748 



AMERICAN BKK JOURNAL. 



emy in Wyoming, N. Y., when he was 

 either at or near the head in all his 

 classes except grammar, his school edu- 

 cation was obtained in the common dis- 

 trict school. 



In his 19th year Mr. Mason joined 

 the Baptist church of his native town, 

 and has ever since been proud to be 

 known as a Christian. Just previous to 

 his 22nd birthday, at the earnest solici- 

 tation of his parents, he commenced the 

 study of medicine with the family physi- 

 cian, working, as opportunity offered, to 

 earn money to help pay expenses. 



During the winter of 1857 Dr. Mason 

 attended medical lectures at the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. . At the 

 close of the lecture course, he went to 

 Illinois to spend the summer, and to 

 complete his medical studies. The fol- 

 lowing autumn he returned to the old 

 home in New York, and on his 25th 

 birthday he was married to a Miss Clark. 

 In the spring of 1859, in company with 

 several families from New York and 

 Illinois, the newly married couple went 

 West and located at Irviugton, Kossuth 

 county, Iowa, 40 miles west of the pres- 

 ent home of Mr. Eugene Secor. The 

 colony with which they went having 

 broken up, in 1862 they moved to 

 Waterloo, Iowa. Here Mr. Mason com- 

 menced the practice of denistry, which 

 he has followed to the present time. He 

 was Secretary and Treasurer of the 

 Iowa State Dental Society, and President 

 of the Northern Iowa Dental Association 

 for two years. For four terms he was 

 Secretary and a member of the School 

 Board of the city in which he lived, and 

 was one of the originators of the city 

 library, and librarian for several years. 



For years Dr. Mason 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 clei'k, a trustee, and 

 clerk of the board of trustees. He was 

 a leader in Sabbath-school work at home 

 and in adjoining counties. One year he 

 was secretary of eight different organi- 

 zations, four of them religious. 



Dr. Mason has always been known as 

 an earnest temperance worker, and has 

 had his life threatened twice by saloon- 

 keepers. He still delights in being a 

 thorn to them. 



He has two sons and a daughter. His 

 children, like himself, i>se no tea, coffee, 

 tobacco, or liquor in any form. 



In 1869, a brother, in moving, left 

 two colonies of bees with him until a 

 more favorable time for moving them. 

 He soon became interested in them, and, 

 seeing an article in a newspaper that 



year about Mrs. Tupper's success with 

 bees, wrote to her, making some in- 

 quiries, which were kindly answered. 

 He at once became a subscriber to the 

 American Bee Journal, which he has 

 taken until the present time. 



The same year Mr. Mason became a 

 member of the Central Iowa Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, and the next year was 

 elected secretary, which position he held 

 until he left the State. 



In 1873, owing to frequent attacks of 

 rheumatism, and an increasing desire to 

 make bee-keeping more of a specialty. 

 Dr. Mason quit the office practice of 

 denistry, and the proceeds of the apiary 

 have materially aided in furnishing 

 " bread and butter " for wife and chil- 

 dren. 



In 1874, the family residence, a large 

 new house, with all its contents, was 

 consumed by fire. There were 18 first- 

 class Italian colonies of bees in the cel- 

 lar. On learning of the loss, some mem- 

 bers of the Central Iowa Bee-Keepers' 

 Association offered to make him a pres- 

 ent of 14 colonies as a starter. 



The same year we moved to Ohio, 

 which has since been our home. In the 

 summer of 1875 we lived in a suburb of 

 Cincinnati, and made and sold the 

 Murphy honey extractor, most of them 

 going to Southern States. 



In 1876 Dr. M. was chosen secretary 

 of the Buckeye Union Poultry Associa- 

 tion, and held the position for four 

 years. 



In the winter of 1879 he tried what 

 has since been known as the "Pollen 

 Theory," and, with the experience of 

 that and succeeding winters, he has 

 been made a firm believer in that theory. 

 This was several years before anything 

 was said about it in the bee-periodicals. 



In 1881 Mr. Mason succeeded in get- 

 ting the Tri-State Fair Association at 

 Toledo to offer Fair premiums for the 

 display of the products of the apiary, 

 and the display has increased in attrac- 

 tiveness each year ; and last fall it was 

 said the display was the most attractive 

 of any on the grounds. He was ap- 

 pointed superintendent of the depart- 

 ment the first year, and still holds the 

 position. 



During the year 1882 and 188o, 

 when but little was generally known 

 about foul brood, his apiary of 75 colo- 

 nies was badly infected, nearly every 

 colony having it in 1883, and he has 

 frequently stated the loss was from 

 $300 to $500; but he cured it that 

 year, and has had none since. 



For several years he has been a mem- 

 ber of the Michigan State Bee-Keepers' 



