Vol. LVIl.~No. 6 



HAMILTON, ILL, JUNE, 1917, 



MONTHLY, 1.00 A YEAR 



The Centenary of Charles Dadant 



CHARLES DADANT, whose por- 

 trait was given the place it now 

 occupies at the head of the col- 

 umns of the American Bee Journal, by 



the former editor, in June, 1906, in 

 company with that of Father Lang- 

 stroth, whom he seconded and sup- 

 ported eagerly in the advancement of 

 beekeeping, was born at Vaux-Sous- 

 Aubigny, a village on the confines of 

 Champagne and Burgundy, May 22, 

 1817, just a hundred years ago. A 

 short account of his life, showing the 

 obstacles he met and the success he 

 finally achieved, may encourage some 

 of our young men, who are similarly 

 laboring under difficulties, to keep up 

 the struggle and perhaps also suc- 

 ceed. 



He was given an education for the 

 purpose of becoming a physician like 

 his own father. But he had the tastes 

 of a nature lover, or, as he explained 

 it himself in homely words : "J'avais 

 des gouts dc paysan" (I had the in- 

 clinations of a peasant). That is to 

 say, he loved life in the fields and the 

 woods, plants, flowers, bees, birds, 

 etc. He learned early how to graft, 

 and when about 12 years old amused 

 himself by budding beautiful varie- 

 ties of roses upon wild rose bushes in 

 the woods, so that a few years later, 



while roaming the woods with some 

 boys and girls of his age, he aston- 

 ished the girls and pleased them by 

 leading them to a harvest of most 

 beautiful roses, in a remote corner of 

 the forest. 



His liking for bees inducel him to 

 own bees early. In the American 

 Bee Journal of 1868, the third volume, 

 he gave interesting reminiscences of 

 his amateur beginnings in beekeep- 

 ing. 



THE SAME SPOT IN iqu, VIEWED FROM THE OTHER SIDE 



CHARLES DADANT'S BIRTHPLACE 



