1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



58S 



not help feeling a deep interest in the welfare 

 of that land of song. Its chief and almost 

 only bci-journal is U Apicoltore, published at 

 Milan. It is, to a great extent, an able sum- 

 ming-up of bee culture in Europe and other 

 countries. 



\i/ 

 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 In his issue for June 27 Mr. York seems to 

 have gotten up a little surprise party for the 

 benefit of Dr. C. C. Miller. The doctor's pic- 

 ture appears on the first page, accompanied 

 by some lines supposed to represent the retro- 

 spective views of a man who has just passed 

 70 years of life, as the doctor did on the 10th 

 of June. Mr. York speaks of Dr. Miller as 

 " the most prolific writer on bee culture to- 

 day." This is probably true, although G. M. 

 Doolittle certainly gives him a close second. 

 It is very gratifying to have the doctor tell us 

 of his good health and of the amount of work 

 he is still able to do personally. He calls 

 himself "seventy years young," and that is 

 certainly a good way to put it. 



AUSTRALIAN BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 

 The first issue of this journal has just arriv- 

 ed, and is simply an index of the rapid advance 

 in bee culture now being made in Australia. 

 It has 16 pages, very plain print. What strikes 

 me as the star article was written by Mr. J. E. 

 Crane, of Middlebury, Vt. It is in regard to 

 what might almost be called a good hobby 

 with Mr. Crane — ^the improvement of bees 

 themselves rather than spending so much time 

 with hives and appliances. He says : 



" It is not certain that the great mass of bees to-day 

 are any better for honey-gathering than in the days 

 of Virgil and Aristotle. So busy, indeed, have bee- 

 keepers been during this nineteenth century invent- 

 ing hives, boxes, sections, supers, foundation, smok- 

 ers, extractors, with S3'stems of management, manip- 

 ulation, and a thousand and one other things con- 

 nected with bee-keeping, that they seem to have 

 almost forgotten the possibilities of improving the 

 bees themselves." 



It seems, however, as if the matter of im- 

 proved bees had not been entirely neglected 

 in these columns. 



The printer, not being familiar with the 

 word " Carniolans," has disguised it under 

 the new spelling of " Carrinolaus." 

 lib 

 L'APICULTURE PRATIQUE. 

 This journal, published at the old home of 

 Charles Dadant, in France, makes the follow- 

 ing parallel between the honey display in 

 Paris last year and that at Buffalo this year : 



The exposition of 1900 was the admiration of the 

 whole world. That is an understood thing; but was 

 it really practical? We are in a position to doubt it 

 from our point of view. Apiculture was represented 

 there, it is true, but with what parsimony was space 

 allotted to it ! Under such circumstances, what 

 was the impression visitors received of our industry? 

 Thorough contempt, probablj'. 



The Americans, on the other hand, understanding 

 the importance of a well-arranged exhibit, have not 

 hesitated to make the greatest sacrifices for the Pan- 

 American. 



A special building has been decided on, where will 

 be exhibited all the implements used in apiculture, as 

 well as their products. But the most interesting 

 point is that all systems of hives will be exhibited 



filled with bees, which, by an ingenious arrangement, 

 will be able to communicate with the outside while 

 doing their work, while visitors will be able to exam- 

 ine the interior of the hives through observation 

 glasses. It will be tried in every way to demonstrate 

 the part bees play in the fertilization of blossoms. 

 An exhibition of this kind will certainlj' make a great 

 impression on the public, who frequently are igno- 

 rant of the elementary principles of apiculture. 



The above is designed as an addition to Dr. 

 Mason's announcement in this issue. It cer- 

 tainly should stir our people up to do their 

 best in the way of an exhibit. 

 \«/ 



Combs built by bees, when one and two 

 years old, are more fragile, and require more 

 care if used in the extractor, than those built 

 on sheets of foundation. With the former it 

 is necessary to turn the extractor very gently, 

 and avoid sudden stoppages. The third year, 

 the natural combs become more firm. 



THE BEE IN LAW. 



Property Right in Bees. 



BY R. D. FISHKR. 



There is natural cause for wonder why the 

 legal status of the bee has not been more def- 

 initely exploited, since bee culture has long 

 since passed from that of a fad, by a large num- 

 ber of persons who had no definite reason why 

 they kept bees other than that they can be 

 kept on a farm without expense and with very 

 little trouble, to that of a scientific and profit- 

 able business. Just as the law of real proper- 

 ty differs from that of personal property as 

 dealing with what is immovable and indestruc- 

 tible, so the law of animate differs from that 

 of inanimate property — a distinction far more 

 significant in the science and philosophy of 

 the law than one would suppose who had giv- 

 en the subject but little thought. As a matter 

 of fact, these powers and liabilities in animal 

 life form the basis of an elaborate system of 

 rights and responsibilities, and by no means 

 has the bee been overlooked or wholly disre- 

 garded. However, so far as the present writer 

 has been able to ascertain, no effort has been 

 made, as yet, to work these scattered elements 

 into any sort of publication. It is hoped, 

 therefore, that this and subsequent articles 

 may serve to the accomplishment of such an 

 end. 



It must be primarily understood that, ani- 

 mals being personal property, the whole law 

 governing such property is applicable, of 

 course, to bees ; but it is only such particular 

 portions of that law as relate distinctly to their 

 peculiar qualities that can be called, with any 

 technical accuracy, the " Law of Bees." 



Matters connected with their natures, dis- 

 positions, and habits, their inclination and lia- 

 bility to injure and be injured are proper sub- 

 jects for consideration, and are more and more 



