154 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Priority of Location anil Inventions, 



G. M. ALVES. 



I wish to enter a protest against 

 certain views field by correspondents 

 of tlie Bee Jouknal. Mr. Heddon 

 thinks that the claims of " priority of 

 location " are right in morals, but 

 doubts whether legislative bodies 

 could be induced to enact a law for 

 the enforcement of the same. 



Dr. Miller not only accepts the 

 principle as right, but goes further, 

 and gives it as his opinion that it 

 would be practicable to make it 

 statutory. I hardly think it necessary 

 to debate the Doctor's latter opinion, 

 for the reason that I think few could 

 be found who would agree with him. 

 I wish, however, to examine the sub- 

 ject with no reference to legislation. 

 The claims of the principle rest on 

 acquired property. There can possi- 

 bly be no other basis. Its advocates 

 will say that it has no legal rights, 

 but that being founded upon morals, 

 it by right should have, even though 

 legislators fail to enact. There is 

 much confusion here, let ns attempt 

 to dispel it. 



First, upon what principle does 

 property in general rest V Examine 

 any standard treatise on the rights of 

 property ; consult any competent 

 jurist, or properly analyze the subject 

 for ourselves, and we will find that it 

 rests upon the power to hold — upon 

 the right of conquest, or upon public 

 policy. Nowhere do we find an 

 ethical principle at the bottom. 



In a savage state man acquired 

 property by occupancy or conquest, 

 and held it by superior force. In 

 time, as association and certain 

 forms of civilization began to develop, 

 the association or State said to the 

 occupiers, pay tribute and otherwise 

 obligate yourselves to the State, and 

 the State will by its own power de- 

 fend you in the enjoyment of your 

 property. This is the basis upon 

 which the rights of property-holders 

 are founded to-day. The guarantee 

 is from public policy, not from ethics. 

 It must be borne in mind, however, 

 that there are many things neutral as 

 to morals or ethics, but nevertheless 

 proper, being founded in the needs of 

 the existing state of society, and un- 

 der this head lie the rights of property. 

 The great confusion of Dr. Miller 

 and Mr. Heddon lies in the fact, that 

 in this view all property is based upon 

 ethical principles, than which there 

 can be no greater misconception. It 

 has been seen from the foregoing 

 upon what property does rest. In 

 the present state of society it is very 

 important that property's established 

 rights should firmly hold, but as men 

 slowly grow less selfigh, these de- 

 mands of property will and are shad- 

 ing down this harshness. While this 

 process is going steadily on (albeit 

 very slowly), we are asked to ac- 

 knowledge in theory at least, new and 

 harsher views— views that even the 

 oldest common law never contem- 

 plated. The demand seems to me 

 almost monstrous in its selfishness. 



Mr. Heddon's views on inventions, 

 on page 22, are likewise defective. A 

 man can have no right to an inven- 

 tion save that which organized society 

 gives him, and to hold this right he 

 must use such diligence and such 

 prescribed methods as society re- 

 quires. When he fulfils these methods, 

 society through its holdings of public 

 policy will give him his inventions, as 

 so much acquired property. When he 

 fails to satisfy these prescribed 

 methods, the same public policy will 

 deny him the acquirement of such 

 property. All this is as it should be. 



It is true that a man of delicacy 

 would hardly make use of another's 

 invention, even though unpatented, 

 when the inventor objects. But his 

 declining so to do, cannot be con- 

 strued as an act of acknowledgement 

 of the other's property, but rather as 

 the concessions of an unselfish man 

 to the demands of a selfish one. 



Let us as law-abiding citizens 

 sacredly respect all acknowledged 

 property, but let us not for the sake 

 of a growing nobler humanity, de- 

 mand new and harsher lines of selfish- 

 ness. 



nenderson,K3 Ky. 



Local Convention Directory. 



IH87. Timt and plfice of Meeting. 



Mar. 16. -St. Joseph Inter-State, at St. Joseph. Mo. 

 E. T. Abbott, dec, St. Joseph, Mo. 



Apr. 12.— Stark County, at Canton, Ohio. 



