200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Are Bees Taxable in Michigan ? 



E. B. SOUTHWICK. 



I notice Prof. Cook's answer to Mr. 

 Cowan's question. I like to pick at 

 Prof. Cook, when I get a chance, for 

 two reasons : One is, the chances 

 are so rare that they are very valuable 

 on account of their scarcity ; the other 

 is that he is always so pleasant about 

 it. He says: "All unexempted property 

 is liable to taxation." Kight. He 

 also says : " Bees are property." Not 

 in the sight of the law. When the 

 law recognizes property, it protects 

 the man in the holding of that prop- 

 erty. Not so with bees. The only 

 claim he has is the ability to induce 

 them to make his place their home ; 

 if the bees fly away from his hive and 

 fly over to his neighbor's, and his 

 neighbor puts them in a hive, they 

 are his bees until they change agaili 

 as before, without the knowledge of 

 the owner. They may change owners. 

 The law recognizes many ways that 

 property changes hands, but in no 

 way without the order of law or the 

 owner's consent; and as the bees 

 change hands frequently in this way, 

 and the law protects the parties in it, 

 it is plain that the law does not con- 

 sider them property. 



Bees, wild turkey, deer, and all'that 

 go-where-you-please kind of animals 

 or insects, cannot be considered prop- 

 erty in law until dead. For instance, 

 a man has a tame deer; he gets out of 

 his enclosure, runs into his neighbor's 

 woods, the neighbor kills him, then 

 he becomes property in law, that is, 

 the property of the one who shot it. 

 This is the reason bees are not taxed ; 

 there are always some who under- 

 stands the old law that has ruled for 

 hundreds of years. Bees certainly 

 are not taxable ; the only way to get 

 a revenue from them, is the way they 

 do with dogs, make a law charging 

 license to keep bees. All the property 

 about the apiary is taxable, but not 

 the bees. I do not believe there is an 

 administrator in Michigan, unless 

 ignorant or officious, who will attempt 

 to assess bees. 



Mendon, Mich., March 13, 1884. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Southeastern Michigan Convention. 



The Bee -Keepers' Association of 

 Southeastern Michigan met at Adrian, 

 on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 1884. 



It being a cold and stormy day, the 

 bee-keepers were a little late. The 

 meeting was called to order by Pres 

 Cutting at 11 a. m.; the secretary not 

 being present, his report was deferred 

 till the afternoon. 



The meeting was opened by reading 

 a paper by Mr. Howes, on reversible 

 frames, with a description of a device 

 of his invention, by which the frames 

 can be suspended in the hive in a 

 hanging position, the same as an ordi- 

 nary frame ; at the same time allow- 

 ing the bee-keeper to reverse the 

 frame at will. The device serving 

 the double purpose of reversing the 

 frame'and a metal corner. 



After some discussion, the conven- 

 tion adjourned. 



In the afternoon, the meeting was 

 called to order by the President, at 

 1.30 p. m. The Secretary's report was 

 read and adopted. 



The Treasurer, Mr. G. J. Pease, of 

 Ann Arbor, not being able to attend, 

 the Secretary read his report, which 

 was also accepted. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, of Wagon Works, 

 O., then read a paper on Foul Brood, 

 which was discussed by Messrs. 

 Howes, Edmiston, Gibson, and others. 



A paper on " I3ee-keeping ; past, 

 present and prospective," was then 

 read by Mr. D. G. Edmiston. 



A committee was appointed to con- 

 fer with the executive committee of 

 the County Agricultural Society, in 

 regard to better accommodations for 

 exhibits at the fair ; also to have the 

 apiarian department of the premium 

 list revised. 



The election of officers was then 

 held with the following result : 



Presideut, Mr. Frank W, GiUiert, of Adrian. 



VICE-PRESIDENTS. 



Dr. C. F. .ishley, Yysilanti, Washtenaw Co. 

 Joseph Butler, Jackson, Jackson Co. 

 f'rank Ij. Wrij^ht, Phiinfield, Livinj^ston Co. 

 G. H. Denniiin, I'itfslord, HiUsdale Co. 

 Robert Fors\-th. Itlisstield, Lenawee Co. 

 M. H. Hnnt, Hell Branch, Wayne Co. 

 Mr. Scranton, Dundee, Monroe Co. 



