I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



341 



Explanatory.— The figures before the 

 names indicate the nuaihor of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies tlie writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the center of the State named; 

 5 north of the center; 9 south; O east; 

 *0 west; and thisd northeast; *o northwest: 

 c^ southeast; and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Rotitier Bees— Pollen in Sections, 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Robbing in early spring is one of 

 the most vexatious things that a bee- 

 keeper has to contend with. There is 

 no other season of the year that the 

 bees are so persistent in stealing as at 

 this time, and for this reason the 

 plans that work well in stopping rob- 

 bing at other times, are of little value 

 now, especially as the colonies usually 

 attacked are those weak in bees, so 

 that as strong resistance cannot be 

 made as at other times. Having had 

 quite a trial with robber bees this 

 spring, and coming off victorious, I 

 thought perhaps the readers of the 

 Bee Journal would like to know 

 how I conquered. 



At first, as soon as I found a colony 

 being robbed, I used the old plan that 

 I had always used, which was, carry- 

 ing the robbed colony into the bee- 

 cellar in the evening and leaving it in 

 there for a few days until the robbers 

 had forgotten the place of attack, 

 when they were put out again. Of 

 course, before putting them in I put 

 in food for them if I had reason to 

 believe that they were robbed short 

 of stores. 



This plan usually works well if the 

 colony is not too weak, and I much 

 prefer it to most of the plans given 

 for stopping robbing. But I happened 

 to have 2 colonies which were quite 

 weak, and every time I put them on 

 their old stand again, they would 

 allow the robbers to enter their hive 

 unchallenged. Presently a thought 

 struck me, and near sunset I threw 

 the entrances of these two hives wide 

 open and watched till I found that 

 there were only four colonies in the 

 yard which were doing the robbing, 

 as all the rest of the bees had stopped 

 flying by this time, while these 4 kept 

 busy at work carrying honey from 

 these two hives until nearly dark. 

 When night stopped operations I fed 

 these two weak colonies and carried 

 them to the cellar. 



The next day, at about 11 a.m., I 

 took a wire-cloth cage and a large 

 funnel used in forming nuclei, which 

 I have before described in the Bee 

 Journal ; I then went to one of the 

 colonies which was doing the robbing 



the night before, and taking out a 

 frame well cove«-ed with bees, I lightly 

 tapped it so as to cause the bees on it 

 to till themselves with honey, when it 

 was hung in a covered box. I then 

 went to the second hive marked the 

 night before, and took a frame of 

 bees from that in the same way, being 

 sure in each case that I did not get 

 the queen. The bees on the first 

 frame were by this time well filled 

 with honey, and were shaken down 

 through the funnel into the box, 

 while those from the second hive 

 were put in with them as soon as full 

 of honey. 



The box of bees were now put in 

 a warm room, and an empty hive 

 placed over them to keep all dark. 

 Bees from the two other hives marked 

 were put in another box and treated 

 in the same way. In about an hour 

 a loud roaring was heard in these two 

 boxes, showing that the bees had by 

 this time realized their queenless and 

 lost condition, but they were left un- 

 disturbed for three hours more, or 

 until 3 o'clock. At this time I went 

 to the cellar and got the queen from 

 each of the weak colonies, marking 

 which came from each hive, when 

 one was put into each box of bees. 

 They were now left until nearly sun- 

 set, when they were found all clus- 

 tered and quiet like a swarm. In less 

 than one-half hour after the queen 

 was given them, all was quiet, thus 

 showing how glad they were to have 

 the queen. 



At sundown the two hives were 

 brought from the cellar and put on 

 their stands, when the frames were 

 spread apart in the center of the 

 little cluster of bees, and the bees 

 from one of the boxes shaken down 

 between the combs to the bottom- 

 board of the hive. In going down 

 they took with them most of the bees 

 on either side of the opening between 

 the frames, so that a general mixing 

 was the result. The combs were now 

 put back in their places again, and 

 the hives closed. 



In the morning I took solid com- 

 fort in seeing these bees seize their 

 own comrades of less than 24 hours 

 ago, when they came to the usual 

 stealing-place for honey. These rob- 

 bers would no sooner touch the 

 alighting-board than their owq sisters 

 of yesterday would catch them and 

 treat them as all robber bees are 

 treated. The result proved that all 

 robbing was at once effectually 

 stopped ; the two weak colonies are 

 now fairly strong, while the robbing 

 colonies were not materially injured. 



is only left behind the sections rfntil 

 a good start is made therein, when it 

 is taken out, the partly full sections 

 moved back where the brood was, 

 and a wide frame of empty sections 

 put between it and the hive. If the 

 frame of brood were left longer there 

 might be pollen stored in the sections; 

 yet I think there would not be much 

 where both separators and division- 

 boards are used. 

 Borodino,© N. Y. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



Taxation of Colonies of Bees, 



W. J. ROBERTS. 



rOLLEN IN SIDE-SECTIONS. 



A correspondent wishes to know 

 how I keep the beas from storing 

 pollen in the side sections, where I 

 place brood behind, so as to coax the 

 bees to work in them at once, as I 

 have given in the Bee Journal. 



In reply I would say that I do not 

 think that I have had 50 sections in 

 all my experience with poUea in 

 them. As I use separators, the sec- 

 tions coming between the separators 

 and the thin divlsion-boirds U3ed in 

 my hive, has a tendency to keep the 

 pollen out. Again, the frame of brood 



On page 809, Mr. T. B. Blair asks 

 whether bees are subject to taxation. 

 He pretends to offer no reasons why a 

 man should not be taxed for his bees, 

 except the one that when his tax is 

 due he may not have (because of the 

 rigor of winter, or some other cause), 

 the bees which have previously been 

 assessed. The same lineof argument 

 might, with some force, be urged 

 against taxing a man for anything 

 in the nature of property personal. 

 All that lives is liable to perish, and 

 all inanimate things are liable to be 

 destroyed or carried away. 



As to what is subject to taxation. 

 Desty, in his work on that subject, on 

 page ol, says: "When there has 

 been no compact with the Federal 

 Government, or cession of jurisdiction 

 for purposes specified in the consti- 

 tution, the right of taxation by the 

 State reaches all the property and 

 business within the State," citing 

 among other cases the following by 

 the Supreme Court of the United 

 States: Nathan cs. Louisana, 8 How., 

 82 ; Prudence Bank vs. Billings, 4 

 Pet., 514; INIcCullouch vs. Maryland, 

 4 Whart, 31G. 



If bees can be considered property, 

 there can be no question as to their 

 being liable to taxation. Whether or 

 not they are property in the eyes of 

 the law, depends upon the condition 

 in which they may be found. Animals 

 are divided into two principal classes, 

 one of which is wild, and the other 

 tame. The latter class are subjects 

 of absolute property; the former are 

 not, while at liberty and unreclaimed. 

 Bees belong to the wild class. If they 

 exist in a hollow tree on a man's 

 land, they cannot be claimed as his 

 property. To be sure, if a stranger 

 should go on the land and disturb the 

 bees, he would be guilty of a trespass ; 

 but interference with the bees would 

 constitute no element of damage. 

 But should the owner of the land 

 take the bees from the tree and hive 

 them, they would then become his 

 property. — Gillet vs. Mason, 7 Johns., 

 16 ; and they would continue to be, so 

 long as they should remain in his 

 possession and under his control ; and 

 they are considered under his control 

 so long as he can identify them, and 

 is able to regain his possession of 

 them.— GofEf.s-. Hills, 15 Wend., 550. ^ 



As there is no constitutional pro- 

 vision either Federal or Stite, pro- 

 hibiting the taxation of bee?, they 



