1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



189 



figure at 5 lbs., and he is about rig-ht, ac- 

 cording to our experience, and according 

 to the experience of those who get good re- 

 sults in wintering. I consulted Mr. Bing- 

 h;im's copy, but found the same 400 in his 

 own handwriting, of honev per month for 

 100 colonies. This makes "in all 2000 lbs. 

 of honey, for the five months, when it should 

 be about 500 lbs. for the same length of 

 time. Evidently' Mr. Bingham has made a 

 mistake. His figures will be very liberiil, 

 even for outdoor-wintered bees. But even 

 taking the figure of 500 lbs. for the five 

 months, that would leave him from 40 to 45 

 lbs. of water according to the same ratio, 

 or between six and seven gallons for the 5 

 months. Even this amount, with the mois- 

 ture from the cellar, would be sufficient to 

 soak the boards of the hives of 100 colonies 

 — that is, providing this moisture could not 

 escape. — Ed.] 



A HONEY TRUST. 



California and its Effect on the Honey Market. 



BY F. E. BROWN, 



Manager Central California Bee-keepers' Association. 



It is a rule with the honey-buyers of the 

 United States to watch the rain conditions 

 of Southern California; and as soon as the 

 winter rain is reported, then it is that they 

 line up and get ready to "do" the fickle- 

 minded honey-producers of that unfortunate 

 part of this great honey-producing State, 

 and the rest of the world is made to sufter 

 ■their folly with them. 



For instance, at the beginning of the last 

 season's rainfall for this State, the writer 

 was in Chicago, and the honey-buyers had 

 nothing to say regarding honey except that, 

 as California wjis having big rains, there 

 would be abundance of choice honey that 

 could be bou'.'-ht at a price of 4 cents. I 

 laughed at the idea, and told them that, as 

 Southern California was now well organ- 

 ized, the}' would probably market their hon- 

 ey from this on; they would smile, and say, 

 ' • Wait and see. ' ' Yes, we did wait and see. 

 Central California, as well as Arizona, held 

 their honey, provided money for the man 

 who had honey who was forced to use the 

 same to get money, and thus the honey 

 was stored, waiting, as we supposed, for 

 the conditions of the honey market to so 

 shape up that we could prove to the honey- 

 buyer that there was no 4 cents this time. 

 After waiting a long time, all the while 

 keeping in touch with Arizona, finding them 

 faithful to their word, holding firm for the 

 living price. Southern California through 

 what was thought to be the Exchange, man- 

 ifesting the same spirit, all seemingly work- 

 icg quietly on to success, the buj'ers report- 

 •ed to the California grower that Arizona 

 was selling at 4 cts., and at the same time 

 reporting to the Arizona producers that 

 Central California was selling at 4 cents. 

 These lopoit-s Iiad no weight upon us, as 



we were posted as to what the other was 

 doing. 



Buj'ers soon began to be indifferent as to 

 whether they had our goods or not, stating 

 thjit they were getting all they wanted from 

 Southern California at a price of 4 cents. 

 Arizona was told the same thing, but we 

 did not believe it; but suddenly the crash 

 came, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. 

 A letter from a party controlling 50 or more 

 cars stated that he had marketed, up to 

 date, 22 cars, at ii price of 4 cents, and at 

 the same time he advised me to sell what I 

 controlled through hiin. What were we to 

 do? Southern California, with 300 cars of 

 choice honey, was seeking a market at 4 

 cts., with a freight rate of 85 cts., while 

 we here in Central California, as well as 

 Arizona, had our 30 to 40 cars, and a freight 

 rate of $1.10. The jig was up, and we, 

 with our hands tied, were forced to submit. 



Now comes Rambler, who wants to form 

 a trust for the greater pi-oduction of honey, 

 and suggests that Southern California be 

 made the hub, the center, the first and fore- 

 most. That is just what the buyers would 

 like, as the scheme would work well to 

 their good and gain. 



I say, let us have a trust (if it be called 

 a trust) for the protection of the producer, 

 and let its head be away from the coast of 

 the Pacific. Make it national, with the 

 head in Chicago, backed up by every local- 

 ity in its reacli; give them the control of the 

 honey, and allow no locality to dictate prices. 



THE BEE IN LAW. 



Keeping of Bees; When and When Not a Nui= 

 sance. — Article S. 



BY R. D. FISHER. 



/. General Definition. — The term "nui- 

 sance," in legal phraseology, is applied to 

 that class of wrongs that arise from the un- 

 reasonable, unwarrantable, or unlawful 

 use by a person of his own property, real 

 or personal, or from his own improper or 

 unlawful conduct, working an obstruction 

 of or injury to a right of another or of the 

 public, and producing such material an- 

 noyance, inconvenience, discomfort, or hurt, 

 that the law will presume a consequent 

 damage. 



A nuisance may be said to be any thing 

 wrongfully done or permitted which injures 

 or annoys another in the enjoyment of his 

 legal rights. (See Wood's Liiw of Nui- 

 sances, 2d Ed., 1, and Cooley on Torts, p. 

 565.) It will be noticed that this definition 

 is so broad as to include many wrongs not 

 regarded as nuisances. " Nuisance, 7ioc- 

 uuientiini, or annoj^ance, signifies any 

 thing that worketh hurt, inconvenience, or 

 damage." 



2. Public and Private Nuisances. — Public 

 or common nuisances affect the community 

 at large, or some considerable portion of it, 

 such as the inhabitanis of a town or com- 

 iiiunit}-; and the person theicin offending 