Mark Thomson, See., Canton, O. 



J^" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— ED. 





)^%Em 



The Proposed Michigan Bee-Law. 



— Chas Walker, of Bravo,? Mich., 

 writes as follows on Feb. 28, 1887 : 



I have been circulating a remon- 

 strance to the Bill against keeping 

 bees in this State, now before the 

 legislature, and I have the signatures 

 of most of the neighbors of the origi- 

 nator of the Bill, not one refusing to 

 sign it. I have sent it direct to Mr. 

 McCormick, who introduced the Bill, 

 and I hope that if Prof. Cook is in 

 Lansing when this Bill is reached, he 

 will see that justice is done. There 

 has been no trouble with bees in this 

 county (Allegan) that I have ever 

 heard of, and why Mr. McCormick 

 should take the course he has, is quite 

 a mystery to me. 



Chaff Hives for Winter. etc.-J. 

 H. Andre, Lockwood,9N. Y.,onFeb. 

 21, 1887, says: 



Bees have not had a good flight here 

 for over three months. Those on the 

 summer stands will be apt to winter 

 poorly, especially those in chaff hives. 

 I do not see how any one can advise 

 the use of the chaff hives, for to my 



mind they are nothing more than 

 refrigerators. They will keep the 

 colony a little warmer during a pro- 

 tracted cold spell, but the cold will 

 get in for all of that, and three or four 

 hours of sunshine will have no effect 

 in warming through the packing; 

 while those in a single-walled hive 

 will get warm enough to partake of 

 food, and will be ready for the cold 

 again. I have tested them in the 

 same yard, and those in a single 

 thickness of wall came through the 

 best. Several of those in chaff hives 

 perished with the cold with plenty of 

 honey and clean combs. Would it 

 not be a good plan where colonies 

 come through weak, and the honey is 

 sour, to put the bees on clean combs 

 and feed V The high price of butter 

 has caused honey to be used as a suii- 

 stitute here, and the crop will be used 

 up cleaner than it has been for years. 



Young Bees.— .Inc. W. Snuff, Niles. 

 9 Mich., on March 3, 1887, writes : 



I started last spring with 7 colonies, 

 increased them to 18 by natural 

 swarming, and took about 500 pounds 

 of comb honey, which I sold at 10 

 cents per pound in my home market. 

 The forepart of the season was good, 

 but the latter part was poor on ac- 

 count of the drouth. I put the bees 

 into the cellar about Nov. 20, and 

 took them out for a flight on March 1 

 and 2. Several of the colonies had 

 young bees almost ready to fly. The 

 temperature of the cellar was at 40° 

 to 50° all winter. 



ftuiet Bees, etc.— W. H. Miller, ■j 

 Berrien Springs, p Mich., on March 1, 



1887, says : 



I commenced the spring of 1886 

 with 15 colonies, the most of them 

 being in good condtion. I increased 

 them to 51 colonies, and most of them 

 were put into winter quarters in very 

 good condition. I also secured about 

 650 pounds of comb honey. I have 

 my bees packed out-doors with saw- 

 dust, and I think they are doing very- 

 well so far, for they are keeping very 

 quieti and do not sjjot the hive much 

 when they fly. They have had several 

 chances for a flight since being 

 packed, and I hope they will come out 

 all right. 



Wintering Bees, etc.— Alex. Rose, 

 Sullivan,OIlls., on Feb.28,18S7,writes: 



I commenced last spring with 31 

 colonies of bees, increased them to 63. 

 1 *ost some queens, and some colonies 

 dwuKiled last fall which left over 50 

 pounds of fine white clover honey. I 

 sold 11 colonies, 6 died during the 

 winter, 41 ha/e plenty of honey, and 2 

 are scarce of honey. I am feeding 

 them. They do not seem to be as 

 strong in numbers as at this time last 

 year. I filled the cyps with dry hickory 

 leaves, which I shall leave on until 

 warm weather. I believe they will 

 help to keep the brood warm. I shall 

 feed syrup for about 3 or 4 weeks, 

 commencing as soon .^is the weather 

 gets warm enough to admit of dis- 



