189U 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



563 



nails. They want a little play, say y'e inch or 'b. to 

 come out easily. After I put the sections into the 

 frames I don't talie them out until I send them to 

 marliet. Ben. Franklin. 



FranklintOD, N. Y., Feb. 1. 



Friend F.,your plan of getting bees out of 

 boxes is substantially the same as I de- 

 scribed a year ago, while on a visit to Dr. 

 Miller, if I am correct. Thanks for your 

 suggestion of a good use for patent bee- 

 hives. Keep them for storing bee-papers. 



ARE BEES TAXABLE PBOPERTY? 



SOME GOOD ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF TAXING 

 THEM. 



Friend Ro<it:—l see, in reading over Gleanings 

 for July 1'), 1890, where J as. R. Whipps asks the 

 question whether all bees are taxed (or, in other 

 words, assessed). I will say that, to the best of my 

 knowledge, they are not, especially here in Wig- 

 eonsin. I am well convinced that it is not a State 

 law, but done by oiflcers of the different townships. 

 One illustration will convince any one. In the 

 town of Boscobel, where there are quite a number 

 of apiaries, all No. 1 swarms are assessed two dol- 

 lars each that are owned on the first day of May. 

 But in the town of Marion, just south of us, bees 

 are not taxed at all. 



Day before yesterday I had a short conversation 

 with Mr. France, of Platteville, Wis., and this same 

 subject of taxation came up. He told me that a 

 part of his bees were assessed and a part not, all 

 owing to the ditferent townships they were located 

 in. So you can see that it is governed by the sever- 

 al townships instead of the State. But if I had my 

 own way about taxing bees, you may rest assured I 

 would assess every one of them. If a man has S.500, 

 or f 1000, and perhaps much more, invested in bees, 

 tax them just the same as sheep, cattle, horses, or, 

 in fact, any other kind of property; and in my opin- 

 ion, when this is universally done there will not be 

 as much fault-finding by parties who are not in the 

 business; and if litigation should arise, I am sure 

 that it would be much more diflicult to declare 

 them a public nuisance than if they were exempt 

 from taxation; and my advice would be to insist on 

 an assessor listing them every time. B. E. Rice. 



Boscobel, Wis., July 20. 



justice? I, for one, say assess hives and fixtures, 

 but not the bees. I propose to make a test case of 

 it in this State, and to call upon brother bee-keep- 

 ers in the State to aid me. J. C. Capehart. 

 St. Albans. W. Va., July 24. 



Friend C, we would advise you to read 

 the article at the head of this. If you class 

 bees as wild animals, uncontrolled, and ex- 

 empt from taxation, town councils might 

 then with some justice declare them to be a 

 nuisance. No, sir, friend C, let us pay tax- 

 es on our bees, and consider them as ani- 

 mals under control, like any ordinary stock. 

 If any disgruntled neighbor wants them re- 

 moved, you can then declare them jnoperty, 

 like any other property, because you pay 

 taxes on them. 



against TAXING BEES, BUT IN FAVOR OF TAX- 

 ING HIVES AND FIXTURES. 



On page 531, current volume, Mr. Jas. R. Whipps 

 seeks information of you as to whether bees are as- 

 sessable property in the ditferent States. No more 

 important question is presenting itself to our fra- 

 ternity. For 'J5 years no assessor in our district 

 has had the audacity to assess bees; but I am now 

 surprised by a ticket being presented for last year's 

 assessment, made in my absence. Custom makes 

 law, therefore it is against the law in this State, 

 without a special statute providing for it. I know 

 what has been your position in the matter; but, 

 while no one respects your judgment more than I, 

 I feel that I shall be supported by the majority of 

 beekeepers in this position; viz., that bees come 

 under the head of wild animals, uncontrollable, and 

 very greatly subject to the vicissitudes of climate 

 and disease. An apiary may be assessed in March; 

 in May, not a bee may have survived. Where is the 



FIXED DISTANCES IN ENGLAND 



INDISPENSABLE, AND WHY NOT IN AMERICA? 



My Dear Friend:— For by that title I assume to 

 address you, though I have never before written to 

 you; yet, as a fellow-apiculturist, I claim the right. 

 I have of late had the opportunity of reading 

 Gleanings (i. e., since the departure of my friend 

 W. B. Carr for London, and my taking the house 

 till then occupied by him), and I am not a little ex- 

 ercised at the discussion which appears therein 

 about "spacing of combs." In this country the 

 custom is, almost universally, to use metal ends to 

 space the combs; and the convenience of them is 

 something to be wondered at-no shifting of combs 

 when lifting— great security when moving the 

 hives to any distance, as, instead of an inch bear- 

 ing at each end of top-bar there is a bearing of lir, 

 inches. Why. then, I ask, is it that in j'our country 

 you appear to ignore these very useful adjuncts to 

 the apiary? With the metal end known as the 

 W. B. C, it is possible, without removing the end 

 from the frame, to get any distance from 1 U to 154 

 inches, and this, I take it, is as much as is required 

 by any apiarist. It seems to me, at this distance, 

 that Dr. Miller is somehow considerably prejudiced 

 against ends of any description; and though in his 

 discussion pro and con, page 4.51, he has endeavored 

 to argue the point out without bias, he seems to me 

 to be unable to quite get rid of that prejudice. 



Further, it seems strange that you on your side 

 should now be going over and over again, grounds 

 that were here settled years ago. 



In conclusion I would say, let ten or more Ameri- 

 can apiarists each work, say, three hives with 

 W. B. C. ends for a season, and then report fully 

 what advantages and disadvantages they found 

 from their use, and I am inclined to think that 

 A. I. Root and others will have to stock another 

 article. Harold H. Likdon. 



Liverpool, Eng., July 7. 



We are very glad to get your testimony, 

 friend Lindon. We were well aware of the 

 fact that your countrymen used, generally, 

 fixed distances, though we have not called 

 particular attention to it, because national 

 peculiarities and climatic conditions might 

 not argue for it in this country. Still, if 

 tixed distances are necessary with you it 

 would seem that they would be almost in- 

 dispensable in America, with its many sys- 

 tems of out-apiaries, necessitating, as they 

 do, more or less moving of bees. 'J'hanks 



