1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



933 



But it is not alone for his useful invention 

 that the memory of our great Langstroth de- 

 serves to be handed down to posterity. He has 

 written an admirable book in which the eleva- 

 tion of the thoughts equals the extent of the 

 writer's erudition as well as the richness of his 

 observations, and which will remain the mas- 

 terpiece of apicultural literature. Thanks to 

 Mr. Dadant's translation, of which I am pre- 

 paring a second edition, this work is now known 

 to French-speaking apiculturists; and it has 

 been produced in Russian through the labors of 

 Mr. Kandratiefl. 



Our dear master's life had a glorious end, and 

 one well worthy of it, as he died preaching the 

 word of God. Let us preserve his memory in 

 our hearts. Ed. Bertrand. 



Nyon, Switz., Oct. 27, 1895. 



SOME EECOLLECTIONS OF LANGSTEOTH. 



By W. F. Clarke, formcily Editor of the Amei'ican 

 Bee Journal. 



My first knowledge of Mr. Langstroth by 

 name was in the early winter of 1863. I had 

 engaged to edit an agricultural journal which 

 was to be started in Toronto, Jan. 1, 1864, to be 

 called the Canada ^an/ier; and on surveying 

 the field of my prospective duties it occurred to 

 me that there was one braach of agriculture 

 about which I knew nothing whatever — name- 

 Jy, bee-keeping. I at once resolved to read up 

 on the subject; and on making inquiries for 

 the best works to peruse I met with " Lang- 

 stroth on the Honey-bee." I lost no time in 

 plunging into its pages, which 1 found replete 

 with interest. The book read like a fairy-tale. 

 I felt as if I had been introduced into a new 

 world. Up to this time my knowledge of the 

 bee did not stand beyond Dr. Watts' juvenile 

 and moral song, which commences, " How doth 

 the little busy bee I" I now felt that I must 

 explore for myself the new world which had 

 been opened up to me. Toward spring I cor- 

 responded with Mr. J. H. Thomas, of Brooklyn, 

 Ontario, and bought of him a colony of Italian 

 bees bred from stock he had obtained from Mr. 

 Langstroth. This was my initiation into what 

 Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, as I think rightly, calls 

 " the pleasant occupation of tending bees," the 

 fascination of whicli is easier felt tlian told. 

 If it were only for the gratification I have de- 

 rived from this pursuit as a scientific pastime 

 for more than thirty very busy years, I should 

 feel that I owed Mr. Langstroth a large debt of 

 gratitude. 



I first met our lamented friend face to face at 

 the bee-keepers' convention held in Cincinnati 

 during the month of February, 1871, of which 

 he was elected president by acclamation. His 

 health was poor then, and he accepted office as 

 a compliment, on the condition that none of 

 the active duties of the position were to be per- 

 formed by him, as he did not feel that he had 



physical strength adequate to the task. The 

 convention unanimously consented to this con- 

 dition. I had a great deal of talk with him 

 about the suit for infringement of his patent 

 rights, in which he was then engaged. He had 

 a deep sense of wrong, and felt most keenly the 

 attempts which were being made to deprive 

 him of what he believed to be his just dues. It 

 cut him to the quick, that the very man who 

 was doing the must to deprive him of the bene- 

 fits of his movable-frame-hive invention should 

 have placed him before the meeting as an ob- 

 ject of charity by starting a 1.5000 subscription 

 fund on his behalf. He said he did not want 

 charity; all he asked was justice. 



My intercourse with Mr. Langstroth at this 

 time led me to form an exalted estimate of him 

 as a man of high honor, scrupulous integrity, 

 and unbending rectitude. The spirit showed 

 by him toward those who were injuring him 

 was admirable. There was no harshness, no 

 display of unkind feeling, the predominant 

 thought being to have his cause triumph be- 

 cause it was right. There was a lofty dignity 

 and moral majesty about him which impressed 

 me very deeply. I never met him again until 

 in September last at the Toronto convention. 

 He recalled the events that transpired at the 

 Cincinnati convention, nearly a quarter of a 

 century before, and was most profuse in his ex- 

 pressions of gratitude to myself and Mr. A. I. 

 Root for the efforts made by us to have him 

 righted on that occasion. It was a pathetic 

 parting we had at the close of the convention, 

 like that of the Ephesian elders with Paul. 

 They sorrowed most of all that they should see 

 his face no more; and I had the same feeling as 

 I bade him adieu in Toronto, though I did not 

 think the end would come so soon; nor did he. 

 With improved health he was looking forward 

 with almost youthful buoyancy of hope to do- 

 ing some further work on which his heart was 

 set. But it was not to be. He returned home to 

 die, amid scenes the most hallowed and dear to 

 him, and while engaged in the work he most 

 sacredly loved. 



" The weary wheels of life stood still at last." 

 As a Canadian I am praud and glad that the 

 last public tribute of respect and honor was 

 paid to him, not only on our soil, but amid the 

 classic surroundings of our educational depart- 

 ment, where so many busts of departed great- 

 ness in literary and philanthropic walks of life 

 are gathered; and I shall take pleasure in mov- 

 ing, at the next meeting of the Ontario Bee- 

 keepers' Association, that permission be sought 

 from the government to add a bust of Lang- 

 stroth to the collection. I feel sure that per- 

 mission will be readily granted. 



Though I met Mr. Langstroth on only the 

 two occasions to which I have referred, I had 

 correspondence with him at various times as 

 circumstances arose which prompted it. When, 



