1917 



AMERICAN BEr: JOURNAL 



189 



graft roses in his boyliood, lie 

 bouglit a pocl<et dictionary and sub- 

 scribed to the New York Tribu.. :. 

 Having no other way of learning the 

 news, he slowly and persistently 

 translated the information of the 

 weekly happenings with his diction- 

 ary. Within a short time he was able 

 to read from an American paper the 

 current news so readily that he often 

 read them to his wife in French as if 

 the paper had been i)rinted in the 

 French language. That quick grasp- 

 ing of the language enabled him to 

 write for the American Bee Journal, 

 as soon as he began receiving it. 



In 1867, his apiary increased rapidly, 

 so rapidly that he found himself short 

 of empty hives and needing more. 

 Lumber was high and his purse was 

 empty, so he tore up the floor of an 

 attic which was made of wide boards 

 of one-inch lumber, in the log house 

 inhabited by the family, to procure 

 lumber for hive making. The reward 

 came the following year, 1868, when 

 he harvested his first large crop. We 

 have no data as to its quantity, but it 

 amounted to several thousand pounds 

 and honey sold at a high price then. 



In 1872 Charles Dadant made a trip 

 to Italy to secure Italian bees. He had 

 bought his first Italian queen in 1866, 

 of an Ohio breeder, A. Gra}-. Then he 

 tried importing, succeeding fairly well 

 with Dr. Blumhoff, of Biasca, Italian 

 Switzerland. But the death of this 

 able breeder and repeated failure 

 with other men, determined him to 

 cross the ocean himself. He had been 

 writing articles on American beekeep- 

 ing which were appreciated and was 

 made an honorary member of the 

 Italian association. So he was al- 

 ready well known, and this was sure 

 to help his success. But nevertheless, 

 the importations of that year were a 

 dead failure. However, failure spells 

 success for tlie indomitably persistent 



man. The faults had been discovered, 

 the proper methods traced. In 1874, 

 after careful instructions, followed 

 with great exactness, Florini, of Mon- 

 selice, succeeded in sending him 

 about 100 queens with L'ss than S per 

 cent loss. Italian queens direct from 

 Italy were supplied to nearly all the 

 .\mcrican breeders within two or 

 three years. Long before that time. 

 Parsons, Langstroth, Grimm and oth- 

 ers had made importations, but none 

 on so large a scale and none so suc- 

 cessfully and cheaply, for Adam 

 Grimm imiiorted his Italian bees 

 in full colonics at great expense. But 

 others soon followed. Jones, of Can- 

 ada, made a trip to Egypt. Cyprus and 

 the Holy Land and various races of 

 bees were brought to America. 



Charles Dadant was aiv- indefatiga- 

 ble writer. Anxious to see the Euro- 

 peans adopt the practical methods of 

 our successful teachers, Langstroth 

 and Quinby. he sent articles on bee- 

 keeping to the French, Swiss and Ital- 

 ian bee magazines. Hamet, the pub- 

 lisher of the French "Apiculteur," 



ridiculed him, but Mr. Dadant over- 

 whelmed him with such convincing 

 arguments and sarcastic replies to his 

 taunts that he finally refused to for- 

 ward his magazine to him. He lived 

 long enough to find himself flooded 

 with the American methods, and when 

 he died his little magazine had given 

 in to the current of beekeeping prog- 

 ress. I'crtrand, the Swiss publisher 

 who only lately died, began in 1879 

 the publication of a "Bulletin d'Api- 

 culture" of which Mr. Dadant was 

 one of the principal contributors and 

 the name of which, at his suggestion, 

 was later changed to that of "Kevue 

 Internationale D' Apiculture." 



In 1874 Mr. Dadant published in the 

 French language a "Petit Cours d'Api- 

 culture." In 1885, Mr. Langstroth, 

 who was unable to continue the re- 

 vision of his classic work "The Hive 

 and Honey Bee," was advised by 

 Chas. Muth, of Cincinnati, to put this 

 work in the hands of the Dadants. 

 The intention was to have the work 

 done under the supervision of Mr. 

 Langstroth. But an old nervous trou- 



CHARLES DADANT AT 



MRS. CHARLES DADANT AT :5. IN 1847 



