• Sassafras Bee Farm
  • About
  • Contact

Beekeeping365

~ The more I studied beekeeping, the less I knew, until, finally, I knew nothing. But, even though I knew nothing, I still had plenty to unlearn. Charles Martin Simon

Beekeeping365

Tag Archives: Mysteries of Beekeeping Explained

Happy Birthday Moses Quinby

16 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by sassafrasbeefarm in beekeeping history, birthday, birthdays, famous beekeepers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

beekeeper birthdays, beekeeping authors, beekeeping history, E-book, famous beekeepers, Moses Quinby, Mysteries of Beekeeping Explained

Source: Historical Honeybee Articles – Beekeeping History

11149263_828301807224317_7693900500957983078_n

Happy Birthday ~ Moses Quinby, April 16, 1810

Moses Quinby is known as the “Father of Commercial Beekeeping in the United States,” Among his innovations in beekeeping, he is credited with the invention of the modern bee smoker with bellows. He is also the author of the book Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained (1853). At his peak, he kept over 1200 hives of bees.

Moses Quinby was born April 16, 1810, in Westchester Co.,N. Y. While a boy he went to Greene Co., and in 1853 from thence to St. Johnsville, Montgomery Co., N. Y., where he remained till the time of his death, May 27, 1875.

Mr. Quinby was reared among Quakers, and from his earliest years was ever the same cordial, straightforward, and earnest person. He had no special advantages in the way of obtaining an education, but he was an original thinker, and of that investigating turn of mind which is always sure to educate itself, even without books or schools. When about twenty years old he secured for the first time, as his own individual possession, sufficient capital to invest In a stock of bees, and no doubt felt enthusiastic in looking forward hopefully to a good run of “luck” in the way of swarms, so that he could soon “take up” some by the aid of the brimstone-pit. But “killing the goose that laid the golden egg” did not commend itself to his better judgment, and he was not slow to adopt the better way of placing boxes on the top of the hive, with holes for the ascent of the bees, and these boxes be improved by substituting glass for wood in the sides, thus making a long stride in the matter of the appearance of the marketable product. With little outside help, but with plenty of unexplored territory, his investigating mind had plenty of scope for operation, and he made a diligent study of bees and their habits. All the books he could obtain were earnestly studied, and everything taught therein carefully tested. The many crudities and inaccuracies contained in them were sifted out as chaff, and after 17 years’ practical experience in handling and studying the bees themselves as well as the books, he was not merely a bee-keeper but a bee-master; and with that philanthropic character which made him always willing to impart to others, he decided to give them, at the expense of a few hours’ reading, what had cost him years to obtain, and in 1853 the first edition of Mysteries of Beekeeping Explained made its appearance. Thoroughly practical in character and vigorous in style, it at once won its way to popularity. From the year 1853, excepting the interest he took in his fruits and his trout-pond, his attention was wholly given to bees, and he was owner or half-owner of from 600 to 1200 colonies, raising large crops of honey. On the advent of the movable frame and Italian bees, they were at once adopted by him, and in 1862 he reduced the number of his colonies, and turned his attention more particularly to rearing and selling his Italian bees and queens. In 1865 he published a revised edition of his book, giving therein the added experience of 12 years. He wrote much for agricultural and other papers, his writings being always of the same sensible and practical character. The Northeastern Bee-keepers’ Association, a body whose deliberations have always been of importance, owed its origin to Mr. Quinby, who was for years its honored president—perhaps it is better to say its honoring president, for it was no little honor, even to so important a society, to have such a man as president. In 1871 Mr. Quinby was president of the N. A. B. K. A.

It Is not at all impossible that the fact that so many intelligent beekeepers are found in New York is largely due to there being such a man as Mr.Quinby in their midst. The high reverence in which he was always held by the bee-keepers, particularly those who knew him best, says much, not only for the bee-master, but for the man.

On the occasion of the first meeting of the Northeastern Society, after the death of Mr. Quinby, Capt. J. E. Hetherington said in his address, in a well-merited eulogium on Mr. Quinby: “Of the great amount of gratuitous labor performed by him, to advance the science of bee culture, the fraternity as a whole will never know, nor can they realize the information imparted to the numbers who flocked to see him personally, especially in the busy season…

“His life has been in every sense a life of usefulness and not wholly devoted to the interests of bee culture, for he took it living interest in any movement he thought would benefit society : and as an advocate and helper in the temperance work he did no mean service. He possessed true kindness of heart, and regarded it as a religious duty to make all better and happier with whom he came in contact, and regarded that life a failure that did not leave the world the better for having lived.

