Author/Editor     Dovč, Peter; Božič, Janko; Dovč, Franci
Title     Father Francis Jager - chief of the division of apiculture at University of Minnesota
Type     članek
Source     In: Poklukar J, Kozmus P, editors. Proceedings of the 38th Apimondia international apicultural congress; 2003 Aug 24-29; Ljubljana. Ljubljana: Apimondia international federation of beekeepers' associations,
Publication year     2003
Language     eng
Abstract     Francis Jager was born in Borovnica, a small village near Vrhnika in central Slovenia in 1869. After completing high school in Ljubljana he moved to Minnesota and entered St. Paul's seminary. In 1892 he was ordained and started to serve as priest in different parishes in Minnesota. During his priesthood he pioneered bee culture and helped to organize passionate beekeepers in Minnesota. He built up on the bee keeping tradition in his old home country Slovenia and also organized several imports of queens from Slovenia. As in 1913 the first Department of Bee Culture was established at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Francis Jager was appointed as its first chief and professor of apiculture. Under Jager's direction teaching in this area expanded rapidly with courses in both theoretical and practical bee keeping. In addition to teaching at the University, Francis Jager was also active in extension work, building a broad fundament of beekeepers' education. In 1917 he was elected President of the National Beekeepers' Association. He prepared a series of radio extension courses for the Gold Medal Station WCCO in Minneapolis / St. Paul in 1926. Father Jager was an excellent speaker and teacher, however, unfortunately he wrote little for publication. He died in Louisiana in 1941 in the age of 72. The city of Vrhnika honored his contribution to the development of bee keeping with number of events during the last two years.
Descriptors     BEES
TEACHING
MINNESOTA