346 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



from the honey comb around to the 

 limb again. The honey comb is 3 

 inches thick in its thickest part, but 

 built in a cylindrical form. The 

 natives say they have seen this 

 honey-chattei 6 inches in diameter. 

 The cells are 13a inches deep, and less 

 as the slope changes. There are three 

 honey cells to the inch. This comb 

 is beautifully white, and the walls of 

 the cells are almost transparent. 

 Honey is also deposited among the 

 brood, but it seems to be of a differ- 

 ent kind from that in the honey- 

 chattei. 



The brood-cells are from \4. to % of 

 an inch deep. The number to the 

 inch varies from 4 to 43^, or 23 cells to 

 .5 square inches. The brood comb 

 varies a little in thickness, and is 

 about 1% inches, and is a light brown 

 in color. These bees on the comb 

 form one of the most beautiful sights 

 in nature I ever saw. During their 

 stay they built comb and brought 

 honey and water, but they did not at 

 any time work as if they were happy. 

 Just before leaving, there was great 

 running to and fro, and preening of 

 wings and legs, preparatory to flight. 

 Not more than half a dozen bees were 

 left. I put one, just hatched out, on 

 the alighting-board of an Ajiis Indica 

 colony, and it immediately marched 

 in like a queen, and the bees all made 

 way for it. I suspect they got over 

 their surprise and slew it, but I have 

 not seen any results of such punish- 

 ment. So much for experiment No. 1 

 with Apis dorsata. 



Wife says I have no eye for color ; 

 that, when first hatched, the Ajjis 

 dorsata are light orange, which 

 changes to darker orange, and then 

 the black stripes appear. She says 

 that Americans do not know what a 

 chattel is, and perhaps she is right. It 

 is a cylindrical vessel shaped like a 

 rather flat onion, only it is open on 

 top, and the edge of the hole comes a 

 little above the vessel, and then flares 

 back somewhat. It is, in fact, a jar. 

 This shape proves a very curious fea- 

 ture in the Apis dorsata comb, and, 

 when filled with pure white honey, 

 is a sight worth seeing. 



Toimgoo, Burmah, March 18, 1885. 



For tbe AmeiTcan Bee Joiirn*iL 



Soathern Ohio Convention. 



J. W. West, a man living near 

 Martinsville, Ohio, got the idea that 

 if we would form a bee association, 

 we would learn much in regard to 

 bees ; accordingly a meeting was held 

 at Martinsville on April 11. A con- 

 stitution was formed, naming the 

 society " The Southern Ohio Bee- 

 Keepers' Association," and oflicers 

 were elected for a year. The report 

 of 18 members was, that they all 

 started into winter quarters with 269 

 colonies, and came through with 236. 

 Loss, 33 colonies. Not a very big loss 

 considering the winter in this locality. 

 The meetings are to be held monthly 

 at such a place as the association shall 

 from month to month determine. 



The second meeting was held in 

 the afternoon at Martinsville, May 16. 

 The following points were discussed : 



" Disposal of the honey product," or 

 which is best, comb or extracted 

 honey ? Also some plans were given 

 on how best to produce good honey 

 for market. After that the following 

 motions were seconded and carried : 

 1. That the Association meet at New 

 Vienna, Ohio, June 20. 2. That eacii 

 member be requested to take his lady 

 and basket of food to the next meet- 

 ing. 3. That ladies be admitted to 

 full membership of the Society, free 

 of charge. 



The following subjects were selected 

 for discussion at the next meeting : 

 " Which is best, artificial or natural 

 swarming, and why ?" " What kind 

 of a house, if any, to winter bees 

 in ?" " What are the best methods 

 of producing marketable honey ?" 

 " What is the best system of summer 

 management ?" 



Wji. M. Nordyke, Sec, New Vien- 

 na, O. C. B. Davis, Pres., Farmers' 

 Station, O. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Is the Law Against Bee-Eeeping? 



S. I. FKEEBORN. 



I am defendant in a case which is 

 causing me some trouble and annoy- 

 ance. For the last four years I have 

 kept a lot of bees some two miles or 

 more from my home lot. They are 

 one-half mile back from the main 

 road, where lives a man who has kept 

 100 or more of blooded sheep. lie has 

 sued me in the Circuit Court, laying 

 his damages at $500 ; alleging, in 

 his complaint, that his pasture is 

 mostly white clover, and that the bees 

 came, in countless hordes, and drove 

 his sheep from the pasture, and that 

 they grew thin, and, in consequence, 

 he has lost many during the winter. 

