198 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



October 



pear-growers and bee-keepers of 

 Tulare County, California, in the 

 vicinity of Han ford. It has been 

 charged by the former that the bees 

 are responsible for the spreading of 

 a disease known as pear blight. 

 Early in the season it appeared 

 that the affair might result in 

 a very unpleasant condition, ex- 

 pression of unkind thoughts having 

 been permitted. In order that the 

 extent of the bees' responsibility 

 might be definitely fixed, the apiar- 

 ists of that section have joined in a 

 project to remove their apiaries 

 beyond the reach of the pear- 

 growing section during the season 

 of bloom. President E. R. Root, 

 of the National Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, during his recent trip west- 

 ward, visited the scene of conflict- 

 ing interests (or opinions), and was 

 largely instrumental in effecting the 

 adjustment by which the dispute 

 will not only be settled without re- 

 course to law, but through which 

 invaluable knowledge will be gain- 

 ed. Through President Root's ef- 

 forts in behalf of an impartial in- 

 vestigatioii of the subject, the inte- 

 rest of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture has been elicited to the 

 extent of an assurance that it will 

 keep tab ou proceedings. The 

 averting of unpleasant legal con- 

 tention in this way has a tendency 

 to make one quite satisfied with his 

 chronological position. In dealing 

 with minds actuated by an appreci- 

 ative sense of common justice, there 

 is no need of lawyers or militia. It 

 is a pleasing sign of times approach- 

 ing. In this instance the very 

 conditions which gave promise of 

 trouble, are now conspiring to yield 

 invaluable knowledge which shall 

 be the heritage of posterity. 



MR. HERMAN AND HIS TEACHINGS. 



Mr. F. G. Herman, whose pic- 

 ture ie shown in this number of The 



Bee-keeper, came to the United 

 States about forty-two years ago. 

 He is a native of New Jersey, hav- 

 ing been born within a half mile of 

 his present home. His occupation 

 has always been that of a cloth 

 finisher, in a factory where lint and 

 dust abounds. About ten years 

 ago he undertook bee-keeping as a 

 sort of recreation during his leisure 

 hours, beginning with one colony 

 in a box hive. This work he has 

 found a pleasant contrast from that 

 of his vocation, being a lover of 

 pure air ani sunshine; and he hg,s 

 succeeded, as his lessons to begin- 

 ners attest. Since his second 

 year's experience, his smallest yield 

 has been twenty-five pounds of sur- 

 plus per colony, Spring count; his 

 largest one hundred pounds. Mr. 

 Herman now has one hundred colo- 

 nies in two apiaries. 



In this connection we might note 

 that the editor of the American Bee 

 Journal^ who, by the way, is an 

 adept at figures, has given Mr. 

 Herman's lessons in these columns 

 considerable notice, paying especial 

 attention to his August article. 

 We quote: 



"Let us figure upon this basis 

 and see what Mr. Herman's income 

 should be in five years from now. 

 As the number of colonies doubles 

 each year, his present sixty will in 

 five years increase to 1920, and as 

 each of these 'should bring, in at 

 least five dollars,' his income will be 

 $9, 600, and in ten years from now 

 it will be $307,200." The Jo?M-?ia/ 

 editor then modestly presumes, the 

 occurence of ten good seasons, dur- 

 ing which the harvest will be ten 

 times greater than in the poor sea- 

 sons of which Mr. Herman writes, 

 and has calculated that Mr. Her- 

 man's income in that time would 

 reach a round three millions, to say 

 nothing of the $72, 000 loose change. 

 Our esteemed contemporary further 



