234 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tion to Mr. Eugene Secor, for reply in 

 the American Bee Journal, ? 



If bees are assessable, how are they 

 classed ? There Is nothing assessed in 

 the State over six months old, and there 

 is no certainty that we have even one 

 bee in the hive over that age. 



O. L. Packard. 



As requested, Hon. Eugene Secor, of 

 Forest City, Iowa, replies thus : 



I answered quite fully on page 666 of 

 the Bee Journal, for 1889, a question 

 very similar to the one propounded by 

 Mr. Packard. I think it would fully 

 satisfy him that bees are not taxable in 

 Iowa. It seems strange to me that as- 

 sessors and other officers having in charge 

 the listing of property for taxation and 

 collection of the county revenues, should 

 fail to understand the meaning of a stat- 

 ute so plain in its provisions. 



Section 797 of chapter one, Title VI, 

 of the Code gives a list of exemptions for 

 the guidance of assessors. After enum- 

 erating various classes of property to be 

 omitted from the assessment rolls, it 

 says in paragraph 4 of said section, 

 ' ' Animals not hereafter specified. " 



Section 801 specifies the animals to 

 be listed — "horses, cattle, mules, asses, 

 sheep, swine." 



Perhaps it is the words "all other 

 property" in the same section which 

 puzzles them. But they should not, be- 

 cause bees are "animals." See defini- 

 tion in Webster's latest unabridged dic- 

 tionary. Geese, turkeys, ducks, chickens 

 and pigeons are not taxed. Why ? Be- 

 cause they are exempt by the s|me 

 statute quoted first above — "Animals 

 not hereafter specified." 



Under that statute, a man may invest 

 $1,000 in poultry, and it would not be 

 taxable. A good many people are doing 

 it, too. 



I am not saying that such exemptions 

 are wise, but there can be no question, 

 it seems to me, that the letter of the law 

 is, and the intention of its framers was, 

 to exempt all these smaller animals. 



The merchantable products of the 

 poultry yards of this State are a thou- 

 sand-fold more than the apicultural, but 

 I have never known an assessor who 

 insisted on listing my chickens, either 

 as " animals" or "other taxable prop- 

 erty." 



If the assessor insists on listing bees, 

 you can safely say to him that you have 

 only one bee in each hive "over six 

 months old" on the first of January. 

 I do not pay taxes on my bees, and do 



not purpose to, until the law compels 

 me. 



I would not object to such a law, but 

 when bees are taxed, poultry should be. 



Eugene Secor. 



L,ocal Checks.— Please do not 

 send us checks on local banks. We have 

 to pay from 15 to 25 cents each to get 

 them cashed here, which is quite a use- 

 less expense, when you can either send 

 money by registered letter, or get an ex- 

 press or post-office Money Order. We 

 prefer the express Money Order, if you 

 can get that ; otherwise the post-office 

 Money Order or registered letter. 



CHAS. F. mUTH. 



Bro. Root, in Oleanings for June, 

 1883, wrote as follows concerning our 

 friend Muth: 



Charles F. Muth is one of "our veter- 

 ans in bee-culture. Years ago, when 

 we first began to talk about movable- 

 frame hives and Italian bees, he was one 

 among us, and a man always posted. Of 

 late years he has been pretty well 

 known by his articles on the treatment 

 of foul brood ; and as he succeeds in 

 curing it in his own apiary, we think 

 it fair to presume he would in any api- 

 ary, if he had proper facilities. Although 

 for many years friend Muth's apiary 

 was on the roof of his store, or, rather 

 store and dwelling, it is now situated in 

 a sort of open veranda, the open side 

 being next to the river. Through this 

 open side the bees go out and in. The 

 hives are placed a convenient distance 

 from the floor, and arranged with alleys 

 between them. 



Although he has some 30 or 40 colo- 

 nies grouped together quite closely, 

 they seem to go out and in, and find 

 their respective hives just as well, for 

 aught we could see, as those located in 



