iUOGRArnilOS OF NOTED BEE-KP:EPER8. 



spariujf himself, aud often did iu one daj' wliat the 

 averajre man would haxc taken two days for aceom- 

 plishhi^. 



In 1H73 it was discox'ered that a rest was needed, 

 and iu the fall of that year he retired frotn the part- 

 nership and removed to Mohawk. lUit it seems im- 

 l)Ossilile for a man of his leini)eranient to rest, and 

 we shortly- find him extending- his bee-hnsiness, go- 

 ing <mt iu the early morning with liis assistants to a 

 bee-yard half a dozen miles away, and ret nrning- late 

 at night with from two to three or more thousand 

 pouuds of extracted liouey— the same process to he 

 1-epcated the next day. 



After tiie death of Mr. t,)iiinlpy, Mr. Hoot took his 

 ptnpply-bnsini'ss. To all of tliis must be added his 

 literary work as regular contrilnilor to i\\r Amei'icii'ii 

 Aii7-^icuUi(rist and the Cuuntry Gentleman, with fre- 

 <liieut articles to all the bee-journals of the country; 

 Ids (jresideucy of the North American Bee-Society, 

 and of tlie Nortlieastcrn Association, with his long 



I-YMAN ('. KOiVr. 



and laliorions exertions iu establishing the latter. 

 aud finally his re-writiug Mr. Qiiinby"s liook— a task 

 on which he expended a greater amomit of careful, 

 eonscieutious work, and which cau.sed him greater 

 anxiety, than though it had been entii-ely his own. 

 For this last work Mr. R(K)t was peculiarly fitted by 

 his long residence with Mr. Qiiinby, and knowledge 

 of his methods. 



In keeping bees Mr. Hoot has preferred to raise cx- 

 tinicted honey, and to keep aViout forty colonies in a 

 yard. His crop was usually as much pvv yard as his 

 neighbors' who kept twice the number in a place. 

 Tlie most of this success was due to skillful manipu- 

 lations, improved honey-gatherers, and wise selec- 

 tion of locations; but after subtracting all these 

 there probably remains something to be credited to 

 moderate-sized yards. One fall he put into the cel- 

 lar at tlie Hildret h yard forty stocks, t<M)k the same 

 out in tlie spring without the loss of a single colon> , 



and produced from them 9737 lbs. of extracted lioH- 

 ey, 4103 lbs. of which was gathered iu just seven 

 days. Is belter evidence needed tliat the author of 

 the "New Bee-KeeiJing" is a practical bee-keeperV' 



Mr. Root takes an active part in every good work 

 in the comuuuilty iu which he lixcs, and he is ready 

 to make any i)ossiblc sacrifice iu working to elevate 

 humanity. He lakes great interest in temperance 

 work, and has been an active member of the (food 

 Templars sinc^e 1865. M5' first knowledge of Mr. 

 Root came from his making a ten-mile trip and ba<^k 

 after dark, over almost impassabh; roads, to our lit- 

 tle village, tor the piwpose of organizing a lodge of 

 Good Templars. Mr. Quinby and himself were two 

 of those who voted the first Prohibition ticket iu St. 

 .lt)lu]sville, aud he has been an active supporter of 

 that pai-ty e\cr since. 



In 1869 he was married to Mr. Quiuby's only daugh- 

 ter, and his home is one in wiueh intelligence, n'flne- 

 ment. aud happiness reside. 1 never met any one 

 wlio appreciates ids home, family, and friends, more 

 than does Mr. Hoot. His wife has been a Irneheliv 

 mccttohiin; and in the re-writing of Mr. Quinl).'\'.x 

 book she took a prominent part iu the composition 

 (if the same — a .service she had also rendered her fa- 

 ther in his last revision. Mrs. Hoot has had I'ulire 

 charge of the education of their two daughters, the 

 elder of whom has just passed from the home in- 

 struction into the high school, while the younger will 

 take another year to graduate in the home course. 



There are very few men who liave had the large 

 and varied experience with bees sucii as has fallen 

 t<j the lot of Mr. Hoot. I suppose all such could be 

 [ couuted upon the fingers of one hand, for there is 

 no branch of bee culture, either theoretical or jn-ac- 

 lical, with which he is not familiar. He has been an 

 extensive producer of both comb and extracted hou- 

 '■y; is thoroughly familiar with tlie details of a large 

 supply-business, including the purchasing of bees iu 

 box hives, and transferring aud Italianizing t la- 

 same; the rearing and shipi)iug of queens, together 

 with a large c.xpei'imental knowledge and a large ex- 

 lierience as writer aud author. For the past yeai- he 

 has resided at the sea-shore, and, his numerous 

 friends will be glad to learn, with health much im- 

 lu-oved; aud we all unite iu wishing that he nuiy le 

 sjiared to the beekeeping fraternity for many years. 

 P. H. Er.woou, GUaninys, June, 18S8. 



DR. A. B. MASON. 



Dr. A.B.Mason was born in the town of Wales. 

 Erie Co., N. Y., Nov. 18, 1833. His father and mater- 

 nal grandfathei" were soldiers in the war of 1812. Dr. 

 M. was raised on a farm, aud all six of his brothers 

 are farmers. At 17 years of age he taught success- 

 fully a schw)l iu DcKalb Co., 111., for S14 00 a month, 

 and "boarded around." At the close of this school 

 he attended several terms at Beloit (Wisconsin) Col- 

 lege. He then commenced the study of medicine, 

 attending lectures during the winters of 1857 and 18.58 

 at the Uni\'crsity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. In "63 

 he moved to Waterloo, la., aud. the pi-ictice of med- 

 icine not being to his taste, he adojited dentistry as 

 his life lU'ofession, ha\ing studied it in connection 

 with medicine. He was president of the Northern 

 Iowa Denial Association for two years. 



In his 19th yeai'he united with the church, and is an 

 earnest Cliristiau worker. For years he was an act- 

 \vi\ if not the most active, member of the church to 

 which h(^ lielonged, being at one time su)ierintend- 

 enl of the S.Mbbiith-school. church clerk, a trustee. 



