THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TURIS T. 



3 



is any better science in any of 

 the self-styled scientific works on 

 bee-culture I have overlooked it. 

 And as a correct theory leads to a 

 successful practice, we are not 

 surprised to learn that for many 

 years before his death his average 

 loss in wintering was less than 

 two per cent, and this with the 

 most disastrous loss about him. 



His summer management was 

 equally successful, and at an early 

 date he probably marketed more 

 honey in glass boxes than all other 

 producers combined. And as he 

 was among the very first to use the 

 glass honey box, so he was first 

 also in the use of the one-comb 

 section, having these last in use 

 several years before the^^ were 

 given . to the public. He also 

 proved the superiority of wood over 

 tin as a separator before the pub- 

 lic had heard of either. In 1858 

 he wrote, " There is not the least 

 dotcbt in my mind that ivhoever 

 realizes the greatest profit from his 

 bees ivill have to retain the movable 

 combs in some form." The italics 

 are his own. And yet we have ed- 

 itors and writers who speak of 

 Mr. Quinby as though he was a 

 box-hive man. The above quota- 

 tion was written before ever a bee- 

 journal was published in the English 

 language. 



Dzierzon has been rightly called 

 the father of practical beekeep- 

 ing in Europe and I have been late- 

 ly much interested in reading his 

 work on Rational Beekeeping first 

 published in 1878. On comparing 

 it with an 1859 edition of Mr. 

 Quinby's book I find that the great 



German is more than a score of 

 years behind our foremost Ameri- 

 can. Mr. Quinby has been called 

 the father of practical bee cul- 

 ture in this countrj^ but now we 

 must include the whole world in 

 the title. 



Great honor is justly awarded 

 Mr. Langstroth for the invention 

 of so perfect a movable comb hive. 

 Hanging comb hives of various 

 patterns had been invented but it 

 remained for a Langstroth to com- 

 bine their various merits into one 

 practical hive and introduce it a- 

 mong the beekeepers of this coun- 

 try. Mr. Quinby is entitled to 

 equal or even greater credit for the 

 invention of his new hives, for 

 greater changes were necessary in 

 order to make the Huber hive 

 practical. Mr. Quinby quickly ob- 

 served that bees uid not winter as 

 well in the Langstroth hives as in 

 box hives on account of the spaces 

 at the end of the frames and he set 

 about to remedy it by making a 

 closed-end frame. Dzierzon says 

 on this subject, "These passages 

 are unnatural, and they carry oflf 

 the necessary heat and moisture 

 from the brood-nest and winter 

 quarters of the bees, so that colonies 

 generally winter rather badly." 



Abbott, late editor of the British 

 Bee Journal says — "There is noth- 

 ing more unnatural in hive arrange- 

 ment than the absurd practice of 

 making or leaving spaces round the 

 frame ends." It is not necessary 

 for me to draw any comparison be- 

 tween this hive and any other as a 

 practical working hive for the bee- 

 keeper, but will content myself with 



