THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



Bees in a cellar are in an artificial 

 condition, and that they should re- 

 main active, or '' rouse up " to take 

 food in a temperature suitable to that 

 condition, is not strange. It does not 

 prove anything to the point in the 

 present discussion. Dr. Tinker has, 

 in his articles, brought out more in- 

 teresting facts concerning the winter 

 condition of bees than any other 

 whose writings I have' read, and 

 therefore I was surprised to see him 

 support— even in a modilled form— the 

 error that bees resort to "exercise" 

 to oppose the effects of falling tem- 

 perature. It is strange that Dr. T. has 

 failed to see that this error was in- 

 vented to bolster up the " pollen 

 theory," which Dr. T. as well as my- 

 self rejected all the while. 



Before closing this article I wish to 

 call attention to some practical mat- 

 ters which seem to be engaging the 

 minds of bee-keepers just now. First, 

 in regard to low prices for honey : 

 Past experience of other producers 

 ought to satisfy honey producers that 

 no good can be derived from " organi- 

 zation," or any other scheme in the 

 hands of producers, to " force up " 

 the price of their products. "Supply 

 and demand " must ultimately prevail 

 over all schemes. Looking at the 

 matter as I do, we have arrived at no 

 crisis yet. There can be no real 

 "glut " as long as the honey market 

 is undeveloped. It seems to me that 

 any person of ordinary forethought 

 should have been able to see that pro- 

 duction of honey is likely to " out 

 run " the development of the market. 

 This is the only trouble now. 



There is much to hold up the droop- 

 ing spirits of honey producers yet. 

 Our honey market is undeveloped- 

 there can be no real " glut " as long 

 as this state of things exist. "The 

 way out" is to develop the honey 

 market, and this must be done by 

 individual effort. Work up a demand 

 for honey in every corner of the coun- 

 try, and the " crisis " will be pushed 

 a long ways ahead. 



Another point of practical interest 

 is " legislation," to define the rights 

 of bee-keepers. By what authority 

 this could be done, no one has ven- 

 tured to say, though some one has 

 intimated that the Congress of the 

 United States might look after the 

 matter as to whether my neighbor B 

 or myself should yield the right to 

 pasture the lands of the farmers of 

 this vicinity with our bees. But we 

 are not informed as to where the law 

 may be found giving to Congress of 

 the United States the right to regu- 

 late the "domestic" affairs of the 

 States. 



But to be serious, from what source 

 could any law-making power get the 

 authority to pass and enforce a law to 

 prevent any man from keeping bees 

 on his own premises y Of course this 

 would have to be done in fact or in 

 effect to carry out any measure set- 

 thng a question of " priority of loca- 

 tion." My "location" is my lands, 

 and by the right of occupancy I keep 

 my bees on my own premises. This 

 simple statement of fact makes inter- 

 ference impossible. If bee-keepers 

 will be so inconsiderate and unwise 



as to crowd any one vicinity with bees 

 until they become unprofitable, the 

 law of success and failure will have 

 to work out the problem just like any 

 other business. 



As to the question of "nuisance:" 

 To ask the question, as many have 

 done, " Is bee-keeping a nuisance V" 

 is " kicking before they are spurred." 

 Bee-keeping is an agricultural pur- 

 suit, and has tlin same protection un- 

 der law that other branches of agri- 

 culture enjoys. But it should be 

 borne in mind that the "livestock" 

 handled by the bee-keepers is not so 

 easily governed as some other species 

 of live stock are, and for this reason 

 the bee-keeper must practice extra 

 care if he would keep out of trouble. 

 Society is necessarily a compromise, 

 and a nuisance law is absolutely nec- 

 essary for the man who " won't budge 

 an inch." 



Christiansburg,5 Ky. 



For tbe American Bee Jooma). 



Eastern Iowa anil W, Ills. Con?ention. 



The Eastern Iowa and Western 

 Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association held 

 its fifth annual convention in Moore's 

 Hall, Davenport, Iowa, on Feb. 23 

 and 24, 1887. The meeting was called 

 to order by President Geo. L. Gast. 



Communications were read from H. 

 Chapman, in relation to the " Chap- 

 man honey-plant," and from N. N. 

 Betsinger, in reference to a " wire 

 separator." 



