OCTOBKR 192<1 



G I. E A X 1 N G S IN BEE C U L T U K E 



onihrju'Oil ;ill luituro aiui all inankiiirt. Dr. 

 Miller's life was one of the richest bless 

 ings of the beekeejiing world, and his writ 

 ings will be a most prized inheritance fm 

 years to conie. 



Early Life. 



Dr. Miller was born of Englisli. anil Ger- 

 man parentage in a country liome at Lig- 

 oiiier, Pa., June 10, 1831, and here he spent 

 his boyhood days, enjoying life to the full. 

 The country surrounding his home was 

 beautiful, and awakened in him that great 

 love of nature that was so characteristic 

 thruout his life. At the age of ten years 

 he lost his father, whom he greatly loved 

 and revered. In his writings he has charac- 

 terized him as "most lovable in character." 

 and has stated that thruout his life he has 

 been influenced by the desire to be as good 

 a man as his father. 



His Education. 



By working in a country store two years 

 at $24 and $50 per year Dr. Miller obtained 

 enough to go to the village academy. He 

 was then obliged to teach before taking 

 up his college work at .lefFerson College, 

 Cannonsburg, and Union Cpllege, Schenec 

 tady, N. Y. By rigid economy, boarding 

 himself at 35 cents a week and doing any 

 honest work from ornamental penmanship 

 to peddling from house to house, he conl- 

 pleted his course, taking at graduation the 

 highest honor, Phi Beta Kappa. 

 A Physician. 



After one term of teaching in Geneseo 

 Academy, N. Y., he studied medicine at 

 Johnstowni, Pa., and attended Jectures in 

 Michigan University. H« received his M. 

 D. degree, and for a year practiced medi- 

 cine in Earlville and Marengo, 111.; but 

 he was not happy in the work. His health 

 was not rugged enough to stand the strain. 

 and he was so vitally concerned that each 

 patient should show immediate improve 

 ment under his care that the responsibility 

 of his profession proved too great, and he 

 was obliged to take up other employment. 



Music and Teaching. 



At the age of 26 Dr. ^Miller married Mrs. 

 Helen M. White. A few years were spent 

 in teaching vocal and instrumental music. 

 and a few years as principal in the ilareiigu 

 publif schools. 



In 1S7("I and 1871 he traveled for the 

 music house of Root & Cady. In 1872 he 

 spent six months as official agent in start 

 ing the first of the May musical festivals 

 under Theodore Thomas at Cincinnati. The 

 three fallowing \Tars he worked for the 

 Mason & Hamlin Organ (^lo. at Chicago, 

 his wife and little boy leaving the farm 

 and spending their winters with him. Dur 

 ing the summer months, when they were 

 not with him, however, visions of the 

 country continually haunted him, making 

 the city appear desolate indeed; and so in 

 1876. in spite of an offer of $2500 and ex 

 penses. he left the lity and to(dv a school 

 at Marengo at $12iiu. 



His Beginning with Bees. 



Altho Dr. Miller when a boy had taken 

 ;i little interest in a colony of bees that 

 Ills father kept in a barrel, still he had 

 given bees but little thought until 1861, 

 when his wife captured a runaway swarm 

 and hived it in a barrel. This colony the 

 first year stored 93 pounds besides teach- 

 ing Dr. Miller a great deal about bees. 

 Eight years later he saw a copy of the 

 American Bee Journal, and among other 

 interesting writers he found the name of 

 A. I. Root, whom he visited at Medina the 

 following year. For the first nine years 

 but little increase was made; but in 1876, 

 when he gave up his city work and returned 

 to the country, he had 99 colonies. From 

 this time on he made beekeeping his busi- 

 ness. 



In the spring of 1880 his wife died, and, 

 in the fall of 1881 he married Miss Sid- 

 ney Jane Wilson. Her sister, Miss Emma 

 M. Wilson, was his main assistant in the 

 apiary after that time up to his death. 



Some remarkably good honey crops were 

 secured by Dr. Miller. The best record was 

 an average of 206.74 sections from 72 colo- 

 nies, and his best colony that year pro- 

 duced 402 sections. 



His Writings. 



It is doubtful whether any one else was 

 ever as well informed in beekeeping litera- 

 ture as was Dr. Miller. He alw'ays at- 

 tempted to read all the journals on beekeep- 

 ing, even those in German and French. 

 His own experience, thus backed by tlie ex- 

 perience of others, made him an exceptional 

 writer. Moreover, his wit, tact, and un- 

 failing good humor endeared him to the 

 hearts, of his readers. 



Dr. Miller was always at his very best 

 when assailing another's position on any 

 given subject or when defending his own. 

 For this reason he was ])revailed upon in 

 1890 to contribute the department "Stray 

 Straws" for Gleanings in Bee Culture. This 

 department was continued without inter 

 ruption until last November, .when failing 

 health made less work imperative. Since 

 1894- he has conducted "Dr. Miller's An- 

 swers" in the American Bee Journal. The 

 separate articles, also, that he contributed 

 to the different journals from time to time 

 were always valuable and right to the 

 point. His "Fifty Years Among the Bees" 

 has been an exceedingly popular book. 



Love of Nature and God. 



As Dr. ^liller said, he might easily have 

 amassed more money in some other line of 

 work; but in so doing he certainly could 

 not have take* the enjoyment that he had 

 in his quiet country home among his flow- 

 ers and his bees. 



Dr. Miller was a life-long member of the 

 Presbyterian Church. To him the spiritual 

 life was all very real. He not only believed 

 in it but he lived it. as was testified by 

 e\cry act of his splendid life and by every 

 feature of his wonderfully ex[>ressive face. 



