182 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Mar. 23, 1899. 



pendent of the money return in it ; you will find amongst 

 so large a number of people as are in Cook county, here and 

 there a man who cares so much for the thing- that he would 

 keep perhaps a half dozen colonies to study, even if he had 

 to pay for the privileg-e of keeping- them and give away the 

 honey besides. Perhaps I am inferring there is a little too 

 much enthusiasm on the subject. In my own case, altho I 

 have kept bees for more than a third of a century, if it co^t 

 me something' to keep them I would not be without a few 

 colonies on account of the interest I have in bees. You will 

 never find the time to come when there are not some new 

 questions and problems to study over ; at least it has not 

 been so up to 1898 ; I don't know what 1900 will bring. I 

 should say that Cook county is not overdone with bee- 

 keepers. I think likely there is some danger of the ground 

 being overstock! with bees if there are 200 bee-keepers, or 

 even ISO, and each one should keep a considerable number 

 of bees ; there is some danger in that direction. 



PROTECTION AGAINST OVERSTOCKING WITH BEES. 



QuES. — What protection can a bee-keeper get against 

 another bee-keeper coming into a locality already overstock! 

 ■with bees ? In my neighborhood we are well stockt. Last 

 spring- a Chicago bee-keeper moved several colonies of bees 

 -within a few blocks of m3' apiary, which were neglected so 

 much during swarming-time that small clusters could be 

 found on bushes and under sidewalks. Do you think such 

 careless management will cause the public to get laws pro- 

 hibiting bee-keepers from keeping bees within the city 

 limits ? Within a circle of i;i miles from mj' apiary I have 

 located 172 colonies of bees. What protection can a bee- 

 keeper get when os-erstockt with bees ? 



Dr. Miller — So far as I know there is positively no pro- 

 tection he can get at all from existing laws. There is a 

 moral protection he may have if his neighbor is an intelli- 

 gent person. If the locality is already overstockt an intel- 

 ligent bee-keeper would hardly want to go into that locality 

 for two reasons : In the first place, on account of his selfish 

 interests, and, in the second, out of respect for those who 

 Already occupy the ground. There is first and last a good 

 deal said about intruding upon territory alreadv occupied, 

 and there is a moral side to the question, so that it is gen- 

 erally considered that a man, if he is well informed and of 

 good principles, will not want to go into a locality already 

 fully occupied. It is damaging to him and to those already 

 on the ground. A wise man will desire to find a field un- 

 occupied : however, things of this kind will sometimes oc- 

 cur, and I don't know of anything that will help the case 

 except to try to talk to a man and inform him. 



A Member — I would suggest an injunction. 



Dr. Miller — That won't count ; can't do it. If you have 

 the place, and have say 100 colonies of bees, and' that 100 

 colonies fully occupies the field, and I can buy or rent a lot 

 of ground within 10 rods of you, I can put my bees down 

 there and you can't help yourself. 



Mr. Moore — By the way. Dr. Miller, I had a notion to 

 break in at the start and ask if this is not a sore spot. There 

 has been some pretty lively discussion between ^-ourself and 

 others, and the editor of Gleanings. 



Dr. Miller— No ; Gleanings' editor has been almost 

 always on my side. 



Mr. Moore — You took the ground that a man had a sort 

 of a vested rig-ht if he got there first. 



Dr. Miller — All agree on that. If you have the ground 

 already occupied it is a mean thing for me to come in and 

 " fish in your hole," as the fisherman says; that is the way 

 it stands ; all agree on that. I believe the time might come 

 when it would be a desirable thing if in some way I could 

 secure a certain territory where I know that no one will 

 come in and intrude upon me. 



Mr. Moore — Some one has askt the question, '• Does a 

 man when he deeds 600 acres of land deed the bee-pastur- 

 age ?" It was answered that he deeds the land, and he does 

 not give any title whatever to the nectar in the flowers, but 

 the time will come when he can buy the nectar on 600 acres 

 by paying for it. 



Dr. Miller — I am afraid I said that ; nobody in this 

 vporld would be foolish enough to say that but nie. Prof. 

 Cook once said, "This much is certain, that you can't hold 

 the nectar : it belongs to the public." 



