In the year 1857 I had very little knowledge of apiculture, yet I had seen bees in hives apparently working, “making honey” as it was called in those days by all who kept bees; had heard all the talk about the “king bee,” and had seen hives draped in mourning when a member of the bee-keepers’ family died. I had also seen the bee-keeper and his family out in the apiary pounding upon tin pans, ringing the dinner bell, and raising a hub-bub generally when a colony had cast a swarm. Then I had seen bees “carry wax” on their legs, etc., etc.

Well, I did not require very much experience with bees to find out that all the above performances were indulged in only by ignorant and superstitious bee-keepers. With all the literature we now have concerning apiculture, some bee-keepers may be found who know no more about bees than those who kept them 50 years ago.

In the month of July, 1857, I found a fine swarm of bees hanging upon a limb of a tree in my garden. The bees were hived in a small packing box, and at once commenced to build comb and store honey. When fall came the box was well filled with bees and stores, and the colony went into winter quarters in fine condition, and came out in the spring strong in numbers, proving to be a first-class colony in all respects.

In the spring of 1858, I purchased another colony which was in a box-hive that had a 7×9 glass in the back side through which I watched the bees many hours. Well do I remember the great interest I took in bees at that time. One day while watching the bees through the glass, I saw the queen pass around one of the combs, and had really seen the great “king bee.” Before winter set in, I had not only seen other queen bees but had actually reared a few. Then I got an idea that I had learned all there was to know about bees and queen rearing. But this little bit of egotism was dispelled by each year’s experience, and I soon found that there was much to learn about bee-keeping. And now, after my long experience in queen rearing, I find that no one can live long enough to learn all there is to know about the subject of bees and apiculture generally. Surely no one can learn the art of bee keeping in one year as many bee-keepers of the present day claim.

Well, at the end of one year’s experience, I was seized with a desire to go into queen rearing extensively. By this time I had learned that every colony of bees had a queen and that drones were male bees; and also found out hundreds of things about bees that I never before had known. I had discovered that when a colony of bees was deprived of its queen it would at once commence to construct queen cells, and rear several young queens.

Rearing queens was so fascinating that I soon began to rear them in great numbers, in fact I had them growing at all times during the warm months. Of course this was only for amusement as no bee-keepers were in want of queens, nor was there any demand for them. Well, I continued to advance in the art and enlarge my experience, not only in rearing queens, but in bee-keeping generally. About this time I found a man who had also been “stricken” with the bee fever and he had as much experience with bees as myself, and had reared queens merely to exhibit at a cattle fair held in his town and only three miles from my place. This man had made a frame about twelve inches square, to which glass was fastened on both sides, thus forming a one comb observation hive. A small piece of brood comb containing eggs and larvae was fastened at the top of the frame by strings, and the bees, of which there were about a pint, were actually building queen cells. Thousands of interested people were watching the bees while at work, and many of the people were asking all sorts of questions about queens, bees and honey. My first queens were reared in about the same way as above described.

In the year 1860 I practiced queen rearing on a larger scale, as we had then heard about Mr. Langstroth and his wonderful book and still more wonderful hive, which is today more marvelous than anything else connected with apiculture. From this time on rapid advancement was made not only in queen rearing but in all branches of bee culture. We soon went from box-hives to movable-comb hives. About this time the famous Italian bees came in, and then queen-rearing was carried on in earnest; not for amusement but queens were reared by the thousand for sale. At first they were sent by express in small one-comb boxes, then by mail to all parts of the United States; later on queens went by mail to all parts of the world.

I have continued to rear queens for sale every year since 1860. At that time no one had much knowledge of queen-rearing, and Mr. Langstroth’s book was the only guide for every queen-dealer, and without his hive and book but little could have been done in the way of rearing queens.

All who reared queens in those way-back days had good success in obtaining first-class queens. You see no one had got “on to” the idea that nature could be cheated and outdone in the production of queen bees. Within a few years queens have been reared by such methods that nearly all sold have proved to be worthless, so that dealers find they must go back and adopt some of the early methods in order to give satisfaction to their customers.