TMB KMERICKM BE® JOURNflLlL. 



683 



Mr. Heikion — Ml'. Presiileut, may I 

 speak rig;lit out in meeting ? 



President Miller — Yes. 



Mr. HecMon — Well, this invention is 

 partlj- that of my son, and so thor- 

 oughly has he been irapi'essed with the 

 treatment that I have received in re- 

 gard to mj' inventions — the disposition 

 of a certain class to steal and claim 

 them — that he declares that he will not 

 suffer in this way — he will neither 

 patent nor make public his discovery. 

 I tell you, friends, the man who steals 

 bread, goaded to the act by the sight 

 of palid lips of starving wife or child, 

 has an excuse ; but he who steals the 

 honor that belongs to another, steals 

 something that he liannot successfully 

 use, something that fits him only as 

 the armor of a plumed knight fits a 

 pollywog, and is a thief by nature • 



Here Mr. Heddon threw upon the 

 table the handful of voting-blanks 

 with which he had been gesticulating, 

 and strode back to his seat. Later in 

 the da}' a member said to us : " Mr. 

 Heddon was a little ' riled ' once to- 

 day, wasn't he ?" After a moment's 

 thought he added, " But I don't know 

 as I blame him any." 



Overstoclcingf a LiOcality. 



All agreed that a localitj' could be 

 overstocked ; then followed the fjues- 

 tion, " How many colonies is it profit- 

 able to keep in one locality ?" 



President Miller said that he was 

 more deeply interested in this question 

 than in any other connected with bee- 

 keeping, unless it might be the preven- 

 tion of swarming, but it was a question 

 well-nigh impossible to answer defi- 

 nitely, because seasons and localities 

 differed. 



Mr. Heddon — I agree with Dr. 

 Miller as regards locality, but not sea- 

 son. If there are blossoms enough to 

 keep the bees busy visiting them, it 

 makes no ditterence whether the sea- 

 son is good or bad. We must try to 

 get the most money out of our field. 

 Others must be kept out. If we in- 

 crease the number of colonies until the 

 yield per colony is small, the less 

 opportunit}' is there for some upstart 

 with a dozen colonies. He can make 

 no profit with his low yield per colony, 

 but I can stand it, because of my large 

 number of colonies. I think that 200 

 colonies, spring count, will give the 

 best results, and, with the proper 

 hives, tools, and system, one man can 

 manage such an apiary. 



Mr. Root gave several instances 

 where large apiaries, notably in Cali- 

 fornia and Wisconsin, had furnislied 

 great yields ; but he admitted that 

 there was no profit for any one in 

 keeping bees near his large apiary in 

 Medina. Every one who tried it, was 

 obliged to give it up. 



C'lias. H. Green wished to know if 

 bees right close to basswood did any 

 better that those a little tlistaiice away. 

 He had taken bees right into the ba.ss- 

 wood forest, and they did no better 

 than those a mile and a half awaj'. 



Mr. Heddon once had a new swarm 

 that stored 29 pounds and 18 ounces 

 of honey in 24 hours, and the bees flew 

 2i miles ; some of them 4 miles. 



In regard to how many colonies it is 

 profitable to keep in one locality, opin- 

 ions varied all the way from 75 to 200. 



AlMike Clover as a Honey-Plant. 



All agreed that Alsike clover is an 

 excellent honey-plant, and for making 

 excellent hay. It is a profitable one 

 for the farmer to grow. It is particu- 

 larly adapted to low, moist land. 



Mr. Root had furnished free all the 

 seed that would be sown * within \\ 

 miles of his apiary ; and at half price, 

 that sown beyond \\ miles, and within 

 2 miles. 



Mr. Wheeler — The trouble is that 

 the farmers cut it too early for it to be 

 of much benefit to bee-keepers. 



