1885 



GLEANINGS l^ JJEE CUJyi'UKE. 



487 



AUTOMATIC SWARMING. 



A HKi'oirr 



)METH1NG ALMOST A SUCCEi^ 



LEANINGS is at himd. Many thanks. I think 

 I'" ^ it is a great medium between bee-keepers, as 

 they all get each other's ideas through its col- 

 umns, thereby rendering great assistance to 

 one another. I notice on p. 380, June 1, 1885, 

 Mr. W. J. Farriss speaks of a swarm of bees hiving 

 itself. Well, that is not strange to us bee- men in 

 this part of the country, for a man here has invent- 

 ed a plan that causes the swarms to hive them- 

 selves in almost every instance. Nearly every bee- 

 keeper has been very successful with it here. Some 

 have not failed in a single instance. Some failures 

 have been reported, where the queen was not able 

 to fly from the old hive to the new one. 1 know 

 many will doubt this, as they did here until it was 

 proven to them beyond a doubt. 



Your smokers ai-e wonders to the people here, and 

 they please all who see them. I think there will be 

 a good many bought here ne.\t spring. 



F. C. Moiiitow. 

 Wallaceburg, Hempstead Co., Ark., June 30. 



Friend M., this matter lias been discussed 

 for a jjood many years, but nolxxly has ever 

 yet acconipnslM'd'aiiN tliiii<i- of sutiicient im- 

 portancp to liave it i-etaiucd. in the way of 

 inducinj^ bi-es to swarm and hive tliemselves. 

 We sliould b- .<iia<I indeed of fiirtlier i)artic- 

 nlars in reuarci to your nei,nld)or"s invention. 

 Jf tlie man inanulactuies iiie hive or the de- 

 vice for doinf,^ it, let us Jiear from liim ; but 

 if it issometiiin<,'for wliicii lu^ sells " rijihts."" 

 1 do not believe it will pay us to follow him 

 further. 



NATIONAL BEE-KEEPEKS' UNION. 



AKE ItlOK-KIilCriatS AM) 



IL-C.UOWEUS A.NTACO 



fT^ElUIAI'S the simplest way of introduc- 

 ly ins fl''^ matter \vill be to <>-ive the fol- 

 r? lowing extiacts from the Anicrinm lUv 

 ■^ Jo}<rn(il: 



IS THE LAW AOAl.NST HKIC-K ICKIM Nli';- 



T am defendant in a ease which is causing me 

 some trouble and annoyance. I''or the last four 

 .\ears 1 have kept a lot ol bees some two mil(>s or 

 inorc! Iroin my home lot. 'fliey arc one half mile 

 back Inim the main road, where lives a man who 

 has kept H <• or more of blooded sliecii. lie has sued 

 me in the Circuit Court, la.ving his dumagcs al ^:tW: 

 alleging, in his comphiiiit, that hi. ptistui-e is iiic-tU 

 white clover, and that tli<> bees eanie in count Ic-- 

 hordes, and di()\(> his sheep Ironi the past ure, ;m(| 

 that the.\- grew ihin, and, in coiisecpience. lie has 

 lost manNiluriii'j the winter. He asks that he be 

 given *riii(l and I pay the costs (it the suit. He lias 

 engaged two sniai-t law.\crs to prosecute the case. 



This, no doubt, will appear to many childish iind 

 absurd; but to one that has a costly suit to defend. 

 coupled with poor health and plent>- ol i-ares with- 

 out it, it is no laughing-matter. Mv excuse lor 

 stating the matter is, that it is of general interest. 

 Our county papers ha\ c ma<le mention of it, and it 

 is already widely copied in other paiiei'S as a novel 

 case, and it will be a "testcase" also. Should the 

 casego ad\-ersel\ , tludugh ignorance or prejudice, 



soon e\-er\- bee-keeper would be at the meri'y of 

 any one owning a one-liall-acTc ot clover, though 

 he might own acres of his own. 



My opponents claim that they ha\-e a pi-ecedent 

 in a sheep and bee suit somewhere in the State. Of 

 course, we do not acknowled^je tli.-U oui- liees liavc 

 ever injured the shcc|i in the least, and we leel that 

 e.vperinient, science, and eoinnion sense « ill bear 

 us out in this assei-tion; yet this case, like every 

 Other one, has its a<llierents pro and c<i)i. 



The simple fact there is a case on trial makes 

 some believe that there Is something in it. 



In relation to this suit between my neighbor, Mr. 

