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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 24. 



that thoir owners are still encouraged to keep them. "If a 



little alfalfa will do that," our Eastern friends may say, " it 

 must be hard to overstock it completely — let's goto Colorado, 

 quick." 



At last accounts there seemed be but little foul brood in 

 this county (Jefferson) this season. Last year there was con- 

 siderable ; year before last, a good deal. .Tefferson county is 

 probably fully stocked with bees throughout the irrigated' 

 portion. 



In saying that would-be bee-keepers should be warned 

 away, in a courteous manner, and without any thought of 

 compulsion, from fields fully occupied or otherwise undesir- 

 able, I second Mr. Carlzen — always provided that a sharp dis- 

 tinction is drawn between this ayd the selfish and grasping 

 policy of keeping them out of unoccupied fields, or partially 

 occupied fields, where nectar is going to waste. It may be 

 " business " to do so, to prevent honey from becoming plenti- 

 ful and cheap, but that is all that be said for it. The pros- 

 perity of the country is worth more than that of a class of 

 individuals. 



There is another aspect of the question. Suppose a man 

 who has say 20 colonies, with no other occupation than that 

 of bee-keeping, and owning no land, lives in a region such as 

 this, i. e, where there ^eem to be enough bees to get all the 

 forage except in good seasons. Shall he increase or not? 

 That was my situation a few years ago, and virtually Is yet, 

 as I am still far from having 100 colonies of my own, though 

 by working on shares I have been managing that number for 

 the last three years. About two years after I started, a man 

 who is not unknown to Mr. Carlzen asked me bow many colo- 

 nies I had. I told him. "That's enough I" said he. This 

 man had 60 colonies, and was not within range of my bees. 



It is as if a grocer were to solicit more orders. By so 

 doing he does not increase the total market ; he takes trade 

 away from others ; but no one thinks of suggesting that in- 

 stead of making more money by enlarging his grocery trade, 

 he either should go somewhere else, or run an upholstery at- 

 tachment. If competition becomes too sharp, he will feel its 

 bad effects himself as much as anybody. 



In making a specialty of bee-keeping, I propose to keep 

 on increasing until I have enough bees of my own to get along 

 without running any on shares. In so doing I infringe on no 

 one's rights, overstocking or no overstocking. Why? Because 

 if I did not keep bees, I would do something else ; and if I 

 did something else, I would be crowding that other occupation 

 just as much, or more than I am now crowding bee-keeping. 



Therefore, granted that Mr. Carlzen is right about over- 

 stocking. I propose to keep on as I have been doing. But on 

 second thought, I have observed no phenomena iai this locality 

 which I can unmistakably attribute to overstocking. Every- 

 thing can be satisfactorily, and more reasonably, explained 

 thus : 



1st. The difference in seasons, as regards the flow of nec- 

 tar. That this is considerable is shown by the great difference 

 in yield between this year and last (not only here, but in 

 other parts of Jefferson county), although there were more 

 bees here then. 



2nd. The weather. Many cold and wet spells during the 

 first half of this summer hindered the bees from flying. 



3rd. The stage at which alfalfa is cut. 1 have just been 

 told by the man who cuts 320 acres immediately adjoining, 

 that he commenced two weeks earlier this year than last, and 

 that half the alfalfa this year was cut before it bloomed at all. 

 Last year 80 acres in one place, and 40 in another, stood for 

 seed. In general, the bees here do not get half a chance at it 

 — no, not one-fourth of a chance. At Rocky Purd, Colo., 

 where alfalfa seed is raised by the carload, one party aver- 

 aged 150 pounds of comb honey per colony this season. The 

 amount of nectar in each blossom is small; no matter how 

 profuse the bloom, time is an important element in getting 

 alfalfa honey. For all I know, while it is in bloom, even this 

 locality might keep more bees busy than are now here. 



I must take it back that I "agree" that this locality is 

 overstocked. It may be. I don't know. 



Arvada, Colo., Sept. 9. 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to baud 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office foV a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 ceuts ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 

 for 70 ceuts. 



*-»-♦ 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 691. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. MILLER, AlARENGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Ur. Miller direct. 1 



Hiving' a Swarm Under the Parent Colony. 



As soon as I have hived a swarm of bees, can I put the 

 parent colony (in a bottomless hive) on top of the swarm ? or 

 would war follow ? Amateur. 



Answer. —If I understand you correctly, your scheme is 

 to hive the swarm in an empty hive and then set the old hive 

 on top of the swarm, allowing free passage from one hive to 

 the other. There would be no war, but the bees would oc- 

 cupy the old hive just as before, and probably swarm out 

 again the next day. 



^ I ■ 



When to Transfer from Box-Hives. 



I have 3 colonies of bees in dry-goods boxes. They were 

 hived in them in August. How can I put them in hives? 

 When is the best time to do it? They have over 100 pounds 

 of honey each, and some in nice straight comb. This is my 

 first year. I had 2 colonies in the spring, and now I have 19. 



Glen Flora, Wis., Oct. 7. J. H. 



Answer. — Better leave them where they are till next 

 spring during fruit-bloom. At that time you can transfer 

 them according to the directions given in your bee-book, or 

 perhaps you will da better to let them alone till they swarm, 

 then transfer afterward. At any rate, leave them where they 

 are now, study up on the matter between now and next 

 spring, and then if there's anything you don't understand 

 about the case feel free to ask all the questions you like. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Rev. Eznerson. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, AZo. 



Spacing Devices. — "1 want spacing devices to be 

 part and parcel of the frames themselves. They are a mis- 

 take when made detachable in the way of sticks or when a 

 part of the hive-body itself." — Editoral note in Gleanings. 



I would be glad if Friend Root would explain why he 

 wants spacing devices to be a part of the frames themselves. 

 Also, why they area mistake when a part of the hive-body. 

 It seems to me that there are some very good reasons why they 

 should be a part of the hive-body, and that it is a mistake to 

 make them a part of the frames, but I will not give my rea- 

 sons until I hear the why of the other side. 



Not Consanguinity.— " Sir Henry Sumner Maine, 

 in his ' Lectures on the Early History of Institutions,' has 

 shown with admirable force and suggestiveness that rude and 

 savage tribes uniformly regard consanguinity as the only 

 basis of friendship and moral obligation, and the sole cement 

 of society. The original human horde was held together by 

 the same tie of blood-relationship that produces and preserves 

 the consciousness of unity in the animal herd, or causes ants 

 and bees to lead an orderly and mutually helpful life in 

 swarms. In all these communities the outsider is looked upon 

 as an outlaw ; whoever is not a kinsman is a foe, and may be 

 assailed, despoiled, enslaved, or slain with impunity. Indeed 

 it is considered not only a right but also an imperative duty to 

 injure the alien by putting him to death or reducing him to 

 servitude. The instinct of self-preservation asserts itself in 

 this form with gregarious mammals and insects; and all prim- 

 itive associations of men are founded upon this principle and 

 cohere by force of this attraction."— Prof. E. P. Evans, in the 

 Popular Science Monthly. 



It is strange that a man of Prof. Evans' reputed ability 

 should make such blunders as he does whenever he refers to 

 bees. The most ignorant practical bee-keeper in the land 

 would laugb at his idea that it is the " tie of blood-relationship 

 that causes ants and bees to lead an orderly and a mutually 

 helpful life in swarms." A swarm of bees have no more re- 



