254 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



^i0gra^3liiCiiL 



Wilson H. Andrews 



Was born near Lebanon, Wilson County, 

 Tennessee, October 15tli, 1830. lie was 

 raised at farm work and held by his father 

 till in his 21st year, when he left the farm 

 and went to scliool and taught school alter- 

 nate! j^ till 1856, keeping about even in finan- 

 cial matters. On the 3d of September, of 

 that year, he married Miss Sarah A. Green, 

 also of that county. He then entered the 

 law school in Cumberland University at 

 Lebanon, where he graduated June 28th, 



ia58. 



On the 18th of the following August he 

 left his native State to seek his future in 

 the State of Texas, soon arriving at the 

 town of McKinney, in the county of Collin, 



Langstroth, from whom he purchased an 

 Italian queen, but the fates seemed to de- 

 cree that none should get through alive— 

 both parties worked faithfully till May. 

 1870, before success crowned their efforts, 

 and a tine queen was received alive. Mr. 

 A. had paid out up to that time, $48..50, and 

 the trouble and anxiety of Mr. L. must have 

 been- worth five or six times the price of the 

 queen— ^10. 



In September, 1870, Judge A. got a queen 

 from Mr. H. A. King, of New York, brought 

 by hand of a friend — Mr. Z. E. Ranney; she 

 bred some three, some two, some one, and 

 some no yellow band workers, but the black 

 bands of all her workers had a very unusual 

 quantity of hair on their edges and it was 

 as white as cotton, that with a jet black 

 head made them very beautiful, especially 

 those that had all black bands. 



He has bought thirty-one tested Italian 

 queens from the best of breeders, but 



S 



^^-^^viil-^w-wo. 



Texas, without money. He resumed teach- 

 ing and continued one year, then began the 

 practice of law, at which he did well for 

 that country and time. In 1802 he was 

 elected District Attorney for his judicial 

 district, and in 1804 was re-elected. On the 

 10th of July, 1870, he was apjjointed Judge 

 of the 11th judicial district of Texas, which 

 he held till the 17th of April, 1876, giving 

 general satisfaction. He has resumed the 

 practice of the law. 



As soon as Judge Andrews acquired suf- 

 ficient means he oegan to show great zeal 

 for agricultural and norticultural pursuits, 

 and soon became (luite an amateur. He 

 gives much attention to the cultivation of 

 grapes, Jersey cattle and Italian bees,hence 

 his place is called, "wine, milk and honey," 

 but another word is necessary to give a cor- 

 rect idea of his place, to wit: lard, as he 

 has had unequaled success with the Ches- 

 ter White pig. 



In the i'ear 1866 lie began bee-culture 

 with the Langstroth hive and black bees 

 he read all the works on bee-keeping, and 

 in 1868 got up a correspondence with Mr. 



thinks he never got but four pure ones, for 

 which he accounts on the score of "fashion- 

 able Italians.'* He prefers to darken them 

 to his own taste, as it takes but little of the 

 smut to do on his, but he holds that about 

 7-8 and 15-16 Italian, if the taint comes on 

 the mother side, are better for box honey 

 than pure Italians, or lower grade Italians, 

 or l)lacks. He does not believe tliat "the 

 mattei- of color can be overdone," but does 

 believe that color affords the only infallible 

 test of purity of Italians. 



In 1869 he adojjted the American .hive, 

 sliglitly modified, of which he now has 213, 

 filled mostly with pure Italians, but the 

 others with what he calls smutty or fashion- 

 able bees. 



Judge A. never cultivated bees for profit 

 till l''^75, and most of the labor in his apiary 

 has b(H^n done by others under his direction. 

 Ill 1875 he got about 6,000 ))ounds of honey, 

 wliicli netted him about 18% cents per lb. 

 This year he has not had a i)ound of surplus 

 and the honey season is past. He attributes 

 the failure tothe wet weather in May, June 

 and July. W. R. Gkaham. 



