1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



927 



LANGSTROTH MEMORIAL. 



Langstroth as a flan, flinister of the 



Gospel, College Professor, Editor, 



Bee=keeper, and Inventor, 



Interesting Reminiscences from His Life 

 History. 



Tributes of Praise to His flemory. 



A Few Factors that have made American Apicul = 

 ture \\ hat it is. 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE EDITOR OP THE 

 BRITISH BEE JOURNAL; FROM THE EDITOR 

 OF THE BIENENZKITUNG (GERMAN); FROM 

 THE EDITOR OF THE REVUE INTERNATION- 

 ALE d'apiculture (SWISS); from the for- 

 mer EDITORS OP THE AMERICAN BEE JOUR- 

 NAL; FROM HIS FORMER PASTOR; FROM CO- 

 TEMPORARIES OF HIS EARLY BEE-KEEPING 

 EXPERIENCES. 



REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH. 



Palmam qui meruit ferat. 



the evolution OF MOVABLE FRAMES; LANG- 

 STROTH'S great step FORWARD. 



By Thos. Win. Cowan. Editor of the British Bee 

 Journal. 



It was certainly with profound sorrow that I 

 learned of the sudden death of Mr. Langstroth, 

 and I am sure this sorrow must be shared by a 

 large number of bee-keepers who not only 

 knew him personally, but also through person- 

 al correspondence with him. And yet these 

 are few compared to the siill greater number 

 who must know him through his work, and 

 who will not only have to mourn his loss as a 

 benefactor, but also as the " father of American 

 apiculture." 



Langstroth's name is closely connected with 

 his invention, and this has certainly placed 

 bee-keeping upon an entirely different footing 

 to what it occupied before the advent of the 

 frame hive. There has been a great deal of 

 controversy as to who was the original invent- 

 or of the frame principle. It was not till 1851 

 that Langstroth invented his hive, and frames 

 had already been in use some years previously. 

 They were, however, not of any practical util- 

 ity, for the hives containing thom were compli- 

 cated, or so exceedingly expensive that they 

 could be looked upon only as luxuries for rich 

 amateurs rather than hives to be used by bee- 

 keepers for business purposes. 



Putting Ruber's leaf hive — which was un- 

 doubtedly the first on the principle of mov- 

 able frames — and similar hives, on one side as 

 not being suited for general bee-keepers, we 

 come to the hive of Major Munn, who first em- 

 ployed hanging frames in 1834. There was 

 no lateral movement to these, and for examina- 

 tion they were drawn up into a glass case. Nor 

 were they interchangable, as are the frames 



of the present day. The cost of such a hive 

 was from $35 to S40, and consequently they 

 could be used only by the wealthy amateur. 



In 1841 ProkopowicU invented his frame hive, 

 which was a rather remarkable one, and of 

 special interest just now, as the principle he 

 advocated has recently been revived. His hive 

 consisted of two body boxes having frames with 

 wide bars, openings being cut out to allow the 

 bees to pass from one box to another. The su- 

 per was fitted with similar. but shallow frames. 

 There was a small space admitting of slight 

 lateral movement of the frames, so that they 

 could be drawn out without crushing bees. 

 But the principal feature of this hive consisted 

 in its being constructed for inversion, or being 

 turned upside down. Bee-keepers of the pres- 

 ent day will have no difficulty in recognizing 

 this principle, and will, perhaps, note to whom 

 they should give the credit of the invention. 

 Put to practical use, this hive did not answer 

 the expectations of its inventor, and the bee- 

 keeper found that, in strong colonies, it was 

 impossible to remove the frames without 

 crushing bees. Moreover, the frames became 

 so propolized and firmly fixed together that it 

 required a strong wrench to pull them asunder. 



In 1843 Debeauvoys introduced his frame hive. 

 This was an improvement upon the others, but 

 it did not come up to what was required. The 

 frames were awkward in shape, and it was 

 difficult to insert them into, and remove them 

 from the hive. They could be taken out only 

 consecutively, like the frames of the German 

 hives of the present day. The hive also, being 

 too complicated, was of no use practically. 



It was not till 1851 that Langstroth invented 

 his frame hive, which, from its simplicity, 

 cheapness, and practical adaptability to the 

 purposes required, has conferred a lasting boon 

 on bee-keeping. There are no doubt some who 

 think other methods are quite as good; but a 

 very large and daily increasing nunibpr of bee- 

 keepers on this continent of Europe recognize 

 that the principle introduced by Langstroth — 

 and first published by him in 1853 in his book 

 on the honey-bee— is the correct one. The 

 opening of the hive at the top, the perfect in- 

 terchangeability of the movable combs, and 

 the lateral movement of the frames, have given 

 the bee-keeper the most perfect control over 

 his bees, and have more than justified Lang- 

 stroth's expectations when he wrote the note in 

 his diary in 1851, that "The use of these 

 frames will, I am persuaded, give a new impetus 

 to the easy and profitable management of 

 bees." 



We here in Europe have for a long time held 

 Langstroth in the highest esteem; have appre- 

 ciated his invention, and only a few years ago 

 we — British bee-keepers — did ourselves the 

 pleasure of electing him an honorary member 

 of the British Bee-keepers' Association, as a 



