AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



267 



even without books or schools. When 

 about 20 years old he secured for the 

 first time, as his own individual posses- 

 sion, sufficient capital to invest in a stock 

 of bees, and no doubt felt enthusiastic 

 in looking forward hopefully to a good 

 run of " luck " in the way of swarms, so 

 that he could soon " take up" some by 

 the aid of the brimstone-pit. But " kill- 

 ing the goose that laid the golden egg " 

 did not commend itself to his better 

 judgment, and he was not slow to adopt 

 the better way of placing boxes on the 

 top of the hive, with holes for the as- 



practical experience in handling and 

 studying the bees themselves, as well as 

 the books, he was not merely a bee- 

 keeper, but a bee-master ; and with that 

 philanthx'opic character which made him 

 always willing to impart to others, he 

 decided to give them, at the expense of 

 a few hours' reading, what had cost him 

 years to obtain, and in 1853 the first 

 edition of "Mysteries of Bee-Keeping 

 Explained," made its appearance. Thor- 

 oughly practical in character, and vig- 

 orous in style, it at once won its way to 

 popularity. 



MOSES QUINBY. 



cent of the bees, and these boxes he im- 

 proved by substituting glass for wood in 

 the sides, thus making a long stride in 

 the matter of the appearance of the 

 marketable product. 



With little outside 

 plenty of unexplored 

 vestigating mind had 

 for operation, and he 

 study of bees and their habits. All the 

 books he could obtain were earnestly 

 studied, and everything taught therein 

 carefully tested. The many crudities 

 and inaccuracies contained in them were 

 sifted out as chaff, and after 17 years' 



help, but with 

 territory, his in- 

 plenty of scope 

 made a diligent 



From the year 1853, excepting the 

 Interest he took in his fruits and his 

 trout-pond, his attention was wholly 

 given to bees, and he was owner, or half 

 owner, of from 600 to 1,200 colonies, 

 producing large crops of honey. On the 

 advent of the movable-frame and Italian 

 bees, they were at once adopted by him, 

 and in 1862 he reduced the number of 

 his colonies, and turned his attention 

 more particularly to rearing and selling 

 Italian bees and queens. In 1865 he 

 published a revised edition of his book, 

 giving therein the added experience of 

 12 years. He wrote much for agricul- 



