150 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Ausrust 



evaporation. One coloiw would not Be 

 able to gather, say, more tHan one 

 pound while it lasted; while if. lOO col- 

 onies were in the field, each would get 

 one pound.'' Continuing along this fa- 

 vorite line of reasonmg. he demanded 

 an explanation of "the fact" that '^out 

 in California, in 1900, an apiary of sev- 

 eral hundred colonies, with the excep- 

 tion of one starved to death. Is it pos- 

 sible that there was not enough honey 

 in the field to keep that one lone coTony 

 alive? Evidently not; for it too 'Siecl 

 soon after the others, of starvation. If 

 but the one had been in the range from 

 the first, it would a!so have died. If 

 there had been sufificient honey to pre- 

 vent starvation in the case of the single 

 colony, so tliere would have been afso 

 enough to have pulled through the sev- 

 eral hundred colonies-'" 



He agrees emphatically with Arthur 

 C. Miller, in the belief that bee-keep- 

 ers read and for years continue to be- 

 lieve, simply because it has been print- 

 ed, that which is positively false, in- 

 stead of experimenting and thinking 

 independently. There may be more to 

 Pat's idea than all would be ready to 

 admit. It appears quite in line with an 

 apt illustration ofOettl which is quot- 

 ed in the revised edition of "Lang- 

 stroth on the Honey Bee." as follows: 



When a large flock of sheep is graz- 

 ing on a limited area, there may "soon 

 be a deficiency of pasturage. But this 

 cannot be asserted of bees, as a good 

 honey district cannot be readily over- 

 stocked with them. Today, when the air 

 is moist and warm, the plants may 

 yield a superabundance of nectar, while 

 tomorrow, being cold and wet, there 

 may be a total want of it. When there 

 is sufificient heat and moisture, the sac- 

 charine jvjices of plants will readily ITn 

 the nectaries, and will be quickiy re- 

 plenished when carried ofif by tne oees. 

 Every cold night checks the flow of 

 honey, and every clear, warm day re- 

 opens the fountains. The flowers ex- 

 panded today must be visited whTle 



open, for, if left to wither, their stores 

 are lost. The same remarks wiFl apply 

 substantially in the case of honey-dews~ 

 Hence, bees cannot, as many suppose, 

 collect tomorrow what is left ungath- 

 ered today, as sheep may graze here- 

 after on the pasturage they do not need 

 now. 



W'e are glad indeed that favorable 

 conditions this season are promising a 

 profitable crop of honey in Pat's loca- 

 tion and wish it might be clearly dem- 

 onstrated that overstocking was an im- 

 possibility at all times and in all places; 

 a thing which is not liable, in our opin- 

 ion, to preceded the millennial dawn 

 very many seasons. 



We show in this number another 

 photograph of Pat's operations — dis- 

 charging a cargo of bees from the 

 steamer which shall be retained in 

 memory as the bearer of this human 

 cyclopedia of apicultural knowledge. 



Developing the Market. 



The following is an extract from 

 a circular of the Jamaica Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, issued last March. It may 

 contain an idea which might be utiliz- 

 ed by our- own National Association; 

 although it would be unnecessary to 

 send our representative abroad until he 

 had thoroughly worked the United 

 States: 



Kingston. March 6, 1902. 

 Heads of Agreement Between the Ja- 

 maica Bee-Keepers' Association 

 and Mr. W. H. Dickson. 



The Association having procured 

 Mr. W. H- Dickson a return passage 

 from Jamaica to Bristol on the Port 

 Antonio leaving today, and having 

 paid him the sum of thirty shillings for 

 expenses on board, and the sum of six 

 pounds on account for journey from 

 Bristol to London, and for expenses of 

 board, lodging and business locomotion 

 from the time of landing until the 

 fifth of April. Mr. Dickson agrees to 

 act for the Association as traveller or 

 agent, and to devote the whole of his 

 energy and time in business hours to 



