86 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr. Betsiuger said they wovild not 

 agree, in committee, any better than 

 cats and dogs. 



After similar remarks by other 

 members, tlie motion was put and 

 lost, only Mr. Tennant voting in favor 

 of reconsideration. 



Mr. Tennant said that he did not 

 believe the association was working 

 for its own good or his, and, therefore, 

 tendered his resignation and with- 

 drew, bidding the members farewell. 



Mr. Betsmeer said he regretted that 

 a member should wthdraw from the 

 association just because his opinion 

 did not happen to coincide with others. 



The next question was : " At what 

 age are queens most prolific ?" It 

 was generally thought that no definite 

 time could be given, as it depended 

 upon the queen ; but after three years, 

 a queen had better be removed. 



The committee on the best manner 

 of obtaining statistics of the honey 

 crop for the next year, reported as 

 follows : 



The best plan is to have the Secre- 

 tary confer with each member of the 

 association, requesting him to ascer- 

 tain the crop in that vicinity, and that 

 members inform the Secretary at their 

 earliest convenience the result. The 

 total should be then at once published 

 in the several bee papers. 



The question : '' How shall we win- 

 ter our bees successfully '?" was dis- 

 cussed at length. It was finally de- 

 cided, by a vote, that from a financial 

 point of view, considering the honey 

 consumption when wintered in-doors 

 and out, that cellar wintering was the 

 best for this latitude. 



After some routine work, such as 

 naming the second week of next Jan- 

 uary as the time for the next meeting, 

 and the appomting of the President, 

 Vice-President and Treasurer, as a 

 committee to obtain exhibits for the 

 next meetmg, the convention ad- 

 journed. 



The above is a condensed copy of 

 the minutes of the seventh annual 

 meeting of the Eastern Xew York 

 Bee-Keepers" Asssciation. 



JOHX ASPINWALL, Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Locating and Occupying a Field. 



JA3IES HEDDON. 



^\ e have foimd by experience, and 

 observing the actions of such apiar- 

 ists as Adam Grimm, E. J. Oatman, 

 Capt. Hetherington, Chas. Dadant & 

 Son, and numerous other bee-keepers 

 whose success and intelligence com- 

 mand our respect, that there is such a 

 thing as over-stocking an apicultural 

 area. By that term I mean a floral 

 field of a diameter twice as long as 

 the common working range of our 

 honey gatherers. By over-stocking. I 

 mean having more bees in one field or 

 area than the flora of that area will 

 support in such a manner as to give 

 us tlie greatest aggregate amount of 

 surplus honey that can be realized 

 from the field" one year with another. 



When we have one field well stock- 

 ed, and the business therein carried 

 on is paying a satisfactory profit, the 



law of ■' advantage, in specialty " im- 

 bues the mind ot the apiarist with a 

 desire to do more of the same busi- 

 ness. His experience tells him that 

 to do so necessitates a change of 

 modits operandi. One or more "' out 

 apiaries'' must be started ; horse and 

 wagon, more fences and buildings, 

 and time spent getting from one 

 place to anothei' are aU added,to come 

 out of the profits of these after- 

 apiaries. 



After all of these extra expenses, 

 these apiaries will not get the careful 

 attention nor yield as great a profit as 

 the " home apiary," more especially 

 as it did when it alone claimed 

 the master's undivided attention. 

 Employes come next, and their main 

 object "is of necessity the wages rather 

 than the profits from the production 

 of the bees they attend, unless, per- 

 chance, they are working for a share 

 of the profits ; a plan I much prefer as 

 the best for both parties. But to sum 

 up: As it is a fact that as you enlarge 

 this business up to the complete oc- 

 cupancy of one field, the profits on 

 capital and labor increase, and after 

 that, on further enlargement, they 

 decrease, we see how important it 

 is that an apiarist should alone enjoy 

 at least one area, and the poverty or 

 riches of the field, change not the 

 principle. The richer the field, the 

 gi'eater the inducement to occupy it, 

 and fully as great the desire will be 

 to occupy it alone. 



But liow to select and then control 

 an area. Use your best judgment in 

 choosing a rich location ; a detail de- 

 scription of which cannot be accurately 

 given to be a suitable guide to bee- 

 keepers located in so many latitudes 

 and longitudes as this Journ.^l visits. 

