with a nithless hand, would require a more 

 satisfactory reason. 



Becoming weary of a protracted corres- 

 pondence about a matter whicli Novice ad- 

 mitted was jperfectly satisfactory to himself, 

 and yet which he failed to make so to us, 

 we gave him this ultimatum — either make a 

 satisfactory explanation to the bee-keeping 

 world, or we should do it for him. His re- 

 ply was characteristic of the man. •' I can 

 see no reason why the matter should be 

 given to the public at all," he wrote, and 

 then followed his usual religious exhorta- 

 tion. Thus it will be seen that our etforts to 

 attain an amicable adjustment were a total 

 failure. A dozen lines from the pen of this 

 man, who unceasingly parades love to man 

 and devotion to God, would have settled the 

 matter for all time. But he saw fit to with- 

 hold them, even after admitting that some- 

 thing of the kind was due me. 



In view of all that has been said, we give 

 the readers of the A. B. J. a leaf from the 

 history of this matter. On July 20, 1876, we 

 shipped A. I. Root some wax to be made 

 into comb foundation. We ordered it made 

 into sheets 12x18 inches, and 6 square feet 

 to the pound. We weighed the wax in the 

 office of the Am. Ex. Co. here, but did not 

 give weight in writing to Novice, as we 

 wished to see if our weight tallied with his. 

 Well, it did — within ten pounds. Novice 

 was to have one-half of wax for making it, 

 but he said it was " extra nice," so would 

 send us a little more than one-half of the 

 foundation. We at once notified him of the 

 error in weight of wax, and inclosed Ex. re- 

 ceipt, showing weight. This brought a card 

 from Novice saying somebody had " made 

 a mistake of 10 lbs., which we exceedingly 

 regret." He afterwards paid us for that 

 amount. 



In the meantime, our 24 lbs. of comb 

 foundation came ; but instead of being 6 

 square feet to the pound, as we had ordered 

 it, the greater poi'tion of it was made less 

 than 4 feet to the pound. Having had only 

 a limited experience with the comb founda- 

 tion, we supposed Novice's experience had 

 induced him to take the responsibility of 

 making thick foundation. The glowing 

 reports which were being constantly pub- 

 lisned in Oieanings had prepared us for 

 experimenting extensively with the foun- 

 dation, never dreaming that a failure was 

 possible. But it w(ts possible, all the same, 

 and cost us more than S300. In looking back 

 over the past, and knowing what we do 

 now, we would not have had it done, even 

 for that amount. We wrote Novice about 

 the matter, giving a detailed account of our 

 experience, and left him to do as he pleased 

 about the matter of indemnity. He replied 

 that as we were " the dissatisfied party, we 

 must certainly make out our own bill for 

 damages." On the following day, (Sept. 9, 

 1876), in remitting for the 10 lbs. of wax, 

 (above referred to), he said : "We thought 

 best to pay you for this, leaving the bill for 

 damages in making of the foundation, a 

 separate item, at your will." This looked 

 to us as though Novice intended to do what 

 was right in the matter ; so we wrote him 

 that if he wished to help us bear the loss, 

 for which he alone was responsible, he 

 might send us $50. Knowing full well, 



however, how often he had crawled out of 

 tight places before, we closed our letter 

 with tliese words: "In conclusion I will 

 only say, that if you can pay the $50 cheer- 

 fully, you may do so ; but rather than have 

 any hard feelings in the matter, I would 

 lose all." This brought an individual 

 check on the Medina bank for S50, and one 

 of the funniest letters we ever received. — 

 He went on to tell how hard it was to spare 

 the money, and wanted to know if we 

 wouldn't return it. Saying that if we 

 didn't, he could not go to the Centennial, in 

 Philadelphia, &c., &c. The next number 

 of Gleanings, however, said that Novice 

 did go to the Centennial, and took his 

 " better half" along also. 



On October .5, 1876, we wrote Novice a 

 letter, giving in detail the losses we had 

 sustained by using the thick foundation. 

 The following is an extract: "Now, if 

 you wish me to bear this loss wholly my- 

 self, I can do so. I cannot return a portion 

 of the 5J50, but I can return it atL" But we 

 received no demand for the money, but did 

 receive a most bitter and vindictive letter 

 from Novice, (dated Oct. 10, 1876), charging 

 us with "willful falsehood and fraud," and 

 calling us pet names generally. 



Hekbeet a. Bxjkch. 



South Haven, Mich., April 18, 1878. 



Kansas Bee Pasturage. 



For 2 years we have had very fair sea- 

 sons for our bees, with the exception of the 

 months of June and July. Red bud briers, 

 fruit trees, &c., in May. In June, bees 

 dwindle; there being nothing for them to 

 forage on. In July they barely live ; at the 

 end of the latter month they are not as 

 strong as at the end of May. I was not 

 aware that white clover would succeed in 

 this State, until last year. I was at Leav- 

 enworth last fall, and saw there an abund- 

 ance of it, everywhere in that town and 

 vicinity. For 20 miles west, towards Law- 

 rence, I saw thousands of acres of it, as fine 

 as any I ever saw in the State of New York, 

 also 20 miles south to Kansas City, Mo. I 

 sowed about 2 ounces of seed on the prairie 

 sod, last season, where the ground had not 

 been broken. I could not have vsfished it 

 to take better. White clover will, in a very 

 short time, be a grand success here. — 

 During the months of August and Septem- 

 ber hart's-ease affords abundance of forage 

 for the bees. In fact, it is worth all the 

 other plants we have in this region. Every 

 cultivated field is full of it. There is plenty 

 of golden rod here, but bees scarcely touch 

 it, when, at the same time, hart's-ease is 

 swarming with bees, working with all their 

 might. The report of the National Bee- 

 keepers' Association, last fall, was worth 

 twice the year's subscription. It was, by 

 far, the best report that 1 have ever read. 

 There was no foolishness in it, and that is 

 considerable to say for any such public pro- 

 ceedings. No man who has even but one 

 colony of bees can afford to do without a 

 good bee journal. I read more than one, 

 but recommend all my friends to take the 

 American Bee Journal. 



Muscotah, Kan. H. S. Heath, M.D. 



