1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



939 



And fill with strains of music lieaven's Empyrean 



dome. 

 Thus, like a shocli of corn full ripe, our aged friend 

 Attained, 'mid hallowed Sabbath scenes, his jour- 

 ney's end, 

 While those who watched his exit, with tear-mois- 

 tened eye. 

 Soliloquized, "Let me like Father Langstroth die!" 

 If " Death ends all," we never more again shall see 

 That form erect with conscious moral majesty; 

 But if our Christian faith tells no delusive tale, 

 We in the glory-land shall bid our friend " All hail." 

 Will there be bees in heaven, and honey gathered 



there ? 

 Is it a " happy hunting-ground," without a care 't 

 We know not; but our friend will reap a rich reward 

 Of joy and fellowship, " forever with tlie Lord." 

 Farewell, dear friend, and in a brighter world than 



this 

 May we enjoy with you a life of perfect bliss. 

 Where thrilling music through celestial mansions 



rings, 

 And pleasures evermore are gathered without sting ! 



Wm. p. Clarke. 

 Guelph, Ontario, Nov. 18. 



[This memorial would be incomplete without 

 at least a mere reference to the life and work of 

 one who was cotemporary with Father Lang- 

 stroth, and gave him material aid and encour- 

 agement in his early labors. 1 refer to the 

 founder of the America?*. Bee Journal, the la- 

 mented Samuel Waguer — that prince of bee- 

 journal editors, scholar, and bee-keeper. The 

 early volumes of the "'Old Reliable" under the 

 editorial management of this man are a verit- 

 able storehouse of valuable information. As 

 one glances over them he begins to wonder if we 

 are .-o very far in advance of them to-day in 

 our knowledge and practice. The fact that 

 apiculture took such a wonderful impetus in 

 this country in the early sixties is due very 

 largely to the unremitting and unselfish labors 

 of these two men. The one gave us the inven- 

 tion which revolutionized moUern bee-keeping, 

 and the other spread the knowledge of that in- 

 vention over the whole wide world. Wagner 

 saw at a glance the value of the movable 

 frame; and during the darkest hours, amidst 

 the persecution against Mr. L.— a species of 

 blackmail that has been characterized as a blot 

 and a disgrace upon our early apicultural his- 

 tory—this man Wagner stood by him through 

 it all. 



In the old American Bee Journal for March 

 12, 1872. we find this beautifully written tribute 

 to the memory of Wagner, by Father Lang- 

 stroth himself.— Ed.] 



DEATH OF SAMUEL WAONKK. 



Keaders of the Bee Journal, :— Your dear old 

 friend, the honored editor of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, is dead. On Saturday, February 7th, he awoke 

 early, partially dressed himself, and was talking 

 pleasantly with his wife, when he was suddenly 

 seized with shortness of breath, soon became uncon- 

 scious, and in less than fifteen minutes breathed 

 his last. The physicians pronounced his disease to 

 be aneurism of the heart. He had complained for 

 more than a year of pain and numbness, interfering 

 greatly at times with the use of his pen. 



A noble, unselQsh, gopd man has fallen, in the full 

 vigor of his intellect, with judgment unimpaired, 

 and memory wonderfully tenacious. Nearly seven- 



ty-four years old ! How few of the readers of the 

 Journal could have imagined that its vigorous edi- 

 torials and wise management were the products of 

 a man who had reached an age when most men are 

 comparatively useless. 



If he could have chosen for himself, it would have 

 been to die thus with the harness on; to pass by the 

 shortest transition from useful liappy work to the 

 better land. 



Few know how much Mr. Samuel Wagner has 

 done for the promotion of bee culture in America. 

 Being able to read German fluently"— indeed, until 

 he was nearly ten years old he spoke no English- 

 he had taken all the numbers of the Bienenzeitwig 

 and other German bee-journals, from their origin. 

 His library is unquestionably the choicest reposi- 

 tory, in America, of German bee literature, and 

 probably the fullest, in this department, of any pri- 

 vate library in the world. Better acquainted with 

 the history and literature of bee culture than any 

 man in America, perhaps than any living man— sel- 

 dom if ever forgetting a single fact once lodged in 

 his extraordinary memory, he was so modestt and 

 reserved that only those who knew him well under- 

 stood the wide range of his reading and investiga- 

 tion. 



Unselfish to an unusual degree, he cared compar- 

 atively little for money or applause, but kept stead- 

 ily in view the advancement of the true interests of 

 bee culture, making his varied information contrib- 

 ute to the wider diffusion of all that pertained to 

 the true theory and practice of his favorite pursuit. 

 While specially familiar with every thing pertaining 

 to this subject, he was well versed in the civil his- 

 tory of his country, and intimately with the ecclesi- 

 astical history of the German Reformed Church, in 

 which he had served for many years as an honored 

 elder. There were few subjects, indeed, on which 

 he could not converse with ease; and by the extent, 

 variety, and remarkable accuracy of his information, 

 he was one of the most delightful companions to all 

 who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance. 



It is very difficult to realize that all these stores 

 of instructive and entertaining knowledge lie bur- 

 ied in his tomb; and nothing but a firm belief in the 

 wisdom and goodness of that merciful Father, in 

 whom he trusted, can reconcile us to his loss. He 

 who hath brought "life and immortality to light in 

 the gospel" knows best when and how to summon 

 his children to their unclouded splendor. 



L. L. Langstroth. 



[After the above the following appears, writ- 

 ten by Mr. Wagner's son:] 



1^^ Samuel Wagner was born at York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, August 17th, 1798. His father was at that 

 time pastor of the German Reformed Church in 

 that borough. Having accepted a call from the 

 German Reformed congregation at Frederick, Mary- 

 land, he removed there. Mr. Wagner there attend- 

 ed the parochial school attached to the church. In 

 1810 his father resigned, owing to ill health, and re- 



* We forgot, in the February number of the^nier- 

 ican Bee Journal, to give the proper credit to Mr. 

 Wagner for his translations from the Bienenzeitung, 

 given in the article on the Berlepsch frames. 



+ It is with deep regret that we announce that no 

 likeness exists of our venerable friend. He shrank 

 so instinctively from every thing having the least 

 appearance of personal display, that he could never 

 be prevailed on to allow his portrait to be taken. 



