378 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



a successful defense, aiul that will in- 

 sure more trouble in the near future. 



I have no doubt but every bee- 

 keeper will feel it liis duty, yea a 

 privilege, to cast in his mite, when 

 necessary to preserve our common 

 rights. 



Christiansburg,5 Ky. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Importance of Defense Organizations 



FRANK M NAY. 



I hope that every reader of the Bee 

 JouuNAL has read the two articles on 

 page 3t(). I have no more interest in 

 this case than every bee-keeper should 

 have, aud I had had no acquaintance 

 with Mr. Freeborn (although we are 

 located only 40 miles apart) until I 

 heard of his trouble last fall, when I 

 went to see him. and enjoyed a very 

 pleasant visit with him. 



Mr. Freeborn is one of the pioneer 

 bee-keepers of Wisconsin. ;uul has 

 given instructions to many who are 

 now among our best apiarists ; and 

 were it not for poor health, I doubt 

 not that he would now honor the oc- 

 cupation of bee- keeping by giving 

 this case such a defense as would 

 teach all that bees instead of a detri- 

 ment are of great service to agricul- 

 ture. 



I think the plan i)roposed by Mr. 

 Heddon is a good one. a)id he deserves 

 thanks for his able article on this sub- 

 jec. AVe need some one to take the 

 management of organiziug at once, 

 aud Mr. Ileddon has named Mr. New- 

 man. I think that the choice will be 

 unanimous, and I hope that he will 

 use his best efforts to organize a bee- 

 keepers' defense organization. I 

 would suggest that Mr. Newman pub- 

 lish a call for signers, with the under- 

 standing that the managers shall have 

 the right to assess the members for 

 necessary funds, as soon as the or- 

 ganization is large enough to have 

 the required strength. There are 

 many reasons for forming an organi- 

 zation. I think that if Mr. Newman 

 had had 1,000 or more bee-keepers to 

 defend him. he could have taught 

 Prof. Wiley the folly of telling " scien- 

 tilic lies." 



:Mauston,0 Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Expecting a Bountiful Harvest, etc. 



EUGENE SECOR. 



note of them. White clover is now 

 coming on nicely, and if it yields nec- 

 tar as did the flowers preceding it, 

 we shall expect a bountiful surplus. 



If our pitchers are right side up this 

 summer. I believe that they will be 

 (illed. My observation is that too 

 many bee-keepers let a part, and 

 sometimes the best part, of the honey 

 season go by before they put on the 

 boxes, even when their bees are 

 strong enough to go right into them. 

 We cannot wait until July aud then 

 get a remarkable crop. 



AN ADVISORY BOARD SUGGESTED. 



In regard to the suggestions offered 

 on page 346, by Mr. Ileddon, I would 

 say that in my opinion there ought to 

 be an advisory board of ttiree to dis- 

 burse that defense fund ; for " in a 

 multitude of counsels there is wis- 

 dom."' It would give better satis- 

 faction to the subscribers to the fund, 

 and relieve the secretary from some 

 responsibility. Before aiding any 

 bee-keeper, tlie board ought to have a 

 voice in saying what attorneys should 

 be employed to defend him, as every 

 one-horse ,cross-road pettifogger is not 

 capable of managing such cases ; nor 

 is it every case tliat'might arise that 

 ought to be defended— only those 

 wherein are involved general prin- 

 ciples. 



This board should use its discretion 

 in those matters, and if some of our 

 ablest and best-known bee-keepers 

 were that advisory board, we should 

 feel secure ; not that we lack confi- 

 dence in the Editor of the Bee Jour- 

 nal, but we think he would feel bet- 

 ter to hiive some good company to 

 help bear the responsibility. My dol- 

 lar is ready when wanted. 



Forest City, 5 Iowa, June 8, 1S85. 



The season has opened propitiously 

 in northern Iowa. It is now only 

 about six weeks since the bees were 

 removed from their prison-house or 

 cellars, aiul now they are storing 

 honey in supers, 'Maying out"' and 

 swarming. From the latter part of 

 April the honey-flow has been con- 

 stant and abundant. Beginning with 

 the willow and poplarana ending with 

 fruit-bloom, there lias been a succes- 

 sion of honey-flowers that made glad 

 the heartsof enthusiasticbee-keepers. 

