(i(; 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fbk. 



POISOM^iO BEES. 



AN EXTRACT FROM THE LAWS OF OHIO. 



^^RIEND ROOT:— As I have seen considerable 

 Jip discussion in Gleanings of late in regard to 

 — ' the law protectingr bees, and in regard to hives, 

 poisoning, etc., I have jiist been reading a portion 

 that is found in Ohio Laws, Vol. 68, page 87, which I 

 think will fit the Klassen-Krock case pretty well. It 

 reads as follows: — 



That if any person shall steal any hive, box, bee 

 palace, or other contrivance containing honey or 

 honey-bees, the property of another, of less value 

 than thirty-five dollars; orif aas^ person shall steal 

 honey from any such hive, box, bee palace, or other 

 contrivance as aforesaid; or if any person shall will- 

 fully and maliciously disturb, injure, or destroy any 

 such hive, box, bee palace, or other contrivance 

 containing honey or honey-bees; or if any person 

 shall steal, or by any art, device, or contrivance, or 

 in any manner whate%-er. decoy from any such hive, 

 box, bee palace, or contrivance, any such honey-bees 

 with intent to convert the same to his own use, or 

 with intent to damage or defraud the owner thereof; 

 or if any person shall, by any art, contrivance, or de- 

 vice, unlawfully and maliciously injure, damage, or 

 destroy any such honey-bees by means of poison, or 

 otherwise, every person so offending shall be deemed 

 guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof 

 shall be fined in any sum not exceedingonehundred 

 dollars, and shall be confined in the jail of the coun- 

 ty not less thantcn nor more than thirty days, and 

 pay the cost of prosecution, and shall, moreover, be 

 liable to the party injured in double the value of the 

 property stolen, injured, or destroyed. 



Now, friend E., I am a littlesurprisedatthe course 

 you, and especially friend "Wilkin, takes on page 8 of 

 Jan. Gleanings, advocating the idea of poisoning 

 property. I think friend W. has not looked at the 

 laws of Ohio carefully. Of course, I do not sanction 

 the idea of carrying a revolver, but I should think 

 more of the man who would point a revolver at my 

 face than one who would go behind my back in the 

 dark and poison my property, which I think is one 

 of the most heinous and meanest of criminal offens- 

 es. A. H. DCTFF. 



Flat Bidge, O., Jan. 8, 1881. 



Tut, tut, friend D.I Did I say any thing 

 that could be construed to encourage poi- 

 soning bees or other stock? I am very glad 

 indeed to get the above law, and I am sure 

 we all owe you a vote of thanks for looking 

 it up. Now, you see, if friend Klasen had 

 not had a pistol along with him, we should 

 have had a "dead open and shut"' on friend 

 Krock, as the boys say. Neither 2)lstols nor 

 poison, are according to the spirit of tlte 

 Fourth of July in settling neighborhood dif- 

 ferences, and so I would advise both the 

 parties to shake hands and help each other 

 fix up their bee-hives and grapevines. If 

 they won't do it otherwise, I think it would 

 be a good idea to have a "donation party'' 

 for both of them, to make up what they lost 

 by being foolish. 



TJIVDER THE BOX-ELDERS. 



fjjRiEXD NOVICE :-Situated under the shelter 

 of one of the many beautiful little groves so 

 ■ common in northern Illinois, is the home ot a 

 plain gentleman, to whom I wish to introduce you 

 and your readers. He is a bee-keeper with his other 

 business, and to show you the style and tastes of the 

 gentleman I will say, his cows are Jersey; chickens, 



Plymouth Rocks; bees, Cyprian and Italian; dog, 

 black and tan, and bis cat Malte. His home is an in- 

 expensive one -neat and tasty. Around his dwell- 

 ing is quite a number of box-clJer trees of his own 

 setting; and almost any hot afternoon in July or 

 Avigust you can find him seated in a large rustic 

 chair under one of these beautiful sweet-scented 

 trees, watching his bees and chickens, both of which 

 are in plain sight. It is here we have met so often 

 and had our bee talks, of which I may give you a 

 synopsis; and it is here we will introduce— Mr. Dust- 

 er, Mr. Root; Mr. Root, Mr. Duster. His neighbors 

 say, the reason he was called by that name was be- 

 cause he could dust around occasionally £o lively; 

 but I think, upon due retiection, that the reason 

 was, "because it was his name." Having introduced 

 him, we will proceed to give some of his ideas on — 



BOXES AND separators. 



" Well," said Mr. Duster, in answer to my inquiry, 

 "1 have used almost all kinds; I now use but three; 

 viz., the 4f.i X -IJi, the Prize box, and Harbison sec- 

 tion box. They all have their good qualities. You 

 may think strange that 1 should name Harbison's in 

 connection with the others. I have used the H. sec- 

 tion box for several years. I do not make them of 

 such heavy stuff as Mr. Harbison; I make them 

 very light; bottom-piece nearly like Prize box— leav- 

 ing, however, a wider space for bees to pass into the 

 box. 



"Let me say here that I have heard a good deal 

 about section boxes. Well, I do not know of but this 

 one of Harbison's, unless j-ou call Adair's of tenor 

 twelve years ago one. This Harbison box is reoMy 

 in sections, and I know of none other that is. 



" I have for years prepared the box or sections in 

 this way: Running a wax-guide on the top of every 

 section, crescent form, and '/4 inch in depth, and 

 placing a piece of white comb in the center, and 

 having at least one piece that would reach from top 

 to bottom as a climber. I never used separators, and 

 almost invariably the combs were straight and nice. 

 There is another thing to be said for them, — you 

 need no racks. I can gather more honey in this 

 style of box than in any other I have used, and have 

 it in good shape. The Prize box is good, and I do not 

 see why, if put up in racks ivithout separators, and 

 prepared the same as Harbison's section box, they 

 would not be filled as soon as the H. box. The two 

 past seasons have been so poor for honey, I have not 

 been able to satisfy myself in this regard. When 

 honey comes in slowly, and little at a time, as in the 

 two past seasons, there will be a great many imper- 

 fectly filled sections, let them be prepared in any 

 way or manner. The sticking of little bits of comb 

 to separatoi'S comes from the same cause; viz., a 

 small and irregular flow of honey. There is no great 

 question in my mind but that bees will store more 

 honey in sections without separators, and I mean to 

 test the matter the coming season more fully. I am 

 afraid we can not get along without separators in 

 our Prize boxes, but I'll venture one prophecy: The 

 future separator is not invented yet. One item 

 more in regard to the Prize boxes: I am much in- 

 clined to think that the entrance to the Prize box 

 should be more than 14 inch, and especially so if I 

 were going to use them without separators." 



Here our talk on boxes and separators took a sud- 

 den turn, for in our conversation we had wandered 

 into his bee-yard, and as we came up to a certain 

 hive, Mr. Duster stopped, and, pointing at it, said: 



