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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 12, 1903. 



part, and thereby have good service, it would 

 be a desirable thing. 



l)ne consideration is that the Government 

 is already in the business of gathering statis- 

 tics. It has experience in that line, and it 

 has the proper machinery for the work. That 

 being the case, it looks pretty clear that the 

 Government could do this addal work at less 

 expense than could another organization 

 which would gather just one line of statistics. 



The question then arises whether it is pos- 

 sible for the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion to do the work in a more satisfactory 

 manner itself, and. If so, whether that in- 

 creased eflieiency would be worth all it would 

 cost. The subject is open for consideration, 

 and these columns are open for its discussion. 



Weekly Budget. 



The Sixth Annual Report of the Gen- 

 eral Manager of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, for 1903, reads as follows: 



Forest Citt, Iowa, December, 190L'. 

 To the Members of the XatioHid Bee- Keepers' 

 As.wei„tiu)i ;— 



The past year has been a busy one for the 

 General Manager. Bee-keepers seem to have 

 more trouble with their neighbors than for- 

 merly. When the country was sparsely set- 

 tled, and life was not so strenuous as at pres- 

 ent, it was a rare case when neighbors sought 

 to restrict the acknowledged right of the bee- 

 keeper and honey-producer. But the severe 

 competition in all lines of business, and the 

 crowding of people into towns and cities, 

 have developed a selfish spirit which crops out 

 on many occasions. 



But with one exception, no xerlunx legal 

 conflicts have occurred. The past decisions of 

 courts establishing and confirming the rights 

 of bee-keepers are of great importance when- 

 ever threats are made or actions begun to 

 determine the legal rights of our members. 

 Many of these decisions have been briefed and 

 printed ip pamphlet form for use in just such 

 emergencies. Whenever a member gets into 

 trouble because of his bees, and is threatened 

 with damages, or ordered to remove them, the 

 printed matter we have is sent to him or his 

 attorney, and in a majority of cases the mat- 

 ter is dropped without further proceedings. 

 It has been my practice not to encourage 

 litigation. If I have reason to believe from 

 the statement of a case that the bee-keeper is 

 at fault, that he has so managed his bees that 

 they have annoyed his neighbors needles-sly, I 

 do not encourage resistance to reasonable 

 authority, but endeavor to have him reform 

 his methods and avoid trouble. Bee-keeping 

 is respectable, and I would have it respected 

 through a proper system of management and 

 the high character of its followers. 



The most import case, which has been re- 

 ferred to the General Manager during the 

 past year was one from Minnesota. Mr. V. 

 Shebat, of Wabasha County, wrote me in 

 July that he was likely to get into trouble 

 on account of his bees, stating the case in a 

 very clear, business-like manner. I sent him 

 such advice and help as I thought necessary. 

 In a hotly contested case which followed he 

 was tr'mmj)hanthj vimUeated. He was so grate- 

 ful for the assistance rendered that he wrote 

 the following to the American Bee Journal, 

 which I hereby copy, as it states the matter 

 fully, and is of enough importance, perhaps, 

 to warrant the use of the space it occupies. 



STATEMENT OF MR. SHEBAT. 



" I desire to say a few words through the 

 American Bee Journal to the bee-keepers of 

 America. 



" I have been a member of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association for 12 years, and for 



more than i:i yiars have kept about 00 colo- 

 nies of bees on a lot that I own here, and have 

 never had any complaint made to me about 

 my bees doing any damage or being a nui- 

 sance until this summer. 



" A large church is situated on the corner 

 opposite the lot on which my bees are 

 located, but no complaint was ever made that 

 they annoyed or injured any one. This sum- 

 mer a large church-school for girls was com- 

 menced on the lot adjacent to mine, and a 

 city ordinance was manipulated through our 

 city council declaring it a misdemeanor for 

 any one to keep bees in our city, ' within 600 

 feet of any church, school-house, or other 

 public building, or within ?00 feet of any 

 dwelling in said city.' This ordinance was 

 passed in the latter part of July, and within a 

 few days thereafter two actions weje begun 

 against me under said ordinance, and one un- 

 der our State law, which declares, ' any act or 

 commission which injures, annoys, or endan- 

 gers the comfort, repose, health or safety of 

 any considerable persons, a public nuisance.' 

 These were all criminal actions, and I was 

 arrested in each case. 



" The case under the Statelaw was virtually 

 abandoned for lack of evidence, and I was 

 declared not guilty, but the case under the 

 new city ordinance was prosecuted with bit- 

 terness and venom. The trial was in our 

 recorder's court, before a jury, and lasted the 

 whole of one day. 



" My attorney, Col. J. T. Bowditch, de- 

 fended me on the following grounds, viz. : 



"1st. That the ordinance was not author- 

 ized by our city charter. 



" 2d. That the city council had no power to 

 make a nuisance of any act by passing an 

 ordinance against it, unless the act itself was 

 in fact a nuisance. 



"3d.. That the ordinance in question re- 

 sulted in taking and damaging property tor 

 public use without just compensation to the 

 owner, contrary to the Constitution of the 

 United States and of this State; that it 

 abridged the natural rights of private citizens; 

 that it was unreasonable and unjust. 



" 4th. That if the keeping of bees contrary 

 to the terms of this ordinance was a nuisance 

 at all, it was a private nuisance, for v^hich all 

 persons injured thereby had their redress in 

 the courts, and was such a nuisance as could 

 not be regulated by any general ordinance or 

 law. 



"These were the main points of my de- 

 tense, but, of course, each was greatly elabor- 

 ated by my attorney. 



