AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



497 



other ways. I am a member of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Union, and can 

 furnish plenty of evidence. I consider 

 they killed more than one-third of my 

 bees. I would have had over 2,000 

 pounds of honey this Fall, and now I 

 will not have over 200 pounds, and I 

 am afraid there will not be bees enough 

 in the hives to keep them from freezing 

 this Winter ; and if that is the case, I 

 will not get much honey next year. So 

 you see the condition I am in. I wish 

 you would see what can be done in my 

 behalf.— R. H. Woodside." 



The above letter makes a powerful 

 appeal to my sympathy, as I suppose it 

 will to all bee-keepers, and yet I am 

 afraid there is no redress. The evapor- 

 ator company are in the pursuit of their 

 legitimate business, and quite possibly 

 are under the impression that they are 

 the aggrieved parties, in suffering the 

 annoyance of the bees. Is there any 

 possibility of the bee-keeper securing 

 anything for damages ? If not, I sup- 

 pose it is because there is no law touch- 

 ing the case, and the question arises 

 whether there would not be justice in 

 having such a law enacted. 



Many dollars' worth of bees are killed 

 every year by cider mills, sorghum mills, 

 and other things of that kind. If the 

 value of the bees thus killed is greater 

 than the expense of enclosing such places 

 against the bees, then it would b^ econ- 

 omy for the commonwealth to enact a 

 law compelling the enclosure of all such 

 places. Whether the expense of such 

 enclosure should be borne entirely by 

 the owners of such establishments, I am 

 not prepared to say. Without any re- 

 striction, I can easily see how those 

 persons who are active in driving out 

 bee-keepers might have a ready means 

 of destroying a whole apiary without 

 the least fear of punishment. Is there 

 any redress for our friend ? If not, is it 

 not desirable to secure a law that would 

 make redress possible in such cases, 

 arising in future ? 



Marengo, Ills. 



[The evaporator people are no doubt 

 the aggressors — they came in the neigh- 

 borhood last, when the apiary was 

 already established, and in running 

 order — they began a legitimate business, 

 but conducted it in a careless way, leav- 

 ing attractions for the bees, alluring 

 them to death. They have no cause for 

 thinking themselves the aggrieved 

 parties — they cannot complain ! They 



ought, in justice and equity, to screen 

 out the bees. 



The apiarist has good cause for com- 

 plaint. His bees are enticed to their 

 death ! His rights to pursue a legiti- 

 mate business are invaded ! His property 

 is destroyed, and his business is ruined ! 



But what is the remedy? In Mans- 

 field's Digest, Sec. 751, we find full 

 details of the power to abate a public 

 nuisance ; but this evaporator, probably, 

 is not a public nuisance, only an inter- 

 ference with the business of a private 

 individual, and as such would be a more 

 difficult matter to prosecute than if it 

 was detrimental to the public at large. 



Our advice would be to arrange a con- 

 ference between the apiarist and the 

 managers of the evaporator, and then 

 settle matters amicably, if possible. Let 

 the doors and windows of the establish- 

 ment by protected by screens or mos- 

 quito-bar (it costs but a trifle), and thus 

 prevent the wholesale destruction of the 

 bees. 



If the company object to the expense, 

 it would be advisable for the apiarist to 

 contribute toward that purpose, even if 

 it became necessary for. him to pay 99 

 per cent, of the cost, to accomplish the 

 screening. 



If negotiations all fail, then some 

 other way may present itself for the 

 solution of the difficulty. — Ed.] 



Crowtlini tlie Brood-Nest, 



C. W. DAYTON. 



For several years past we have had 

 very cold Springs, and it has been my 

 custom to contract the brood-chambers 

 down to five or six combs, with division- 

 boards, and remove the extra combs to 

 the honey-house. Then when the season 

 advanced — grew warmer — and the colo- 

 nies became strong enough to cover and 

 rear brood in more than the five or six 

 combs, the combs which had been re- 

 moved were brought out, and, one or 

 two at a time, inserted in the hives 

 again. 



In giving a colony another comb at 

 this season, I put it at the side of the 

 brood, not in the center. If it is put in 



