986 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



necessary for him to call in an assistant — 

 and this assistant was a stenographer, and 

 as good as she was pretty; of how he and 

 the stenographer formed a co - partnershi p — 

 a partnership, I should judge, that is a 

 very happy one. Mr. and Mrs. Joe have a 

 delightful home, and I was entertained 

 most royally by them. 



Again I took the train, stopping off for an 

 hour or two between trains to talk with Bro. 

 York and compare notes. 



And now, dear reader, my trip of 6000 

 miles is completed — on paper at least. In 

 our next issue I begin a new series, and I 

 will introduce to you H. G. Watson, of Ne- 

 braska, a rancher and bee-keeper who, I 

 believe, has the largest area of alfalfa under 

 cultivation of any one man in the world. 

 Every thing he does was on a gigantic 

 scale when we were visiting him at his home 

 in Nebraska. 



IN MEMORIAM OF DR. A. B. MASON. 



His Life History. 



In our last issue we announced briefly the 

 death of Dr. A. B. Mason, which occurred 

 on Wednesday, Nov. 12, as a result of a 

 serious burning from a natural-gas explo- 

 sion. About a week before, the doctor had 

 gone into the summer kitchen at his home 

 with a lighted lamp. Natural gas was es- 

 caping from one of the pipes, with the re- 

 sult that a fearful explosion occurred, re- 

 sulting in the tipping over of the lamp, 

 causing a conflagration. The direct result 

 of the explosion, and the eftort to put out 

 the fire, caused some serious burning. 

 While the result of the accident seemed 

 very serious, yet it was hoped that the doc- 

 tor would survive; but the shock was too 

 great for him, and he finalU^ passed awaj^ 

 on the morning of the 12th, at 7:55. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, while never an exten- 

 sive bee-keeper, was alwa5's activel}^ inter- 

 ested in the general subject of apiculture. 

 He attended many of the conventions, es- 

 pecially those national in character. He 

 was for two terms President of the old 

 North American Bee-keepers' Association, 

 and for a number of terms continuouslj' 

 Secretary of what was subsequently called 

 the National Bee-keepers' Association. His 

 general fund of good humor, which bubbled 

 over every now and then in a stray shot or 

 a facetious remark while the sessions were 

 in progress, did much to enliven the conven- 

 tions, and he will be greatly missed at 

 future meetings. 



The good doctor was one of the original 

 members of the Association. He drew up 

 the first draft of the constitution for the 

 Association after its reorganization a few 

 years ago, and I don't think it too much to 

 say that no man did more to advance its 

 interests. Many a night, when he could be 

 free from his professional duties of the day, 

 he devoted himself to Association work 

 clear on up till midnight. He loved the 



Association, and was willing to sacrifice 

 money and time. 



Dr. A. B. Mason was born in the town 

 of Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., Nov. 18, 1833. 

 His father and maternal grandfather were 

 soldiers in the war of 1812. Dr. M. was 

 raised on a farm, and all six of his brothers 

 are farmers. At 17 years of age he taught 

 successfully a school in De Kalb Co., 111., 

 for S14.00 a month, and "boarded around." 

 At the close of this school he attended sev- 

 eral terms at Beloit (Wisconsin) college. 

 He then commenced the study of medicine, 

 attending lectures during the winters of 



DR. A. B. MASON. 



1857 and 1858 at the University of Michi- 

 gan, at Ann Arbor. In 1862 he moved to 

 Waterloo, la., and, the practice of medicine 

 not being to his taste, he adopted dentistry 

 as his life profession, having studied it in 

 connection with medicine. He was presi- 

 dent of the Northern Iowa Dental Associa- 

 tion for two years. 



In his 19th year he united with the church, 

 and was an earnest Christian worker. For 

 years he was an active, if not the most 

 active member of the church to which he 

 belonged, being at one time superintendent 

 of the Sabbath-school, church clerk, a 

 trustee, and clerk of the board of trustees. 

 He was a leader in Sabbath-school work 

 at home and in adjoining counties. One 



