286 LAWS THAT CONCERN THE BEE-KEEPER 



housewife is canniiii; fruit or making jelly or aiivtliing- else 

 where sugar is used in making syrup. Where the doors of 

 grocery stores are left open the bees are also likely to find some 

 attraction. 



Such annoyances as the above described are usual only during 

 warm weather where there is no natural source of supply. After 

 the honey flow is checked the bees are very persistent in hunting 

 for everj'thing sweet. Seldom is the bee-keeper to be blamed 

 in cases like these. If the premises are properly screened against 

 flies the bees will be unable to enter. 



In Adjoining Fields. — It frequently happens that the bee- 

 keeper will have his bees near the fence and that they will annoy 

 the owner who cultivates the adjoining field. It devolves upon 

 the bee-keeper to do what he can to relieve the situation by 

 erecting a suitable fence, moving the bees, or whatever remedy 

 may be reasonable. 



While the bee-keeper has the same right to conduct his busi- 

 ness as any other man enjoys, he must recognize the right of 

 the public to be kept free from undue annoyance. With the fore- 

 going causes of trouble in mind the reader will appreciate the 

 following able discussion by J. D. Gustin, an attorney of Kansas 

 City, Missouri, whose statements may be regarded as authori- 

 tative. 



BEES AS A NUISANCE 



Increasing population, greater dissemination of knowledge, and the 

 development and specialization of industries, pursuits, and occupations 

 combine to add constantly to the complexity of the relations of individuals, 

 and to call from time to time, for the readjustment of the affairs of men 

 to meet changed and changing conditions. In no other branch of the law is 

 the ingenuity of the courts more heavily taxed in this manner than in the 

 aubject of nuisances, where, from the very nature of the subject, first 

 principles, rather than specific legislative enactment, must always exert a 

 controlling influence. The lawmaking power may, as occasion seems to 

 require, declare that particular objects, actions, omissions, etc., shall be 

 nuisances, either witli or without regard to attending conditions or circum- 

 stances, but tlie application of such statutes is necessarily so limited that 

 the general law of the subject is not affected. 



^Bees as a Nuisance, Third Annual Report of the State Inspector of 

 Bees, Iowa, 1914. 