 

Via: Historical Honeybee Articles – Beekeeping History

Feel free to share this on:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow Beekeeping365 on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Calendar

August 2022
S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Jul    

Posts by Month:

  • August 2022 (1)
  • July 2022 (1)
  • March 2022 (13)
  • February 2022 (17)
  • January 2022 (4)
  • December 2021 (4)
  • November 2021 (7)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • August 2021 (11)
  • July 2021 (18)
  • June 2021 (5)
  • May 2021 (2)
  • April 2021 (9)
  • March 2021 (2)
  • February 2021 (5)
  • January 2021 (16)
  • December 2020 (15)
  • November 2020 (15)
  • October 2020 (11)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (10)
  • November 2018 (8)
  • October 2018 (15)
  • September 2018 (25)
  • August 2018 (13)
  • July 2018 (11)
  • June 2018 (27)
  • May 2018 (33)
  • April 2018 (20)
  • March 2018 (20)
  • February 2018 (12)
  • January 2018 (22)
  • December 2017 (18)
  • November 2017 (17)
  • October 2017 (25)
  • September 2017 (27)
  • August 2017 (22)
  • July 2017 (30)
  • June 2017 (28)
  • May 2017 (19)
  • April 2017 (17)
  • March 2017 (19)
  • February 2017 (12)
  • January 2017 (13)
  • December 2016 (5)

Posts by Categories:

  • absconding (1)
  • africanized honey bees (1)
  • apitherapy (1)
  • bee health (6)
  • bee law (2)
  • bee lining (2)
  • bee removals (2)
  • beekeeper (5)
  • beekeeper education (16)
  • beekeeping (615)
    • South Carolina (2)
  • beekeeping author (10)
  • beekeeping books (14)
  • beekeeping calendar (5)
  • beekeeping chores (8)
  • beekeeping equipment (25)
  • beekeeping history (49)
  • beekeeping management (38)
  • beekeeping pest management (9)
  • beekeeping seasons (23)
  • beekeeping vocabulary (16)
  • beeswax (13)
  • biography (4)
  • biology (14)
  • birthday (40)
  • birthdays (34)
  • book review (16)
  • breakfast (1)
  • calendar (4)
  • CCD (1)
  • chores (6)
  • comb (7)
  • comb honey (10)
  • commercial beekeeping (2)
  • cutouts (2)
  • dearth (3)
  • defensiveness (2)
  • diseases (9)
  • drawn comb (6)
  • ecology (4)
  • education (28)
  • equipment (25)
  • extracting (1)
  • fall nectar flow (1)
  • famous beekeepers (27)
  • feeding bees (8)
  • first blog entry (1)
  • folklore (1)
  • food (7)
  • forage (4)
  • hacks (3)
  • hive inspections (8)
  • hive placement (2)
  • hive products (6)
  • honey (91)
  • honey as food (23)
  • honey bee anatomy (3)
  • honey bee behavior (25)
  • honey bee biology (43)
  • honey bee genetics (4)
  • honey bee nutrition (1)
  • honey bee photos (6)
  • Honey Bee Research (1)
  • honey bee vocabulary (12)
  • honey bees (14)
  • honey judging (4)
  • honey recipe (68)
  • humor (14)
  • inspections (10)
  • journal (1)
  • log book (1)
  • making increase (3)
  • management (84)
  • mentoring (2)
  • mites (3)
  • national pollinator week (2)
  • nectar flow (6)
  • nomenclature (1)
  • opinion (8)
  • out yards (1)
  • outyards (1)
  • package bees (1)
  • pears (1)
  • pests (18)
  • plants for bees (3)
  • polish (1)
  • pollen (4)
  • pollination (11)
  • pollinators (7)
  • product review (1)
  • production (1)
  • products (3)
  • propolis (2)
  • queens (17)
  • raw honey (7)
  • recipe (91)
  • removals (1)
  • safety (3)
  • sales (2)
  • season (1)
  • seasons (21)
  • sideliner (1)
  • small hive beetles (1)
  • spring buildup (4)
  • state fair (2)
  • sustainable (7)
  • swarms (26)
  • ursurpation (1)
  • usurpation (1)
  • varroa (22)
  • varroa destructor (13)
  • varroa mites (26)
  • Winter (5)
  • winter solstice (2)
  • woodenware (3)
  • yellow jackets (2)

Sassafras Bee Farm on Facebook

Sassafras Bee Farm on Facebook

Sassafras Bee Farm

Sassafras Bee Farm

Recent Posts

  • Midlands Beekeeping Calendar for August
  • Happy Birthday Petro Prokopovych
  • Why did my bees die?
  • Happy Birthday Dr. Wladyslaw Zbikowski
  • Swarm Catcher Checklist and Tips

Beekeeping365 on Facebook

Beekeeping365 on Facebook

Top Posts & Pages

  • Book Review: The Bee-keeper's Manual, Henry Taylor
    Book Review: The Bee-keeper's Manual, Henry Taylor
  • Garden Plan For Pollinators by Keeping Backyard Bees
    Garden Plan For Pollinators by Keeping Backyard Bees
  • How to Catch A Swarm-N-A-Bucket!
    How to Catch A Swarm-N-A-Bucket!

Blog Stats

  • 102,717 hits

Website Built with WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Beekeeping365
    • Join 414 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Beekeeping365
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: