1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



675 



statutory action, and the statutes are consid- 

 erably variant. (See Cooley's note to Black- 

 stone Com., p. 144.) 



Trover is the remedy by which, under the 

 same circumstances, to recover satisfaction in 

 damages, the defendant being allowed to re- 

 tain the chattels as of his own property. Of 

 this subject, however, we will speak later on. 



Replevin, in modern practice, being a rem- 

 edy for any unlawful detention of personalty, 

 the same being delivered to the claimant upon 

 security given, either to make out the injus- 

 tice of the detention or to return the property, 

 may be employed to recover bees which have 

 swarmed and left his hive. Replevin lies for 

 a swarm of bees. Fitz, N. B., 68. 



RAMBLE 189. 



Old Combs vs. Foundation ; the Russian Drone 

 Story. 



BY RAMBLER. 



" How d'ye do, Mr. Smith? Better get up 

 here and ride if you are going my way." 



"Why, bless me! how d'ye do. Rambler? 

 certainly I am glad to ride with you. I am 

 getting tired of this walking ; and if you are 

 going through Hollywood I will sit by you 

 for a few miles." 



" Yes, Mr. Smith, I am going through Hol- 

 lywood, on over the Cahuenga Pass, across 

 the San Fernando Valley, over the San Susan- 

 na Pass, down the Simi Valley to Mr. Rich- 

 ardson's, a little short of 60 miles." 



"I must say. Rambler, you have quite a 

 drive ahead of you with a late start, slow road, 

 and (I should judge) not a speedy horse. 

 Don't believe you will make it to-day." 



"Well, if I don't, Mr. Smith, I will make 

 two passes at it." 



" On some bee business, I suppose? " 



" You may be sure of that, Mr. Smith. Bees 

 and honey seem to be second nature to me. 

 Whenever I try to get out of the business I 

 get put back into it with such a sudden jolt 

 that I am now inclined to stay there ; and 

 there is more and more developing in bee- 

 keeping now than at any time before, and the 

 business is decidedly interesting as well as 

 profitable ; and this journey of mine I suppose 

 some of the progressives would call an old- 

 fogy piece of business. You know I told you 

 about the great scrape I had at Richardson's. 

 Well, he had so many good combs that I 

 thought might get moth-eaten before he could 

 use them that I had a great hankering for 

 them, and finally made a bargain with him 

 for 500, and that is what I am after this very 

 minute. The 500 will fill 50 supers, and you 

 know that will give the bees a big boost right 

 now. ' ' 



" But, Rambler, you use the Heddon frame, 

 and I suppose R. uses the L,., and you will 

 have to cut and trim and waste." 



" No, Mr. Smith ; R. uses a frame about 12 

 inches square ; and by cutting through the 

 center the combs will fit with but little waste." 



" Ha, ha ! Why, you are indeed an old fogy. 



Don't you know it is a waste of energy to be 

 transferring old combs when you can g<ffl plen- 

 ty of foundation nearer home ? " • 



" I am happy to say, Mr. Smith, that I'don't 

 know any thing of the sort. You see, bees 

 will not draw out foundation for some weeks 

 yet, and these combs can be put to use im- 

 mediately ; and then as far as combs are con- 

 cerned I have used them when they were 20 

 years old. A comb is never too old for my 

 use." 



" My, my, Rambler ! I have been led to be- 

 lieve if the combs are not renewed often the 

 cells will get smaller and smaller, and the bees 

 ditto, until they are no larger than gnats." 



"Who led you to that belief, Mr. Smith? 

 How long have you kept bees, and how many 

 colonies have you ? " 



" Le'me see. I have 25 colonies ; bought 

 ten three years ago of Mr. Podovosky. He is 

 an expert, and I have been led by him, as it 

 were. He says we don't know much about 

 bee-keeping in this country ; but in Southern 

 Russia, where he came from, they are very 

 expert." 



"Well, now, Mr. Smith, don't you be led 

 by any such foolish notion as that. I will 

 loan you a late issue of Gleanings, where 

 there is an account of combs 40 years old, and 

 still fit for use. And by the way, Mr. Smith, 

 you need to take that bee-paper. It will be 

 dollars for your pocket and sense for your 

 head ; you will then have no use for Russian 

 experts." 



"I'll think the matter over, Rambler, and 

 talk with my wife about it ; and if we agree 

 on the subject we'll take the paper. And, by 

 the way, that Russian told me that the drones 

 commit suicide. What do you think about 

 it?" 



"What an idea, Mr. Smith! Why, any- 

 body can see that the bees drive them out of 

 the hives — actually tumble the poor things 

 out." 



' ' That's how it always appeared to me ; 

 but this Russian says the struggle between 

 bees and drones is when the bees try to pre- 

 vent the suicide, and that the cause of suicide 

 is owing to their having a female to rule over 

 them." 



"That is a sad condition, Mr. Smith ; but 

 of all the queer ideas about bees, that takes 

 the cake. I guess that Russian is an anarchist, 

 sure. I know you do not indorse such things, 

 Mr. Smith." 



" Oh, no ! I do not believe in these anarch- 

 istic ideas ; but I didn't know but Mr. Podo- 

 vosky was correct about the bees, seeing he 

 claims to be an expert. I think my wife and 

 I will have to take that paper ; but, whoa ! 

 halt your horse. Rambler. Here I am, a whole 

 block past where I ought to get off — got so 

 interested in bee-talk I forgot where I was at. 

 Good by. Rambler ; hope you a pleasant jour- 

 ney and a profitable venture." 



"Thank you, Mr. Smith ; I am sure those 

 combs will be of immense value to my bees. 

 Sorry to lose your companionship." 



As Mr. Smith surmised, I was late getting 

 into the Simi Valley, and the shades of night 

 settled down heavily when there were several 



