# Essay "Beekeeping in colonial Times"



## Renee (Feb 9, 2003)

I am a 16 year old girl writing a 4-H essay about "beeepping in Colonial Times" Where could I look for more information on this subject. I have searched for 32 hours on websites . I tried inventory of ship logs. History of honey-bekeeping, museums. Does any one have ideas that might help me. 

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[email protected]


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

http://www.beesource.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000457.html


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## mark williams (Jan 19, 2003)

Renee: there is a book Foxfire 2 by Eliot Wigginton,that has some info about beekeeping years back . my help ,,Mark


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you are interesting in beekeeping techniques, the Foxfire book (# 2) is and isn't what you want. It's really an account of how the mountain people have ALWAYS kept bees in hollow logs since they've been there, but it's not information from colonial times per se. It is how they most likely were doing it. Although most people in England and Scotland were using straw skeps the hollow logs were more popular here. Usually called bee "gums" in the Appalachians. Im guessing its as good a description of methods used then as you will get.


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## tworedroseman (Jan 7, 2002)

Renee: go to Colonial Williamsburg, type in bee keeping; There is a lot of information on their web site. Good luck with the paper. Roy


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Renee,

After you have finished your paper, how about "publishing" it here? I, for one, would appreciate the information.

Thanks,

Dave W


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## mark williams (Jan 19, 2003)

Is'nt hollow logs, colonial bee keeping? I think that's what she said she want's


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The "hollow log" / "bee gum" methods of beekeeping explained in Foxfire 2 are an account from a man in the late 1960's or early 1970's (don't remember exactly) about how he had kept bees all his life which he had learned from his father. It probably is how Colonial beekeepers kept bees. However it is not a historical document of how bees were kept in Colonial times.


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## dickm (May 19, 2002)

There's a whole book somewhere on this internet written by a man who kept bees in the 1800s. I can't find it right now but one of you must know where it is, no? Someone scanned it and you can read it on-line. It may have been a little later that "colonial" but he went out to his apiary in a horse and wagon.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I don't remember the exact name of the book. "Fifty years with bees"? maybe. I have read i online and it is very interesting reading. However it is in the times of AI Root, Dadant etc. and is all with movable comb hives. Colonial beekeeping was more hollow logs and straw skeps.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

http://www.gobeekeeping.com/LAA.htm 

I guess it was published under several titles:

"A Year Among Bees" was published in 1886. Subsequent editions were titled "Fourty Years Among Bees" and "Fifty Years Among Bees"

Here's another link to a PDF file of the book: http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0302hsted/030208miller/030408miller.PDF 


Here's anothother that might be useful, Chapter 1 would be Colonial beekeeping, but right now the link doesn't work. Maybe it will later. It doesn't give an error, it just doesn't do anything right now. http://www.gobeekeeping.com/Lhistoryofbeekkeepinga.htm


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## Renee (Feb 9, 2003)

Thank you all for helping me. I am ordering a copy of Foxfire. It got such good reviews. I ordered Beekeeping for Dummies and I was presented The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping for last years essay. Are there any other books I should get before I order my first bees? Well I'm posting my essay today (Wednesday) so wish me luck. I would be happy to publish the essay on this site. I just don't know how. Can anyone help me with that. Any feedback on the essay would be good for my 4-H project. Also I'm picking up my first hives on Thursday. Thank you again Renee


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## Karl (Jun 18, 2002)

Renee: I was a 4H member for many years and loved it. Hope you do just great with your essay. Good luck. Karl


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## mark williams (Jan 19, 2003)

GOOD luck.RENEE,


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## Got Honey? (Oct 14, 2001)

Hello fellow 16 year old!!

To post your essay on the forum you can just copy-paste it. Also I know some bee people up near Shasta, the Wootens, they are in Palo Cedro. You could probably talk to them about beekeeping. They raise queens and do pollination. They probably don't know much about beekeeping in the colonial times though.
Neat to talk to another 16 year old bee enthusiest!

Joseph


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Hi all -
Renee sent me her essay and I post it here for all.

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Beekeeping in Colonial Times

How did our ancestors do it? Weve seen the rock paintings in Africa and Spain that show people gathering honey in 7,000 B.C. The Aztec and Mayan showed signs of beekeeping in 1400 A.D. The Mayans even had a bee god, Ah Mucan Cab. Conquering Spaniards in the 16th century found Melipona beecheii, a stingless, honey storing bee tended by natives of Mexico and Central America.

But how did bees get to the New World - America?

Lets start with Captain John Smith and Captain Miles Standish who brought the settlers and their honey bees to Virginia in 1622. A letter from an English officer of the Virginia Company reports that - European honey bees (Apis mellifera) were shipped to America. There is reference of bees on the May Flower but, did they survive? In the 1600s honey was like air and water, people took it for granted, records are sparse. I found that early Colonial settlers also brought many trees and plants from their homeland. The Basswood tree was not native to America and from that tree, a wonderful basswood honey is produced today.

