JUDGE SWAYED BY TESTIMONY OF BEE EXPERTS
Kansas City, Missouri (JFK+50) On December 3, 1921, the Evening Star published a front page story reporting the ruling of Judge Nelson E. Johnson that "a bee has a right to roam at will."
The ruling came in an appeal of the case of Lee Cooley who had been fined $50 by the court for harboring 'vicious bees.'
The complainant claimed that one of Cooley's bees had stung a child five times, but after hearing testimony from "bee experts," the Judge was convinced that a bee can only sting one time*.
Judge Johnson ruled the city ordinance unconstitutional and Mr. Cooley's $50 was to be remitted.
*Considering the judge's ruling, it must be assumed Mr. Cooley owned honey bees. While many bees are capable of stinging multiple times, only honey bees have hooks on their stingers that keep the stinger in the skin after the sting. The stinger is torn out of the bee's body as it flies away & the bee dies.
SOURCES
"'Vicious Bees' May Roam Where E're They Will, Decides Judge," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 3, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"What a Sting Looks and Feels Like," Nemours Kids Health, www.kidshealth.org/