 One will be surprised at the number 

 of honey-producing trees, shrubs and 

 plants here when lie begins to take 



For tbe Amencan Bee Journal. 



Defense Organizations and Funds. 



S. H. MALLORY. 



royalty was collected, and they soon 

 got all the law they wanted, and the 

 whole thing collapsed, thereby saving 

 thousands of dollars by being organ- 

 ized and showing a bold front. 



If all bee-keepers who wish to come 

 into this mutual protection society, 

 would contribute, say one dollar, to 

 the fund and place it in the hands of 

 one who could be implicitly trusted, 

 and who had the energy and wisdom 

 to use it so as to do the fraternity the 

 most good, I believe it would be an act 

 of wisdom on the part of bee-keepers to 

 do so. Each contributor should have 

 a receipt from the treasurer stating 

 the purpose for which the money was 

 contributed, and if tliought best the 

 surplus, if any remained after this 

 impending suit is over, could be re- 

 turned to the contributors by the so- , 

 ciety so voting, or otherwise dispos- 

 ing of it. At any rate let us I'aise the 

 fuud, and help defend this fellow-bee- 

 keeper who is in trouble; thereby, 

 perhaps, preventing future annoyance 

 to otiiers of the fraternity. 



Decatur, P Mich. 



I think that the suggestion offered 

 by Mr. Ileddon, on page 340, in regard 

 to organizing and raising a defense 

 fund, is a good one. It will do good 

 in various ways, not only in helping 

 bee-keepers to defend their rights 

 when trespassed upon, without heavy 

 individual outlay, but if black-mailers 

 and Sliylocks know that we are or- 

 ganized and able to defend ourselves, 

 tliey will tight siiy ot us. 



We have tested the value of organi- 

 zation here in Michigan several times, 

 flrst, in what was called " the slide- 

 gate svirindle," and next, in the "drive 

 well suits.'' In both cases the agents 

 of so-called patentees were scattered 

 all over the State collecting royalty 

 from farmers and others with im- 

 punity. Individuals were threatened 

 with a lawsuit if they refused to pay 

 on demand, and rather than stand the 

 chances of being sued in the United 

 States court, perliaps a hundred miles 

 away, they would pay the royalty ; 

 and thousands of dollars were col- 

 lected in that way. Finally, the 

 (Irange Organization raised a defense 

 fund and proposed to fight Mr. Pat- 

 ent-right-man. After that no more 



For the Amencan Bee JoumaL 



Cause of Bee-Diarrhea, etc. 



GEO. B. PETERS. 



I have noticed from time to time a 

 discussion of tlie theory advanced by 

 Mr. James Heddon, of the cause of 

 bee diarrhea among bees in winter. 

 Whilst we know a man's faith by his 

 works, we cannot know one's faith 

 without bis works. I only know Mr. 

 Ileddon by his zeal aud devotion to 

 the interest of bee-keeping, by his 

 frank and candid manner in stating 

 his convictions, and by his many use- 

 ful suggestions to advance apiculture. 

 But I tliink that the ardor of his na- 

 ture has led liim into an egregious 

 error as to the cause of bte-diarrliea. 

 It is conceded by everybody that a 

 thousand negatives v/ill not disprove 

 one positive fact. I state now, on the 

 honor of an old bee-keeper, to tliat 

 class of men engaged as such, that I 

 have kept bees for over 00 years, and 

 I have always watched with great 

 interest any deviation from a normal 

 conilition of my colonies in winter as 

 well as in the honey season, and I 

 have never yet seen a case of that dis- 

 ease among bees. This country is the 

 one notorious for the pabulum of bee- 

 life, and many seasons remarkable 

 for the honey harvest. 



In this country there is more pollen 

 or bee-bread gathered than in any 

 other country imder the sun, I sup- 

 pose : and here no one pretends to 

 take his colonies from their summer 

 stands, and few even provide a shel- 

 ter of boards. I have seen colonies 

 live through the severest winters with 

 large crevices in the hives and with- 

 out any shelter, go through all right 

 and swarm early in March. I have 

 taken a single colony, and by sub- 

 division increased it to 32 by the mid- 

 dle of August, and in anotiier month 

 I could have doubled it ; but then the 

 latest would have required feeding. 

 This is an evidence of the great 

 amount of bee-bread collected ; and 



