The Immortal Langstroth

Since the death of Langstroth, his fame has continued to spread, while the reputation of most of the others mentioned has gradually dimmed. It was largely through the support and assistance of Samuel Wagner and Charles Dadant that he secured proper credit for the priority of his invention and established a world wide reputation.

We of America now regard him as one of the greatest of modem beekeepers, second only to Huber, the blind naturalist, the greatest that Europe has produced in modern times. Langstroth was a careful student of the beekeeping literature of his time, as well as a never tiring enthusiast for direct observation of the bees.

It was in October, 1851, that he suddenly realized that by surrounding each frame with a small space, just large enough to permit a bee to pass, he could control conditions within the hive. It is surprising that this simple expedient did not occur to practical men long before. Because of it, beekeeping on a commercial scale became possible. The removal of the frames made it easy to ascertain the condition of the colony in every particular and by adding more units in the form of supers or extra hive bodies, the hive could be expanded to meet the needs of the season and later be contracted at will.

In addition to his invention, Langstroth proved to be an interesting writer who recorded his observations in a style which was lucid, and pleasing. His book published in 1853 has since passed through more than twenty editions and only recently went out of print, a most unusual occurrence in the case of a text book. Many beekeepers, on making what they thought were new discoveries, have been surprised to find them already recorded by Langstroth.

His death came suddenly, in 1895, while delivering a sermon. It is only after the passing of the years that such a man is fully appreciated.

Moses Quinby

Prominent during the same period, but of entirely different temperament was Moses Quinby. Quinby was a practical man and the first to succeed with honey production on a large scale, although his methods for the first twenty-five years were extremely crude as compared with today. In the preface to his book, published in the same year as that of Langstroth, he said, "This interest in bees should be encouraged to continue until enough are kept to collect all the honey now wasted, which compared to the present collections would be more than a thousand pounds to one. " But a small part of the nectar available has ever yet been gathered, even though beekeeping is practiced much more extensively than in Quinby's day. The need is not so apparent, however, since the common use of commercial sugar has largely been developed since that time.

When others advocated cutting down production of honey when the markets fell off following the civil war, Quinby advocated the development of marketing facilities instead. He pointed to the cheese industry as one which when in danger of over production had cultivated markets as production expanded. An aggressive business man himself, he proposed aggressive methods for the industry.

When he became familiar with the Langstroth hive, his practical mind was soon convinced the dimensions of the frame were too small for best results. He soon advocated a larger frame which was later popularized by Charles Dadant to the extent that it became widely used as the Dadant hive.

Moses Quinby was the first to use a smoker made according to the present models, although there has been great improvement since his first crude implement was made.

Moses Quinby one of the first to demonstrate that a living could be made from bees.

It was in demonstrating that beekeeping is a worth while business of itself, a business which can support its followers in comfort and maintain a modern standard of living, that Moses Quinby made his principal contribution. His book continued to sell for a long period and was responsible for introducing practical methods to a large number of men. Captain Hether-ington, who was probably the most extensive beekeeper of his time, was a pupil of Quinby. He described his teacher's position in the following words:

"Quinby adding largely to the knowledge of his predecessors, combined the whole into a system of practical management. "