T'HiE' rn'mmmicmi^ bus jQ'tjRiH.si<. 



5(37 



DADANT. 



Tlic Iloi*lioiilliii'i!it»i meet and 

 See the Sights. 



The Keokuk ConMluliou-Dcmocrnl 

 rejiorts the proceedings of tlie Warsaw, 

 Ills., Horticultural Society, which was 

 held at the residence of Messrs. Dadant 

 & Son, at Hamilton, Ills., on Aug. 8, 

 1889, as follows : 



At 2 p. m., H. D. Brown, of Hamil- 

 ton, President of the Society, called 

 the assemblage to order. In tlie ab- 

 sence of J. T. Johnson, of Warsaw, 

 the Secretarj-, C. B. Rockwell, of 

 Hamilton, was chosen Secretary pro 

 tcm. 



An informal discussion of the cul- 

 ture and improvement of small fruits 

 followed, and was participated in by 

 Ur. Laou, John Holt and others. Many 

 points were brought out, and the dis- 

 cussion proved profitable to those in- 

 terested in the culture of small fruits. 



Jonathan Periam, of Chicago, editor 

 of the Prairie Farmer, and professor 

 of hygiene in the Chicago verterinarj- 

 college, was present and deli\ ered a 

 brief address upon monopolies. Mr. 

 Periam has made a study of all subjects 

 pertaining to the occupation of the 

 farmer, and he discussed monopolies 

 from the stand-point of the husband- 

 man. He advocated the idea that 

 farmers should organize for the jiro- 

 tection and advancement of their in- 

 terests, and should have a hand in 

 making the laws of the nation, but 

 should refrain from entering the politi- 

 cal held as an organization. 



Mr. Periam's address concluded the 

 programme, and the company spent 

 the remainder of the afternoon in in- 

 specting the factory of Dadant it Son. 



The Hamilton, Ills., Press gives the 

 following concerning the Dadant Comb 

 Foundation Factory : 



The Messrs. Dad ants are located two 

 miles north of Hamilton, and as some 

 one expressed it, " away back there in 

 the woods ;" and under the unpreten- 

 tious guise of modesty, no one would 

 suspect that the largest apiary in the 

 world was located there. In fact, peo- 

 ple who have lived in the neighbor- 

 hood for years, did not full)- realize the 

 magnitude of the enterprise which 

 these gentlemen are carrying on, and 

 had never paid them a visit bi'fore. 

 But so well were they treated, tliat the 

 gates in the future will have to be 

 barred to keep them out. 



Mr. Chas. Dadant commenced on 

 this farm, twenty-five years ago, with 

 two colonies of bees ; and a small log 

 cabin— not exactly in the lane — consti- 

 tuted the whole establishment. Thev 



now have several rooms and buildings, 

 and are crowded in their work. Mr. 

 Dadant said that when he started, the 

 family grumbhul a great deal, and 

 thought that if he would not have his 

 nose among the bees so much, and 

 |)low his corn more, they would get 

 along better. They don't say that now. 



The firm now have over 500 colonies 

 — 112 on the home farm, and the bal- 

 ance on the farms of J. P. LaMoiite, 

 and Joe Villum, near Warsaw ; Julian 

 Lamet. below Warsaw, Louis Sack and 

 HoUin Sherwood, and are ably assisted 

 in the management by Mr. D. W. Mc- 

 Daniels, an intelligent apiarist. But 

 in order to judge of the magnitude of 

 tlie enterprise, one mast see for him- 

 self. 



Under the guidance of Mr. Ch.as. 

 Dadant and C. B. Rockwell, we were 

 conducted into a room where the wax 

 is melted, and sheets for comb founda- 

 tion are prepared. The beeswax is 

 placed in a large tank, and melted by 

 steam ; this is put in a boiler, on either 

 side of which sat Fai-ker Hubbard and 

 Jolin Hammoud, who dipped boards 

 up and down in the liquid and placed 

 them in a tub of water to partially 

 cool. Leon Sangier, with surprising 

 dexterity, seized the boards, and with 

 a knife, peeled oft' the wax into beau- 

 tiful sheets. 



