632 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



back-ground. 1 finally bought it of 

 him for a few cents, and sold him 40 

 pounds at a high price. 



I passed his store an hour after, and 

 he had the honey advertised by some 

 very fine ornamental pen-work. I find 

 our country merchants must be taught 

 to grade honey. 



THE CONDITION OF THE BEES. 



Last fall I reported 40 colonies in the 

 cellar, heavy with honey. By the first 

 of February several hives were spotted. 

 Early in March I carried out six ; after- 

 ward, eleven more, and finally about 

 April 5th all the others. I did not see 

 a load of pollen going in until April 

 17th. 



So you may judge I have had to strug- 

 gle to get my pets into any shape for 

 profit. I found tliree colonies smothered 

 by the bottom-board having warped up 

 and closed the entrance. After doub- 

 ling up the weak ones I have 30 good, 

 strong colonies left, with lots of honey. 

 So it might be worse. But the dead bees 

 on the cellar-bottom was a revelation to 

 me. We carried out 50 quarts. 



When I take the bees out of the cellar 

 I put on a blank super, and cover the 

 frames with unbleached muslin, two 

 thicknesses. Then on top of that I 

 place several thicknesses of newspapers. 

 It has done well for me for several 

 springs, and saves so much litter. One 

 spring I packed them with the clippings 

 from the rag-bag, but like leaves, it is 

 littery. 



I saw a few sections of California 

 honey for sale in Fairmont (this State). 

 It was from Acton, and selling for 20 

 cents a pound — very slow sale though. I 

 wondered how much the producer got 

 for it. 



Centre Chain, Minn., April 23. 



CouTention I^otice^. 



Wisconsin.— The next annual meeting: of 

 the Wisconsin Bee-Keepers'Association will be 

 held at Madison, on Feb. 8th and 9th. 18P5. 



Madison, Wis. J. W. Vance, Cor. Sec. 



Tennessee.— The next annual meeting of 

 the East Tennessee, Bee-Keepers' Association 

 •will be held at Whitosburg, Tenn., beginning 

 on Thursday, August 16, 1894. All members 

 and other interested in bee-culture are in- 

 vited to attend. H. F. Coleman, Sec. 



SneedviUe, Tenn. 



New Yokk.— The Cortland Union Bee- Keep- 

 ers' Association will meet with Mr. Warren 

 Hougliu, two miles south of South Cortland, 

 N. Y., on Thursday. May 24. 1894. All inter- 

 ested are cordially invited to attend. 



Homer, N. Y. C. W. Wilkins, Sec. 



EP~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Absconding Bees and the Law. 



In ''Swan's Treatise" on law, in the 

 chapter on "Animals," and under section 

 on " Wild Animals," we find this: 



"Bees are deemed wild animals; but 

 when hived and reclaimed, property is ac- 

 quired in them. If a person finds a tree 

 containing bees, on the land of another, 

 and mark the tree, he does not thereby re- 

 claim the bees, or obtain any property in 

 them or the honey, even though he obtain 

 license from the owner of the land to take 

 them. 



" Bees which leave a bee-house or domes- 

 tic hive, belong to the owner of the hive so 

 long as they remain in sight, and he may 

 identify and reclaim them; but if he do 

 not. they belong to the owner of the soil 

 where they domesticate; but do not be- 

 come private property until actually hived." 



The above is universal law, based on 

 common law. That is, in the absence of 

 special circumstances, this would be law all 

 over the Union. J. C. Yoek. 



Randolph, Ohio. 



Skunks or Polecats ? 



On page 379, Mr. C. F. Greening asks if 

 " Skunks and polecats are not one and the 

 same." In reply I would say that the dif- 

 ference is quite plainly defined. 



Polecat, J/u.steJa pritorius, allied to the 

 weasel ; slim, long-bodied, about one-fourth 

 the size of the domestic cat; color, jet 

 black, sometimes spotted (seldom striped) 

 with white; tail large, bushy, and glossy. 

 .S'rt/(/ to be very destructive in the poultry- 

 yard. This, however, is not always the 

 case, as last spring a pair of these really 

 beautiful little animals took up their resi- 

 dence in the wood-pile within a few feet of 

 the chicken coops, and remained with us 

 until fall. The young chickens, after leav- 

 ing the maternal wing, roosted on the 

 wood-pile, and I have seen the polecats in 

 the bright moonlight, darting in and out 

 among the chickens, none of which were 

 molested. 



A tivo-hij(jed "skunk" came one night, 

 however, provided with a sack, that re- 

 duced the surplus of young brahmas on 

 short notice. A charge of No. 6 shot worked 

 wonders in revealing to this benighted 



