1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



by my case not being the "real issue." I think it was just 

 the right case for the (Jnion to assist — to show its value to 

 every bee-lceeper of note and the country at large; for no 

 other case of our whole fraternity is spread as widely over the 

 land as this one is. It was publisht In the daily and weekly 

 papers almost everywhere, and would have helpt to enlarge 

 the membership of the Union materially, besides making some 

 of the bad commission-men draw in their horns. We cannot 

 always get a case where we can e.ipect a victory at the end, 

 likewise to constitute a precedent. 



It begins to sound very slirill to my ears, when I am told 

 that I must send my honey to good, reliable men, and not to 

 unreliable. Who can tell us who is bad and who is good ? 

 Some men are good to-day and bad to-morrow. Being in Chi- 

 cago a number of times, I posted myself somewhat, and think 

 I know a number of good men, but if I have any honey to ship 

 to Chicago next year, some of them may treat me just like 

 Bartling did the past season ; and to go there before I ship 

 any honey is rather expensive. The rating of the commercial 

 agencies is no longer any warrant, as can be seen in the cases 

 of Wheadon and Shea. One of them was rated at $35,000, 

 and the other at 8-1:5,000 ; and each has left his city now — 

 the one from Chicago and the other from Minneapolis. 



A good, strong Union would better matters ; but reading 

 the General Manager's Report, or pamphlet, it looks as if we 

 were going to have two Unions — one In California and one 

 further east, tho he does not say so right out In his last sen- 

 tences. I hope that matters can be arranged understandingly, 

 so as to amalgamate into one big Union. 



I do not know why it is that our California brethren 

 always claim a little more than their share, unless it is on 

 account of their imagination. W. D. French claims that 

 about one-fourth of the members of the Union live in Califor- 

 nia. I count 281 members on the present list, of which 39 

 live in California. One-fourth of 281 is TOj-f, so they claim 

 nearly double as many members as they really have on the 

 list. It is the same way with their big honey crops, and if 

 they do have a good crop, they can't find any other market 

 than the Eastern States. If they would seek a market for 

 their product outside of the United States, then their Honey 

 Exchange would have a right to brag ; but the way it is, I can 

 see no advantage to their Eastern brethren. 



Wabasha Co., Minn. 



Are Bees Domestic Animals ? 



BY F. L. THOMPSON'. 



In the course of some committee work it became desirable 

 to find out whether bees could with propriety come under the 

 provisions of certain statutes relating to domestic animals, or 

 whether the only way to sei'ure the benefit of said statutes 

 would bn to pass new ones specially relating to bees. For this 

 purpose I mailed a letter to our State Attorney, asking him 

 the question, and also presenting the following facts for con- 

 sideration : 



"A colony or bees is in every practical respect on the 

 same footing as a sheep, a steer, or a horse. It is a recognized 

 piece of property, has a definite pnarket value (from 82.00 

 upwards), is subject to contagious diseases, and is individual- 

 ized. It does not run wild any more than steers or horses do 

 when left to themselves, and even then this ' running wild ' 

 is confined to the offspring (swarms), the old colonies invariably 

 being stationary ; and to a very limited portion of the year. 

 And this ' running wild ' does not aSect the ownership of 

 swarms, as long as they remain on the premises of the owner 

 of the apiary ; which they almost invariably do for a few 

 hours or a day preparatory to leaving for good (when left 

 alone). Aggregations of colonies (apiaries) furnish a number 

 of men in this State their only means of support, and mater- 

 ially increase the income of many more. The facts that a 

 single worker-bee is not individualized and has no value, and 

 that a ' colony ' is not an animal, are amusing sophistries, but 

 have nothing to do with the practical aspects of the case. A 

 colony is virtually an organism [no reference to Gerstung's 

 theory] ; its existence is dependent upon the individualized 

 queen. Queens have a definite value (averaging one dollar), 

 and a colony long deprived of Its queen is worthless as a col- 

 ony ; it is not regarded as a commercial article, except for the 

 honey or wax that may be in the hive." 



His reply was : " The statutes must be construed with 

 reference to their evident Intention and purpose as well as 

 to their language. In my opinion, the statutes concerning 

 domestic animals do not, and are not intended to, include 

 bees. I suppose statutes of a similar nature could be past, 

 but I am satisfied that no court would construe the present 



statutes on that subject in such a maoDer as to include the 

 class of property mentioned." 



Somewliat to my surprise my letter also got into one of 

 our dally papers (how, I wonder?), and it and the request was 

 written up In a vivacious style, accompanied by a cartoon 

 representing our State veterinarian doucheing the tonsils of 

 an invalid y-banded bee (not at all what we meant to in- 

 sinuate). The last paragraph read as follows : 



" Mr. .Thompson's letter nearly stumped me when I first 

 read it," said Attorney General Carr. " I do not pretend to 

 be a naturalist, and so I did not care to say whether or not the 

 scientists class a bee among the domestic animals. On look- 

 ing up the authorities, however, I felt compelled to decide 

 against Mr. Thompson, so I wrote him, giving my opinion 

 that in law a bee is not a domestic animal." (Note, however, 

 that I did not touch on the "scientific" aspects of the case.) 



Now, far be It from us to desire that a statute should 

 mean anything else than what it was honestly intended to 

 mean, We will not break our hearts over Wwzt. But aside 

 from this particular case, does it not seem desirable that bees 

 should be sotnclhing in law? If not domestic animals In law, 

 what are they ? They are not wild animals, as I attempted 

 to prove, and as the State Attorney virtually acknowledged, 

 by his use of the word " language ;" they are not products of 

 the soil, or real estate, or inanimate objects; they are just 

 property— -but property that neither is nor represents any of 

 those things, and yet is subject to taxation, would seem to be 

 something of an abstraction. The headings of the newspaper 

 article were : " When is a Bee Not a Bee ? When it is a 

 Domestic Animal, says Attorney General Carr." Must we 

 stop at that? 



Can readers of this journal inform us of any legal decisions 

 on this point? It might be Important, some time. 



Denver, Colo. 



CONDnCTED BY 



DK. O. O. MILLER. MARENGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.1 



A Good Honey-Drink. 



Please tell how honey-wine, metheglin and mead are 

 made. J. B. 



Answer. — I have no experience in that line, but here's a 

 drink that I have found good : In half a glass of warter stir 

 a spoonful of fruit-juice and a spoouful of extracted houey ; 

 then stir in what bicarbonate of soda will lie on a dime ; then 

 stir in half as much tartaric acid, and drink at once. |As 

 there are already too many Intoxicating drinks made in the 

 world, we hope our readers will not call for any more. At 

 least ue can't consent to use the Bee Journal to help along 

 intemperance. We're "agin"' the whole infernal strong- 

 drink business. — Editor] 



Part Ij-.Fil led Sections— Cappings- 

 Fecding. 



-Dividing- 



1. I didn't know what to do with ray partly-filled sections 

 for a time, and I have them on hand yet. I see it is advised 

 to set them all out in the bee-yard at one time in the fall, and 

 let the bees clean them out. Would it be best to do It at this 

 time of the year, the first warm day when the bees fly ? If 

 not, what is best to do with them '.' 



2. When honey is extracted, what is the best thing to do 

 with the cappings ? If they are put into a solar wax-extrac- 

 tor, how are the bees kept away ? 



3. I would naturally understand, on page 756 (1896), 

 that a frame with all the adhering bees could be taken from 

 each of eight hives, and be put into an empty 8-frame hive, 

 with a queen-cell, and all would be harmonious, and as 

 " strong as any in the apiary." Am I right ? 



4. On the same page another man says be feeds bis bees 



