History of American Beekeeping

This history is designed to cover American beekeeping down to the time of the World War. In some cases it has been neces​sary to cover events since that date in order to complete the story of subjects initiated prior to that time .. The World War brought great changes to American beekeep‐​ ing with emphasis on production and marketing of honey, rather than on beekeeping as an interesting diversion, as it long had been. With the high prices which came with the postwar boom, expansion became the rule, and the rank and file of beemen became honey producers rather than beekeepers as of old .. This change came suddenly, which up​rooted so many human institutions, and closed that period some​times spoken of as “The Golden Age of Beekeeping.” Frank Chapman Pellett, Hamilton, Illinois, January 26, 1938.