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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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JVo.52 HOW.J.M.HAMBAUGH. 



In order that our " album volumes " 

 of the American Bee Journal this 

 year may be as complete as possible, and 

 especially contain the pictures and life 

 sketches of those answering Queries, it 

 is necessary to repeat the biographies of 

 some who have before been presented in 

 these columns within the past two or 

 three years. But that will not make 

 this department any the less interesting, 

 as in cases where there is a seemingly 

 needless repetition, the characters are 

 so Interesting that no apology for their 

 oft-appearing need be given. Among 

 those thus presented have been Dr. 

 Mason, G. M. Doolittle, Hon. Geo. E. 

 Hilton, Hon. R. L. Taylor, and others — 

 all grand, good men, whose biographies 

 will ever bear repeating and their good 

 examples all worthy of imitation. 



This week, then, we call attention to 

 another, the Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, the 

 wide-awake President of the Illinois Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, and an ex-member 

 of the Legislature of his native State. 

 He has ever championed measures look- 

 ing toward the advancement of the 

 interest of bee-keepers, as well as the 

 State at large. In him we have found a 

 true friend, and are now glad to have 

 the opportunity to express our respect 

 and esteem for him. 



The subjoined account of his life, 

 which was furnished by "A Friend," 

 will be found entertaining, and, no 

 doubt, very helpful : 



Hon. Jos. M. Hambaugh was born in 

 Versailles,, Brown county. Ills., on July 

 H), 1 84(), and with the exception of 



about one year spent in Keokuk, Iowa, 

 and two years in Mt. Sterling, Ills., he 

 has ever since resided on the old farm 

 where his eyes first opened to the light 

 of day. Part of this farm was pre- 

 empted by his father, Hon. Stephen D. 

 Hambaugh, in 1828, he being one of 

 the first settlers of the country. 



Jos. M. is the youngest of seven chil- 

 dren, and has two brothers and one sis- 

 ter still living. He received only a 

 common-school education, but has added 

 much to his stock of knowledge by judi- 

 cious reading and study since leaving 

 school. 



Although his father before him kept 

 bees, and he may have inherited a liking 

 for the little insect and the product of 

 the hive, it was not until the year 1881 

 th:)t his interest in progressive apicul- 

 ture began to develop in earnest. About 

 this time, as a former writer has put it, 

 "a little circumstance led him to an in- 

 vestigation, and that investigation was 

 a ray of light shed upon a new field of 

 labor, grand and beautiful beyond de- 

 scription. 



"It was in the Fall of 1881, that, 

 chancing to step into the grocery-house 

 of J. A. Givins, in Mt. Sterling, he dis- 

 covered a huge pyramid of beautiful 

 white clover honey, put up in one and 

 two pound sections, and upon inquiry he 

 found they had been produced by a 

 citizen of his own county, by the name 

 of Dunbar. This was an eye-opener to 

 him. He immediately sought an inter- 

 view with Mr. Dunbar, and learned 

 something of his methods, but soon 

 found that in order to be a successful 

 honey-producer one must study the art. 



"About this time he read A. I. Root's 

 advertisement in an agricultural paper, 

 and sent for his catalogue of bee-sup- 

 plies, and this led to a purchase of his 

 " A, B, C in Bee-Culture," followed by 

 Cook's " Manual of the Apiary," Dzier- 

 zon's "Rational Bee - Keeping," and 

 many other works of note, and it was 

 after a careful perusal of these works 

 that he ventured on modern improved 

 methods. 



"The following Spring found him 

 transferring his bees from the box-hives 

 to 8-frame hives of an original simplicity 

 pattern. This proved ijuite an expen- 

 sive experiment to him. That season 

 the increase was from 8 colonics, spring 

 count, to about 21 colonies, and the 

 spring of 1893 found him with 17 colo- 

 ni(!s, two of which sent out no swarms, 

 and from the remaining 15 colonies he 

 hived 43 swarms of bees, coming through 

 the season with a grand total of 60colo- 