Mr. Heddon warned bee-keepers 

 against this seed business. To give it 

 away is wrong in principle. The mo- 

 ment that a farmer gets the idea into 

 his head that your bees will get honey 

 from his clover, then he does not wish 

 to sow it. This is human nature. Let 

 me tell 3"ou how I managed it. Yon 

 know that I publish a local paper out at 

 Dowagiae. Well, I sent to Mr. New- 

 man for a cut of Alsike clover. Then 

 I wrote an article on Alsike as a desir- 

 able crop for farmers to raise. I 

 spread it on pretty thick, but I guess I 

 did not stretch the truth any. I$ut not 

 a word tlitl I say about its honej'-pro- 

 ducing (lualities. Then I went to our 

 seedsman and showed him what I had 

 done, and induced him to put in a 

 stock of seed. I then gave notice 

 where the seed could be obtained. The 

 result is that the farmers have sowed 

 largely of the Alsike. Where a man 

 has no paper to work with, and cannot 

 work with some other fellow's paper, 

 the next best plan is to get some old 

 farmer interested, and let him do the 

 talking. 



The Bee-Keeper«' Union. 



In answer to the question, " Is the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union Desirable ?" Mr. 

 Heddon said : Yes, it is. Bee-keep- 

 ing as a business is new. People have 

 not yet learned to look upon it with 

 respect. There may be a stable on an 

 adjoining lot, and no one complains. 

 A man may build a mill-dam, overflow 

 the country", and cause malaria, and 

 there is no thought of asking for the 

 removal of either. People have be- 

 come accustomed to these things, and 

 take them as a matter of course. It is 



not so with bees. We need the Union 

 to compel this respect. Jealousy anil 

 envy are at the root of much of this 

 troulile. Bee-keepers need a "trust" 

 as much as any other branch of busi- 

 ness does. 



Mr. Newman was called upon for his- 

 views on the subject, and said : 



The Bee-Keepers' Union has done 

 much to earn a right to exist. It has- 

 gallantly fought many battles in de- 

 fense of thepursuitof bee-keepers, and 

 in every case which has been fully and 

 finally decided, it has won tite victory. 

 It has now on hand three cases, twO' 

 of which have been tried in the lower 

 courts, and there a verdict has been 

 obtained against the bees. It will not 

 do to let these cases stand where they 

 are ; they must be fought through to a 

 finish, and must also be won, if that is 

 possible. 



The only question is a financial one^ 

 If money enough can be had to employ 

 the best legal talent, they can be won. 

 If not, then they may be lost. We want 

 to get a lawyer like Judge Williams,, 

 af Arkansas, to argue the case before- 

 the Court of Appeals in New York, and 

 win the case of S. W. Rich, as we won 

 the case of Z. A. Clark, and thus have 

 a magnificent decision to place upon 

 record, as a precedent in New York. 

 If money enough were in sight, the 

 Manager would employ such a lawyer, 

 but the present half-hearted support 

 will not warrant such an outlay. 



The idea of a jury awarding dam- 

 ages of 6 cents, when ^1,500 was 

 wanted by the complainant. This- 

 shows that he had no case, and had 

 the jury not been tied up to the in- 

 structions of a weak and time-serving 

 Judge, they would have non-suited the 

 banker and declared in favor of the 

 bees. 



The fight against bee-keeping is 

 rampant, and unless it is checked, no- 

 one will be left unmolested. But it 

 must not be allowed to go on in its- 

 fight against an honorable pursuit. It 

 nuist not succeed ; the stars in their 

 courses will fight against it, if the bee- 

 keepers will not do their duty. These 

 are not questions of a day or an age, 

 but of all time. They are born of 

 jealousy and hatred, and are a part of 

 the conflict between the rights of a 

 lawful pursuit, and the ignorant and 

 and envious, which in some form is as 

 old as history itself. It must now, in 

 this new world of the West, receive its- 

 death-blow by legal tribunal and due 

 process of law ; and bee-keeping be 

 declared a lawful and honorable pur- 

 suit. 



W. Z. Hutchinson — There is this 

 "•ood thing about it to comfort us — the 

 money that we pay to the Union, goes 

 to help some unfortunate brother. 

 (Concluded next weeb.) 



