THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



9 



Perhaps it is unnecessary to men- 

 tion that the combs in all these colo- 

 nies, except some experimental ones, 

 were left in good condition, with 

 plenty of honey, and with no signs of 

 diarrhea. Some may wonder why the 

 combs were not fouled with diarrhea, 

 but to those who know that for the 

 last seven winters I have wintered 

 my bees witliout bee-bread, the rea- 

 son may be plain. But as we have 

 been told that " the pollen theory has 

 gone," I suppose this method had 

 nothing to do with that theory, nor 

 the theory anything to do with the 

 lack of diarrhea. 



Although I am taking five bee- 

 papers, and like them all, still I find 

 that I am more anxious about the 

 arrival of the " old reliable " Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal than any of them. 

 I have taken it so long that it seems 

 like an old friend ; and it seems to me 

 to get better with age. 



Auburndale,x5 Ohio. 



For tbe Amoncan Bee Journal. 



Legislation for Bee-Keepers, 



25— J. K. ROEBUCK, (.3-5-84). 



While a number have written upon 

 this subject, there is, however, a cer- 

 tain feature of it that has not yet 

 been mentioned. AVe need a stringent 

 law protecting the bee-keepers against 

 open cider-mills and the pomace 

 therefrom. I know that thousands 

 upon thousands of bees are needlessly 

 killed ; sometimes so many are killed 

 as to deplete colonies, so that it is 

 very uncertain of successful winter- 

 ing; but even if wintered, a colony 

 will be so weak in the following 

 spring that it will take until after the 

 honey season is over to become popu- 

 lous enough to gather surplus, or to 

 commence again at the cider-mills, 

 and go through another siege, until 

 finally it becomes exhausted, and a 

 loss of the colony is the result. Again, 

 should the bees be confined for a long 

 winter season, diarrhea from the use 

 of cider as food will kill them before 

 spring. 



Now what shall be the remedy ? 

 While I am opposed to special or class 

 legislation, I cannot see any wrong in 

 asking protection against an evil that 

 needlessly exists; and when two or 

 more industries conflict, it becomes 

 the duty of our law-makers to har- 

 monize the surroundings of each so 

 as to give them equal rights and pro- 

 tection. Bees will go to open cider- 

 mills and we cannot possibly prevent 

 them (at least I cannot). Cider-mills 

 can and ought to be protected against 

 the bees by tight buildings and 

 screens, and the pomace from the 

 apples can be disposed of so as to not 

 injure the bees. 



While I ask for a remedy I will also 

 propose one. Let all bee-keepers cir- 

 culate petitions for signatures, and 

 present them to our legislatures, ask- 

 ing for a law that will compel cider- 

 mill men to screen their mills and 

 dispose of the pomace so as not to be 

 exposed to the injury of bees. To 

 efEect a thorough canvass, it would be 



a great help to have all of the bee- 

 papers print petitions and enclose one 

 in each paper, with the request that 

 subscribers procure signatures and 

 return the petitions to the editor of 

 such papers, who in turn ought to 

 arange with a member of the legisla- 

 ture to have the same enacted into a 

 law. I should like to hear from 

 others. This, to me, seems a legiti- 

 mate undertaking, and should be 

 pressed immediately, as the State 

 legislatures will soon be in session. 

 Burton City, 5 Ohio. 



[Such blank petitions cannot be en- 

 closed in the bee-papers. It is posi- 

 tively prohibited by the Postal Regu- 

 lations. It will take but a few min- 

 utes to write the heading on the sheet 

 of paper, to be used for signatures, 

 and each person circulating the peti- 

 tion should send it direct to the mem- 

 ber of the legislature for that district, 

 requesting his influence to have such 

 a law enacted.— Ed.] 



For tbe Amencim Bee Jonmai. 



Are Bees Trespassers ? 



J. E. POND. 



This question is one of some, little 

 importance at the present time, as 

 upon the answer thereto depends the 

 future of the industry of bee-keeping. 

 In answering, the only practical view 

 that can be taken, in the legal aspect 

 of the case ; as upon the law depends 

 the whole matter. 



It is a great fundamental principle 

 both of law and of equity, that a man 

 has a right to do what he chooses ; to 

 enter into and engage in any business 

 he pleases, provided, however, that in 

 so doing he does not" injure or tres- 

 pass upon any other man. So we may 

 assume that any man has the natural 

 right to keep bees ; but not the legal 

 right, if it can be shown that any 

 other person is injured by his so 

 doing. It is not to be assumed, how- 

 ever, that any fancied complaint will 

 be considered as constituting a nui- 

 sance ; the complaint must be gen- 

 eral. The law realizes that men are 

 human, subject to the sway of passion, 

 and liable to complain through spite, 

 or to satisfy a revengeful spirit ; and 

 for that reason a cause will not be 

 adjudicated a nuisance unless it is 

 general in its effects, and is an injury 

 to the many instead of one. 



