1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



531 



5. Oet one of N. E. France's Foul Brood Acts past ; and 

 after that appoint an inspector to examine all apiaries ; in- 

 struct the people how to cure their colonies ; and, where the 

 owners or caretakers won't cure, burn every diseased colony 

 for the public good, as it won't do to let people keep a few dis- 

 eased colonies that will be no good to them, to ruin large api- 

 aries for their neighbors that have cost a good deal, and are 

 worth hundreds of dollars. 



The credit of ridding out the disease by wholesale in the 

 Province of OiUario, should be given to Mr. F. A. Gemmill, of 

 Stratford. Hefore 1890 foul brood was spreading throuuh 

 our country at an alarming rate. Some men were keeping 

 diseased colonies near fine apiaries, and others were selling 

 their foul-broody colonies to be shipt into localities where the 

 disease had never been. Mr. Gemmill (who is one of Canada's 

 best bee-keepers) wrote to me at that time, saying that it 

 would only be a question of lime until all the apiaries of Onta- 

 rio would be destroyed by foul brood if we did not get an Act 

 past to stamp out thedisease. Mr. Gemmill brought this mat- 

 ter before the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, and pusht it 

 until he got the Act past for the good of his country. 



6. Yes, by examining the honey stored in the cells where 

 foul-brood matter had dried down. Hunting for foul brood 

 germs in a quantity of honey that had been extracted from 

 colonies not much affected with foul brood would be some- 

 thing like looking for a needle in a hay-stack. 



It is certainly a real business bee-keeper that sent in the 

 foregoing questions for answers. They are the most impor- 

 tant ones for the bee-keepers' interests that I ever read. 



Ontario, Canada, Aug. 13. 



Overstocking a Locality with Bees. 



BV PROF. A. .1. COOK. 



This is a subject that has been much discust among the 

 bee-keepers of the East. Dr. Miller for years argued persis- 

 tantly and forcibly for such measures, legal or moral, that 

 would give each bee-keeper the exclusive control of his terri- 

 tory, and free him from the danger of others coming to tres- 

 pass — if we may use so harsh a term — upon his domain and 

 rights. 



Mr. James Heddon urged exclusive possession, on two 

 grounds: The new comer had no right, under the Golden 

 Rule, to inflict his presence upon the one already establish!. 



ProJ. A. J. Cook. 



and, besides this, it was supreme folly to do this — the re- 

 sources would not give thrift to two parties in close proximity, 

 and it stood to reason that the one in the field would have the 

 vantage ground over the new comer, and while he would lose 

 by the intrusion, the other would surely go to the wall. 



In the East, no one denies the proposition that a region 



may be overstockt, without it be one of the fortunate ones in 

 the vast basswood forests of Wisconsin, and no good bee- 

 keeper would think to locate In the Immediate vicinity of a 

 large apiary. It has been generally held that 100 colonies of 

 bees — about the number that one person can care for well — 

 were the maximum quantity for the average locality. This 

 proposition seems to rest firmly on experience and reason 

 alike. There are only so many flowers, and each flower con- 

 tains only so much honey. It stands to reason, then, that an 

 excessive number of bees would, per force, receive but a scant 

 harvest. 



In California, the proposition does not find such ready 

 acceptance. I suppose everybody accedes to the logic just 

 offered, and believes any region could be overstockt, as a 

 sound mathematical conclusion. But when hundreds of colo- 

 nies of bees are masht in a single apiary, and a hundred or 

 more pounds of honey secured from each colony, as is the 

 common experience in this favored clime in all good seasons, 

 then many of cur best apiarists shake their heads whenever 

 we speak of overstocking in southern California. 



One of our largest, most intelligent, and most successful 

 southern California bee-keepers, who has 900 colonies of bees, 

 and has harvested over 53 tons of honey the present season, 

 expresses some scepticism as to overstocking in this region, 

 and surely he would seem to have some ground for his doubts. 

 Others have spoken to me in like mood. 



Another very prominent bee-keeper, who two years ago 

 with less than 600 colonies — I think about 500 — to com- 

 mence the season, which were increast to 600, took over ;iO 

 tons of extracted honey. This year, with the same number, 

 he secured only 16 tons — explains his lessened crop on the 

 very ground of overcrowding. Two years ago his occupancy 

 was exclusive; this year another bee-keeper came to share the 

 fruits. 



Why is it thus ? It seems to me that there are two rea- 

 sons for this peculiarity in southern California. First, there 

 is a very long season of flowers and nectar-secretion. The 

 early bloom — eucalyptus and citrus — while it does not crowd 

 the combs with hooey, does give enough to stimulate breeding 

 and secure splendid colonies by the time the later more pro- 

 lific bloom carpets the plains and hillsides. 



Again, the sages — the great source of the magnificent 

 honey of southern California, better than which none is pro- 

 duced in any land or region — are not only very bountiful in 

 their secretion of nectar, but are also very long in bloom, as 

 are nearly all the plants of California. Thus, they are like 

 the basswoods in producing immense quantities of the best 

 honey, and greatly superior to the basswood in nearly or quite 

 tripling the length of bloom of the linden. 



I have heard some of the old bee-keepers of the linden re- 

 gions of Wisconsin question the possibility of overstocking. 

 This came from their own experience. The innumerable blos- 

 soms, and the generous nectar-drop in each bloom resulted in 

 a tremendous harvest. The Californian, who is so fortunate 

 as to be encircled with rich fields of sage and wild buckwheat, 

 has even more to give assurance in the phenomenally long 

 season of bloom. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Reminiscent — Honey-Sources — Marketing,. 



BY MRS. L. JIARKISON. 



I began the study of bee-culture in 1862, and sought fn-- 

 formation in every possible way — by books, periodicals, and 

 from those engaged in its pursuit. As I call to mind these 

 veterans, who left their own apiaries during busy times, and 

 came a long distance to teach me how to introduce queens, 

 divide colonies, etc., I can but admire their generosity and 

 self-denial. They knew that if I reacht the goal my honey 

 would come in competition with their own product. In my 

 acquaintance during all these years I've found but one 

 student in bee-culture who refused to impart all the informa- 

 tion he possest, without money and without price. Is this 

 generosity on the part of apiarists anything to do with the 

 low price of honey? The first I produced brought 30 cents 

 per pound, and was not offered for sale, but buyers sought 

 for it. 



SOURCES OF HONEY CUT OFF. 



The State of Illinois has not as good bee-pasture as it had 

 35 years ago, with very few exceptions. Then wild flowers 

 bloomed in wet places on farms, but now they are tilled, and 

 the plow and mower cut off this supply. The old rail-fences- 

 have disappeared, and now but seldom a clump of golden-rod 

 can be seen, seeking the protection of barbed-wire fencing. 

 Along our water-ways the rich bottomlands, subject to over- 

 flow, are being levied and drained, thus depriving apiaries 



