714 



from the barn was a very large colony, and 

 it was necessary to make three trips in 

 order to get all of the bees. This one stray 

 swarm made two good-sized colonies and a 

 small one. I paid the neighbor fifty cents 

 to catch a swarm for me, making a total of 

 seven colonies. Then I became very en- 

 thusiastic and bought ten colonies, going 

 thirty-five miles in December to get them. 



In February I took two first-class beemen 

 into my apiary to look my bees over. We 

 found that one colony had been robbed out. 

 One of the men remarked that conditions 

 seemed to indicate foul brood. We opened 

 the hive, and there we found foul brood in 

 an advanced stage. We examined the rest 

 of the colonies, and discovered that four 

 others were diseased. If any beekeeper 

 knows by experience how a novice's heart 

 gets sick, then he will know how I felt. The 

 two men whom I mentioned before told me 

 that I would have to clean up the apiary, 

 and explained how to do it by the McEvoy 

 treatment. 



I had a tank built in which to do the boil- 

 ing. One of the men came over to help me. 

 We shook the bees on some old comb and 

 fed them some warm syrup. Then came 

 the process of scalding and cleaning the 

 frames, etc. After I took my assistant home, 

 the rest was left to me. On the evening of 

 the fourth day I took the clean hives and 

 removed the old hives on the stands, placing 

 the clean ones in their places. I shook the 

 bees ui>on new clean foundation, and on 

 some pieces of clean comb I tied into a 

 frame in each hive. I supplied them with 

 some more syrup, which they cleaned up 

 and i^ut in the comb. 



I fed them again on the morning of the 

 fifth day, and all seemed to be doing well 

 until about three o'clock of the same day 

 when two of the colonies left their hives 

 and settled in the grass. I was stumped at 

 first, but set my wits to work. I happened 

 to remember that some one had said that a 

 little brood would help bees in cases of this 

 kind. I drove two miles and took from two 

 clean colonies a frame each of bi'ood and 

 honey, returned home, relieved the bees, and 

 gave them the brood. As soon as I set the 

 hive before them on the ground, a few bees 

 went in and discovered the new frames of 

 brood. They rushed back and settled on the 

 alighting-board, after which they " stood on 

 their heads and waved their winps " for joy. 

 Then it seemed as if the other bees of the 

 colony could not rush in soon enough. I 

 had no more trouble with them. 



Thirteen colonies were left after the ex- 

 perience with foul bi'ood was ovei'. I bought 

 one more colony. I then leased my bees to 

 the man who had helped me clean np the 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



foul brood. I furnished the bees, half of 

 the hives and foundation, and was to receive 

 in return half of tlie increase and half of 

 the honey. He was to increase all the bees 

 would stand. In March we cleated the hives 

 and cut burlap sacks in hs^ves, putting one 

 thickness of sack over each hive for a screen. 

 We also screened the entrances. We start- 

 ed out one morning early to move them 

 twelve miles, arriving at" the out-apiary 

 about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. As the 

 sun was shining Avarmly it proved to be a 

 very hot day. As a result we lost two of 

 the strongest colonies. That left just an 

 even dozen. My friend was equal to the 

 difficulty, however; for after taking charge 

 of the bees he succeeded in increasing them 

 to thirty-four colonies. The bees, too, did 

 their part, for they made stores enough to 

 keep them through the winter. 

 Ceres, Cal. 



Horse Stung by a Swarm; Who was Responsible ? 



Will you kindly give me your opinion on the fol- 

 lowing case which happened in this neighborhood 

 some time ago, and which may cause considerable 

 litigation ? 



A and B are neighbors. A has a lane past B's 

 house 16 ft. wide. B keeps bees in a back lot which 

 is 2 V^ rods from A's lane. One day as A was coming 

 along his lane he saw a swarm of bees near the far 

 end flying around a tree which is just on the other 

 side of his lane and some distance from the beeyard. 

 A does not wait for the bees to settle, but tries to 

 drive through them. A escapes without injury, but 

 the horse is so badly stung that it dies. Knowing 

 that the swarm came from one of B's hives, can A 

 hold B responsible for the loss of the horse, and col- 

 lect damages? A. B. C. 



[In answer to your question we will say that a 

 good deal will depend on whether proof can be 

 produced to show that the bees that stung A's horse 

 were actually the property of B. For instance, if 

 Mr. B admits that the swarm came from one of his 

 hives, or if one or more persons testify that such 

 swarm issued from one of his hives, and then occu- 

 pied a position in the highway, as described, possibly 

 Mr. B would be liable for partial damages. In that 

 case we would recommend Mr. B to arrange a set- 

 tlement with A if he can do so. If, however, there 

 is no proof to show that the bees came from Mr. B's 

 yard, that it was a vagrant swarm, coming from 

 nowhere, then B is not liable. It does not follow that 

 because Mr. B owned bees that the swarm in the 

 highway was his property. As we understand the 

 matter, the burden of proof rests upon Mr. A to 

 prove that the bees were the property of Mr. B. 



In any case, we do not believe that Mr. A can 

 collect full damages ; and we do not know that he 

 could, even though it were proven that the bees in 

 question belonged to Mr. B. Mr. A had the right to 

 the use of the highway ; but if he knew the bees ■ 

 were in the highway, and delibcrateli/ drove through 

 the flying bees, and that fact can be proved, the 

 damages, if any, would be nominal. We should think 

 it would be what would be known in court as a case 

 of " contributory negligence." But assuming that 

 Mr. A and Mr. B are neighbors, it would be desir- 

 able to have them adjust this matter equitably among 

 themselves if they can. — Ed.] 



