7(10 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



CHAS. DADANT AND SON 



AS HONEV-PRODtlCERS AND WORKERS OF COMB- 

 FOUNDATION ; A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BY 

 DR. MIT/L,ER. 



SERE are the pictures of two men, known the 

 world over as the largest manufacturers of 

 comb foundation. When I have said that 

 much about them, all but the latest begin- 

 ners will know that I refer to Chas. Dadant 

 & Son, of Hamilton, Hancock Co., 111. The pro- 

 duction of this sort of pictures is to me simply a 

 marvel. In comparing the pictures with the pho- 

 tographs, the minutest detail seems to be exactly 

 reproduced, so that, to all intents and purpo.ses, 

 the readers of Gleanings have the photographs in 

 a place where they are not likely to be lost. There 

 is a lack of the frank, good-natured expression 



CHARLES DADANT. 



usually seen on the face of the younger man, but 

 the picture has precisely the same expression as 

 the photograph. In the case of the elder, there is, 

 it seems to me, a nobility and intelligence of ex- 

 pression in the photograph that is not entirely 

 brought out in the picture. The only wonder, how- 

 ever, is that there is so little difference. 



The father, Charles Dadant, was born May 32, 

 1817, in a village of the old province of Champagne 

 (now departcraent of Haute Marne), France; while 

 the son, Camille P., was born in Langres, France, 

 April 6, 1851. Very early in life the father showed 

 a strong liking for bees, which developed in a prac- 

 tical form as soon as circumstances favored. He 

 first engaged in the battle of life as traveling agent 

 for a wholesale dry-goods Arm, and afterward be- 

 came a wholesale dry-goods merchant himself; and 

 after leaving this business he associated himself 

 with his father-in-law in the management of a tan- 



nery. Grapes were raised in large quantities in the 

 region of his birthplace, and, being thus familiar 

 with their culture from childhood, he determined to 

 try grape-growing in America, and, with that in- 

 tention, came to the United States in 1863. Not 

 knowing a word of the English language, ho com- 

 menced its study by the help of a dictionary, and 

 with such success that, within four years, he was 

 able to write articles for the in-css. While this 

 mode of study gave him fine command of the lan- 

 guage for writing, it left him somewhat at fault in 

 the matter of pronunciation; and many who have 

 read his clearli" expressed and forcible articles 

 might be surprised at the difficulty they would 

 have in understanding them if read aloud by the 

 man who wrote them. 



In 18(5t he obtained two colonies of bees from a 

 friend, and tried the movable-frame hives, side by 

 .side with the old European " eke " horizontally di- 

 vided hives. The latter were soon cast aside, and 

 in 1868 he made an effort to get the apiarists of 

 France to try the Langstroth system. For this he 

 was rebuked by Mr. Hamet. the editor of the 

 French bee-journal entitled L' Apiculteur, who, in- 

 stead of leading in the van of pi-ogress as he might 

 have done, has never ceased his efforts to block the 

 wheels, leaving magazines started later to do the 

 work he might so easily have done. 



About this time Mr. D. tried to import bees from 

 Italy. In 1873 he made a trip in person to Italy, 

 but the enterprise was not entirely successful. In 

 1874, however, he succeeded in importing 3.50 

 queens from the apiaries of Giuseppe Fiorini, of 

 Monselice. These importations were kept up for 

 years. 



In 1871 his bees had increased so much that his 

 first out-apiary was established, and the number of 

 colonies steadily increased, until 1876 there were 

 Ave apiaries of from 60 to 130 colonies each, and 

 about the same number have continued since that 

 time. Previous to this, however, in 1874, the son, 

 C. P., who might be said literally to have been 

 raised among the bees, was taken into partnership, 

 and for the last 14 years there has existed the well- 

 known firm, Chas. Dadant & Son. 



In 1878 they began the manufacture of comb 

 foundation in a modest way, making that year 500 

 lbs., and rapidly increasing, until in 1884 they made 

 thirty tons lacking about a thousand pounds, or, to 

 be more exact, .58,938 lbs. Their total product for 

 the first ten years was 380,366 lbs. A late number 

 of Gleanings contains some account of their fac- 

 tory, by friend Calvert, which I need not here re- 

 peat. 



The immense market they find in this and other 

 countries is accounted for by the extreme care 

 they take in having every inch of foundation that 

 leaves their hands, of the highest grade. One time 

 I wrote them my ])reference for a certain kind of 

 foundation, and they replied that they had never 

 been able to make that kind to suit themselves; 

 and although I am confident they could have made 

 it as good or better than any one else, rather than 

 risk their reputation for making perfect work they 

 wouldn't make it at all, and I had to go elsewhere. 



The Dadants have established a very enviable 

 trade in extracted honey, of which they make a 

 specialty. From their own bees in 1884 they ex- 

 tracted 3*3,000 lbs. They believe in giving the queen 

 full swing at all times in ten frames, and, as in 

 foundation, they set a high mark for the quality of 