In the next room we found the des- 

 tination of these sheets. A quantity 

 are placed in a tank of warm water to 

 temper them, antl tlien run through a 

 cylinder which makes the indentations 

 of the comb foundation. There are 

 two of these machines, and are operated 

 by D. H. Coft'man and Alfred Gilton 

 at one, and Chris. Koelle and Henry 

 Delarue at the other. Harry Cnrden 

 tlien takes a pile of sheets, and trims 

 them to the required size, and then 

 places tissue paper between each sheet, 

 and they are then labeled and placed 

 on shelves ready for market. They 

 have sold 57,000 pounds of comb foun- 

 dation thus far tliis season, and orders 

 still coming. The business will exceed 

 that of any other year. 



We went into the wax-room and saw 

 stacks of huge kegs of wax and a large 

 bin of dirty-looking wax ; how it was 

 cleaned was explained by going into 

 the purifying ro(jm, where the wax is 

 placed in a tank with water, and melted 

 by steam. The impurities arising are 

 skimmed off, and it is then poured into 

 tin cans containing more water, which 

 separates the remainder of the im- 

 purities. 



Our wife being with U6, made us 

 brave, and we proceeded to the hives 

 and witnessed Mr. McDaniels remove 

 frames of hone\ from the hives. After 

 removing the top he smoked them 

 freely, and witli a bunch of weeds 

 brushed the bees off on the ground. 



and even took a liandful and fondled 

 them for our gratification. It might 

 have been pleasant to him, but we 

 should as soon think of fondling an 

 untamed tiger. 



P. Champeau stood ready witli a 

 wheelljarrow on which the precious 

 frames were placed and conveyed to 

 the extractor. Mr. Sangier. Sr., took 

 each frame, and with a .sharp knife 

 shaved off tlie wax enclosing the cells, 

 and placed tlie frame in a large cylin- 

 der, and with a few whirls of the 

 handle the honey ponred out in a 

 stream through a faucet below, and 

 was caught in a bucket and emptied 

 into a barrel, wlien the frames were 

 taken out entirely free from honey. 



One of the sweetest sights we ever 

 saw, was tlie seventy-five barrels of 

 lioney containing 550 pounds each, the 

 product of the season, thus far. 



If our description of this institution 

 has been imperfect, lay it to our ignor- 

 ance in such matters, and a first visit. 

 Mr. Chas, Dadant has recently revi-sed 

 Langstroth's bee-book, which is a stand- 

 ard authority on bee-culture, and is 

 meeting with a large sale. 



After a basket-dinner in a shady 

 grove, the people were'called to order 

 by President H. D. Brown, and a re- 

 port of committees was heard who said 

 that fruit prospects for another year 

 were favorable. 



Messrs. Dadant had on the table 

 samples of honey of 1873 and 1889, 

 which showed ([uite a contrast ; and 

 specimens of comb foundation and 

 their apparatus connected with the 

 business. A large number were pres- 

 ent from all over the county and 

 Keokuk, in all numbered about 400. 

 The Messrs, Dadants and their assist- 

 ants did all in their power to make the 

 occasion a pleasant one, and they suc- 

 ceeded most admirably, their efforts 

 being nicely seconded by the Society 

 and the ladies of the Floral Societies. 



BEE-NOTES. 



Bees Near a Hig^hway — Cross 

 Bees — Fall Honey, ete. 



Written for the Prairie Farmer. 



BY JIKS. L. IIAKRISUN. 



Bees should not be placed near a 

 street or driveway. If a jierson is so 

 situated .as to be compelled to keep 

 them in such a place, a high board- 

 fence is quite a protection against 

 trouble ; or a row of high trees or a 

 building— in fact anything that will 

 compel them to rise high, when they 

 fly from the hive. When they are 

 thus situated, persons living in the 

 vicinity, would not be aware of colo- 

 nies near, as they rise up out of the 

 way of mischief. 



