1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



659 



BEES ON SHARES; NO WRITTEN AGREEMENT; 

 TROUBLE BKEWING. 



I am expecting' to have some trouble with 

 a man; the trouble arising from a few bees 

 on shares — not just that either. He had 

 a few bees. I bought a few near him, with 

 the agreement that I should see to his bees 

 when I came around. He, in return, was 

 to hive any swarms that might issue in my 

 absence. There was no written agreement, 

 as I thought he was a gentleman. Since 

 then, he has claimed part of the honey my 

 bees made, which I gave him, but decided 

 to get m3' bees on someone's premises other 

 than his, which I did, but he now claims 

 that I have taken a part of the bees that he 

 was to have for the keeping- of them. 



What I wish to know is this : Should I 

 ask the bee keepers to help me if he should 

 sue? I have been poor, and have not joined 

 the National, but will join if I can g^et help 

 should I 7ieed it. I would rather take the 

 bees back that he contends for, and give 

 them to him rather than have trouble with 

 him. J. B. O. 



[The keeping of bees on shares without 

 a written agreement very often leads to dis- 

 agreement. As I understand the situation 

 your neighbor was to hive swarms from 

 your bees in your absence to offset your la- 

 bor of looking after his bees in /its absence. 

 Your neighbor assumed that he was to have 

 half the bees and half the honey, and you, 

 on your part, rightly assumed that the pro- 

 ceeds from each lot of bees were to go to the 

 owner of each lot. No court could hold or 

 would hold that you are in duty bound to 

 give your neighbor the lion's share. If your 

 labor more than ofiFset the labor of the neigh- 

 bor, then he could claim nothing in the way 

 of bees or honey from your colonies. If I 

 have stated the facts correctly, I would 

 contest his right to appropriate your bees 

 or any part of them, for it is not always 

 wise to give a man every thing he asks. To 

 do so works an indirect injury to society, in 

 that he will be bold to " claim the earth " 

 with every one, and it may be necessary to 

 teach him a lesson. 



The moral of this whole thing is that 

 there should be an agreement in writing; 

 talk over the general plan of division in the 

 first place if there is to be any, and then 

 if you can not agree no harm is done. 

 The National Bee-keepers' Association 

 could not help you, probably, even if you 

 were a member before the trouble began. 

 In no event can it render aid in a case 

 where defendant joins the Association after 

 he gets into trouble. — Ed.] 



A LITTLE CITY, DOOLITTLE AVENUE. 



I ha/e just visited the famous queen- rear- 

 ing yards of Mr. J. P. Moore, Morgan, Ky., 

 and certainly they are worth visiting. He 

 has about 500 nuclei of three frames each 

 for testing and keeping his young queens. 

 He also has some 25 full hives fir his queen- 

 mothers and brooa-rearing All his stocks 

 are of the purest and best Italians, selected 



for the most desirable qualities in bees. 

 They are gentle, first-class honey- gather- 

 ers, beautiful in color and form, uniform in 

 markings and are bred to the highest 

 standard of bee culture. Mr. Moore raises 

 his queens in queen cups, by the Doolittle 

 grafting method, drawn out by full colonies. 

 A queen which the bees are about to super- 

 sede is placed in the same colony, where 

 he has his queen-cells finished. Mr. Moore 

 claims that bees in this condition will build 

 better and larger cells, and supply the 

 queen larva; with more royal honey than 

 when they are queenless. 



He exhibited bars of queen cells with 16 

 to 18 in each row that, for size, beauty, and 

 uniformity I have never seen equaled. The 

 young queens from cells so constructed are 

 long, yellow, and produce bees that stand 

 at the highest grade as honey-gatherers. 

 He soM last year over 2000 queens, and his 

 orders this season are larger than ever be- 

 fore. His great city of hives and nuclei is 

 beautifully located south and east of his 

 residence, and laid out in streets and blocks 

 like a human city. The main avenue, run- 

 ning east and west, is called Doolittle Ave- 

 nue, and the view from either end is just 

 grand. Fields of white and red clover 

 stretch away to the verdant hills. He has 

 Italianized all the bees kept by others for 

 miles around, so as to secure purity of his 

 queens. He is a genial Christian gentle- 

 man, and welcomes a visitor to his home 

 with true Kentucky hospitality. My visit 

 will long be remembered. 



Walton, Ky., June 6. L. Johnson. 



HOW TO TREAT HONEY THAT PERSISTS IN 

 CANDYING IN 40 OR 50 DAYS. 



Here in Southwest Texas we have very 

 fine honey, but we have a great deal of trou- 

 ble with it on account of its granulating so 

 quickly. We have a big demand for comb 

 honey packed in 60-lb. cans with 8 inch 

 screw-top. I think I understand the pro- 

 cess of heating in order to keep it from su- 

 garing, but that is not a success with us, 

 for it keeps it only about 40 or 50 days, 

 which is not sufficient time. Is there any 

 way I could use glucose in the honey to pre- 

 vent sugaring? I do not wish to use the 

 glucose in order to cheapen the honey, for 

 glucose would cost as much here as I 

 could get for my honey; and I would state 

 on my labels that the honey contained glu- 

 cose in it for the purpose of keeping it from 

 granulating. 



If you know of any way to keep honey 

 from turning back to sugar, say for 90 days, 

 kindly let me know. J. N. Long. 



Pearsall, Tex., June 9. 



[I would advise bringing the honey up to 

 a temperature of 130 or 140, and keeping it 

 there for several days. A temperature of 

 160 for a few minutes would not be nearly 

 as effective. If you can keep the honey at 

 140 over night you will find the results 

 probably more satisfactory. In case long- 

 continued low temperature does not keep 



