LABELS FOR HONEY, See Extract- maintain an action of trespass and damage 



C. 



Kl) ,1 I < INKY. 



iiAWS REiiATznra to bees 



Blacl<;stone, the great exponent of common 

 law, says: '•'•Bees also areferm naturce (wild by 

 natnre) ; but wlien hived and reclaimed, a 

 man may have a qualified property in them 

 by the law of nature as well as by civil law." 

 And Bracton says: " Occupation, that is, 

 hiving or including them, gives the property 

 in bees; for, though a swarm alights upon 

 my tree, I have no more jnoperty in them 

 till I have hived them than I have in the 

 birds which make their nests thereon, and, 

 therefore, if another hives them he shall be 

 their proprietor; but a swarm which flies 

 from out of my hive is mine so long as I can 

 keep it in sight and have power to pursue it; 

 and in these circumstances no one is en- 

 titled to take them. But in respect to such 

 animals as are in the habit of going and re- 

 turning, as pigeons and bees, which are ac- 

 customed to go into the woods and fields, 

 and come again, we have this traditional 

 rule that, if they cease to have the intention 

 of returning, they also cease to be ours, and 

 become the property of the first taker, 

 because they cease to be what are termed 

 ani7nus revertendi when they have discon- 

 tinued their habits of returning." 



QUALIFEID PROPERTY RIGHTS. 



In case a swarm fly from the owner's hive, 

 his qualified right continues only so long as 

 he can keep them in sight and possesses the 

 power to pursue them where he has a right 

 to pursue, or otherwise positively and dis- 

 tinctly identify them. The difliiculties in 

 reclaiming bees after taking flight are many. 

 The decisions of our courts furnish numer- 

 ous peculiar circumstances, and unfold the 

 difliculties in reclaiming bees that have es- 

 caped from the hives or soil of their origi- 

 nal owner. In the case of Goff vs. Kiltz, 

 15 Wend, N. Y. 550, the New York Supreme 

 Court held that, where a swarm of bees left 

 the hive of the plaintiff, and went into a 

 tree on the land of another, as he follow- 

 ed the bees and marked the tree into which 

 they went, while he had no right to enter 

 upon the property to recover them without 

 the consent of the owner, yet he could 



^^^^^,^^^^L,C^^j^ y against a third party who did enter the land, 

 3- TO BEES. '^ 



the tree down, kill the bees, and take 

 the honey away. 



REPLEVIN. 



Bees may be recovered by the issuance of 

 a writ of replevin. 



TROVEH. 



If the claimant simply requires damages 

 for the loss of the bees, trover is the remedy. 



ANIMUS REVERTENDI. 



This, Blackstone says, "• extends this pos- 

 session further than mere manual occupa- 

 tion; for my tame hawk that is pursuing his 

 quarry in my presence, though he is at lib- 

 erty to go where he pleases, is nevertheless 

 my property, for he hath animus revertendi.' 

 So are my pigeons and bees that are flying 

 at a distance from their home, and likewise 

 the deer that is chased out of my park or 

 forest, all which remain still in my posses- 

 sion, and I still preserve my qualified proper- 

 ty in them. But if they stray without my 

 knowledge and do not return in the usual 

 manner, it is then lawful for any stranger 

 to take them." 



IDENTITY, 



It is practically impossible to prove the 

 identity of a swarm of bees in a court of law, 

 even if they possess peculiar characteris- 

 tics. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



Though it may be optional with railway 

 companies whether they will accept the full 

 responsibility of transporting bees, yet if 

 they do so without any express restriction 

 they are liable as common carriers. For a 

 given reward they proffer to become his 

 carrier; for a less reward they proffer to 

 furnish the necessary means that the owner 

 of the bees may be his own carrier; and if 

 the owner and shipper agrees to this ar- 

 rangement the railway is not liable. 



LARCENY. 



Bees may be the subject of larceny if they 

 are in some person's possession. Much de- 

 pends on what constitutes possession; but 

 it is generally assumed the owner of the 

 land is also the owner of the bees (in hives) 

 situated thereon. Bees are likened unto 



