16 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



not the first to import queens from 

 Italy whose progeny survived. The 

 first volume is still in demand by 

 students of beekeeping, who wish au- 

 thentic information on scientific 

 phases of the subject. 



Following the resumption of publi- 

 cation, several beekeepers began to 

 write for the Journal, whose names 

 have since become known the world 

 ovtr. Langstroth was a contributor 

 almost from the time the Journal was 

 started. Henry Alley, Adam Grimm. 

 Moses Quinby, Elisha Gallup and the 

 Baron of Berlepsch, are among those 

 whose names appear frequently in 

 early numbers. A. I. Root's first con- 

 tributions appeared under the name 

 of "Novice," and continued for some 

 time. His first series, entitled "Ex- 

 ■ periences of a Novice in Beekeeping," 

 recite the usual diflfculties of a begin- 

 ner in an entertaining way. This 

 series began in March, 1867. His ac- 

 count of securing his first bees by 

 paying a man who stood by, a dollar 

 to catch a passing swarm and hive 

 it in a box, and how he lost it by 

 placing it in the hot sun so that the 

 bees absconded, is typical. Later he 

 describes his first effort at transferr- 

 ing and tells how the robbers car- 

 ried off the honey of the colony while 

 he did the job. When he paid $20 for 

 an Italian queen he had started on 

 his career in earnest. At the end of the 

 first season, after trying all kinds of 

 experiments with his new hobby, he 

 stated that the season had not been 

 profitable financially, but that if ex- 

 perience was worth anything he had 

 done well. Judging from subsequent 

 events it must have been worth some- 

 thing. 



Charles Dadant made his first con- 

 tribution in November, 1867, and in- 

 troduced himself as a newcomer from 

 France only four years before. He 

 promised occasional translations of 

 articles from the French "Apiculteur." 



In January, 1868, he began telling of 

 his early experiences under the title, 

 "How I Became an Apiculturist." An 

 amusing account is given of a pastor 

 at a village near Langres, in France, 

 who was taking the honey from his 

 bees when he was visited by a 

 butcher who was to be married the 

 following day. The butcher refused 

 to take care lest he be stung, when 

 warned by the pastor, saying: "I 

 kill oxen, I need not fear flies"; he 

 hung over the open hives until he was 

 so badly stung that when, on the fol- 

 lowing day, he called for his bride, 

 she at first refused to recognize him. 



As a little boy, Charles Dadant re- 

 ceived a colony of bees in a skep from 

 the old pastor already mentioned. He 

 soon had made a leaf hive after the 

 pattern of Huber, and was ready to 

 enter upon his long lifetime of ex- 

 periment. A flood destroyed a por- 

 tion of the village and ruined his bees. 

 Later he captured another swarm, at 

 the time of a holiday, when a crowd of 

 boys found a bee-tree and robbed it 

 of its honey. He returned at night 

 with a straw skep and hived the bees, 

 which were clustered on a limb. The 

 bees were placed on a roof of the 

 store-house where he was employed. 

 Since the roof was of rhetal and very 

 hot, he was hard pressed for some- 

 thing to serve for shade. Customers 

 were waiting and nothing could be 

 found but the cover of the cistern. 

 That night he was awakened by the 

 sound of splashing water and screams, 

 and in terror awakened all the occu- 

 pants of his boarding-house to see 

 whether any had been drowned. In- 

 vestigation proved that a big white 

 cat had fallen into the cistern. 



From 1868 until his death he con- 

 tinued as a frequent contributor to 

 the American Bee Journal, though it 

 did not come under the editorial man- 

 agement of his son until many years 

 later. 





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New Inventions 



In these early numbers much space 

 was given to the discussion of patent 

 hives, and many different kinds re- 

 ceived attention which have long 

 since been forgotten. There were 

 many bitter discussions regarding the 

 merits of the various types, and 

 Langstroth came in for much serious 

 criticism. The honey plants received 

 much attention already. The white 

 sweet clover or melitotus was so 

 prominently brought to the attention 

 of the beekeepers that they began to 

 scatter seed everywhere, although it 

 was generally regarded as a bad weed, 

 for many years. Borage, chicory and 

 others were recommended for cultiva- 

 tion. 



The invention of the extractor, of 

 comb foundation, the development of 

 the pound section and the consequent 

 period of comb-honey production all 

 received due attention in the Journal. 

 A great deal of attention was given 

 to the different races of bees. A num- 

 ber of men made trips abroad to find 

 better bees. Although bees from 

 many countries were introduced and 

 given a trial, interest in all but the 

 Italians gradually died out. 



In 1869 there were more than sixty 

 patents recorded on beehives and ap- 

 pliances. This will give an idea of 

 the amount of correspondence in re- 

 gard to appliances. However, Samuel 

 Wagner was a good editor and most 

 of the communications which found a 

 place in the columns of his publica- 

 tion were of real interest to his read- 

 ers. It is probably true that the ma- 

 terial appearing, during his term as 

 editor, was of greater value than at 

 any similar period of the history of 

 the Journal. 



It was in October, 1870, that Dr. C.C. 

 Miller first appeared upon the scene, 

 but his connection with the Journal is 

 reviewed at length elsewhere. Soon 

 after, James Heddon and G. M. Doo- 

 little began to furnish an occasional 

 contribution, and the following year 

 A. J. Cook wrote an article now and 

 then. 



In the seventies, several other bee 

 magazines were started, some of 

 which continued publication for sev- 

 eral years. All, however, except 

 Gleanings, have long since been sus- 

 pended. Most of these were started 

 after the death of Samuel Wagner, 

 who died on February 17, 1872. He 

 was nearly seventy-three, so the Bee 

 Journal was a child of his old age. He 

 was very modest, and shrank from 

 anything having the least appearance 

 of personal display. So far did he 

 carry this peculiarity that he could 

 never be prevailed upon to allow his 

 portrait to be taken. L. L. Langstroth 

 wrote an account of his death and 

 paid high tribute to the departed ed- 

 itor. The Journal was conducted for 

 a time by the son, George S. Wagner, 

 although it has the appearance of 

 having been largely edited by Lang- 

 stroth. It was in June, 1872, that the 

 present editor, C. P. Dadant, made his 

 first contribution to the Journal. 



Although the first year of its life the 

 American Bee Journal was published 