 In this selection, as in all acts, 

 " do not to others that which you 

 would not that they should do unto 

 you."' For the welfare of your pocket 

 and comfort of your conscience, never 

 locate in a field already occupied. 

 Show your brother bee-keepers that 

 any man that will do that is just that 

 much nearer related to the knave or 

 fool than you are. Let us clearly un- 

 derstand the term "occupied."" I 

 consider a field occupied when it has 

 in its limits a located bee-keeper who 

 either is or intends as fast as possible 

 to stock it to its capacity. This, and 

 nothing short of it. 



>f ow let us imagine that you have 

 located a field. Let us suppose that a 

 member from the ranks or the mean 

 or mistaken sliould begin operations 

 in your field. Yours by priority of 

 location. Yours alone, because there 

 are plenty of other mioccupied areas. 

 Now, what shall you do ? Be honest, 

 kind and cliaritable. " Do unto others 

 as ye would that they should do unto 

 you," and use all just and reasonable 

 means to make them do likewise. You 

 have but to tell and act the truth to 

 accomplish your object. 



You will say : " Good morning 

 neighbor .lones, how goes the craft V" 



''Good morning Mr. Kendall; oh! 

 middling, middling." 



" Mr. .Tones I think you made a 

 mistake in trying to produce honey in 

 an already occupied field."" 



"Well, Mr. K.. I will give you 

 credit for thoroughly understanding 

 this business, but I know you will 

 forgive me if I tell you my honest 

 opinion, which is, that you are a little 

 selfisli in this matter. You think 

 that my few bees working in the same 

 field with yours will cut down your 

 priorate yield, somewhat ; at least, that 

 is what " .Joe,"' your hired may, says." 



" Well, .Jones, I thank you for your 

 frankness and compliment to my 

 ability, and will take you at your 

 word ," at least regarding my possessing 

 a tliorough knowledge of the princi- 

 ples of one feature, over -stocking. 

 Xow, Jones, if I dread your 30 colo- 

 nies, ought you not ought to dread my 

 200 to an extent that would at once 

 cause you to move yours off to an un- 

 occupied field, the same as I did when 

 I came here V Xo, Jones, I feel as 

 sorry on your account as on my own, 

 for "while I must "get on" a little 

 more slowly, you must fail. 



If Mr. Jones cannot see the point 

 sufficiently clear to cease further ef- 

 forts at growing into successful oppo- 

 sition, he must be like the young 

 dandy who tried to get a No. 8 foot 

 into a " large 5 "" boot, and need not 

 be feared. Very soon he will propose 

 to sell all out to you, when you can 

 buy at a true cash value. Never pay 

 any more ; give no bonus ; offer no 

 premiums tor another similar wrong. 

 iSut you say, suppose Jones won't 

 sell, what then'y Then this: You 

 know that the more colonies kept in 

 one area the less is the pro rata yield. 

 Instead of selling off or starting an 

 out apiary (what is the use to start an 

 out apiary and have the home field 

 divided ? This is only a gradual 

 moving out and relinquishing the 

 field to a usurper), start out in the 

 spring with colonies enough to over- 

 stock the field, and reduce the pro rata 

 yield to that point that .Tones' apiary 

 will not pay. This plan does not 

 harm you as much as .Jones. Let us 

 figure." Say you start with 100, and 

 Jones with 30 colonies, and the pro 

 rata yield is .50 pounds per colony, 

 you have .5,000 pounds, Jones 1,500 

 pounds. Suppose you start with 2-50 

 colonies and Jones 30 colones, or 280 

 in all, and the pro rata yield is 20 

 pounds per colony, you have the same 

 amount of surplus as before, and 

 .Tones has only 600 pounds, or just two- 

 fifths, and three-fifths nearly all taken 

 from the net profits will kill any 

 business. You furnish a little more 

 capital and work a little harder. If 

 this does not look on paper like a suc- 

 cess, take my word for it that it has 

 proven so with me, twice. I will not 

 work against or chide a man for doin^ 

 that which I will do myself. I will 

 not do that which I will try to prevent 

 others from doing. 



Twelve years ago, when I tried to 

 awaken some of these ideas in the 

 minds of my brother bee-keepers, 

 ideas that I felt sure would spring 

 into being as soon as bee-keeping 

 arose to the dignity of a business, a 

 profession, I was laughed at, sneered 

 at,and almost everything was done ex- 

 cept to answer my arguments. At 

 that day this article would have been 

 a target, written under protest, forced 



