GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



royal has started brood-rearing, so that the 

 bees are in excellent condition. The pal- 

 metto and orange promise a good yield. The 

 cool weather in Florida about the loth, 

 when I arrived, made it seem better to do 

 the South first, and then take in Apalaehi- 

 eola, where our bees are. Later reports show 

 that they are building up rapidly so that 

 we shall soon make increase. 



In our next issue I hope to give a full 

 report. Next week I expect to visit the 

 region of Stuart, on the east coast, where 

 Poppleton and Selser are. At that point 

 we expect to take a launch, and tour the 

 inland waterway a short distance. — E. R. R. 



KEEPING BEES WITHIN CITY LIMITS. 



Seldom have we been so deluged with 

 copy for a special number as we have been 

 in case of this number — the special on bee- 

 keeping in cities. We have not been able 

 to use all which we received by any means; 

 and in order to get in a representative lot 

 of experiences from all types of city bee- 

 keepers we were obliged to condense quite a 

 number of articles that we did use. 



There are some drawbacks which we be- 

 lieve should be mentioned at this time. As 

 several of the writers in this issue point 

 out, at times there may be trouble with 

 neighbors who have not made a careful in- 

 vestigation, and who do not know very 

 much about the subject. In several in- 

 stances that have come to our notice in the 

 past, a beekeeper having a few colonies in 

 his back lot has been asked to move his bees 

 outside the city limits. The beekeeper in 

 question obligingly did so; but the one com- 

 plaining has found, somewhat to his sur- 

 prise, that there were just as many bees 

 " biting his grapes " as there were before. 

 The point is this : Bees are not observers of 

 local ordinances ; and unless all colonies are 

 moved some two or three miles outside ihe 

 city limits there probably are just as many 

 bees found inside the city as ever. But since 

 there are likely to be bees in trees, etc., near 

 the city, it is next to impossible to prevent 

 bees from flying about inside. 



In another way, however, bees within city 

 limits may sometimes prove to be a nui- 

 sance. We refer to bees kept in such a 

 place that the natural line of flight is across 

 some street or alley. In this case passersby 

 are likely to be stung occasionally ; and if 

 one person is stung more than once he is 

 pretty likely to make a vigorous complaint, 

 which complaint is really justifiable. In our 

 opinion, if a place for the bees can not be 

 found where they will be compelled by sur- 

 roundings to fly pretty well into the air 

 when they leave the hive, or where they will 



have a natural line of flight away from 

 thoroughfai'es or other places where there 

 are likely to be i3eople passing back and 

 forth, it would be better to make no attempt 

 at keeping bees at all. Nearly always, how- 

 ever, the hives may be placed where the bees 

 will molest no one. Oftentimes if they are 

 located on a roof, even in a crowded dis- 

 trict, their presence will hardly be known. 



The beekeeper should select gentle bees, 

 also, and he should be very careful not to 

 stir them up during a time when they are 

 naturally a little irritable, as during a hon- 

 ey-dearth, when they are inclined to pry 

 into everybody's business but their own. 



Summing up the whole matter we may 

 say that it rests entirely with the beekeeper 

 as to whether his bees are a nuisance or not. 

 By taking some thought as to the location 

 of the hive, to the selection of the bees, and 

 to the time and manner of manipulation, 

 he can avoid all trouble. Carelessness re- 

 garding any of these points invites trouble. 



are city beekeepers a menace to the IN- 

 DUSTRY IN general? 



Frequently some of our professional bee- 

 keepers deplore the existence of the large 

 army of beginners in beekeeping; first, be- 

 cause they produce considerable honey and 

 contribute to the overstocking of city mar- 

 kets, thus lowering prices; second, because 

 disease is likely to get into their yards, so 

 that other bees are in danger. 



To the first of these points we should like 

 to say that the average beginner, for a 

 number of years at least, produces more 

 enthusiasm and interest than he does honey. 

 In other words he creates a much larger 

 market for honey than he can possibly sup- 

 l^ly himself. Furthermore, the average be- 

 ginner gets a better price for his small crop 

 than most professional beekeepers do. It 

 seems to us, therefore, that fears along this 

 line are groundless. 



As to whether a beginner allows liis bees 

 to become diseased, thus endangering the 

 health of the other colonies in the vicinity, 

 we should say that this depends upon the 

 beginner. In our opinion, trouble along 

 this line is more apt to come from careless 

 or overworked farmers who really have no 

 interest in the bees at all, and who keep 

 them merely because their fathers used to 

 keep them, or because they are able to hive 

 occasionally a stray swarm. A beginner 

 who is interested in his bees is not likely to 

 foster disease. In case of city beekeepers 

 especially (at least those who are as bright 

 and as up-to-date as the writers of the 

 articles used in this special number) we 

 believe we have very little to fear from foul 

 brood or other bee disease. 