Dr. Miller — Another question is involved : Do you think 

 such careless manag-ement will cause the public to get laws 

 prohibiting bee-keepers from keeping bees within city 

 limits ? Certainly, bee-keepers should not keep bees where 

 they may disturb others. We should be exceedingfly care- 

 ful. While I may have the legal rig-ht to keep my bees 

 within so short a distance of another man's house that thev 



will make trouble for him I have not the moral right, and I 

 am very foolish if I do it. It is a g-reat deal easier to f:ee/> 

 out of trouble than to^^t-/ out of trouble. You should be ex- 

 ceedingly careful not to do anything in that line that will 

 make trouble for others. 



DISTANCE TO KEEP BEES FROM HIGHWAY. 



QuES. — Would a law governing distance from public 

 highways to which bees could be kept be beneficial to bee- 

 keepers ? 



Dr. Miller — I somewhat doubt that. They have some 

 laws in the old country with regard to it. It is possible 

 that it would be in some cases a good thing-, but there is so 

 much good common-sense in this country- I very much doubt 

 whether a law of that kind is needed. 



BEST HIVE FOR WINTERING OUT-DOORS. 



QuES. — What is the best hive to winter out-of-doors in 

 Cook county ? 



Dr. Miller — I don't know, and if you commence talking 

 about that you will spend all of your time. Here is a man 

 who is certain that his hive is the very best in the world ; 

 and another who knows his is worth three of the other 

 man's, and so on. If you have had success with a hive, 

 that is the hive for you, and it is quite possible that what 

 j'ou have done the best with may not be the best hive for 

 me to winter bees out-doors. 



WINTERING OUT-DOORS OR IN THE CELLAR. 



QuES. — How many Cook county bee-keepers winter their 

 bees out-doors ? 



Dr. Miller — How many winter their bees out-doors ? [16.] 



Mr. Kreutzinger — I am keeping^ my bees in a shed spe- 

 cially constructed. I used to keep them in the cellar, but 

 somehow water got in. 



Dr. Miller — I would like to hear from some of the rest 

 who don't keep their bees out-doors, and don't keep them in 

 the cellar ? 



Mr. Doerr — I winter my bees in a- speciallj'-constructed 

 bee-house, made of one-inch lumber. 



Dr. Miller — I suppose that would be counted out-doors ? 

 How many keep your bees out-doors all the year around, 

 thru the winter just the same as in summer? [2.] Tell 

 us about how many vou winter, Mr. Goelet. 



Mr. Goelet— 23. " 



Dr. Miller — How manv thru the season ? 



Mr. Goelet— 21. 



Dr. Miller — Will you tell us whether there is anything 

 to protect them particularly from the winds all the year 

 around ? 



Mr. Goelet — I have them fairly well guarded from the 

 north wind, alongside a big fence. I have double hives 

 packt with sawdust. 



Dr. Miller — You keep them packt winter and summer? 



Mr. Goelet— Yes. 



INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEEN TO OUEENLESS COLONY. 



QuES. — What is the quickest way to introduce a virgin 

 queen into a colony that has been queenless for se%'eral 

 days ? 



A Member — I just drop the queen in on the combs, and 

 have never lost one. 



Dr. Miller — There is a possibility that next time you do 

 that the queen will be a dead one. Don't count too much 

 on that ; if you have done it 147 times and never lost a 

 queen you might feel pretty safe, but I would not consider 

 you would always be safe if a colony has been queenless for 

 several days. I will tell you one of the things that may 

 make a difference — the time of day j'ou do it ; if you do it in 

 the evening you will be a good deal safer than in the mid- 

 dle of the day. In the evening there are no other bees fly- 

 ing around. If you try it when no honey is coming in you 

 will jeopardize your queen. Another thing is the age of 

 the queen. You said, " I just drop them in on the combs 

 and have never lost one." I don't believe you will if you 

 drop them in while they are so young that they have just 

 come out of the cell ; a young queen is not treated by the 

 workers as the older queen is; they don't seem to think 

 there is anything they need care for. Let a laying queen 

 drop in and the bees will attack her at once. 

 [Conliiuied next wcek.l 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a^copy 

 of this song. 