A. M. Gander, of .\drian, Secretary. 

 D. G. Edmiston, of Adrian, Treasurer. 



It was voted that the next annual 

 meeting be held on the first Wednes- 

 day of December, instead of January ; 

 also that the next annual meeting be 

 held at Adrian. 



Several interesting questions were 

 then discussed ; among them were : 

 "How sliall we winter our bees?" 

 Dr. Mason prefers a good cellar, 

 some damp, but the bees should have 

 no pollen. The others were : "Shall 

 we allow swarming, or divide?" 

 "Which hive shall we use?" The 

 Langstroth frame was preferred by 

 the majority; a few preferred a deeper 

 frame. Drone foundation for sections 

 was quite generally disliked. Ad- 

 journed 



At 7 p. m., the meeting was called 

 to order by Mr. Cutting; the Presi- 

 dent, Mr. Gilbert, being obliged to 

 go home at the close of the afternoon 

 session, had requested Mr. Cutting to 

 fill his place, when we were favored 

 bv a piece of music by the College 

 Glee Club. 



In reply to the question, "What are 

 the best plants for honey." Dr. Mason 

 said he preferred sweet clover ; would 

 sow it on waste places, not by the 

 roadside, neither did he think it would 

 pay to put it on land worth $100 per 

 acre for agricultural purposes. When 

 both honey and forage were desired, 

 alsike clover was recommended. 



The committee on exhibits reported 

 on the articles on exhibition. 



After a piece of music by the Club, 

 action was taken in regard to remov- 

 ing the danger of loul brood in the 

 vicinity of Adrian, the President ap- 

 pointed Messrs. F. W. Gilbert, D. G. 

 Edmiston. C. J. F. Howes. E. 8. 

 Townsend and A. M. Gander, as a 

 committee to see the authorities in re- 

 gard to eradicating the evil. 



The following resolution was then 

 adopted : 



Resolved, By the Southeastern Mich- 

 igan Bee-Keepers' Association, in 

 Convention assembled at Adrian, Jan. 

 23, 1884,that this Association considers 

 foul brood to be a very dangerous and 

 extremely contagious disease, and that 

 we advise all to be careful in experi- 

 menting in regard to its cure. If but 

 two or three colonies are athicted in 

 any apiary, we earnestly advise total 

 destruction of hives and contents, for 

 we consider the risk of trying to cure 

 two or three, greater than their value. 



Individual reports are summarized 

 as follows : 



Colonies in the spring: of 1883 534 



fall " 6o2 



Pounds of Extracted Honey 4245 



Comb " 9847 



Average yield per colony, spring count, 



pounds 36H 



Pounds of Beeswax 228 



Queens sold 138 



A vote of thanks was extended to 

 the Glee Club for their fine music; 

 also, to the committee of arrange- 

 ments for making the meeting suc- 

 cessful and Interesting. After another 

 song by the Glee Club, the meeting 

 adjourned. 



Please excuse the delay in sending 

 this report, caused by circumstances 

 beyond my control. 



A. M. Gander, Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Diarrhoea— Its Cause. 



H. C. WHITLOW. 



As I am somewhat interested, with 

 many others, in trying to find out the 

 cause of bee diarrhoja, I will give 

 some facts. I have 28 colonies on the 

 summer stands, well packed in dry 

 sawdust, all but two, which were kept 

 without packing. Sometime ago they 

 had a flight, and the two that were 

 not protected showed signs of diar- 

 rhoea. The snow and covers of the 

 hives were spotted with brownish dis- 

 charges. A friend of mine (Dr. Miller) 

 noticing the same, concluded to help 

 me find out something in -regard to 

 the cause. 



The Doctor has w(irked with the 

 microscope for several years, and the 

 facts that I shall give were developed 

 with that instrument. In the first 

 place, bees that had been dead 24 or 

 48 hours were taken, and the yellow 

 brown matter (the same that is dis- 

 charged by the live bees before death) 

 was mixed with matter to clearlfy it, 

 and when submitted to examination 

 under the microscope, a mass of pollen 

 grains could be plainly seen. Most of 

 the pollen grains are so perfect that 

 the class of plants from which they 

 came can be identified. The contents 

 of the bodies of many dead bees were 

 examined carefully, and in every inr 

 stance this yellowish-brown mass was 

 pollen, and sometimes mingled with 

 honey. 



The fact that all the bees were full 

 of this pollen, and that being in a 

 state of partial decomposition and 

 undigested, strongly points to the 

 conclusion that pollen is the primary 

 cause of the disease. It is also very 



