1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



367 



seasoned. Now bore a |^ or ^ inch hole in 

 the small end of each, when your poles are 

 ready for one of the Manum swarm-catch- 

 ers, sold by the publishers of Gleanings. 

 As soon as you have the queen, and the few 

 bees in the cage, drop this cage into the 

 swarm-catcher; slip the pointed end of the 

 iron rod which holds the catcher into the 

 end of the pole which you think most con- 

 venient for you, and then hold this still 

 open catcher up among the thickest part of 

 the flying bees, when, in more than half 

 the cases, they will begin to alight on it. 

 When they are alighting so rapidly that 

 the thing begins to get heavy, slowly carry 

 to some tree near by, and lean the pole 

 against one of the branches, and stick the 

 sharpened end in the ground in such a way 

 that it carries the clustering swarm out and 

 away from the other limbs of the tree. The 

 bees will soon all be clustered, when you 

 can carry them where you please and hive 

 them. If they begin to cluster on a limb, 

 instead of on the swarm-catcher, wait till 

 two or three quarts are clustered, when you 

 will jar these into the catcher. Close the 

 lid by drawing it over a limb, and bring it 

 out from the limbs of the tree as before, 

 when all will cluster on and about the cage 

 and catcher, the same as if they had start- 

 ed to cluster on it before commencing on 

 the limb. When you have them thus you 

 can hive them at your leisure, resting as- 

 sured that they will not leave their queen, 

 no matter if you do not hive them till the 

 next day.'' 



"As I have a Manum swarm-catcher, I 

 think I will try this plan in connection with 

 the other. But I must be going." 



bees in the basswood orchard, and come 

 back when they get ready. 



I FULLY expected to continue the account 

 of my travels through California in the pres- 

 ent issue; but the engravers made a mis- 

 take and sent the wrong cuts, and I am, 

 therefore, obliged to make a break in the 

 series. They will commence again in our 

 next issue, and I hope after that to con- 

 tinue my travels without a break until I 

 get to the end of my long journey. 



ELECTRIC RAILWAYS AND OUT -YARDS. 



We are expecting an electric railway to 

 come by or near our premises. It already 

 runs right through our basswood apiary, 

 about a mile and a half north of us, and we 

 expect to locate three or four more yards 

 right along the line. The fact that the 

 cars will be running every hour or so will 

 enable us to send a man back and forth to 

 the yards at an insignificant cost; and this 

 will enable us to keep in close touch with 

 the bees in several locations. As it is, our 

 men can go down on one car to visit the 



A DISCOURAGING OUTLOOK FOR THE PRO- 

 DUCER OF ALFALFA HONEY. 



Elsewhere in this issue Mr. W. A. H. 

 Gilstrap calls attention to the fact that 

 some bee-keepers in California, on account 

 of the growing tendency among the ranch- 

 men to cut alfalfa before it comes into 

 bloom, are obliged to migrate to other lo- 

 calities; that the alfalfa regions that were 

 once splendid localities for the production 

 of alfalfa honey are of no further use to 

 bee-keepers. If it is indeed a fact that 

 there is more money in cutting alfalfa be- 

 fore it blooms — that it makes a better hay, 

 etc., the bee-keepers in the alfalfa regions 

 will either have to quit business in time, or 

 go where the alfalfa- growers are less up to 

 the times. 



BEES NOT A NUISANCE; SO DECLARED BY 

 JUDGE MONCK, OF HAMILTON, ONTA- 

 RIO. 



For some time an interesting case has 

 been pending over across our border, in 

 which the bees of a certain man were de- 

 clared to be a nuisance, and damages ask- 

 ed in the sum of $60.00. The case was hot- 

 ly contested on both sides, but the decision 

 of the court, as usual, exonerated the bees. 

 The results are thus set forth in the Brant- 

 ford Expositor of April 6: 



The celebrated bee case of Brock vs. Patterson, from 

 Lynden, has been disposed of. so far as Judge Monck, 

 or Hamilton, and the fourth divi.sion court are concern- 

 ed. His honor gave jndgment yesterday, non-suiting 

 the plaintiff. 



After reciting the facts shown in the evidence, the 

 judge went on to .say that the keeping of bees — 118 

 hives of them — by the defendant made the enjoyment 

 of the plaintiff's property less agreeable than it would 

 otherwise be ; in fact, at times the bees were a nui- 

 sance to the plaintiiT. Beyond that his honor could not 

 find that the plaintiff had suffered any specific damage. 



Concluding, the judge says : "I find the annoyance 

 not surli as to create a public nuisance. In many 

 cases the individual must suffer annoyance for the 

 general good ; and I am in great doubt as to whether 

 m this case the plaintiff is entitled to damages. As he 

 has a remedy in a court of superior jurisdiction, in an 

 action for an injunction, I direct a non-suit to be en- 

 tered without costs to either party." 



As that old war-horse, Thos. J. Newman, 

 would say, "Score another victory for the 

 bees." It is doubtful whether the plaintiff 

 will appeal to a higher court. 



Later. — A full account of the case is giv- 

 en in the Canadian Bee Journal for April. 



THE TRUTH ABOUT BEE-KEEPING IN TEXAS. 



Mr. G. F. Davidson, of Fairview, Texas, 

 protests against statements made in two ar- 

 ticles — one from H. H. Hyde, and the other 

 from W. W. Somerford — in regard to Texas 

 in our issue for April 1. Referring to Mr. 

 Somerford's statement that Texas has a 

 bad record back of it; thcit there are peri- 

 ods of dry years, periods of wet years, des- 

 olation and death, burning deserts strewn 

 with dead and dying animals, no grass, 

 venomous snakes, etc., all that, he says, is 

 not true, and that I was correct in all I 

 said about those bee paradises; and then 



