The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-29
A PLAN To ARREST vAcRAxr BEES.
san LeandrO's Marshal Does Not Like
His Prospective Duty.


San Leandro Correspondence of the San
francisco Call
The town trustees are wrestling with n
new problem. Now that the way mas been
Strengthened out for the issuing of bonds
for municipal electric light system. the
9ltehtioh or the city fathers has been
directed toward the misdoings of bees
san Leandro is In the midst of the great
flower and fruit gardens of Alameda conn
~, and the many delicate blooms are the
proving grounds Of thousands of stray
bees. The recent increase in the number
of bee-keepers IS alarming. and formal
complaints have been lodged with the
trustees about the damage caused by bees
when sucking honey from their berry
Trustee Eber brought the matter up at
the last meeting of the trustees and 1t
was taken up under adVisement. A etrug-
gle Is now being made with an ordinance
that shall restrain the bees from being
guilty of Vagrancy.
The roaming tendency OF bees being so
Wen known, the town attorney is expert
encing considerable difficulty in framing
rules that the bees can be made to re-
spect. The suggestion that any one who
finds stray bees on his premises shall be
at liberty to destroy them Is not likely
10 be acted upon, as the task of chasing
bees Is not regarded with favor.
David Try suggested that Marshal Gel
senhOner be instructed to watch the bees,
but his idea was not received with favor.
Mr.. Try did not see that there was any
thing unusual In his plan, but when 1t
was suggested that the marshal could
not be expected to know the home Of every
bee he might meet, the resolution to in
struct him was Withdrawn.
1t is a very difficult matter TO deal
with" said the marshal to-day. Bees
are bees, and they will 90 for their honey
where they can find It. II will not do
much good to patronize a wheat field. be-
of no use ordering their owners to prevent
them from leaving the hive, because that
would. be cruelty TO animals. Neither will
1t do any good to declare II a nuisance
TO keep bees within the city limits because
bees have wings and cannot be expected
to know when they enter the forbidden
territory
"The subject. seemingly a small one,
is really Of great Importance. The num-
Der Of bee-keepers Is increasing, and there
is no doubt that a swarm of bees can do
an immense amount of harm when they
systematically visit a raspberry brake or
a strawberry patch. There ought to be
some way of Keeping the bees out of mis-
chief, but it Is not an easy matter to ham
die. The suggestion that / watch the
b ees is out of the question, for IL would
be an impossibility i suppose ! should
have to wear a bee-hunting uniform. 1t
would have to be sting-proof and ] should
need a wire helmet and gauntiiers and a
big scoop-net with which to catch the
bees.
Then 1t would be necessary to register
the bee owners, and each one would have
to leave a sample of his particular brand
of honey maker with me, so that l could
identify the Migrants. Even after / have
done this it would be difficult to prove
that the particular bee under arrest had
been guilty Of sucking blooms outside Its
own territory. i don't think there will be
a bee ordinance for while yet. Per-
sonaliy ! am not partial to bees"
Much difference of opinion exists as 10
whether bees can be declared nuisances
and ordered outside of certain limits.
There are many points TO be considered
before San Leandros trustees pass a bee
prohibition ordinance.