THE AMERICAJSI BEE JOURNAL. 



289 



tSIItat and maxu. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Letting Out Bees on Shares. 



1. When bees are let out on shares, 

 what are the conditions of the con- 

 tract i 



2. Who furnishes the new hives nec- 

 essary for the increase ? 



3. Does the rentA furnish all ap- 

 pliances for preparing the honey for 

 market, or for only his share 'i 



4. For what length of time are they 

 generally let out for V 



Mr. Heddon will confer a favor by 

 answering the above through the 

 " What and IIow " department of the 

 Bee Journal. As a rule, the bees 

 wintered well in this county (Clinton). 

 llEKBEUT R. Thomas. 



Clarksville, O. 



Answers.— The "Bees on Shares" 

 question, is one that I have studied 

 considerably. In answering the above, 

 I do so with a prejudice in favor of 

 the laborer vs. the capitalist, a princi- 

 ple herein involved, though on ever 

 so small a scale. Here are two facts : 



1. Bees are to some considerable ex- 

 tent a risky property ; their life and 

 the amount of their stores being an 

 unknown quantity. One should have 

 a larger per cent, of income from such 

 property, by three or four fold, than 

 from a good, safe real estate mortgage. 



2. On the other hand, the laborer 

 should have an average income in 

 advance of the " going wages." All 

 this can be realized from the manipu- 

 lation of bees, provided the bees are 

 in proper hi>'es, in a good location, 

 and the work done by a faithful and 

 learned man, and directed by experi- 

 ence and tact. 



I will lay down the following terms 

 as those which seem to me the nearest 

 to being just, and the best adapted to 

 both parties. 



Tlie one owning the bees shall 

 furnish the place to establish the 

 apiary. He shall furnish all the fix- 

 tures in ever respect. The laborer 

 shall furnish himself nothing more. 



The lazleBt tramp can turn and mend, 

 And be a man " for a' that." 



The capitalist furnishes bees, apiary, 

 tools, new hives for increase, comb 

 foundation for surplus and brood de- 

 partments, in full sheets ; sections, 

 shipping crates and everything, in- 

 cluding his riper experience (which, 

 it is supposable, he possesses). He 

 shall have the diction of the general 

 plan of management, while the renter 

 does all the work, and is dictator of 



the detail manipulation. The division 

 shall be as follows : Each party shall 

 have one-half of tlie surplus honey, 

 and when it is sold, each one shall pay 

 one-half of the cost of sections, ship- 

 ping crates and surplus comb founda- 

 tion that is sold with that season's 

 crop. The capitalist shall have dic- 

 tion over the whole crop, merely divid- 

 ing the money for the same, unless 

 the laborer give security for the pay- 

 ment of his half of the sections, 

 foundation and crates, when the honey 

 may be divided, and each sell his own 

 as he chooses. The bees should be 

 managed for securing the greatest 

 amount of surplus possible, and dis- 

 couragedfrom swarming, all that such 

 management tends to do, but when 

 they do swarm, they are to be hived 

 and managed as Hre the old colonies. 

 The increase belongs to the apiary, 

 always ; and any system that gives a 

 share of the increase to the laborer, 

 will defeat itself, and prove in the end 

 damaging to both parties. The old 

 system of half the honey and half the 

 increase, and the lessee or laborer 

 furnish everything, is illy adopted to 

 modern apiculture, and would give 

 the capitalist " the lion's share." Of 

 course the surplus from the increase 

 is divided equally, the same as that 

 from the old colonies. All the reasons 

 for settling on the above terms as the 

 nearest just and best, all around, are 

 too many for the room I wish tO' oc- 

 cupy now. 



about % at the sides, and }i^o%aX 

 the bottom. 



2. I fasten my foundation to the 

 top bar, and on to the wires woven 

 vertically, eight in each Langstroth 

 frame. I think you have had success 

 with sections, but needed wires in the 

 brood frames, 



3. As far as the passage of the bees 

 is concerned, I would not care for any 

 run-way at the sides, only at the bot- 

 tom, but I do not get as straight 

 combs when the piece of foundation 

 is fastened to the sides of the sections. 



4. I have never had any chilled 

 brood that I remember of. I think it 

 will turn brownish a few hours after 

 chilling. 



5. 1 do not approve, as a general 

 thing, of such exchanging at all ; but 

 where I do it, I shake off all the ad- 

 hering bees and put in only brood 

 about ready to emerge from the cells. 

 Sometimes very young bees will kill a 

 strange queen, and that, too, after 

 much precaution. 



Foundation in Frames and Sections. 



1. How full should frames and sec- 

 tions be filled witli foundation y 



2. Should the foundation in frames 

 be fastened only at the top V I have 

 been in the habit of fastening it in 

 frames and sections only at the top, 

 and leaving % to % inch space at the 

 sides and bottom. 



3. Would it do to fill the sections so 

 full of foundation that bees could not 

 pass through '{ 



4. How soon, after the brood has 

 been chilled, can it be detected by an 

 amateur, and how 'i 



•5. In taking frames of brood from 

 strong colonies to build up weak ones, 

 should the adhering bees be shaken 

 off, or could they be safely put in, 

 bees and all, by smoking or confusing 

 the weak colonies ? 



Bees in this vicinty are doing well. 

 A neighbor has had one swarm come 

 off already, and reports other colonies 

 liable to cast swarms soon . Prospects 

 are good for an abundant honey flow 

 from white clover. J. M. Bubtch. 



Morrison, 111., May 23, 1883. 



Answers.— 1. In filling the brood 

 frames I leave a space of Ja to 34 inch 

 at the ends, and about % at the bot- 

 tom. In one-pound sections I leave 





''':::^' 



m^x 



Bloom Promises Well and Fruit is Safe. 



Here, in Belmont county, O., we 

 have escaped the late terrible weather, 

 with the exception of a few light 

 frosts and 3 or 4 days of cool, cloudy, 

 wet weather, which was pretty trying 

 on the bees. The white clover and 

 locust bloom promise well, and the 

 fruit is still safe, as far as I have 

 noticed. R. M. Denham. 



St. Olairsville, O., May 24, 1883. , 



Bee and Honey Show in Kentucky. 



After along silence as a correspond- 

 ent to the Bee Journal, I again pen 

 a few lines. Our prospects for white 

 clover honey was never better. Bees 

 were storing honey and breeding 

 comb up to May 19, when we had a 

 big rain storm from the northwest, 

 turning cold after tlie rain, with a 

 severe blow for 48 hours. It was a 

 cold blast, making us shiver with 

 cold, and our bees could not get out, 

 even for water. My apiary is in the 

 best condition possible, and with one 

 of Pelham's foundation machines, 

 we are making beautiful foundation. 

 We have the very finest of Italian 

 bees, and the clover is very nice. Bees 

 are beginning to build comb and store 

 honey. Mr. Craycraft, of Salem, Ind., 

 has my bees in charge, and we shall 

 run them for both comb and ex- 

 tracted honey. Mr. Craycraft is well 

 posted in scientific bee-culture, and is 

 working my beesin a very satisfactory 

 manner. Our State Society meets in 

 Louisville next fall, and we want to 

 make as fine a display of bees, honey 

 and bee-fixtures as possible. We hope 