"lam happy to say the jury returned a 

 verdict 'Not guilty,' and I have since re- 

 ceived the congratulations of many bee-keep- 

 ers on the happy ending of the vicious fight 

 that was made against me. 



" My chief object in writing this communi- 

 cation is to thank the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association publicly for the valuable aid it 

 rendered me in this fight, and to impress upon 

 all bee-keepers the benefits to be derived from 

 belonging to such an organization. 



In the beginning I informed the oflicers of 

 the Association (the General Manager) of the 

 passage of the ordinance and the danger 

 threatened. Tlnij at once foneanlid Id me 

 viilniihle hriij's for the use of my ultiiriinis. ■mil 

 suijipsiiniis 'li,i,f to proceed if I should In ,ir- 

 reslid. M 11 alluniey nays the briefs inn uf tin: 

 yreiltist iissislii/ire in preparilnj m;/ il<J'rn.ii\ 

 that^ in fart, they lightened his labors fully one- 

 half. 



After the case was decided I sent to the 

 General Manager, Eugene Secor, a statement 

 of the costs against me, and also a statement 

 of the costs I had incurred in defending my- 

 self. I at once received a check for ¥40, to 

 pay a part of the expenses I had been put to. 

 Surely, this is an Association worth belonging 

 to, and it seems to me we ought to do all in 

 our power to support and aid any institution 

 that does as much for us as the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. — V. Shebat." 



Quite a numlier of other appeals for help 

 and advice have been received, but none of 

 them required any financial aid. The printed 

 matter and letters were all that they required. 



The correspondence and the routine work 

 of the ollice are considerable. Indeed, the 

 duties have been more burdensome than I felt 

 like carrying, considering the unjust criti- 

 cism of a few ambitious members. In my 



last annual rcjiort I asked to be relieved, and, 

 later, tendered my resignation, but was pre- 

 vailed upon tij serve out the present year. I 

 now repeat that I wish the voting member- 

 ship to elect my successor. 



In severing my official relationship with the 

 Association, i)erhaps the friends will allow 

 me space to call attention to some things that 

 have been undertaken or accomplished dur- 

 ing my incumbency. 



When the Association was reorganized in 

 1896, it commenced business without funds 

 and without prestige. I was its first and only 

 General Manager. Through the hearty sup- 

 port and indefatigable labors of many loyal 

 and influential friends, it has grown from 

 zero to nearly a thousand members; and, 

 although a good deal of money has been 

 spent in defense of bee-keepers, and to ad- 

 vance their interests, the financial statement 

 submitted herewith shows its healthy condi- 

 tion. It is no boast to say it is the largest and 

 must iitjtuential bee-keepers' society in the irorld, 

 and is doing work that no other Association 

 attempts since the voluntary withdrawal of 

 the old "Bee-Keepers' Union," under the 

 leadership of that successful manager, Thomas 

 G. Newman. 



Here is a statement of some of the more 

 important things accomplished or attempted 

 by this Association during the last five years: 



In 1898 a good deal of time, energy and 

 money was spent in promoting J'lire Food 

 Leglislation. and in trying to prevent the re- 

 scinding of a classification rule by railroad 

 authorities in regard to shipping bees. 



The same year an attempt was made by the 

 city authorities in an Illinois town to remove 

 all bees from the corporation. This was pre- 

 vented by help of the Association. 



In 1899 the Association attempted to stop 

 the sale of adulterated honey in Chicago, and 

 spent $300 therefor. While the suits were 

 not successful, the publicity which the suits 

 brought about educated the people to such a 

 degree that an Illinois Pure Food law was 

 passed the next year. 



A number of bee-keepers were also success- 

 fully aided by advice and help from the Asso- 

 ciation. 



In the year 1900 the celebrated Utter vs. 

 Utter case was successfully fought out, and 

 the court rulings and decision will be val- 

 uable as a precedent whenever quoted in like 

 cases. 



The same year a case testing the Pure Food 

 Law of Michigan was brought against a re- 

 tailer of adulterated honey, and the party 

 found guilty and fluid. 



During the year 1901 another important suit 

 was determined in Rochester, N. Y., fully 

 testing the right to keep bees in cities. (The 

 City of Rochester vs. Taunton.) 



These cases, in addition to the many settled 

 out of court through the efforts of the Asso- 

 ciation, and, therefore, never heard of, will 

 inform the new members what the organiza- 

 tion has been trying to accomplish. 



It has also published for reference and dis- 

 tribution wherever needed, the following 

 pamphlets and folders: 



1st. Bees and Horticultl're- — A 14-page 

 pamphlet CJd Ed. i in which is brought to- 

 gether the latest and best thoughts on the 

 value of bees to the fruit-grower, danger 

 and uselessness of spraying during bloom, 

 etc., endorsed by leading editors and agricul- 

 tural writers. 



2d. The City of Rochester vs. Taunton: 

 — A brief of the law case above referrred to. 



3d. A New Vokk Supreme Cookt Case 

 defining property in swarms. 



4th. A New York Case as to the liabilities 

 of bee-keepers for injuries done by bees. 



.5th. The Wiiiely tJuoTED Arkadelphia 

 Case successfully fought by Mr. Newman as 

 to the rights of bee-keepers. 



Newspaper articles, the tendency of which 

 was to prejudice the public against the use of 

 honey, written in ignorance or by sensational 

 reporters, have been replied to, and in many 

 cases satisfactory retractions secured. 



Members of Congress and chairmen of im- 

 portant committees have been asked to favor 

 and promote pure food legislation with a view 

 to stopping the sale of glucose syrup under 

 the guise of honey. 



In this, my final official report, I wish 

 to acknowledge my obligation to many 



