THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



343 



has some personal g^rudg'e which he 

 seeks to proclaim indirectly, concealed 

 in an article purporting' to deal with 

 any apiarian question, send it to some 

 other journal. We don't want it. 



We have recently been forbidden to 

 edit the copy of a correspondent, for 

 the reason that unnecessary and un- 

 charitable reference to those who 

 adhere to the Christian faith was cut 

 out, in a former article. It is our 

 most earnest endeavor to treat every 

 correspondent in a fair and courteous 

 manner; but it must be emphatically 

 and specifically understood that if cor- 

 respondents do not wish the editor to 

 take such liberties with their copy, 

 they themselves should cut out all such 

 lines before mailing' it. 



It is bj^ no means necessary that 

 matter for publication should be in ac- 

 cord with the editor's personal ideas; 

 but so far as pett}' "scraps" and re- 

 lig'ious references are concerned, it 

 must pass its scrutiny. We are not in 

 the business to insult one patron sim- 

 ply to g'ratif}' another, nor, indeed, to 

 gratify any clique. 



One bee-keepers' society officially 

 notifies this office that unless we see 

 fit to publish any matter entirely as 

 submitted, we must ignore it, and 

 make no comment. This is a most 

 absurd idea. Information relating to 

 public matters whicli efl'ects our pur- 

 suit, and through public channels re- 

 ceived, we presume may be freel}' dis- 

 cussed by individuals or the press. 

 An organization which seeks to throttle 

 free speech, or one which assays to 

 bulldoze the trade press should re- 

 move its quarters to other than Ameri- 

 can soil. 



The extreme importance of unity in 

 our fraternal ranks at the present 

 time should overshadow petty squab- 

 bles. The situation demands serious 

 unprejudiced thought and consistent 

 action. 



OVERSTOCKING. 



Locations Certainly Differ Regarding the 



Number of Cofonies That May 



be Profitably Kept. 



A few months ago Mr. E. W. Alex- 

 ander, of Delanson, N. Y., told us in 

 the Review of the large number of col- 

 onies that he had kept with profit in a 

 single locality. He has been con- 

 demned by some for thus encouraging 



the keeping of large apiaries. The 

 Review certainly wishes to give both 

 sides of subject, hence I copy the 

 following from the pen of J. A. Green, 

 and published in (Tleanings. Mr. 

 Green says: — 



To my mind, one of the most mis- 

 chievous doctrines that have ever been 

 brought out in a bee-journal is that 

 which argues that there is little danger 

 of overstocking a locality with bees, 

 and that one might as well keep four 

 or five hundred colonies in a place as 

 a fourth that number. It is true that 

 there are localities where this would 

 be good advice; but for one that would 

 be helped by following such advice, I 

 believe there area hundred who would 

 be harmed. And the worst of it is, 

 those who are harmed most may not be 

 able to help themselves at all in the 

 matter, but are at the mercy of those 

 who thoughtlessly take such doctrine 

 for sound sense. 



It is a difficult matter to tell when a 

 field is overstocked. A location may 

 be g-ood enough, during the height of 

 the honey-flow, to support a thousand 

 colonies with ease; yet when the flow 

 begins to fall oflf a little there will not 

 be enough honey to go around. Times 

 will come when nearly all the honey 

 the field affords is consumed in brood- 

 rearing. In times of scarcity the bees 

 will be consuming more than they can 

 gather. Especially in the spring there 

 will not be enough of either honey or 

 pollen to enable brood-rearing to be 

 carried on as it should be. Heavy 

 breeding will be necessary at times to 

 supplement the lack of natural sources 

 of supplies, and in the end it may be 

 found that the location that, at times, 

 was good enough for a thousand col- 

 onies, will nol support, for an average 

 term of years, more than 100 colonies 

 with the greatest econoni}' and profit. 



My own experience may be interest- 

 ing, and perhaps shed a little light on 

 the subject. When I came here the 

 location was plainly capable of sup- 

 porting profitably' many more bees 

 than were in it; but as my bees in- 

 creased in numbers I took advantage 

 of a vacated location to esteiblish an 

 out-apiary of sixty colonies only two 

 miles away from home. It was not as 

 far away as I should have liked; but 

 locations are scarce here, and it was' 

 better than nothing. That season 

 nearly every bee-keeper in the neigh- 

 borhood doubled the number of his col- 

 onies, some even more than that. I de- 



