162 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



a hive at any point. Hang from this a "safe- 

 ty lift." This is a blook-and-tat'kle arrange- 

 ment with self-locliing device. With this the 

 load is readily raised or lowered, and left sus- 

 pended at any point without attention by the 

 operator. A small size, costing about $1.25, 

 complete with rope, will answer for lifting 

 hives, and is an exceedingly useful tool for 

 many other purposes. I have used one for 

 several years, and would not be without it for 

 several times its cost. With this, one man 

 can easily lift up to 300 lbs. The next larg- 

 er size, costing about $2.00, might be more 

 generally useful. I have just got one still 

 larger, for heavy work. 



Some sort of clamping device is necessary 

 for attaching to the hive. With some hives 

 a simple rope loop would answer. Hook 

 your lift to the rafter above the hive; attach 

 your clamp to the hive, and you can readily 

 lift the hive or any part of it and leave it sias- 

 pended while you adjust supers or make any 

 needed examination of the brood-chamber. 



An improvement over this arrangement 

 would be to bolt to the rafter overhead a steel 

 track, such as is used for hanging barn doors. 

 On this run the ordinary barn-door hanger 

 and suspend the safety lift from that. It 

 would be possible to construct your track so 

 that a hive, after being lifted, could be easily 

 run to any point on the line, but this would 

 i-equire so high a track that it might not be 

 practical. I have just installed such a ti ack 

 for other puroses, and will experiment with 

 hives to see what can be done. In most cases, 

 though, it would probably be more practical 

 to lift the hive, run a wheelbarrow under it, 

 and use that for transportation. With space 

 enough between the hives to run a wheelbai"- 

 row, the track and hanger would enable you 

 to move the load over the wheelbarrow easily 

 and save a lot of back-breaking work. 



GOVERNMENT LEASE OF BEE TERRITORY. 



It is possible that the editor is correct in 

 saying at the close of the ai-ticle by R. F. 

 Holtermann that government control of bee 

 territory is a will-o'-the-wisp that we shall 

 probably never attain. Certainly we shall 

 never attain to it unless there is a demand 

 for it; and if we leave the discussion of it to 

 those who, having given the matter little 

 thought, imagine difficulties where none 

 exist, there is not likely to be much enthusi- 

 asm in its favor. 1 hope my readers will 

 pardon me for taking space to discuss a sub- 

 ject of little immediate value It may be- 

 come of vital interest sooner than we expect. 

 Much might be said on the subject, but I will 

 confine myself to some of the points usually 

 brought up. If we say any thing about de- 

 nying to any one the right to keep bees, 

 some are up in arms at once. The farmer, 

 they say, produces the nectar, and he should 

 be allowed to keep bees to gather it. Suppose 

 we grant this. If he has the right to keep 

 bees to gather the nectar his land produces, 

 undoubtedly his neighbor has also the same 

 right, and likewise evei'y other land-owner. 

 It does not by any means follow that he has 



a right to keep an unrestricted number. 

 Some one has well said that one man's rights 

 leave off exactly where another man's rights 

 begin. 



There are few things we know less about 

 than the number of colonies a given area 

 will support most profitably, and a sane man 

 would hardly think of restricting the number 

 of colonies to be kept on a square mile, the 

 rule to apply to all localities alike. But we 

 can make an approximation. 'J'aking the 

 general consensus of opinion among the bee- 

 keepers of th'^ greater part of the United 

 States and Canada, it seems that a bee-range 

 is considered to have a radius of about three 

 miles, and that not over 100 colonies of bees 

 should be kept in this territory. This bee- 

 range, six miles in diameter, contains 28.37 

 square miles. 18.093 acres, or something over 

 113 farms of 160 acres each. It will be seen, 

 therefore, that, following the generally ac- 

 cepted ideas as to a bee-range and its stock- 

 ing, each 160-acre farm is entitled to keep 

 just about one colony of bees as its share of 

 the general average of bee pasturage. The 

 land-owner who keeps more than this, pro- 

 vided his land is not above the average in 

 nectar secretion, does so. not by any moral 

 right, but simply by seizing on the rights 

 that others have failed to assert. He would 

 be occupying the territory by " squatter's 

 rights," just the same as if he did not own a 

 foot of land or produce an ounce of neclar. 

 I would not try to deprive any producer of 

 nectar of the right to keep a few bees Re- 

 membering that my figures ai'e only approxi- 

 mate, and that the territory is not covered 

 evenly by a single apiary, I would concede 

 that each owner of 160 acres of land of aver- 

 age nectar secretion should have the right 

 to keep two colonies of bees. In some places 

 this figure would be two low. I believe there 

 are many localities where it would be too 

 high. If he has an orchard, or if he raises 

 crops of alfalfa, alsike, sweet clover, buck- 

 wheat, or other plants of recognized value 

 for honey, he might be allowed a certain def- 

 inite increase in the number of colonies he 

 might keep, according to the amount of land 

 so occupied. This land-owner's right should 

 be only for bees to be kept on his premises, 

 and strictly nontransferable. In nearly all 

 localities, after all who cared to had availed 

 themselves of this right, the bee-range would 

 still be far from being fully occupied. Will 

 any one tell me how the rights of anybody 

 would be infringed on if the government 

 should take possession of these unusfd rights 

 and dispose of them, by auction or otherwise, 

 for the general good? Details are unneces- 

 sary; but 1 woulil suggest that for a bee-range 

 the congressional township, six miles square, 

 into which many of our States are divided, 

 would be a very good size. If it were 

 thought best to limit the number of colonies 

 the lease-holder might keep in his one apiary, 

 this might be fixed by a commission for the 

 purpose, and it might be well to provide 

 that no commercial apiary should be started 

 within a fixed distance from an established 

 apiary in any adjoining range. 



