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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



Bee I^a^wsuit in Bngfland.— 



Another disagreeable neighbor has 

 caused a lawsuit. This time it is located 

 in England, and the bee-keeper was at 

 fault for not keeping the swarm of bees 

 in sight, so as to be able to identify 

 them. The swarm settled in a neigh- 

 bor's garden, and he forbade the owner 

 of the bees to secure and hive them. He 

 also amused himself by throwing stones 

 at the swarm, as it hung on the goose- 

 berry bush, and finally drove it away. 



The case was Charles Brooks i). 

 Thomas McArthur, and was tried at the 

 Marlborough County Court, on Oct. 13, 

 1891, before Judge Caillard and Regis- 

 trar Merriman. Here is what the 

 British Bee Journal reports concerning 

 the matter : 



In this case the plaintiff, who lives at 

 Cadley, sought to recover 10s. from the 

 defendant, a neighbor, for the loss of a 

 swarm of bees which flew into his 

 garden. 



According to the evidence given at the 

 last court by the plaintiff's wife, an 

 immense swarm of bees came out of her 

 husband's hive, in their garden, and 

 flew over some buildings into the de- 

 fendant's garden. She followed the 

 bees, and did not cease ringing to them. 



As soon as they began to pitch on a 

 gooseberry bush, the defendant threw 

 stones and a bucket at them. She was 

 standing just outside the defendant's 

 gate at the time. The defendant fast- 

 ened up his gate and forbade her coming 

 on to his ground. He began throwing 

 at the bees again. 



Then — and this was important, his 

 Honor said — they settled again on the 

 same gooseberry bush, after wh-ich Mrs. 

 Brooks went in-doors for some time, 

 thereby losing sight of them for a con- 

 siderable time. When she came out 

 again, they were gone. From the evi- 

 dence it appeared she lost sight of them 

 for two hours before she came out. 



To show the law on the matter, his 

 Honor read the following extract from 

 BlacT<st>one''s Commentaries : 



"Bees are ferw naturcc ; but, when 

 hived and reclaimed, a man may have a 

 qualified property in them, by the law 

 of nature, as well as by the civil law. 

 And to the same purpose, not to say the 

 same words with the civil law, speaks 

 Bracton : occupation — that is, hiving or 

 including them — gives the property in 



bees ; for, though a swarm lights upon 

 my tree, I have no more property in 

 them, until I have hived them, than I 

 have in the birds which make "their nest 

 thereon ; and, therefore, if another hives 

 them, he shall be their proprietor ; but a 

 swarm which fly from and out of my 

 hive are mine so long as lean keep them 

 in sight, and have power to pursue 

 them ; and in these circumstances no 

 one else is entitled to take them. But it 

 has also been said that with us the only 

 ownership in bees is ratione foli ; and the 

 charter of the forest, which allows every 

 freeman to be entitled to the honey 

 found within his own woods, affords 

 great countenance to this doctrine, that 

 a qualified property may be had in bees, 

 in consideration of. the property of the 

 soil whereon they were found." 



The Judge said he had not been able 

 to find any other authority. Therefore, 

 the leading principle to be kept in view 

 as regarded the plaintiff's right to have 

 this swarm of bees, was that he or his 

 wife should not have lost sight of 

 them. 



Although there was some ill-natured 

 and un neighborly conduct on the part 

 of the defendant, there was nothing to 

 prevent the plaintiff's wife from steadily 

 keeping the bees in sight after they 

 again settled upon the gooseberry bush. 

 However, she went away for two hours, 

 and lost sight of them. When she came 

 back, the bees were gone. W^hat be- 

 came of them did not appear. Some- 

 body else must have had the benefit of 

 the swarm. 



He thought plaintiff was not entitled 

 to recover. The order of the court was 

 that there be a non-suit, without costs. 



Xlie ^Wintering Problem in 



Bee-Keeping ; an Exposition of the 

 Conditions Essential to Success in the 

 Winter and Spring Management of the 

 Apiary, by G. R. Pierce. This is the 

 title of anew pamphlet of 77 pages, 

 lately issued by the author, who has had 

 25 years' experience in bee-keeping, and 

 for the past 5 years has devoted all his 

 time and energies to the pursuit. Price, 

 50 cents. For sale at this office. 



Oranulated Honey in bulk may 

 be best reliquefied for bottling by giving 

 the cans a hot water bath, or by heating 

 over steam pipes. 



