Bee Keeping in Massachusetts 



By Burton N. Gates, 

 Expert in Apiculture. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



When, in 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, this country knew 

 no bees; the Indians in their languages had no equivalents for bee, 

 honey, or wax. In Elliofs remarkable translation of the Bible he 

 was obliged to use the English word for honey, with sometimes an 

 Indian termination. Scarcely, however, had churches been erected, 

 scarcely were clearings made in the wilderness for growing agricul- 

 tural necessities, when the settlers turned their attention to securing 

 honey bees from England. That such remarkably early trans- At- 

 lantic shipments of bees were successful there can be no doubt. 

 Josselyn, who visited New England twice, once in 1638 and again in 

 1663, speaks of " the honey-bee, which are carried over by the English 

 and thrive there exceedingly," * but he does not tell when the first 

 attemjDts to secure bees were made. Belknap,'' however, wrote " that 

 the first person who brought a hive of bees to this country [New 

 England] was rewarded with a grant of land ; but the person's name, 

 or the place where the land lay, to whom the grant was made, I have 

 not been able to learn." Unfortunately the records of the Colonies 

 were not available to Belknap. 



Newbury, a coast town north of Boston, was established in 1635. 

 There the first effort to promote bee keeping in the New World was 

 made. Furthermore, the importance of the industry was of munic- 

 ipal moment to the extent of holding out to one John Eales, who was 



" Josselyn, John. 1675. An Account of Two Voyages to New England, p. 120. 

 Second edition. London. " The second edition is the first, with a new title 

 page merely." — Sabin. Reprinted in Massachusetts Historical Society Collec- 

 tions, Vol. Ill, third series, p. 292, and by "William Veazie, Boston, 1865. 



^ Belknap, Jeremy. 1792. A Discourse Intended to Commemorate the Discov- 

 ery of America * * * ^q which are added, four dissertations * * * 3, 

 On the Question, Whether the Honey-bee is a Native of America? ♦ * ♦ 

 Boston, Belknap & Hall, 132 pages. 



