■JPob7is2ied Weekly, at 91.00 per annuxn. 



Sample Copy sent on Application, 



;36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUGUST 6, 1896. 



No. 32. 



MR. H. E. HILI.. 



The subject of this sketch was born at Port Burwell, Out., 

 Canada, Aug. S, 1865. His interest in bees dates back to 

 early childhood days, his father being a progressive bee-keeper 

 of that time, making and using sections holding about two 

 pounds each as early as 1868. Bleak lake winds and winter 

 losses, or, rather, spring losses, rendered the business un- 

 profitable in that locality, and it was accordingly abandoned 

 a few years later, but the admiration and keen interest awak- 

 ened so early iu life still clung to him, and his father's books 

 and papers, and all other available literature relating to bee- 

 culture afforded a favorite pastime, while those throughout 

 the surrounding country who possessed several colonies of 

 fcees, and "knew all about them," were objects of envy, and 

 young Hill lost no opportunity to be around in their way and 

 bore them with questions ; his delight was to be given some 

 kind of a job to do about the bee-work, and after more than 20 

 years of study and practice there is now no part of the work 

 with bees that does not give him the same pleasure and fasci- 

 nation. 



Mr. Hill's actual bee-keeping began in 1880, when his 

 father presented him with two colonies and a year's subscrip- 

 tion to the American Bee Journal, since which time he has 

 been a constant student of apiculture, and a reader and ad- 

 mirer of the " Old Reliable." 



With four years' work as an amateur, came a keener re- 

 alization of the depths of mystery and consequent necessity of 

 knowledge in order to become proficient. 



In 1884, with his parents, Mr. H. moved to Pennsylvania, 

 taking two colonies of bees to test the new field, which were in- 

 creased to six that year ; but little honey was taken, as the 

 locality afterwards proved to be one of the poorest in the 

 State. 



In 1885 arrangements were made by which he was to 

 spend the entire season in the Woodstock (Ont., Canada) api- 

 ary, and he returned to Canada in April, giving his time for 

 the following six months in exchange for instruction under 

 Mr. J. B. Hall, and the proudest moment of his life, probably, 

 was when he received a certificate of his ability as an apiarist 

 from Canada's comb-honey king. 



The following spring, with 30 colonies in nondescript 



hives, after transferring them to uniform frames, he secured 

 one ton of section honey, 700 pounds of extracted, and in- 

 creased to 83 good, strong colonies, which he wintered with- 

 out loss — at Titusville, Pa. ., 



Mr. Hill's anxiety to familiarize himself with the honey- 

 resources of the whole country, led him to apply for a position 

 in reply to an advertisement for an apiarist to establish an 

 apiary in the West Indies, and his recommendation from Mr. 

 Hall was instrumental in securing the job, against nearly 100 

 other applicants, and he accordingly sailed for Cuba on Oct. 

 16, 1886, returning to Pennsylvania the following April, and 

 resuming charge of his little apiary ; but four successive 

 failures of the honey crop in that field caused him to dispose 

 of his bees. 



In 1887 he received a letter from his Spanish employer 

 in Cuba, saying that he desired him to return and take charge 



H. E. Hill. 



of his bee-business, in this language: " Knowing your dispo- 

 sition to do right, I leave you to make your own terms ; but I 

 want you to resume charge of the business." This letter, iu 

 1891, which was sent with an application for a position to 

 Wheeler & Hunt, of Redlands, Calif., doubtless had some In- 

 fluence in Mr. Hill's favor, as he secured a very good place 

 with them, which gave him an insight into California re- 



