A Canadian court, in 1887, enjoined a beekeeper from operating an apiary in a village because the bees were considered a nuisance. An editorial commented:
“it is not known if bees injure crops by taking the honey from the blossoms, but some farmers have claimed that they do. It cannot be alleged with reason and truth that farm crops are usefully served by bees in the way of fertilizing the blossoms, although they may do something in the way of spreading the pollen from plant to plant. The air is filled with pollen of prevailing plants, such as farm crops, at their flowering season, and there are many plants, as corn, which is never or hardly ever visited by the bees. hence beekeepers have no reason to claim that when their bees are supplied by a neighbor’s crops they pay their way by doing useful work in producing seed. One large beekeeper pays the neighboring farmers a yearly rent for the pasturage of his bees, and this seems just, for otherwise the beekeepers reap where they have not sown and gather where they have not strewn and make their money form other men’s labors. This is a manifest injustice.”2)The National Tribune, March 31, 1887, p. 7.
The Maryland Supreme Court took this up too:
The general term of the Supreme Court in the central part of this State [Maryland] has decided that it is trespass for honey bees to go upon lands not belonging to their owner. This may be good law, but the wonder is how this law is to be carried out. It perhaps will offer a new field for the rubber stamp men to affix the owner’s initials to the bees’ feet, or Mr. Edison might invent some electric appliance by which trespassing bees could be made to leave their mark, or nature, perhaps would be sufficient if the bees would notify the owner of the land where the trespass is committed by presenting their business end as a sort of card of identification, or the owners of the bees might brand them. Otherwise we cannot see how this decision will help those who are trespassed upon.” 3)The News (Frederick, Maryland), August 27, 1889, p 2.
We face a lot of issues today as beekeepers, but let’s hope most people don’t have this misunderstanding.
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