BIOGKAPIIIES OF NOTED BEE-KEEPERB. 



liad been i-aised in the business. Since 1876 tliey 

 Imve kept Ave apiariep. of 60 to 130 colonies each. 

 Thej' liave built up a larj^e trade in e.xtracted honey 

 —the pi-oduct of their bee.« in 1884 liaving- been 

 36.000 lbs. Messrs. Dadant & Son are among- tlie 

 larjrest. if not tlie larg-est. manufacturers of comb 



C.^^MIbl.E p. DAUANT. 



foundation in tlic wctrld. Coniniencing- witli 500 lbs. 

 in IBVS. they reached in IKSl the enormous amount of 

 m.m) His. Both father and son have written no lit- 

 tle for the American press. Mr. C. Dadant is better 

 known as a writer for European publications, and 

 has been one of the main expounders of American 

 methods in Europe; and tlie LangstrotliQuinliy- 

 Dadant hive, introduced by him into the Ohl World. 

 is largely used under the name of the Dadant hive. 

 He published a Petit Cours d'ApicuUiirc Pratique in 

 1874, in France. To him was committed the task of 

 l>reparing a revised edition of L.in<;strotirs book, 

 and this he hasal.so translated for publication in the 

 French languaee. 



EDWIN FRANCE. 



Edwin France, of Plattcville. Wis., is noted as a 

 producer of c.vtracted honey on a large scale. He 

 was boi'u in Herkimer Co., N. V., Feb. 4, 1824. His 

 father was a furnace-man, molding and melting 

 ii'on; and, having a larg-e family to support, had dif- 

 Hcult.v in making both ends meet. At the age of 

 eight, .young Eilwin was sent to live with his motli- 

 er's brother, returning home at 16. He then served 

 an apprenticeship of foui- years at the furnace, when 

 his fatlier bought forty acres of timber, which they 

 c'eared up as a farm, working at the furnace win- 

 ters. At the age of 34 his father died, lea\ing him 

 the main stay of the family. He gave up the fur- 

 nace, and worked part of the time making salt-bar- 

 rels summers, and cutting sawlog-s winters. About 



this time begot, and kept on this little place in the 

 woods, a few hives of bees. 



At the age of 33 he took the " Western fever," and 

 settled on a 3(IO-acre prairie farm in Humboldt Co., 

 Iowa, marrying and taking witli him a wife, lea\ing 

 Ids mother in care of her older tirotliei\ a single 

 man, ampl.v able to care for her. Here again he 

 kept a few bees. He li\ed here six years, faiming 

 summers and Irajjping winters, when the breaking- 

 out of the war brought prices of farm iiroducts down 

 to a ruinous point, and lie went on a ^isit to Plattc- 

 ville, Wis., intending to return when times briglit- 

 ened. Desiring some employment, he answered an 

 advertisement, " Agents wanted, to .sell patent bee- 

 hives," and was soon the owner of the patent for his 

 count.v. He made the hives him.self; and as at that 

 time nearl.v cA'ery farmer kept bees", the business 

 liaid well, and he soon bought two more counties. 

 In his trades lie got some bees, his starting-point as 

 a bee-keei>er. Tlieme he increased until in 1871, when 

 he went into winter quarters with 133 colonies, bring- 

 ing out 3.5 in the spring, and 14 in the spring follow- 

 ing. Enlarging his hives, and .studying the wants of 

 the bees, led to better success, reaching .5C0 colonies 

 in the spring of 1888. kept in si.x apiaries. In 1880, 

 from 395 colonies he took 43,489 lbs. of honey, increas- 

 ing to 5)7. In 1885 his 330 colonies averaged 113 lbs. 

 each, and his 410 colonies in 1887 averaged 13 lbs. 

 each. He owns eleven acres in the eit.v limits (d' 

 Platteville, devoted lo garden truck and berries. 



KDWIN ritAM i:. 



Mr. France and his son dii all the work, except 



during a lew weeks in (he busy season, when he 



hires eight assistants from 13 to IS years old. The 