What kind of bees came to America? The Northern European Bees that were originally shipped to America were Dark Bees (apis mellifera), they tended to be irritable and nervous. Their frequent swarming habit was favored by beekeepers before moveable frames were available. Where did they land, were they English, Danish, Spanish or French bees? We dont really know.

At the first Thanksgiving honey was used in the mead and other recipes. 
It is hard to tell if that honey was from hives in the New World or part of the shipment from the homelands. A man by the name of Perkins was quoted verbatim from a report written in the 1600s a swarm must have settled on a ship about to sail from Spain... and on reaching what is now Veracruz the bees flew ashore and in to a cast which a priest provided as a hive. Shipments to Massachusetts arrived between 1630 to 1633. Its documented, bees arrived in Connecticut 1644. It was in 1670 Richard J. Hooker cited, You shall scarce see a horse, but the South side is begirt with hives and bees. He was talking about New York. In Pennsylvania by 1698.

Bees found their way to Florida by 1763. In 1767 it is estimated in Massachusetts that about 40 gallons of mead is consumed per person. That's a lot of honey. Bees were in Mississippi in 1770 and in Alabama in 1773. They made their way to Kentucky by 1788. We do know in 1809 the Russian settlers brought bees to Alaska and there is some evidence that they came down to California, so we came assume that Washington and Oregon were also introduced to bees. Did the bees survive? In 1812 settlers took bees as far a Texas. To Illinois in 1820 and in 1821 bees had naturalized themselves in Texas where Stephen F Austen provided his party with a gallon and a half of the natural treat. Thats about 18 pounds of honey.

The Spanish brought bees to California before the Russians did in 1830 Bees were also shipped to California from the Eastern States. John Harbison a gold seeker, started a first fruit and tree nursery but, turned to beekeeping and became the Bee King of California or Father of California Beekeeping in November 1857 he brought 67 hives to San Francisco on a steamer and later invented the California hive. He came for gold and found honey. In 1852 W.A. Buckly traveled from New York on the steamer, Sierra Nevada to Panama and than to San Francisco with one bee hive. In 1855 William Buck on the same route from New York brought 43 hives to California, but only 18 survived the trip. Christopher Shelton in March 1853, bought 12 hives in Panama from aunidentified New York man but only one hive survived. The western states received most of their bees from California.

It was in 1860 an Austrian named Bodmer was in charge of the Italian bees S.B. Parrsons had shipped to the United States according to the records of L.L. Langstroth. Only two of the Queens were saved from the entire lot. One of these were given to Wm. Cary of Massachusetts. It was Carys success that Italianized a large apiary for Parsons. History is rich with stories of honey bees.

The plight of honey bees in America was decided by their wonderful adaptability to swarm over the New World. This was important because in the fall, colonists burned sulfur to kill the swarms to get to the honey. In the spring they would capture new swarms. The Native American Indians called the bee The white mans fly. The settlers mostly use the honey for food and beverages and to preserve fruits. They also used it to form cement, make furniture polish, varnish and very importantly, medicinal purposes. With all the hardships that the pioneers suffered, honey made life sweeter. it was the prime source of sweetener. Beekeeping methods in Colonial times would have been inherited by the settlers ancestors. Bees thrived in America because of the incredible nectar sources. In early America bees were a food source and little was known about their ideal pollination antics. During the colonial period, hard cider was the beverage of choice. It could easily be made at every farmhouse with honey. So it would be safe to assume wherever settlers went they would take their bees. In olden days a common practice was for newlyweds to drink mead for one month (one phase of the moon) to assure the birth of a son. Thus the term Honeymoon. Hives in the Colonies varied in shapes. Skeps seemed to be the favorite in Europe, but soon, with the abundance of lumber and the inability of trained people to make the skeps, log gums and simple box hives became the choice for settlers.


Renee Rutherford
I am a 16 years old female.
[email protected]

I have been a 4-H member for 9 years. I have a emerald Star Rank. I am the 2003 Secretary for South Sis-Q 4-H. Our 4-H has received the County Community Service Award for the last three years and the California State Community Pride Award for the second year in a row. I raised the Top Hog in the light weight class. In 2002 I received a blue ribbon for sewing, woodworking, archery and cooking. Bee project: I started my interest in bees last year. I wanted a project I knew nothing about to see how well I could do. Im deathly afraid of bees. I entered the 4-H Honey essay contest last year and did well for California. I took the theme and made a 4-H presentation /demonstration Honey A taste of Americas sweetness I received gold at county in Yreka, regional in Susanville and State at U.C. Davis. I planned my demonstration on my bee project and Im picking up my first hives in March.

I am the Junior in high school and have been class president for three years. I have a GPA of 3.85 at high school and 4.0 GPA at college. I play Varsity Basketball and I started rebuilding a very old Alice Chalmers tractor in auto shop. I shot my first archery buck in 2002 and I just started a job as hostess at the Hungry Moose.

