602 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JuivY 15 



square in deal will, of course, return the mon- 

 ey the very day he receives orders to do so. 

 Of course, everybody who is complained of 

 should have a hearing ; but it will do us all 

 good to have these loose ways of doing busi- 

 ness held up before the people. If nothing 

 else will answer, we are ready to do some ad- 

 vertising that we do not get any pay for. If 

 there are any more " Luptoms " among our 

 number we wish to weed them out before they 

 get a going very much. — A. I. R. 



THE BEE AND FRUIT CASE AT HANFORD, 

 CAI,. ; DO BEES SPREAD PEAR-BLIGHT? 



As announced in our last issue, trouble has 

 been brewing for some months between the 

 fruit-men on the one side and the bee-men on 

 the other at Hanford, in the San Joaquin Val- 

 ley, Cal. On the part of the first-named, the 

 contention was that the bees, the property of 

 the other parties, were the principal means of 

 spreading the pear-blight, which had been 

 working such awful havoc among the pear or- 

 chards in the vicinity mentioned. The bee- 

 men, on the other hand, took the ground that 

 their stock were not carrying the pear-blight ; 

 and, even assuming that they might do so, 

 averred that other insects, and birds, as well 

 as the wind, might and could do all the mis- 

 chief laid to the door of the bees, and that, 

 therefore, the removal of the insects under 

 the direct control of man would not afford the 

 relief sought. The contention waxed warm. 

 Each side called special meetings to discuss 

 the matter. Bitter words as well as threats 

 were used. Some of the more rabid of the 

 fruit-men proposed to use poison to extermi- 

 nate the bees in case they were not speedily 

 removed by their owners. This only tended 

 to aggravate matters. The bee-men retorted 

 that, if any one were foolish enough to resort 

 to such a procedure, not only killing the bees 

 but endangering the lives of human beings, 

 they would meet them on the issue half way ; 

 that they had, as backing, the National Bee- 

 keepers' Association, which had hundreds of 

 dollars to its credit, had fought many cases in 

 court, and had always been successful ; that, 

 moreover, it had decisions already on the 

 question of poisoning bees, and that the fruit- 

 men " could drive ahead " if they wished to. 

 The latter maintained that they "had looked 

 up the law, " and that they knew what they 

 were about. 



It appears that those who indulged the most 

 freely in this war of words were not those who 

 had the largest interests at stake, either in the 

 bees or in the pears ; that the large pear grow- 

 ers as well as the largest bee-keepers were 

 men who indulged in no threats, but who be- 

 lieved that a compromise might be effected 

 between neighbors who were men of fairness 

 as well as men who are willing to listen to rea- 

 son, and so the sequel proved. 



The president of the National Bee-keepers' 

 Association was asked by resident members to 

 make a visit to the scene of the impending 

 trouble ; investigate, and take such action as 

 might, after a conference, seem most advisa- 

 ble. Accordingly, on the 18th of June that 



officer appeared at Hanford, Cal., being drop- 

 ped, as it were, into that "nest of hornets" 

 by the redoubtable John H. Martin (Rambler), 

 and J. C. McCubbin, of Reedley, who came 

 with him officially and unofficially to see that 

 no harm was done him ; but, be it said, they 

 deemed it advisable to go home that same day, 

 although they did participate in one or two 

 little " skirmishes " on the street. Unfortu- 

 nately the Rambler didn't have along his in- 

 vincible umbrella and stovepipe hat ; for with 

 such offensive and defensive weapons he would 

 surely have come off victorious. As it was, it 

 was a "draw," and he departed with John C. 

 under his arm. 



It appears that the local members of the 

 Association had made a great handle of the 

 coming of the President of the National ; of 

 the strength of our organization, how it had 

 never lost a case in court, and that it had se- 

 cured valuable decisions from the high courts. 

 But as he did not come at the time expected, 

 and days went by, and still he did not come, 

 the fruit-men began to think that this talk 

 was all "bluff;" and when he did appear, 

 there seemed to be a feeling on their part that 

 he had come, not to bring peace, but war, and 

 that an organization that would send a " walk- 

 ing delegate " clear from Ohio surely meant 

 business. After a little sparring on both sides, 

 a truce and a compromise began to be talked 

 of. On our side was a special committee ap- 

 pointed by the Central California Bee-keepers' 

 Association, at its last meeting, to meet the 

 representative of the National Bee-keepers' 

 Association ; and on the other was N. W. 

 Motheral, Horticultural Commissioner, of 

 Hanford, Cal., who seemed to represent the 

 fruit-men, but whom some jokingly said was 

 the mother of the whole trouble. 



When both sides got together it was sug- 

 gested by one of the fruit-men that, as a com- 

 promise, the bees be moved from the vicinity 

 of the pear-trees during the time they were in 

 bloom, and that, after they were out of bloom, 

 and when the alfalfa began to yield nectar, 

 they be returned to take the heavy or main 

 crop. This, it was thought, would give the 

 bee-men time to investigate for themselves, 

 and if, after investigation, it was shown that 

 the claims of the fruit-men were well ground- 

 ed, afford in the mean time the necessary re- 

 lief. This was finally agreed to, although it 

 would entail a big expense on the bee-men. 



It may be wondered why the latter were 

 willing to listen to a compromise at all In 

 the first place, they desired to be fair ; and in 

 the second place, the fruit-men had the testi- 

 mony of Prof. M. B. Waite, Assistant Chief of 

 the Division of Vegetable Physiology and 

 Pathology at Washington, D. C. This official 

 takes the position that bees do carry the mi- 

 crobes of pear-blight from flower to flower 

 while the trees are in bloom. In this opinion 

 he appears to be supported by Prof N. B. 

 Pierce, Pathologist of the Pacific Coast L/abo- 

 ratory, Santa Ana, Cal. 



The following letter, directed to N. W. 

 Motheral, Commissioner of Horticulture at 

 Hanford, Cal., from Prof. Pierce, explains the 

 position of the scientists, in a nutshell : 