A trespass to an individual may be 

 a nuisance to him, but would hardly 

 be considered a common nuisance. 

 The form of the statute in this State, 

 follows the common law form, and is 

 as follows : " To the great damage 

 and common nuisance of all persons 

 there passing, inhabiting or being." 

 Apply this to our bees, and it will be 

 seen ihat each case must be indi- 

 vidual ; that the law of trespass may 

 apply in many cases, but the law of 

 nuisance seldom if ever ; and that to 

 show a nuisance will require evidence 

 of the strongest nature and character. 

 Some things are made nuisances by 



statute ; unless so defined, it must be 

 fully and affirmatively shown, and of 

 more than ordinary nature to convict. 



I can conceive that bees may be so 

 kept in thickly settled towns as to 

 constitute a nuisance, but the cases 

 will be rare, and will not happen with 

 bee-keepers of intelligence. Each one 

 of us must take the matter home, and 

 see to it that the general good of bee- 

 keepers is not injured by individual 

 action. 



Poxboro,o+ Mass. 



Convention Notice. 



E^ The New York State, the Eastern New York 

 and the New Jersey & Eastern Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociations will hold their great united convention 

 at Albany.N. Y..on Jan. 11, 12 and 13, 1887. This 

 convention will be one of the largest, if not THE 

 largest, ever held anywhere in this country, and it 

 behooves every bee-keeper to attend. A grand 

 exhibit of apiarian fixtures is promised. Among 

 the subjects to be brought before the convention 

 are the following : Alsike Clover as a lloney-Plant, 

 by C. M. Goodspeed ; The Chapman Honey-Plant, 

 U. Chapman ; Rendering Old Comb into Wax. Ira 

 Barber ; Extracted Honey, DadiRjt & Son ; The 

 Middle-man in the Wholesale Market, C. F. Muth; 

 Cause of late Depression of the Honey Market, L. 

 C. Root : Bee- Keeping by Woman, as an Occupa- 

 tion, Mrs. L. M. Thomas ; Bee-Papers and the 

 Supply Trade, John Aspinwail ; Scientiflc Ventila- 

 tion of Bees in Winter Repositories. P. H. Elwood: 

 Overstocking the Honey Market. Capt. .1. E. Heth- 

 erineton ; Outlook of Bee-Keeping in the Future, 

 A.E.Manum ; Conventions as a Means of Promo- 

 ting the Financial Welfare of Bee-Keepers. James 

 Heddon ; Separators, N. N. Betsinger ; Bee-Keep- 

 ing as a Science, Arthur Todd ; Advantages and 

 Disadvantages of Patent Rights to Bee-Keepers, 

 O. M. Doolittle ; The Bee-Hive of the Future, R. 

 F. Holtermann ; and Foreign Honey Market for 

 North America, S. T. Pettit. The head-quarters 

 of the Convention will be at the Globe Hotel, 

 State St. cor. of Pearl : Board $2 per day. Board 

 at the Kimball House, 6;) Washington Ave., $1 per 

 day. All who desire to secure board at either of 

 these hotels, will please inform Mr. Jno.Aspinwall, 

 Barrytown, X. Y., ut once. 



Geo. H. Knickehbockeu. Sec. N. V. State. 



John Aspin'Walt., Sec. Eastern N. Y. 



F. E. Johnson, Sec. N.J. & Eastern. 



TVe Ask every subscriber to promptly 

 renew his subscription and at the same time 

 induce a neighbor to talse it, by convincing 

 him that It is for his interest to do so. By in- 

 ducing: your beekeeping neighbor to take 

 the Bee .Iournal for 1887, you will be doing 

 yourself a duty, because he may thus be 

 educated so as not to ruin your market for 

 honey by selling his at a ruinous price, for 

 lack of knowing- its real worth. This matter 

 of marketing honey will be fully discussed 

 in these columns duing the next two or 

 three months, and no one interested in 

 honey-production can afford to do without 

 its weekly visits. 



Can you Use a Few Samples to advan- 

 tage in getting up clubs— just send a postal 

 card to this office for them, saying how many 

 you desire, and we will cheerfully send 

 them. A favorable word from our readers, 

 who speak from experience, has more weight 

 with their friends than anything we might 

 say. Every one of our readers can lend us 

 a helping hand, in this way, without much 

 trouble, and at the same time help to scatter 

 correct apicultural knowledge and promote 

 the welfare of our pursuit. 



