Bees are not “savage” creatures. By law.
According to Earl v. Van Alstine, 8 Barb. 630 (1850), defendant beekeeper could not be held liable for the death of plaintiff’s horse, stung by the defendant’s bees. Concluding that bees are “domesticated,” not “savage” nor “ferocious,” the Court found that the defendant was not negligently unleasing “savage” animals on his fellow man(’s horse).
More on this case here.
From Digest of New York Statutes and Reports by Benjamin Vaughn Abbott and Austin Abbott, Vol. 1. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1874.
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