Renee Rutherford


Resources:
http://ag.udel.edu/departments/ento/staff/dmcaron/apiology/chapter12.htm 
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Russian settlers 1809
http://www.main.org/cahbs/oldhist.htm 
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Ancient Beekeeping

ABC and XYZ of Bee keeping, A.I. Root
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Book not found, Lots of reference by resources below, Ordered on e-Bay ???

American Apitherapy Society
[email protected]
Sara Cornwall http://www.apitherapy.org/ 
(914) 725-7944
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Introduced me to Howlan Blackiston, Beekeeping for Dummies

American Bee Journal
[email protected]
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Honey Bee information for School/4-H: 1st bee came from England

Ancient Beekeeping http://www.main.org/cahbs/oldhist.htm 
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Early rock paintings - Great pictures.

Bees & Beekeeping
Roger A Morse
Comstock publishing *** .
London 1975
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Reference to History of American Beekeeping, Frank C. Pellett, fifty Years among the Bees, C.C. Miller, Bee illustration

Beekeeping
John E. Eckert & Frank R. Shaw
Macmillan Printing Co, INC, New York
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Appendix: pg. 453, Important Events in American Beekeeping History, Glossary pg. 459

Bee Culture Magazine
--- http://www.beeculture.com/beeculture/months/01feb/01feb3.html 
Bee Industry Epochs, 1700-1800 Colonies are wild & honey hunters rob hives. 1900s Bee are farm animals.

Beekeeping The Gentle Craft
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General information

John F Adams
Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Garden City, New York 1972
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Gives a feeling for beekeeping

Beekeeping for Dummies
Howland Blackiston
[email protected]
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General information, Ordered Book / Author will sign!

Bee Source, BeeSource.com
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Great chat site.
Perkins Quote: Swarm on Spanish ship lands in Veracruz.
Honey Bees of Santa Cruz Is.
Bee Forum
Michael Bush Moderator: web sites
{http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi?}
(http://www.beesource.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000457.html)
(http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0302hsted/030208miller/030408miller.PDF)
(www.gobeekeeping.com/Lhistoryofbeekeeping.htm)
Mark Williams (Book:Foxfire)
Dave W. (Publishing on site)
Tworedroseman: (Colonial Williamsberg)
Dick M Book on internet?

California State Library
Catherine Hanson-Tracy
Reference/ILL Librarian
P.O.Box 94237
Sacramento, CA. 94237
[email protected]
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1853 Christopher Shelton
1855 William Buck
John S. Harbison by Lee H. Watkins
CAs first modern Beekeeper
1854-1857 John Harbison
Bee Source
Sunset Magazine v.81, no 2, Aug. 1938, p11-12

The Country Housewife
Alex Hogg
Rater-nofterRow
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Ample directions ref. petting the management of bees.
Pages 89-101 ( A book written in England but used by Colony wife's in the new world)

Capital Area honeybee Stewards
Ancient Beekeeping http://www.main.org/cahbs/ 
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Who were the first beekeepers?


David Sylvester
[email protected]
Encyclopedia of Food & Drink
John F. Mariani
Lebhar-Friedman: New York
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May Flower research www.altavista.com 
1821 Stephen F. Austin


The Food Timeline
Morris County Library, NJ USA
[email protected]
Lynne Olver
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The Country House Wife
Honey bees of Santa Cruz
About Beekeeping in the Colonies
History of beekeeping in the U.S.
Astec & Mayan Bees


Food and Drink in America
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Quote: Richard J. Hooker


Gobeekeeping .Com
The Introduction of Italians honey bees into the United States.
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Import of the Spanish Bees


History of Beekeeping in the United States
Agriculture Handbook Number 335
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Evertt Oerteel: apiculturist
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1622 Virginia to 1850 shipment to California in 1850
Development of Equipment
NH 5/97 Page 32
1621 Letter/Virginia Co.
1767 consumption in Massachusetts
L.L. Langstrouth 1852
Italian Stock 1860
Colonial use of log gums/box hives
Bee dates for some States.


History of Honey Bees
George's pink Pages
December 2000
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The Dark Bee: Apis melllifera mellifera

[This message has been edited by Barry (edited February 24, 2003).]


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## Bigearl (Oct 16, 2002)

A+


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## Russ (Sep 9, 2001)

Hi Renee, Sounds like you are a very busy Girl. I enjoyed reading your Essay. I had never thought about the term "HONEYMOON". 

Good to hear you are preserving a bit of history in restoring the Alice Chalmers Tractor. I have several Old Gas Engines that I take to Tractor and Engine Shows around Kansas. 

Remember to work slowly with the Bees. Fast movements make the bees nervous. Find someone that has bees and work with them and join a local Bee Club if possible. Good luck with your bees. Dale


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