I see, by last No. of GLEANINGS, that our year is ended; and my husband would about as soon think of dispensing with his dinner as your useful paper; and so, liking to give him pleasant surprises, I write and inclose one dollar for the coming year. Besides, I have felt a big drawing" to pen you a few lines this long while, to "sort of rest" you again when you sit down after a hard day's work, with your slippers and dressing-gown on, and your feet a little elevated; for the many different businesses you are getting engaged in must be tiresome to mind and body. I can not conceive how you can think of having so many enemies, when every faculty of your soul and body seems intent on doing somebody some good. Even the long-neglected prisoner is made happy by your visits and instructions. The printer you spoke of as now being in your employ, we are greatly interested in. Go on, dear brother, in your good work; and, if you faint not, in the great judgment-day Christ will make mention of your labors of love to that unfortunate class. I told my husband this morning that I would like so much to see your operations, and I should go to Medina with something like the same feelings that the queen of Sheba visited Solomon.

Our bee business has occupied the time and mind of Mr. Mattison quite a good deal; indeed, I might say almost entirely. We began with 14 swarms, and increased to 23, all artificially. When bees seemed too many for a hive, he would take frames from several hives, and smoke them to make them smell alike; then give them some Italian larvæ in the right state to make a queen of, and they would generally soon be found to have" set up housekeeping" nicely. The queen we got of you a short time ago was, he thinks, gratefully received by the motherless bees, though it has. been too cold to make a thorough examination. I see some of the women in the country are turning their heads in a "bee-line.' Indeed, now-a-days they claim great liberty, and must have their say too. Some of the communications from them read quite sensible. My husband is trying to instruct me, so if I survive him I shall be able to carry on the business. I think favorably of your intention of making a little book of your lay-sermons, as they may truthfully be called. It is encouraging to think that if any one is in straits, and needs help of God, they can send their requests, not only to the Fulton-street prayer-meeting, but to Medina, Ohio. Go on, dear brother, in carrying the needs of a dying world to God; and remember all your patrons in their various necessities. Remem ber me particularly to your dear wife, whom I feel aids you in your arduous and trying labors.

EMELINE MATTISON.

Ocean View, Cape May Co., N. J., Dec. 6, 1880. [Why, my dear kind friend, I never had such a thing as a dressing-gown and slippers in al my life, and I hardly think I ever shall. The clerks all had a good hearty laugh at the idea; and when I read it at the dinner-table, we had another. My wife says I do not even sit still on Sunday, unless I am obliged to while in church; and then my restless disposition revenges itself by making me go to sleep, if they keep me very long without letting me "do something." We should be most glad to see you among us; but I fear you might be sadly disappointed, and you know that wasn't the case with the queen of Sheba.]

clerks are sometimes a little impatient in a way they should not be, for I have a great many times made them write their cards over again, just because of this very thing. Please try to bear with us when we get cross; and when you get cross, we will bear with you. Shall we not call this a bargain, while we all try hard to do better?

PLEASE, my friends, do not take the trouble to send certificates from your postmaster, justice of the peace, or anybody else. Just make a plain, frank statement of the case; if any thing is wrong, and if I think you have not told it fairly, I will be equally frank. The more I become acquainted with my fellow-men each year, the more I am convinced that by far the greater part of them are trying to be just and honest. We lack wisdom and judgment, many times; but the cases are very few where we deliberately try to rob our fellows. If I am thinking too well of you, may God help you to come up, instead of my faith going down. "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

ONE more word about answering letters promptly: As usual, about the close of the year we have quite a little tussle," if we may so term it, with some of the friends, to get them to answer postals, and have all little matters closed up. Well, after writing to some of you four or five times, during nearly as many months, we finally get quite a letter, and sometimes a small "blowing up," if I may be excused again, because they did not owe the little balance, or else thought they didn't, which amounts to the same thing, or else that some of the goods were lost or broken, or we were at fault in sending them wrongly. Now, my friends, I do not mean, by these statements, that you are necessarily owing me anything, for very often the fault is all mine and not yours at all; but are you not at least in fault in waiting several months without saying a word? Very likely I deserved the blowing up; but why not give it to me at once, and have it done with? If any thing is wrong, why not say so, right off, and have it done with? The poorest way in the world to settle accounts, that I know of, is to keep putting off, day after day, and month after month. If you have not got the money, and are “hard up," say so, in a manly way; if you have paid the account already, or even think you have, by all means say so; and if the blunder is ours, I will pay you for time and postage, and for going to the postoffice too. Our book-keeper receives the highest wages of any one in the establishment, except Mr. Gray, and all these delays cost me severely; in view of this, will you

not try harder to just scratch a line or two on a card, and drop it into the office? In trying to settle up every thing before another season, we have written repeatedly to some of your postmasters, and when that didn't do, I have gone to the expense of hiring a man to hunt you up, and ask you the simple question as to whether you honestly owed that little bill. Now, my friends, for your own good, and that you may prosper and build up a thriving business, and be an ornament to your neighborhood, please do attend to these little matters. Do not have these little sins lying on your conscience; but, rather, be "diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Is it not the better way? Do you not feel from the bottom of your heart, brother, that I am

Vol. IX.

A. I. ROOT,

Publisher and Proprietor,

Medina, O.

No. 1.

TERMS: $1.00 Per Annum, in Advance; 2 Copies for $1.90; 3 for $2.75; 5 for $4.00; 10 or more, 75c each. Single Number, 10c. club rates.

NOTES FROM THE BANNER APIARY.

No. 14.

$25 PROFIT, PER COLONY, AND HOW IT WAS DONE. S the figures that I gave one year ago, representing the profits of my apiary, were not shrunk by the cold weather, I will venture once more to send in my report without waiting until next June.

You will see from the above heading that my profits this season have reached a good round figure; but perhaps you would be more interested in learning how such results were obtained.

I commenced the season with 15 colonies. The warm weather came earlier than usual; I began starting queen-cells the fore part of May; in the middle of the month I commenced forming nuclei, while the first of June found me shipping queens, with 25 good, strong, three-frame nuclei started. There is no use trying to rear queens either late or early in the season, unless your nuclei are kept strong. I will say, right here, that there was almost a steady yield of honey from early in the spring until the frosts came, although there was no great yield at any one time. By July 1st, my 25 nuclei had increased to 50, and by July 15th I had formed 30 more; as this number enabled me to keep up with orders, I did not start any more. I have once or twice before given my method of queen-rearing, and I will not repeat it here; but I would like to say just a word or two in regard to the importance of always having nuclei furnished with unsealed brood, and of always having on hand a good supply of queen-cells. I know it is quite a "chore" to go around every three or four days and see that every nuclei is furnished with brood; but it is just such little "chores" as this that help to bring in $25 profit, per colony. I did this work so thoroughly that not one fertile worker put in an appearance. Whenever there was a scarcity of orders, and I had a lot of laying queens on hand, it used to be one of my "besetting sins" to neglect starting queen-cells; but this state of affairs never failed to be followed by a "rush" of orders that would take every laying queen from the yard, leave me with no cells to put in their places, and teach me the folly of such neglect. During the past season I kept such a large stock of cells constantly on hand that I frequently had to kill young queens when they hatched, there being no place to put them.

I do so dislike to kill a queen, that these newly hatched queens were frequently introduced to nuclei at the same time that the laying queens were removed; perhaps three-fourths of these queens would be accepted, and the time thus gained more than counterbalanced the queen lost.

My increase was only four colonies; my surplus honey was 40 lbs. to the swarm, and the number of queens sold, per colony, was 25.

I have kept bees four years, and the average profit, per colony, has been $18.82. Friend Doolittle, what has been your average profit, per colony, since you first engaged in bee culture? W. Z. HUTCHINSON.

Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich.

W

CALIFORNIA LETTER.

E have had a 3-inch rain, and bees are in fine condition. We are still eating grapes from the vines in our apiary. Over 400 white hives, six feet apart, in hexagonal shape, on clean, light-colored ground, when the glare of the sun is on them, I am inclined to think is rather hard on the eyes, especially when one has to look through glasses and a bee-hat; but the grapevines, when in leaf, relieve the difficulty somewhat. It is true, they take up some room, and are sometimes in the way; but we rather like this obtrusiveness, just as we do with wife and children; we rather like to have them rub against us, even if we do have to shove them to one side rather rudely for business considerations.

BEES AND GRAPES.

I hear considerable said of late about the injury of grapes and other fruit by bees. The yellow jackets, or yellow hornets, are exceedingly numerous here this season, making the trouble by bees very considerable, especially where the sweet varieties of grapes are being dried into raisins. They take them almost wholesale where they can get at them. In Los Angeles county, where grapes are raised in great abundance, there will be a special effort to have a State law passed to prevent bees being kept in the vicinity of vineyards. But I suppose the general law of the State is at present sufficient to protect their property. However, your late statement of one being liable to a penalty for killing another man's bees the same as any other kind of stock, I

think is not fully correct. The law of Ohio supposes that all domestic animals, commonly understood not to be dangerous or injurious in running at large, does not make the owner liable for damage for accidental injury from such animal; but if the owner knows that any animal owned by him is inclined to mischief, he becomes liable for the damage; or if he keeps a bear, or any animal generally supposed to be dangerous, the owner becomes liable for all damages by such animal's running at large; also any kind of animals or stock that in its very nature is not within the control of the owner, the owner is liable for damages by such animals; but, besides this, if the owner can not control his own stock (as bees), it gives extra liberties to the one injured to protect himself against it; so that, so far as law is concerned, I would feel comparatively safe in killing a man's bees or pigeons if they injured me, rather than his horses or sheep.

HONEY-KNIVES.

I used the Bingham & Hetherington knife the past season, and, although some of our neighbors call it a "trowel," I lay aside all other kinds, and use nothing but the trowel. It throws off all the cappings so nicely. R. WILKIN.

San Buena Ventura, Cal., Dec. 11, 1880.

POISONING BEES, AND BEES AND GRAPES.

M

FURTHER FACTS IN REGARD TO THE CASE GIVEN ON PAGE 530, OCTOBER NO., VOL. VII. UCH interest has been expressed, and many questions have been asked, in regard to this sad affair, and I have waited thus far, hoping that some amicable settlement of the trouble between the two neighbors might be brought about. As I have given but one side in the article referred to, I will now give both sides of the matter.

Mr. Root:-I have been to see Mr. Krock, and I will give you the substance of what he had to say. "Mr. Rosekelly, I told Klasen two years ago that his bees were damaging my grape crop, and that he must do something with them; but I have never been bothered as much as I have this fall. My girls had to wear gloves all the while they were picking, and would then get stung often; and the baskets, after they were filled, would have from fifty to one hundred bees in them, and we could not pack until night. We worked several nights all night. I saw Klasen, and told him that his bees were damaging me, and he told me that I should put them in the pound,' as I could easily tell his bees by 'tickling them a little behind.''

him my letter and your answer, and explained to bim how the poisoned sweets had drawn many bees that would not otherwise have come.

"I know that this has brought trouble upon the bee-keepers, and it would not have been if he had not overstocked the town, and he does not feed them, and so they have to eat people's fruit.

"I must either dig out my grapes, or the bees must be moved; and as for the lawsuit, you have known me from your childhood, and you never knew me to have any thing of the kind, and I would like to drop the case, on condition that he take away his bees."

Mr. A. I. Root:-At the request of my neighbor, Mr. H. I. Krock, I take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of a difficulty between him, Mr. Krock, and Mr. Peter Klasen, for damage, which he, Mr. Klasen, has sustained in the loss of his bees, wherein he accuses Mr. Krock of poisoning them. Mr. Krock emphatically denies the charge. The two gentlemen are my neighbors, both of whom I hold in high estimation as citizens, and am sorry to see them in a dispute which must eventually be an injury to both, as there are doubtless two sides to the question.

Mr. Krock commenced the cultivation of grapes in this village in 1864. He now has about 4 acres under cultivation, which is his principal revenue for the support of his family. He is 64 years old, with a wife and two daughters depending upon his vineyard principally, for support; so it would not do for him to abandon it. He is willing to abandon all claim for damage heretofore sustained in consequence of the bees if Mr. Klasen will remove them out of reach of his vineyard. It is very evident,

that Mr. Klasen can not prevent his bees trespassing

upon the grapes when they are located so near the vineyard-less than half a mile. Mr. Krock says that he has heretofore frequently called Mr. Klasen's attention to the subject of the injury his bees were doing to his grapes, but was answered in a sneering and provoking manner. I can scarcely think that Mr. Klasen really intended to be insulting. He probably did not think how irritating his remarks were. I don't think that Mr. Krock would make a false statement. He says that he used Paris green to poison the potato beetle, as they were destroying his potatoes which were growing among his grapes. When the bugs quit, he put the dish containing the poison inside his packing house. When the grapes began to ripen, he cleared out the packing house, and the dish containing the remains of the Paris

"No, sir; he only offered to buy a mosquito-net to put over my door and windows, and that would have been of no use. I first thought that would sue him for damages, but could not prove that it was his bees. Then I thought I would go to the town council and prove them (the bees) a nuisance; but that body refused to act upon it, stating that they had no right to do any thing about it. So you see that the law was out of my reach; and when I went to him I was met with blackguarding talk, instead of his meeting me as man should meet man. I have lost a third of my grapes, and if you do not believe me, ask" (he here gave me several names). I showed

may have gotten some of the poison, but if they did it was accidental. I have been in Mr. Krock's vineyard, and I know that the bees were very annoying; so much so that Mr. Krock dare not take his horse into the vineyard. Mr. Krock wishes to avoid litigation, and would be glad to drop all contention, and I think that Mr. Klasen would take the same view, and drop the matter if some of his bee-keeping friends would give him the right kind of advice. I don't think that Mr. Klasen is really a bad man; but when temper is up, reason leaves.

