148 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



menced urging upon his neighbors the ad- 

 vantage of securing the honey in boxes, and 

 as he since remarked, "saving the goose 

 that laid the golden egg, to repeat the oper- 

 ation." In this, as in all subsequent at- 

 tempts at improvement, he could estdhlish 

 very little except by proving its success. 



He now studied the habits of bees closely; 

 he improTed tlie appearance of surplus hon- 

 ey boxes, substitutnig for wood, four sides 

 01 glass, and after careful experiiiK'iits. pro- 

 nounced 20(K) L'ut)ic inches the right cajiacity 

 for bee hives in his latitude. If at this time 

 he had kept his knowlege concealed within 

 his own breast, he could have made a for- 

 tune, pecuniarily. 



He examined carefully such works on the 

 Honey Bee as came within his reach and 

 becoming convinced that they were not 

 reliable and complete, he resolved to publish 

 his experienccj and in 18.53 appeared his 

 first edition ot "Mysteries of Bee-keeping 

 Explained." This met with general favor 

 and wide circulation, and was accepted as a 

 standard. 



In 18.53 he removed from Greene to Mont- 

 gomery county, N. Y., where he has since 

 j'esided, and from that time to his death, he 

 gave his exclusive attention to hte culture, 

 except that he has bestowed considerable 

 care to growing orchards of apples, pears, 

 plums, &c., and cultivated quite extensive- 

 ly grapes and small fruits. For a few years 

 past, he also took especial pride in his trout 

 pond, he having superior advantages for 

 rearing trout. lie now owned or had half 

 interest in from six to twelve hundred col- 

 onies of bees, and was instrumental in send- 

 ing to market from his section, amounts of 

 box honey, ranging from five to tlilrty thous- 

 and pounds, annually. 



Soon after issuing his "Bee-Keeping Ex- 



Elained," he became acquainted with JNIr. 

 langstroth, and immediately adopted the 

 Movable Frame Plive. A little later, Italian 

 bees were brought to the United States, and 

 Mr. Quinby procured some as soon as pos- 

 sible. He" tested the merits of the new va- 

 riety thoroughly and also modified the 

 Langstroth movable frame, and in 18()5, he 

 published a revised edition of "Bee-Keep- 

 ing Explained," giving the results of his 

 riper experience. 



Ilaving passed the meridian of his life 

 and for want of efficient help, he greatly re- 

 duced the number of his stdcks about "18()2, 

 and subsequently gave much of his atten- 

 tion to rearing Italian queens and colonies 

 for market, and in writing extensively for 

 the agricultural press. 



He was prompt to adopt the honey emp- 

 tying machine and he set forth lucidly its 

 nianyfold advantages. 



For some time lie felt assured that mov- 

 able frames were susceptable of improve- 

 ment, and after giving Mr. Ilazen's hive 

 and theory, earnest consideration, he 

 brought out his non-patented Non-Swarmer 

 in 18(j8. This was found by careful experi- 

 ment to be a worthy invention and is now 

 adopted by all the leading honey iiroducers 

 in his section, and largely throughout the 

 country 



About this time he began to advocate the 

 organisafidu of bee-keepers' societies, and 

 as a result, the Ndrdieastern Bee-Keepers' 

 Assorialldii was fdnned at Albany, N. Y., 

 in ]Marc-li, IMTO. l\[r. Quinby was chosen 

 President and hehl (he position until at its 

 last meeting, he declined a re-election. 



His annual essays before this Association 

 were masterly efforts and show to some ex- 

 tent the arduous labor, the severe opposition 

 and the untiring sacrifice of the noble man 

 departed. Truly may it be said of him, 

 "Blessed are the dead which die in the 

 Lord from henceforth : yea saith the spirits 

 that they may rest from their labors; and 

 their works do follow them." 



In 1871, at the permanent organization 

 of the North American Bee-Keeper's, at 

 Cleveland, Ohio, Sir. Quinby was unani- 

 mously chosen President, a position which 

 he held for one year, but was not re-elected 

 as he did not attend subsequent meetings. 



About this time, he became convinced 

 that bee-culture would not become univer- 

 sal, until the foolish and widespread fear of 

 stings was removed from the public mind; 

 accordingly he wrote frequently on the 

 best methods of manipulating bees to avoid 

 stings, and as the crowning success of his 

 life, he invented the new smoker, with 

 which to apply somke, effectually to the 

 subduing of bees. 



The disasters experienced in wintering 

 bees, the past few years, has been to him a 

 subject of constant thought, and probably 

 no theory extant to-day is as good as his 

 conclusions on this subject, as proved 

 by his success the last two winters' in es- 

 caping loss. 



But time and space will not permit us to 

 go into minute details Of an active, pro- 

 gressive, philosophical turn of mind, he was 

 generally in advance of his fellow men. 

 ^ He was in intimate sympathy with the 

 abolition of slavery and was closely allied 

 with the cause of temperance. 



In stature, IMr. Quinby was of medium 

 height, well rounded, and rather heavily 

 built; his was apparently a vital mental 

 teinperment. 



Long may we remember the unassuming, 

 pleasant, hearty manner of the man whom 

 we respected "as a father ! Indeed his 

 cheerful service of time, money and hospit- 

 ality to those who wrote to him or visited 

 him from curiosity or to learn uU they could 

 from hiin, without returning even a 

 word of thanks, was, to others more selfish, 

 a matter of much surprise. 



Our feeble words fail to express the deep 

 appreciation which we had of Mr. Quinby. 

 We consider him the most successful found- 

 er of modern bee-culture in America, and 

 a man of unswerving conscientiousness, 

 truth and purity. 



In short, we sum him up as a deep, pro- 

 gressive thinker, a real philosopher and a 

 genuine philanthropist, who should long be 

 held in grateful remembrance by the Am- 

 erican people. 



Canajoharie, N. Y., June 15, 1875. 



JS^"" Business seems to depend upcu 

 small things, and many of them, in 

 Texas. In proof thereof read the follow- 

 ing from a Texas paper: "A single queen 

 bee will produce 100,0(10 bees in a season; 

 the 100,000 bees will produce 50,000 swol- 

 len heels and the sale of twenty-two 

 barrels of arnica. 



The Orientals call the honey-bee, "Deb- 

 orah; she that speaketh." 



