1192 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



IN MEMOKIAM OF L. STACHELHAUSEN. 



Mr. STACHELHAUSEN, whose death we re- 

 corded in our issue for Aug. 1, was born 

 near Fegensburg, Bavaria, in 1845, when 

 Bavai'ia was an independent kingdom. He 

 was of noble birth according to German 

 ideas, his father being the owner of a landed 

 estate. When ten years of age he was sent 

 to a boarding-school, and it was while there 

 he gained an insight into the art of keeping 

 bees. His uncle kept bees, and by making 

 frequent visits to him he was enabled to get 

 a very fair knowledge of bee culture, as his 

 relative was progressive, and had adopted 

 the movable-comb system. The impressions 

 he got then never left him, and more or less 

 during his life he kept bees. From 1861 to 

 1864 he studied diligently in the scientific 

 department of the University of Munich, 

 from which he graduated. He next went to 

 the State School of Mines at Loeben, in 

 Austria, to perfect his intellectual equip- 

 ment as a scientific engineer. During the 

 year 1866 he surveyed several gold and sil- 

 ver mines, in Hungary chiefly. In 1867 he 

 was appointed superintendent of a glass-fac- 

 tory in Bavaria. Later he conducted iron- 

 foundries and machine-factories in Saxony 

 and Bavaria. 



It was in 1867 he started his first apiary as 

 soon as he was settled in a home of his own, 

 and practically was never without bees un- 

 til his death— a period of 40 years, during 

 which time he became thoroughly conver- 

 sant with scientific and practical bee-keep- 

 ing as conducted on both sides of the Atlan- 

 tic. In 1870 he married; and during all his 

 long career, both in Germany and America, 

 his wife truly shared his joys and sorrows 

 as a faithful helpmate. She survives him, 

 very much mourning his loss. 



A train of circumstances induced him to 

 leave Germany and seek his fortune under 

 the stars and stripes, choosing Texas as the 

 scene of his future success as a citizen and 

 as a bee-keeper. In 1893 his only daughter 

 married Mr. Ed. Dietz, who became his 

 partner in bee-keeping, and so continued 

 till the last. 



Mr. Stachelhausen was not long in this 

 country before he found it necessary to ex- 

 press his opinion in the bee-journals, like 

 his Americau brethren in the ci-aft. Even if 

 he was a German of the Bavarian species he 

 knew how to express himself in very excel- 

 lent English — in fact, he had a thorough 

 mastery of scientiiic words and phrases, 

 such as only an American or Britisher 

 trained in scientific schools might be expect- 

 ed to possess. 



He was equally well equipped when it 

 came to practical matters connected with 

 bee-keeping. For example, he was the first 

 exponent of the brushed-swarm system of 

 controlling increase, and in time succeeded 

 in convincing many American bee-men that 

 it was an entirely sound and effective sys- 

 tem for money-making bee-keepers to adopt. 



At first he was considered too radical; but 

 in time he succeeded in convincing nearly 

 all bis critics. He was also the most promi- 



nent and daring of all writers on the shal- 

 low-hive system, which at present is receiv- 

 ing more attention than ever before. He 

 worked his hives on what may for conven- 

 ience be termed the Heddon plan; but he 

 went beyond it. Being quite successful in 

 his bee-keeping operations he succeeded 

 where others failed in inducing bee-keepers 

 to adopt the shallow-hive system. 



Bee-keepers mostly know of him as a cham- 

 pion of brushed swarms and shallow hives, 

 and are apt to overlook his splendid knowl- 

 edge of the science of bees, which he en- 

 deavored to extend to other bee-keepers not 

 so well informed as himself. As a graduate 

 of the scientific department of a great Ger- 

 man university he was well equipped for 

 such work. Moreover, he was very modest 

 and unassuming in what he did and wrote, 

 never descending to personalities or engag- 

 ing in any pedantic pleasantries for the sake 

 of fame. No one would have supposed he 

 was so well informed, either from his manner 

 or appearance. He looked like an honest, 

 sturdy German farmer of the well-to-do type, 

 rather than a trained and learned investi- 

 gator. 



On his Texas farm in Bexar Co. he lived 

 a happy, contented life, for he was quite do- 

 mestic in his tastes and habits, and liked 

 nothing better than his own home surround- 

 ed by his friends. His end. however was, 

 pathetic. In August, 1906, the first sign of 

 cancer of the tongue began to show. A con- 

 sultation of several doctors in San Antonio 

 decided that the only hope was treatment by 

 the X rays, which he took for 10 months be- 

 fore the end came. 



He suffered his terrible affliction with calm- 

 ness and fortitude, and, indeed, read Glean- 

 ings within an hour of his departure from 

 this world. In anticipation of his death he 

 had asked to be removed from San Antonio 

 to his farm, on the 5th of July, and on the 

 morning of the 7th he expired. 



Many bee-keepers who personally knew 

 Mr. Stachelhausen will hold him in kindly 

 memory; and bee-keepers generally, both 

 here and in Europe, will feel they have lost 

 a fi'iend. His place in our remembrance 

 will be alongside of that of Adam Grimm and 

 Samuel Wagner, his gifted fellow-country- 

 men whose names are revei'ed by American 

 bee-keepers. 



Germany has contributed many able men 

 to the upbuilding of America, but none of 

 them better than Stachelhausen the bee- 

 keeper. 



We have just received an advance copy of 

 the new edition of the British Bee-keepers' 

 Guide-book, by our esteemed friend the ed- 

 itor of the British Bee Journal, Mr. T. W. 

 Cowan. The new edition is a considerable 

 impx-ovement on the former ones, to keep 

 pace with the times. It is not a very large 

 book on bee-keeping, but it is a great credit 

 to all who have to do with its make-up. It 

 has had a very large sale, and the new edi- 

 tion will doubtless be as popular as the 

 former ones — probably more so. 



