344 



THE AMERICAIS BEE JOURNAL. 



present white clover, wistaria-vine, 

 grape-vine, and a very prominent and 

 plentiful vine, called here the " poison 

 oak," which resembles the Indian 

 vine of the West Indies. It blooms 

 profusely, and the bees go wild over 

 it ; the bloom resembles that of tlie 

 grape. It has three large leaves on 

 each stem, and the flower growing 

 just where the stem of the leaves 

 join the branches. They are small, 

 bunchy, white flowers. I should like 

 to find out the name of it. We also 

 have mustard, white clover, some 

 hawthorne, and a few scattering 

 locusts. I am told that in the woods 

 near here can be found nearly all the 

 principal annuals, perennials, shrubs 

 and trees that are mentioned in Prof. 

 Cook's Manual as growing in the 

 several months mentioned therein, in 

 the South, with the exception of 

 palmettos, sumacs, black mangrove 

 and magnolias — these latter grow in 

 the State, but farther south. AVill 

 some one please say why the bees 

 visit constantly the kitchen refuse- 

 barrel, also the cooking water, coffee 

 groundSj and also the contents of the 

 ary-eartn closet, etc. V Can it be for 

 the salt contained in these articles '? 

 Since I noticed this, I have been 

 sprinkling salt on a board close to this 

 place, and the bees go heartily for it. 

 Kiverton, 9 Miss., May 22, 1886. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



SliootiiiE into a Swarin of Bees. 



H. P. IIACHENliERG, M. B. 



Sometime ago a fine, large swarm 

 of bees rested on the top branch of a 

 high live-oak tree in my apiary, be- 

 yond all ready means of securing it. 

 On the principle that a swarm will 

 not bear much disturbance while it is 

 forming a cluster, I took a shot-gun, 

 loaded with fine bird-shot, and de- 

 liberately fired into it. This brought 

 at once to the ground some portion of 

 the bees. As they were about fairly 

 gathered again into a cluster, a ser- 

 vant emptied the contents of his gun 

 into the swarm. The bees now took 

 wing, and went with precipitation 

 back to their hive. I then secured 

 them by artificial means. 



A few days later another swarm 

 located about the same place. I fired 

 one shot into it, and it took wing and 

 .settled in another tree close by. lodg- 

 ing again inaccessibly high. I re- 

 newed the firing into it, and the 

 swarm again took wing as before and 

 settled on another tree. The last 

 settling of this swarm occurred with- 

 in reach. I might now iiave secured 

 it , but to complete the experiment, I 

 repeated the firing. The swarm now 

 took wing again, diffusing itself con- 

 siderably over the apiary as if greatly 

 bewildered, and finally returned to 

 its hive, where I secured it. 



If the shooting is done at a long 

 range, which should always be the 

 case, there will be less bees sacrificed, 

 than may at times occur in the ordi- 

 nary method of hiving tliem. 



This heroic treatment will force the 

 swarm to change its position, which 



is sometimes necessary to secure it, 

 and tends to drive it back home. Of 

 course there is risk of killing the 

 queen by this operation ; but should 

 that occur, the loss would not be 

 serious, as the bees are forced back 

 to the hive, and there resume work as 

 a powerful colony. A few days ago, 

 a single shot into a swarm, that took 

 its position on a high tree, brought it 

 back to its hive. I left it there to 

 await results. 



This method of treating bees may 

 meet with criticism, at least where 

 shooting is not rife, as deprecatingly 

 as it is said to be in Texas. Although 

 I am not much inspired with senti- 

 ment for the bee. I would not kill one 

 unnecessarily ; indeed, I often pity- 

 ingly help them out of the toils in 

 liquid honey. But when they come 

 into the way of a rational experiment, 

 I fear I regard their lives but at their 

 commercial value. I take pleasure 

 in managing bees, as all their opera- 

 tions are exceedingly interesting, but 

 that pleasure, too, savors much of the 

 excitement of a war with an enemy 

 that is vicious, treacherous and thiev- 

 ish in an extreme degree. 



Austin,© Texas. 



VoT the Amertcan Bee Journal 



Are Bees TaxaWe Property ? 