 A. J. Powers, the plaintilf, and myself, the defend- 

 ant, 1 will say that 1 have liad no quarrel with him, 

 e.xeept in this matter, and I have fought shy of this 

 suit, and told him that I did not wish to waste an.y 

 money on it. 1 otfered to leave it to referees, tell- 

 ing him that we might get some disinterested par- 

 ties and let them investigate and decide for us. 

 But he would not; he said that he wanted it decided 

 whether I or he owned the farm on which he lives. 

 If I owned it he would move off and let me take 

 possession; if he owned it he wanted the use of it. 

 This is no new thing as far as theory or threats are 

 concerned; it has been threatened for years, and 

 more suits of the same natui-e arc talked of, if this 

 one goes to please the plaintift. 



I do not want the leaders of the bee-.iournals to 

 infer from the foregoing that I am poor, friendless, 

 or lorlorn, and in a heathen land; for we have good 

 people here, and a fair share of intelligence. 1 

 have many friends, and can give as reference many 

 of the best men in our county. If any one wishes 

 for confirmation of what 1 have written, I am not 

 afraid to have them write to Mr. Powers himself, 

 asking him whether I am a man of peace and trutii. 



In conclusion I will say that 1 have supposed that 

 .Mr. Powers has had some inst itratoi's, and was en- 

 couraged to coiimience this suit. His lawyers ha\e 

 told him that bees are stock, and thiU wewould be 

 oblijicd to restrain them as such, 'fliey know full 

 well that if we aic obliged to do this, it will be the 

 death-blow to bee-keepini;. I had resoh ed to tight 

 this matter to the best of iii.\ iihiliiy. iind I told my 

 opponents thai tliev could r>^l assun i| Ihat it wouhl 

 be well contested tlnoUiih the cowils cjI the State, if 

 nccessaiv. I leel that it is a ease that every bee- 

 keeper ill .Vnierica is interested in, and I think it is 

 not iK'gginy to ask them to assist in the did'cnse, as 

 Mr. Ileddon suggesls in his plan, which meets my 

 entire a|)probation, and would, had I no suit of the 

 kind on hand. S. I. FitiiEHOHN. 



Ithaca, Wisconsin. 



The followin.i^isacopy of the Constitution: 



COXSTniTION OK 



TIIK NATIONAL HEK-KKFPEKS' UNION. 



AUTU-i.K I.— This iire^iiixiition s!i:iU lie kiiDwii .is tlie " X.t- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' t'liion." and sli.ill iiieet iininuUly, or as 

 iitten as necessit.v may require. 



Ainu I. K II. UsMl,.i(.<( shall lie to protect the interests of 

 li»|. k(( piis. and t. ilelciiil their rights. 



AKTui.Kin. The ..(ti.eis of this Union shall consist of a 

 I'n>iilcnt. livi' \ ici rrrsiclrnls. and a lirncral .Manager (who 

 sliall .il-.. I..- 111. s. , ,. I , .. ,,iTr.,, Ml., , ..l,..c duties shall 

 I;,- tin.-.- n-ii;,;K (.,!. ...I i.v ,. ' ..",.., Theyshnllhe 



nniil Unu Ml. ,■. .. i . , ! . . I ., i .. I . 1 1 ! i - I . I lank"hallots 



l.M- iliij- (in; |».-r I 1 r . .1 1 . . , \ , ) \ iii.iiii.. r I.J- the lieneral 



Manager. 



AHTK i.K IV. -The olfieers shall constitnte an Advisory Board, 

 whiiOi slial' detcnniiie what action shall he taken by this 

 I'liion. upon (I'.f a|iplic:il Kin id anv l>ei--kc<-|iers for defense, 

 and can-. n. h . m . .. .. --. --m. in - i.. I.. iii,..l.- npon all the 



■ pavinp to 

 to the De- 

 Ill' shall re- 

 lii-i t'nion, 



anuiuiit iiiav be made at an.v 

 iddition to the entrance and 

 ir assessments made upon the 



-The annua 



paid the legiti- 

 niali- c-xju ii>cs of this Union, such as printing, postage, elerk- 



ARTiei.KlX.-Meclings of this Uni-in shall he held at such 

 times and places as sliall lie designated b.v the .-Vdvisoi.y Boaid, 

 or upon the written rec|iiisition of ten members. 



.VRTICI.K X.— This con? titution inav he amended bv a majori- 

 ty vote ol all the inembi is at any time. 



It will be seen from the above, that the 

 object t;f tliis union, in the words of the 

 Constitution, is to protect the interests of 

 bee-keepers, and to tlefend their rifjhts. For 

 a copy of the Constitution, voting-blanks, 

 etc., send to the editor of the .1. B. /., the 



