84 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



March 



Lima, N. Y., Dec. 25, 1902. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper: 



I should like to ask a question rela,t- 

 ing to taking bees on shares: A hav- 

 ing a larger number of colonies than 

 he wishes to handle, and desiring to es- 

 tablish an apiary some distance from 

 his home, B proposes to take the bees 

 on shares; A to furnish all material — 

 hives, foundation, bees, etc., and B to 

 do all the work. What proportion of 

 the honey crop and swarms ought B 

 to receive for his share'? Will some 

 bee-keeper please answer through the 

 American Bee-Keeper? 



Respectfully yours, 



J. Butler. 



(Mr. James Heddon, in his book, 

 "Success in Bee Culture," says: "The 

 increase belongs to the apiary, always; 

 and any system that gives a share of 

 the increase to the laborer, will defeat 

 itself and prove in the end damaging 

 to both parties." Mr. Heddon has had 

 extensive experience along this line, 

 which has resulted in firmly established 

 ideas as to plans that are both prac- 

 ticable and just to all parties concerned. 

 Mr. Heddon's book was written eight- 

 een years ago, and he is still quite 

 largely engaged in bee-keeping. It is 

 rather a note-worthy fact that at ,the 

 very moment while the writer was con- 

 sidering Mr. Butlers' belated question, 

 above given, Mr. Heddon walked into 

 The Bee-Keeper office, and the ques- 

 tion was submitted to him in person. 

 in order to ascertain whether he had 

 changed his mind in regard to the mat- 

 ter. He read the question and prompt- 

 ly replied: "There is but one sort of 

 understanding that will fairly en,title 

 B to any share of A's swarms, and 

 that is the understanding that B is to 

 run A out of the bu'siness in a short 

 time. The natural increase is neces- 

 sary to off-set the death rate, and the 

 swarms should and must always be con- 

 sidered as belonging exclusively to the 

 apiary, as much as the original colo- 

 nies. If the apiary is to be maintained, 

 the natural increase, or swarms, must 

 be kept in the apiary. B is entitled, of 

 course, to his share of the honey pro- 

 duced by the swarms, but the swarms 

 themselves, should not be separated 

 therefrom, as they are needed to keep 

 up the honey-producing capacity of the 



apiary." Mr. H. further says that, the 

 honey crop should be equally divided 

 between A and B, and that B should 

 be required to stand the expenses of 

 packages necessary to market his por- 

 tion of the crop, whether barrels, cans, 

 or sections and cases; and in case of 

 producing comb honey, also the cost 

 of his proportion of the surplus foun- 

 dation consumed in its production 

 In order to secure the largest possible 

 returns in honey, it is important tha,t 

 increase, or division of colonies by any 

 means, should be discouraged. It is 

 therefore quite obvious that some ar- 

 rangement which gives ,the manipulator 

 Or laborer only a share of the hone}"^, 

 would be more likely to terminate in 

 general satisfaction, than would a plan 

 authorizing him to claim a share of all 

 colonies m excess of the original num- 

 ber. His proportion of the crop, 

 would, of course, necessarily need to 

 be greatei* than if he were to become 

 part owner of the swaims. His com- 

 pensation would not necessarily be 

 lessened, but it would come from a 

 more practicable source, and in a more 

 satisfactory way.— Editor). 



Cienfuegos, Cuba. Feb. 3. 1903. 

 Dear Mr. Hill- 



I see by the December number of 

 'J'l;e Bcc-Ke.;per that Mr. John Hard- 

 scrabble is inclined to worry about my 

 having established an apiary in Hell 

 Valley which he seems to regard as a 

 \ery bad place. But if Mr. Hardscrab- 

 ble could but have a glance at Valle 

 del Infierno, he would doubtless change 

 his mind; for this beautiful spot is lo- 

 cated in the uplands — in the very heart 

 of the mountains — some 800 or 900 feet 

 above the sea level, and in a bee-line, 

 25 miles southeast from Cienfuegos. 

 The valley is four to five miles in width, 

 entirely surrounded by high mountains 

 upon which ever grow tall ,trees of the 

 wild forest, and are green throughout 

 the year. Several extensive coffee plan- 

 tations are cultivated in the valley, 

 which is traversed bj' the cool, clear 

 waters of th« Matagua river, which 

 makes the wonderful fall of over 300 

 feet. Here .the heat never troubles us. 

 In the winter time — ?t this very season 

 — it is cold, descending now and' then 

 nearly to the freezing point. 



I am very busy now; though January 



