632 



Tmm MM®MicMf« mmm jQ^'ummmi^. 



strong, it can be seen readily ; and if 

 they are killing drones, he knows that 

 honey is failing in the fields. Where 

 drones are seen in hives after most of 

 the colonies have destroyed them, it 

 will generally be found that they are 

 queenless. It is much pleasanter work- 

 ing with bees before the honey season 

 closes, therefoi'e all colonies that are 

 not storing surplus should be examined 

 and their contents noted. 



Where a small colony is found con- 

 taining a young queen, but few bees 

 and littie honey, and another with 

 more bees and honey, but queenless, 

 they should be moved together, and 

 when their locality is established, they 

 can be united. These small colonies 

 are often the best the following season. 



If uniting is done sometime before 

 frost, the bees will have time to ai"- 

 range matters to suit themselves. If 

 the brood is taken from several small 

 colonies, put into a new hive, with the 

 best filled combs, and all queens re- 

 moved but one, the bees can all be 

 brushed off together, in front of it, 

 when they will enter peaceably, as it 

 belongs to none of them. 



Combs containing but little honey 

 can be uncapped and placed in the 

 upper story of the hive, and a little 

 place opened for the bees to come up, 

 when the bees will carry the honey be- 

 low, and the dry empty combs can be 

 packed away until another season. 



Many valuable young queens perish 

 in small after-swarms, and it is the 

 height of folly to suppose that a hand- 

 ful of bees can maintain warmth 

 enough to support life during our win- 

 ters in this latitude. Better remove an 

 old queen, introduce the young one in 

 her place, and unite enough small col- 

 onies to form a good one. The sooner 

 this uniting is done, the better. 



Peoria, Ills. 



"RICH" LAWSUIT. 



According: to llic L.aw, Bees 

 Cannot Commit Trespass. 



Written for theAraerlcan Bee Journal 



BY C. J. ROBINSON. 



It appears that one of the high tribu- 

 nals of our State (New York) holds 

 that honey-bees do violate the law, and 

 commit trespass at common law, if it 

 be proven that such bees go upon lands 

 occupied by any party other than the 

 party who owns or has charge of the 

 bees. 



"Trespass," as defined by Black- 

 stone, is an unlawful act, committed 

 with force and violence (vi el arniis) 

 on the person, property, or relative 

 rights of another. So it is trespass, 

 providing my neighbor proves to the 



satisfaction of a Court, that my bees 

 stung him viohntly, but I could not be 

 made a party to such trespass — the ac- 

 tion could only be maintained against 

 the party who takes part in the wrong- 

 ful "act." 



Such being the facts, there can be 

 no such thing as trespass, in lavv, com- 

 mitted by bees ; that is, no act can be 

 committed bj- bees that Courts can 

 take cognizance of judicially. It is a 

 fact that Courts do adjudicate every- 

 thing, including dreams, but if not 

 overturned, their judicial opinions can- 

 not be practically enforced. 



Ex-Justice Douglass Boardman, of 

 Ithaca, who wrote the opinion in the 

 S. W. Rich case, is not well enough 

 versed in matters outside of a city law- 

 office to describe an apiary as " a pig- 

 sty, or a slaughter-house," nor could 

 he identify either one from the other. 

 Here, in the Sixth Judicial District, in 

 which Mr. Boardman was elected Jus- 

 tice of the Supreme Court, the question 

 of competency is ignored, and the best 

 politician, instead of the best lawyer, 

 " gets there." 



The venerable ex-Justice, like other 

 men of confined views, fancied that 

 " an apiary " is a pest in a community, 

 else he was swayed by the influence of 

 some •' pig-sty " of some sort. For one, 

 I would let the "old gent" down com- 

 passionately kind, though he sinned 

 above all others ; for while the world's 

 greatest men unanimously have, from 

 time immemorial, lauded AjnsmeUifica, 

 and their life and labors have been a 

 loved theme for great poets and philos- 

 ophers during all time ; and honey- 

 bees are alluded to in the Bible as one 

 of God's gifts to man, especially need- 

 ful to His elect. Justice Boardman, 

 be it known, in his written judicial 

 opinion, overrules God's written word, 

 and likens bees to pests. 



There are narrow-minded people, 

 who fancy that honey-bees are a nui- 

 sance, and such minds are too shallow 

 to take in the fact that bees are a real 

 blessing, though to them the blessing 

 is in disguise, by reason of their short- 

 sightedness. 



Kriiit-Farnis IVeed tbe Bees. 



Some years ago, I read in one of the 

 annual reports emanating from the 

 National Agricultural Bureau, of a 

 ease of a lady who expended a large 

 sum in fitting up an extensive fruit- 

 farm. After tlie trees grew to bearing 

 age, they failed to produce, though 

 they were fruitful of bloom each year. 

 Finally, she consulted a scientific 

 botanist, to learn the cause of her trees' 

 failing to grow fair crops of fruit when 

 they bloomed profusely. The Profes- 

 sor advised lier to put an apiary 

 among her fruit-trees, and by acting 

 upon this suggestion, she was made 



happy in witnessing her trees loaded 

 in due time with fruit. Others might 

 be benefited by the suggestion, for it 

 was so ordained. 

 Richford, N. Y. 



TOBACCO. 



The Use of Tobacco Smoke on 

 Bees, etc. 



Wrilten for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. JI. WOODWARD. 



I use tobacco smoke with bees very 

 frequently, and see no harm from it, 

 while it serves very important pur- 

 poses. I use it to double up colonies 

 (in the evening), smoking lightlj' at 

 first, and then take one hive and place 

 the queen and all, right upon the 

 other, and then smoke pretty heavily, 

 and the job is done. 



About one in ten will fight some the 

 next morning, but the tobacco will 

 stop it. When fighting from this 

 cause, I have had to smoke thoroughly 

 as often as three times, before thej' 

 would give it up entirelj'. This proves 

 to me that the smoke is notvei^y harm- 

 ful, at least. 



As to Mr. Hill's bees (page 540), the 

 fact that the tobacco did not kill the 

 first swarm when in full strength, is 

 sufficient proof that it did not kill the 

 second, after the hive had been washed 

 again with clean water. But I want 

 to ask, whj' wash "new" or clean 

 hives at all ? It is all nonsense, as I 

 have proved for the last five years. 



Bee-hives should be clean and cool, 

 and salt and water or anything else is 

 all useless. Give plenty of fresh air 

 and shade, and let the salt water 

 alone, and the bees will be just as well 

 oft', and just as well satisfied. I am 

 confident that the tobacco did not kill 

 the bees, but I cannot tell what did 

 do it. 



Xlie Season of 1S89. 



The honey season is past, with very 

 indifterent results for this locality — in- 

 deed I cannot report yet what it will 

 be. There was no clover hone}-, on 

 account of rain in June, which soaked 

 the low land where only the clover was 

 alive. Fall hone}* has come very 

 slowlj', and some colonies have stored 

 no surplus. 



Increase has been large — 48 colonies 

 have increased to about 120, but some 

 have been doubled up to keep all 

 strong. I have about 100 colonies 

 now, and may get 1,200 pounds of 

 comb honey, about half nice for the 

 kind, and the rest inferior. It is not 

 all off" jet, though I am taking it off as 

 fast as I can. 



Bonfield, Ills., Sept. 21, 1889. 



