in 

 their sleep. The very severe cold that has 

 been prevalent throughout the United 

 States will mean an early spring if history 

 repeats itself; and whatever the bees may 

 have lost by reason of the cold will be more 

 than made up by later conditions. 



A condition that causes severe loss among 

 bees are cold and warm spells in .January or 

 February, or both, during which bees get 

 started in brood-rearing. A cold snap of two 

 or three weeks after that is almost sure to 

 have a disastrous effect; that is to say, an 

 ordinary winter in .January or February, fol- 

 lowed by bad w^eather in March, is usually 

 severe on bees. So far the weather this win- 

 ter has been favorable rather than otherwise; 

 for a steady cold does far less harm than 

 warm and cold. 



Examination of our own colonies, for ex- 

 ample, about two weeks ago, showed all of 

 them in splendid condition. At the present 

 writing, Feb. 14, the United States Weather 

 Bureau shows a letting-up in the cold. 



It is fair to state that this winter will be 

 disastrous on bees unprotected or in single- 

 walled hives outdoors. On the other hand, 

 it has been favorable for cellared bees. 



CITY COUNCILS LEGISLATING AGAINST BEES; 



MAKING BEES STAY ON THEIR 



OWN PREMISES. 



Our attention has been called to a paper 

 that is being circulated in the town of Gib- 

 sonburg, Ohio, for the purpose of getting the 

 town council to pass an ordinance prohibit- 

 ing the keeping of bees within the corporate 

 limitsof the village. We obtained the names 

 of the mayor and president of the council, 

 and wrote letters to them, explaining the 

 important position that bees occupy in the 

 fruit-growing industry by pollinating the 

 blossoms. We showed that the few bees 

 kept in town are probably only a very small 

 part of those kept within a distance of a 

 mile or more; that, even if those in town 

 were removed, the chances are that there 

 would be almost as many bees flying about 

 as before. We concluded by stating that any 

 such ordinance is unconstitutional, and cited 

 the celebrated Arkadelphia case. The his- 

 tory of this famous case was written up by 

 Thos. G. Newman, then General Manager of 

 the National Bee-keepers' Association, and 

 we sent them a copy of the pamphlet. 



Last September we wrote to the mayor 

 and councilmen of Huron, Ohio, where an 

 ordinance had already been passed compel- 

 ling all bee-keepers (and we believe there 

 was only one) living within the corporate 

 limits to screen the bees in the hives during 

 July and August! 



There are often local ordinances prevent- 



ing any one living in a village from allow- 

 iag his chickens to have a free range over 

 his neighbors' lawns and gardens. No one 

 objects to this; but suppose there were a 

 hundred poultry-raisers situated just be- 

 yond the limits of the corporation, and the 

 chickens in all of these yards were allowed 

 free range over the town — how much good 

 would it do to build fences around the few 

 chickens kept in town? The absurdity is 

 all the greater in the case of the bees, as 

 they would die if fenced in so long, and they 

 do no real harm any way. 



Just the other day a gentleman gravely 

 told us that he used to raise a great many 

 grapes, but that it was no longer profitable, 

 because bees from somewhere stung all his 

 fruit. These stories, believed and repeated 

 by intelligent people, are enough to make 

 one think the whole world has gone daft. 



In several instances where drastic mea- 

 sures were being taken by grudge-holders in 

 towns or cities, w^e have been able to offer 

 some help by way of writing letters, as 

 mentioned before, to the mayor or council- 

 men. We shall be glad to do this at any 

 time, for we have some strong literature 

 bearing on the subject, that shows that 

 bees, instead of being opposed by the intel- 

 ligent fruit-growers, are actually welcomed 

 by them. They are asking to have the 

 bees put in their orchards. 



THR BEE-KEEPER AND POULTRY-RAISER. 



While we are in hearty sympathy with 

 the advice of the late W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 " Keep more bees," for some specialists, the 

 far greater number of bee-keepers, for one 

 reason or another, can not go into the busi- 

 ness extensively enough to make it worth 

 their while to devote their whole time to it. 

 For example, in many localities bee-keeping 

 on a large scale would not be profitable, be- 

 cause the bee-pasturage is limited, or be- 

 cause the seasons are too uncertain. 



Then there are others, like Mr. Louis H. 

 Scholl, for instance, who like to have some 

 hobby aside from their main business, to 

 provide a change of thought and work and 

 a certain amount of pleasure. There are 

 still others who have the ability to become 

 specialists in some other business at the 

 same time that they are specializing in bee- 

 keeping. To all such we would recommend 

 poultry-raising; for, in our opinion, there is 

 no other line of w'ork that dovetails so nice- 

 ly with bees. As has been pointed out by 

 several of our correspondents in this issue, 

 one who is capable of making a success with 

 the bee business is also capable of succeed- 

 ing with poultry, and vice versa. 



An objection that is frequently made 

 against combining two kinds of business is 

 that one interferes with the other, so that 

 the best results can not be secured from 

 either. This may be true to a certain ex- 

 tent with bee-keei)ing and farming, bee- 

 keeping and fruit-growing, etc.; for when 

 the bees require the most attention and 

 thought, there is need of "all hands "on 

 the farm or in the orchard. J3ut with the 



