1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



ject is not selfish. I only wish to make peace be- 

 tween my neighbors. Mr. Krock wishes me to in. 

 form you that he will be glad to give you any infor- 

 mation you may think proper to ask. I think that 

 Mr. Klasen intends to remove his bees from town, 

 as there are others who are annoyed by them. With 

 the hope that you will patiently take mj- remarks 

 into consideration, I remain yours truly— 

 Huron, O., Dec. 9, 1880. Geo. S. Haskin. 



In a later letter, Mr. Rosekelly adds the 

 following: — 



Mr. Klasen is with me now, and says:— 



"My damages are more than I first thought they 

 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 Qx 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 m:ished poaches 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 ho 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 ac- 

 cept, 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 flue, 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 boe-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 be- 

 sides 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 ex- 

 tent 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 mail.' 



N. B.— Gentlemen, as you are interested in the 

 business, we should like to hoar from you through 

 Gleanings, or direct. Some have advised us to set- 

 tle; 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. Rosekklly. 



Huron, Erie Co., O., Dec. 30, 1880. 



My friends, inasmuch as I am called upon 

 first, I presume it is proper that I should 

 speak lirst. You all know how strongly I 

 have urged upon you, "not by might, nor 

 by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of 

 hosts." The temptation is strong to use 



might and power here ; but let us be slow in 

 judging. Nearly all whose eves meet these 

 pages will be interested parties, and inter- 

 ested on one particular side. It is evident 

 that both these men are stirred up, and 

 hardly show forth their better selves. Is it 

 not i)lain that both have done wrong? Per- 

 haps God only knows how uuicli wrong. Mr. 

 Krock is a stranger among us. It is more 

 than likely that we shall feel a prejudice 

 against him which he hardly deserves, be- 

 cause we are all bee-men. May I not plead 

 for a little charity fro m him V Shall we not 

 let the world know that we can overlook a 

 wrong, be forgiving, — yes, and be magnan- 

 imous V Our good friend Klasen (I know 

 him, for, in fact, I gave a little picture of 

 him on pages 293 and 294, June number for 

 last year) has lost $160. (JO already, but he 

 brought all this trouble on himself' by point- 

 ing that pistol at his neighbor. What in the 

 world made him so foolish as to have a pis- 

 tol V Do you remember the talk I gave you 

 in regard to them awhile ago V 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 V 



Eor 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. 



M CCORDING to your request for the bee-keepers 

 J^\ 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 with- 

 out any artificial assistance: and by proper manage- 

 ment we secured nearlj' 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 moderate* 

 ly, but did not continue nearly as long as usual. 

 Basswood blossomed unusually full, and the pros- 

 pects for a large yield were exceedingly good. But 

 we were doomed to disappointment; for, after the 

 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 

 honej' season. W. H. Shanh. 



Medina, Ohio, Dec. 17, 1880. 