Mr. Jacobs stated how he had dis- 

 posed of his own and the crop of 

 honey of several of the members 



S resent, by traveling through the 

 forth and West,showing the superior 

 shape in which his honey was pro- 

 duced ; in this manner he sold about 

 22,000 pounds, all of which was de- 

 livered with little or no breakage. 

 Mr. Jacobs prefers one-pound boxes 

 for shipping, and is very enthusiastic 

 over the way our honey compared 

 with that of California, both as to 

 flavor and neatness of packages. 



After discussing the question, "Do 

 bees puncture grapes V" the following 

 resolution was read and unanimously 

 adopted : 



"Whereas, Difficulty has arisen 

 between certain parties— bee-keepers 

 and grape growers— as to bees punc- 

 turing grapes ; therefore, be it 



'' Besolved, By this convention, which 

 is composed largely of grape growers, 

 that in the past experience of grape- 

 growers and bee-keepers, members of 

 this convention, that we have not in 

 a single instance found grapes worked 

 upon by bees, unless first punctured 

 by birds or insects." 



The reports of last years' honey 

 crop was taken, and 23 members re- 

 ported 1,113 colonies, spring count, 

 and 116,887 pounds of honey ; also 413 

 pounds of wax. 



In an address by the President, on 

 the prospect for the white clover, he 

 gave it as his opinion that as the win- 

 ter has been very favorable, we have 

 a good chance for a crop, but not one- 

 half that of last year, from the fact 

 of last summer being so unusually 



dry, that the new seed had had very 

 little chance to germinate ; but he 

 consolingly added that we may have a 

 good fall crop. 



Officers were elected for the ensuing 

 year as follows : President, Geo. L. 

 Gast, Le Claire. Iowa; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, J. E. Hunter, Wyomipg, Iowa ; 

 Secretary, H. S. Dibber'n, Milan, Ills.: 

 and Treasurer, Miss Kate E. Case, of 

 Davenport. 



The convention adjourned until the 

 third Wedne.sday and Thursday of 

 February, 1888. 



H. S. DiBBERN, Sec. 



For the Aracncan Bee JoumnL 



Leiislation for Bee-Keepers, 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



On page 794 of the American Bee 

 Journal for 1886, Mr. W. II. Os- 

 borne presents his views, and, as I 

 understand it, from the stand-point 

 of a member of the legal fraternity. 

 He makes a change in the programme 

 by touching lightly on the "desir- 

 ability," and discussing the " feasi- 

 bility" of legislation. To tell the 

 plain truth, I do not at all feel sure 

 of the feasibility, but I think the de- 

 sirability so great that it is worth 

 while to talk about it a good deal to 

 find out if there is no way by which 

 the thing can be brought about. But 

 let me ask why does Mr. O., like sev- 

 eral others, insist upon making pri- 

 ority of location an integral part of 

 the subject under inquiry ? 



Referring to the minutes of the 

 Indianapolis Convention, we find the 

 thing to be inquired into was " the 

 desirability and feasibility of secur- 

 ing such legislation as will give a bee- 

 keeper an exclusive right to keep bees 

 in a certain territory." Now is there 

 any " priority " in that ? I do not see 

 why any should jefer to it at all, ex- 

 cepting Mr. Heddon, and he very 

 properly refers to it because he takes 

 the ground that priority of location 

 gives a man such advantage that he 

 needs no legislation. Let us there- 

 fore leave priority out of the question. 



In a nutshell, the matter looks to 

 me something like this : The bee- 

 keeper, like the farmer, cannot pros- 

 ecute his business without occupying 

 a certain amount of territory. It is 

 for the general good that the nectar 

 be gathered, just as it is for the gen- 

 eral good that the ground be culti- 

 vated, and that this be done it is for 

 the general good that each man, bee- 

 keeper as well as farmer, have his 

 own portion assigned to him so that 

 there be no conflict. Take the cattle- 

 grazing plains where cattle are run- 

 ning on free grass. For a time it 

 may be well enough that there shall 

 be no ownership of land, but will it 

 not be the best way to have the land 

 divided up and each man own his own 

 territory V Does not the same thing 

 apply to bee-keeping V As Mr. Os- 

 borne makes no objection to the 

 desirability, only that priority right 

 is undesirable, and as the priority 

 right business need not necessarily 



