1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



561 



"I'll sell you this one. I've got another 

 that'll do 'bout as well." 



"Thank you. Mornin', Kleinmacher. " 

 "Mornin', Grimes." 



A MILLIONAIRE BEE=KEEPER. 



An Interesting Sketch of Conrad F. Stollmeyer; 

 the Asphalt King of Trinidad. 



BY SOJOURNER. 



The old gentleman represented in the pic- 

 ture, with a favorite dog by his knee, is one 

 of the latest devotees of apiculture. I say 

 old advisedly, since Mr. Stollmeyer is far 

 past the allotted threescore and ten, and is 

 now nearly fourscore and ten. Neverthe- 

 less, he is full of energy and vim — so much 

 so as to put to shame many men less than a 

 third of his years. Last year, in the 88th 

 year of his age, our subject took a fancy to 

 bee-keeping; and, being a man of means, 

 proceeded at once to procure the very best 

 appliances and bees tliat money could buy. 

 It is needless to say the result was satis- 

 factory, for he has already, after the lapse 

 of a few months, put some comb honey on 

 the local market that put to rout the com- 

 mon honey that had hitherto appeared ; 

 and, old as he is, he has no intention of let- 



ting any one beat him when quality alone 

 is sought for by buyers. This enterprising 

 spirit is quite characteristic of Stollmeyer, 

 since he was the founder of the great as- 

 phalt industry of Trinidad, and the fur- 

 nisher of the raw material from which all 

 the beautiful asphalt streets of American 

 cities are made. For this reason he is 

 sometimes known as the " Asphalt King; " 

 and, were he a few years younger, I have 

 no doubt he would make a bold bid for the 

 place of " Honey King." 



As it often happens, Mr. Stollmeyer was 

 laughed at for attempting to create a busi- 

 ness in asphalt, and no doubt the sugar- 

 planters of a day gone by thought him a 

 crazy German dreamer, for he was born in 

 Germany, and carries with him the char- 

 acteristic traits of his race. But now his 

 asphalt paves the streets of all up-to-date 

 American cities. He was also a pioneer in 

 other enterprises calculated to promote the 

 welfare of his adopted country, such as 

 street cars, telephones, and ice-machines, 

 so that Trinidad has in him no mean citizen. 



Some of his friends tried to dissuade him 

 from trying bee-keeping; but being a man 

 who has faith in himself he went ahead. 

 Probably they thought he ought to sit down 

 and rest, waiting for the call; but he has 

 been too long in the harness to adopt such 



A MILLIONAIRE BKE-KEEPEJi NEARLY NINETY YEARS OLD, OR THE "ASPHALT KING" AS 



HE IS BETTER KNOWN. 