I fear that I may have trespassed too long upon your patience; but if I have, you will please excuse me when you take into consideration that my ob

might and power here; but let us be slow in judging. Nearly all whose eves meet these pages will be interested parties, and interested on one particular side. It is evident that both these men are stirred up, and hardly show forth their better selves. Is it not plain that both have done wrong? Perhaps God only knows how much wrong. Mr. Krock is a stranger among us. It is more than likely that we shall feel a prejudice

ey

Mr. Klasen is with me now, and says:-"My damages are more than I first thought were. I told him to make out his bill of damages, not only of what my bees had done, but what others had done, and I would pay it; and he said he would not; that he would not be bothered with them; says he, 'You think you will get rich out of bees, but you won't. I will fix them.' Now, as for the damages done his grapes, it is queer that my bees should fly over other peoples' grapes and not damage them, but should do all the damage to his grapes. When I found that my bees were dying, I tracked them by their dead bodies to the vineyard of Mr. Krock, and I found the poison on boards (syrup and Paris green mixed, poured upon mashed peaches and grapes; a dish of the same I have in my possession yet.) Mr. Krock, undoubtedly, in his letter, tells that he has offered to settle with me; but I would here like to state the conditions. When I was in his vineyard, I happened to meet Mr. Krock, and he ordered me off,

and took a grape-stick in his hand to make me go, and I pointed a revolver at him, to keep him from striking me; and for this he complained of me, and we had our trial before the Probate Court, and there he offered to withdraw his suit against me if I would

not sue him for damages, which offer I could not accept, because I would not settle. He subpoenaed all the witnesses he could, in order to make my cost as great as possible, which was $1.00 fine, with the cost of prosecution, of which the lawyer fees were about $20, and other expenses amounted to about $60. I have sued him from the encouragement I have had from the bee-keepers; and as some want to know what proof I can bring, I will here mention, first, he told three men that he would poison them; to me, he said he would fix them.' Four other men besides myself saw the poison as prepared on the boards in his vineyard. From the encouragement of the bee-keepers, I employed Mr. King (attorney, of Sandusky) to prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law, if he does not settle.

"If any one desires to ask any question regarding the case, I will gladly answer by return ma 1.

N. B.-Gentlemen, as you are interested in the business, we should like to hear from you through GLEANINGS, or direct. Some have advised us to settle; but what terms shall we make with Mr. Krock? I hope you will all feel interested in this matter, and a few I will call upon to give their views; viz., A. I. Root, Messrs. Doolittle, Blood, Hayhurst, Fish, Boardman, Mackey, Dadant, and others.

GEO. ROSEKELLY.

cause we are all bee-men. May I not plead for a little charity fro m him? Shall we not let the world know that we can overlook a wrong, be forgiving,-yes, and be magnanimous? Our good friend Klasen (I know him, for, in fact, I gave a little picture of last year) has lost $160.00 already, but he him on pages 293 and 294, June number for brought all this trouble on himself by pointing that pistol at his neighbor. What in the world made him so foolish as to have a pistol? Do you remember the talk I gave you in regard to them awhile ago? To come to the point: my advice is, to let it drop right where it is. Let God judge friend Krock if he has not told it all just as it should be. My advice is safe; you all know it is. If friend Klasen's neighbors want him to move his bees away, by all means let him move them. Who would wish to even seem to be a nuisance to the neighborhood?

For our dear Savior's sake, friends and neighbors, let us do nothing that will make these two men get further estranged from each other. Let us subscribe money, if need be, to get them to drop it, far rather than to enable them to go on with it. Help us, O Lord, in our weakness, as thou hast helped us in times gone by.

REPORTS FROM THE BEE · MEN OF MEDINA COUNTY.

CCORDING to your request for the bee-keepers of Medina Co. to send in their reports for the past season, I reply as follows:

We had, at the opening of the honey season, 130 swarms, all in good condition, yielding us 3000 lbs. of comb and 1500 lbs. of extracted honey. The comb honey was sold at an average of about 15c per lb.; the extracted honey is worth 10c at wholesale.

We increased our number of swarms to 185, giv ing us 55 new swarms. We allowed our bees to swarm naturally, and also to build their combs without any artificial assistance; and by proper manage. ment we secured nearly all perfect worker combs.

A summary of the proceeds for the season gives $600 for the honey product; and, estimating the new swarms at $5.00 each, they would be worth $275, making the gross proceeds $875, giving an average of nearly $7.00 for each swarm.

The flow of honey from fruit-blossoms was the best we ever had. White clover yielded honey moderately, but did not continue nearly as long as usual. Basswood blossomed unusually full, and the pros pects for a large yield were exceedingly good. we were doomed to disappointment; for, after the

But

bees had fairly got to work, the weather became very unfavorable on account of the almost incessant rain,

which continued until the basswood season closed,thus terminating what might be called a moderate W. H. SHANE.

Medina, Ohio, Dec. 17, 1880.