 He asks that he be given $-500 and I 

 pay the costs of the suit. He has en- 

 gaged two smart lawyers to prosecute 

 the case. 



This, no doubt, will appear to many 

 of the readers of the Bee Journal 

 childish and absurd, but to one that 

 has a costly suit to defend, coupled 

 with poor health and plenty of cares 

 without it, it is no laughing matter. 

 My excuse for stating the 'matter is, 

 that it is of general interest. Our 

 county papers have made mention of 

 it, and it is already widely copied in 

 other papers as a novel case, and it 

 will be a "test case" also. Should 

 the case go adversely, through ignor- 

 ance or prejudice, it will open the 

 door for more suits of the kind, and 

 soon every bee-keeper would be at 

 the mercy of any one owning a J^-acre 

 of clover, though he might ovn acres 

 of his own. 



My oponents claim that they have 

 a precedent in a sheep and bee suit 

 somewhere in the State. Of course 

 we do not acknowledge that our bees 

 have ever injured the sheep in the 

 least, and we feel that experiment, 

 science, and common-sense will bear 

 us out in this assertion, yet this case, 

 like every other one, has its adherents 

 pro and con. 



The simple fact that there is a case 

 on trial makes some believe there is 

 something in it. 



I would also mention that for years 

 some have asserted that bees injure 

 fruit bloom, buckwheat, and other 

 crops. The fact that the bees might 

 take something from their land (be it 

 ever so little), does not suit them — 

 though they may not have the bees'or 

 skill to get it themselves, they would 

 rather that the tons of honey that the 

 basswood yields would be lost, than 

 that bees should work sometimes on 

 their clover or buckwheat fields. 

 Messrs. Demaree, Ileddon, Miller, 

 Pond, and others, have expressed 

 themselves in sympathy with us in 

 this suit, and I hope, Mr. Editor, that 

 you will lay the same before the 

 readers of the Bee Journal, and ask 

 their co-operation in the matter. 



Ithaca, p Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Is Bee-Keeping Respectable? 



JAJIES HEDDON. 



What makes a business respected V 

 Leaving out the question of morals, 

 and dealing only with such branches 

 of business as are honorable, I will 

 answer by saying, its usefulness to 

 humanity. What makes a noisy, 

 dirty rolling-mill respected Y Its use- 

 fulness. What makes horses and 

 horse-stables respected in large cities? 

 Their usefulness. Why do we re- 

 spect the constant blowing of steam 

 whistles in large cities V Their use- 

 fulness. How many branches of 

 business are there that do not carry 

 with them disagreeablenesses, many of 

 wliich amount to almost a nuisance, 

 but which are never questioned be- 

 cause of their usefulness ? 



Who is a more useful member of 

 our great pulsating humanity than he 

 who gathers together a wealth that 

 would otherwise be lost Y Who ac- 

 complishes this in its entirety more 

 than the honey-producer ? Why is 

 not our business respected ? Why 

 does every one who happens to bring 

 his 1.5-cent business in contact with 

 ours of a hundred-fold its volume, 

 cry, " Get out of the way with your 

 bother ?" I tliink it is because the 

 general public are not informed of 

 the fact that honey-producing, with 

 modern fixtures and methods, is a 

 business, and of value to the bee- 

 keeper and to his country. 



A fellow-bee-keeper in Wisconsin — 

 a man who has assisted eyery one of 

 us by his works and writings, is sued 

 by a jealous farming neighbor for 

 damages done to his sheep by way of 

 the bees— bees working on the white 

 clover blossoms in his pasture. You 

 laugh. Well, in principle, I laugh 

 with you ; but in reality this case is 

 no laughing-matter, but a very serious 

 one, not only to our fellow-beekeeper, 

 but to each and every one of us. 

 There is not one of us who expects to 

 keep a colony of bees that can afford 

 to let this bee-keeper be beaten in 

 this case, for the want of our assist- 

 ance. How miserable we would feel' 

 to have standing on record as a prece- 

 dent, a case of damages collected for 

 bees gathering honey from white 

 clover, or keeping sheep from grazing! 



