Moses Quinby was one of the first commercial beekeeper

Beekeeper

A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...

s in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, a native of St. Johnsville, New York

St. Johnsville, New York

St. Johnsville is the name of two places in Montgomery County, New York:*St. Johnsville , New York*St. Johnsville , New York...

.

Quinby established his business in his early 20s and expanded it to own about 1,200 hives in the Mohawk Valley

Mohawk Valley

The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Among his innovations in beekeeping

Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...

, he is credited with the invention of the modern bee smoker

Bee smoker

A bee smoker is a device used in beekeeping to calm honey bees. It is designed to generate smoke from the smouldering of various fuels, hence the name.-Action and usage:...

 with bellows. He is also the author of the book "Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained" (1853).

External links

• The house of Moses Quinby
• Moses Quinby and L. C. Root University of Massachusetts Amherst
  University of Massachusetts Amherst
  The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
  
  Special Library Collections