THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



377 



For the American Bee JoomaL 



LeEislation on Priority of Location, 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Ou page 332, Dr. Miller claims that 

 I misunderstood liis position, aud 

 complains that I still cling to my pre- 

 vious misunderstanding of it in the 

 face and teeth of his correction. I 

 cannot admit that 1 misunderstood 

 the worthy Doctor, especially as so 

 many interpreted him in the same 

 way I did. Is it not possible for a 

 man to misunderstand himself V So 

 Burns thought, evidently, when he 

 penned the lines: 



" O wad some power the giftie gie us 

 To see oursels as ithers see us, 

 It wad frae mony a blunder tree us, 

 And foolisb notion. " 



The Doctor says, he " never desired 

 legislation in favor of priority of loca- 

 tion, nor advocated it." Then, what 

 in the name of common-sense was he 

 driving at ? Will he please tell us V 



It cannot surely be that he wished 

 a bee-keeper to be able to buy a right 

 to a certain area as a honey-field, and 

 then, armed with his legal document, 

 to evict all others. I can understand 

 how being a first-comer into a locality 

 should give a bee-keeper a right of 

 pre-emption on which he might secure 

 a title to the honey-yield of a pre- 

 scribed area, but I cannot imagine 

 any other way in which such a right 

 could be claimed or upheld. 



The Doctor, in a brief letter to the 

 Canadian Bee Journal, refers me to 

 his first utterance on the subject as 

 that on which he is willing to be 

 judged. It will be found on page 781 

 of Gleanings for Oct. 1, 1S86. I quote 

 as follows : 



" It is of practical importance, if 

 my position is correct, to be able to 

 invest time and money in this busi 

 ness, and have some feeling of secu- 

 rity that there is some permanence 

 about it ; that no mere whim of some 

 envious neighbor may drive me out 

 of the business next year; that after 

 making investments in buildings, fix- 

 tures, and perhaps special pasturage, 

 I may feel secure that no one else 

 may be able, by overstocking, to drive 

 mefrom my field. In plain words, I 

 take the radical ground that legisla- 

 tion is needed, whereby, in some way, 

 under proper restrictions and limita- 

 tions, 1 may have the control of a cer- 

 tain number of acres or square miles 

 as a range for my bees." 



Who is this " envious neighbor " of 

 whose intrusion the Doctor is afraid ? 

 Is he not, manifestly, a new comer 

 whom the Doctor would like to have 

 legal power to exclude V I fail to see 

 who else it can be, or on What ground 

 except that he was a prior occupant, 

 the Doctor could base the right to 

 shut him out. 



A question of fact has been raised. 

 Has Dr. Miller advocated " priority 

 of location," or has he not '? I have 

 asserted that he has, and furnished 

 ample proof of the assertion, the Doc- 

 tor himself being the chief witness on 

 my side. He pleads " Xot guilty." I 

 cannot withdraw "the indictment." 



There is nothing for it, but to refer 

 the case to a jury. I am content the 

 jury should be the whole body of in- 

 telligent bee-keepers, or any twelve 

 disinterested aud uncommitted mem- 

 bers of that body. To their verdict, 

 I leave the matter. 

 Guelph, Out. 



For tlie American Bee JounuU. 



Improyeinents in Bee-Hiyes, 



J. W. TEFFT. 



Any one who noted the character of 

 bee-hives that have been originated 

 during the past 40 years, must have 

 seen the prevalence of a diflfereut 

 spirit from that which pervaded the 

 community in years before. Indi- 

 viduality has had a chance, and each 

 successive new hive has possessed a 

 character of its own, instead of being 

 a slightly modified reproduction of 

 some hive that was built in early 

 years. Bee-keepers had no views- 

 mechanical or architectural— to build 

 hives in harmony with the bees. The 

 sole idea was to have a carpenter to 

 make walls in box-shape, on varying 

 plans, clap on a roof, run sticks cross- 

 wise to hold the combs up until full, 

 when the bees were brimstoned in 

 order to get the honey. For the past 

 40 years no hive of any pretensions 

 was devoid of a so-called movable 

 frame. 