J. E. POND, JK. 



On page 309, Mr. T. B. Blair asks 

 the above question. There is no 

 question as to whether bees are prop- 

 erty or not, and all will admit that 

 they have a marketable value. With 

 this admission is there any reason 

 why they should not be taxed at their 

 full value, the same as any other prop- 

 erty ? If the question had been asked, 

 are bees taxed as property V I should 

 say, as a rule they are not. This, 

 however, is the fault of the assessors 

 (and, as some might say, fortunately 

 so) ; but to the abstract question of 

 whether bees can be legally taxed, I 

 say most emphatically yes; unless the 

 statutes expressly provide to the con- 

 trary ! 



Custom is said to make law ; this 

 idea is only true in a measure, and 

 cannot be made to apply to the ques- 

 tion at issue. Some classes of prop- 

 erty, for reasons of public policy, are 

 exempted by statute from taxation ; 

 bees in my own State are not,although 

 I do not know of a single instance 

 where they have been made the sub- 

 ject of taxation. Probably bees will 

 not be taxed in any State unless a 

 " hue and cry " is made in regard to 

 the matter, and my advice is, if you 

 do not want to have the assessor ask 

 you the value of your bees, to keep 

 quiet and say nothing about it. 



It is true that bees are uncertain 

 property, but we pay taxes on our 

 horses, cattle and sheep ; tour-legged 

 chattels are as " unsartin " at times 

 as are our winged pets, and there is 

 no more reason in avoiding the tax on 

 bees because they are liable to die 

 out, than it would be to avoid the 

 same on our farm stock for the same 

 reason. To sum up, my opinion is 



that a tax can be legally assessed and 

 collected on bees, at a fair valuation, 

 the same as on any other class of per- 

 sonal property, unless an express 

 statute existsj exempting them spe- 

 cially from such assessment. 

 roxboro,o Mass. 



For the Amenctm Bee JoumaL 



Nortlierii OMo Convention, 



The Northern Ohio Bee-Keepers' 

 Association held its convention in the 

 Town Hall at Wellington, Ohio, on 

 April 30, 188G, President Daniel White 

 in the chair. The Secretary's report 

 was read and accepted. The Treas- 

 urer's report showed a balance of 

 $14.95. Seven dollars and seventy-five 

 cents was allowed the Secretary for 

 expenses. 



The election of otticers resulted as 

 follows : Pesident, H. E. Boardman, 

 East Townsend ; Vice-President ; C. 

 McClave, New London ; Secretary and 

 Treasurer, H. W. Minns, New Lon- 

 don. 



The Secretary read a communica- 

 tion from Mrs.C. Robbins,of Indian- 

 apolis, Corresponding Secretary of the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Society. 



The programme for the day was 

 announced by the Secretary. The first 

 was an essay by M. W. Shepherd, on 

 "Spring Management." It was an 

 able essay on this subject, advocating 

 the feeding of maple sugar early, to 

 stimulate breeding, and the use of 

 division-boards to contract the space 

 of the brood-chambers to correspond 

 to the size of the colony. These were 

 considered indispensable by all pres- 

 ent. The convention then adjourned 

 until 1 p.m. 



AFTEKNOON SESSION. 



At the appointed time the Presi- 

 dent's gavel brought Mr. S. F. New- 

 man to the front with his subject as 

 per programme, viz ; " Bee-keeping 

 as a business." He described vividly 

 the expectations and disappointments 

 of bee-keeping, saying that thousands 

 of dollars have been thrown away by 

 beginners who are lured to the busi- 

 ness by the glowing accounts of the bee 

 literature of the present age ; and 

 although he had " great expecta- 

 tions " for the future, he could not be 

 induced to engage in bee-keeping ex- 

 clusively. Mr. Boardman had made 

 it his entire business, and could say 

 that it was his only source of income, 

 and can attribute his success to un- 

 tiring industry and close attention to 

 details. Mr. Knapp had by figures 

 proven his bees to be the best paying 

 thing on his farm. But he would not 

 like to mortgage the farm for more 

 capital to invest in bees and fixtures. 



The unanimous voice of the assem- 

 blage would advise a beginning with 

 few colonies, and increase as experi- 

 ence and capital were obtained from 

 the business. Mr. Smith asked if 

 failure was a necessity, and was an- 

 swered by Mr. Newman in the nega- 

 tive. 



" Production of comb and extracted 

 honey" was assigned to H. W. Minus, 

 who has had success by placing empty 