To this slowly succeeded the pres- 

 ent era of independence.andthe result 

 is the breaking up of that uniformity 

 of honey producing which promised 

 to make bee-keeping as monotonous 

 as the old boxhive. This breaking 

 away from the slavery of custom and 

 of set fashion in the matter of hives 

 and frames, has been productive of 

 splendid results, but it has at the 

 same time brought with it some evils. 

 There are few things more to be des- 

 pised than that servility of spirit 

 which makes people do things differ- 

 ent from things done by their neigh- 

 bors, whetlier the example is right or 

 wrong ; but it is no more to be com- 

 mended that the beaten path should 

 be varying. 



To do things in a way different 

 from that followed by other people, 

 only because the way is different, 

 seems rather ridiculous than other- 

 wise, and is usually rewarded with 

 the laughter which it deserves. 



This independence in bee-hive con- 

 struction is to be continued this year, 

 and the effect of the hives now 

 " building," aud about to be started, 

 will add yet more to American char- 

 acter, as a country of independent 

 thinkers. A comparison with other 

 countries will show that in the matter 

 of bee-hives we are well in the lead, 

 and that we can in this respect well 

 lay claim to the title of " independent 

 bee-keepers." This feature is not 

 confined to any one neighborhood, 

 nor to any one State, and even the 

 speculative supply manufacturers who 

 deal in low-priced bee-hives find 

 their sales are hastened by the addi- 

 tion of one or two artistic details in 

 architecture of slotted top-bars, in- 



vertible sectional bee-hives, and re- 

 versible interchangeable-frames. The 

 popular American Bee Journal is 

 advancing education in this respect, 

 as in many others, and America may 

 congratulate herself that she is in the 

 front rank of advance. 



There is no reason why bee-keepers 

 should not move ahead with the best 

 of improvements in bee-hives. A 

 little strong infusion of i^aukee spirit 

 of enthusiastic rivalry— a little more 

 American pride— a little more effort 

 to secure something to be proud of 

 (and no country has more natural 

 advantages), and we shall see bee- 

 keeping traveling forward as she 

 never moved before. 



CoUamer.O N. Y. 



Read at tbe Maine Convention. 



How to Mate Bee-Keepins Profitatile. 



ISAAC HUTCHINS. 



I believe tliat bees winter better 

 and build up quicker in the spring 

 where they are well packed with chaff 

 or dry sawdust on the summer stands, 

 than they do when wintered in a cel- 

 lar. Spring dwindling, I believe in 

 most cases, is a result of cellar win- 

 tering. 



Those who winter bees in a cellar 

 use a siugle-walled hive, and when 

 they put them out in the spring, the 

 sun will warm them so that many 

 bees will fly out when the air is so 

 cold that they become chilled and 

 never return. If we have a few days 

 of warm weather, and they have all 

 the brood that they can care for, one 

 cold night will drive the bees into a 

 cluster, and leave the brood to die. 



The bee-hive needs protection from 

 the rays of the sun, and the cold 

 storms and winds of early spring, qs 

 much as it does in the winter months 

 when there is no brood to chill. We 

 should encourage breeding early in 

 the spring, remembering that it is the 

 early bees that store the surplus 

 honey. 



As soon as the weather will admit 

 in the spring, examine each colony to 

 ascertain if they are in need of aid. 

 No. 1 may have lost its queen ; No. 2 

 may be short of stores ; No. 3 may be 

 weak in numbers, and need a frame 

 of ripe brood. 1 should be very sorry 

 to have a colony die for want of food 

 or care, after they had survived a cold 

 winter. 



If bees are well wintered and well 

 cared for in the spring, they will be 

 ready to divide or swarm before the 

 white clover honey harvest. If to be 

 divided, it should be done at least tea 

 days before the honey flow com- 

 mences, and the honey sections should 

 be put on soon after, so that the bees 

 may get settled down to business in 

 season to give good returns. In divid- 

 ing, leave each colony as strong as it 

 will do, and not induce swarming. 



To make bee-keeping profitable, we 

 must have a love for the business, and 

 if we do not love the business-end of 

 the bee, we should learn not to fear 

 it. We must become acquainted with 

 the natural laws governing the honey- 



