1893 - bees at the columbian exposition

8/18/2019 1893 - Bees at the Columbian Exposition

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1893 - Bees at the Columbian Exposition

When you read the old magazines, no matter what the focus of the periodical is, you eventually read

about the Columbian Exhibition of 1893/'94. The excitement of having all the best and new gathered

in a magical temporary kingdom still comes through in the faded photos and lists of exhibitors! I

scattered some bee engravings on this souvenir fan so I could share it with you :-)


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The honey and beeswax and apiary suppliers were there. Due to a lack of floor space the honey

exhibits were controlled in their size and styling by being inside of glass cases which were placed on

the second floor of the hall.


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"Under this plan the following States made exhibits of honey and beeswax: California,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

In two or three instances (notably New York) exhibits of bees were kept contiguous to the

honey exhibit. The whole section devoted to this industry was exceptionally attractive


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an g y cre ta e.

EXHIBITS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

The exhibits in the apiarian department of the Columbian Exhibition were mostly installed in the east

gallery of the agricultural building. Glass cases were provided by the States and provinces

competing, under the direction of the Agricultural Department. These cases were uniform in size and

were about 5 by 20 feet, 6 feet high, inside. A glance, through this gallery revealed the fact of tons of honey displayed in every conceivable form

that the fancy of the producer and the ingenuity of the superintendent could dictate. Besides the glass

cases were many exhibits of bee keepers' appliances, consisting of hives, supers, honey extractors,

sections, foundation mills, machines for putting sections together and automatically fastening the

starters, smokers, honey knives, escapes, etc. Some old-fashioned round straw hives, so familiar in

illustrations for the past hundred years, were there to show the methods employed by bee keepers of

past generations. Alongside of these were exhibited the modern movable frame hive with various

contrivances for obtaining honey in its purity and in the best marketable shape.


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e com oney on ex on was mos y n -poun sec on oxes, ma e o w e pop ar or nen,

some of which were glassed on both sides, but whether glassed or not generally built between

separators, giving to the finished product an even and handsome appearance, no matter what the

source from which gathered. There were many fanciful designs and mottoes worked out by the bees

in comb honey.

Extracted honey was shown in large quantities. The style of receptacle varied from the small large-

mouthed bottle to the large long necked decanter—in packages adapted to retail trade and in cases

suitable for shipment—in its liquid state as taken from the combs, and in granulated form (a condition

which most extracted honey assumes when long removed from the hive and exposed to changes of

climate).

In addition to the exhibit of honey and appliances there were a number of colonies arranged along the

east wall of the building with exits for the bees outside and far above the crowds of people on the

ground below. These colonies were successfully managed during the .summer and stored a fine lot of

honey. They were Italians and Carniolans.

Of the glass cases above referred to, New York filled three with exhibits, besides many fixtures shown

outside; Illinois, two, and Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota, and

Wisconsin each, one. States and Territories having entries in smaller quantities, and in some

instances shown in their agricultural sections below, were California, Washington, Nevada, Colorado,

and Maine.

Many of the States had superintendents in charge of their apiarian exhibits whose pleasure it seemed

to be to impart instruction to the interested visitor. Much useful information was no doubt

disseminated thereby.

The exhibits from the States did not adequately represent the industry in all parts of our vast domain.

The reason for this lay chiefly in the fact that the State appropriations for the fair were in many cases

too small to properly represent all the industries. Many States noted for their fine and large crops of

honey made no exhibit or only a few samples from some patriotic apiarist.

Only those States which granted a liberal sum to the bee keepers were creditably represented. A

minor reason probably influenced the bee keepers in some of the States to withhold exhibits. As

before hinted, the yield and quality of honey being largely due to climatic influences, and the

conditions in 1892 not being favorable, they lost interest in the matter because they could not show

what they deemed worthy of exhibition.

FOREIGN EXHIBITS.

Aside from the fine exhibit from Ontario, which showed that the bee keepers of that Province were

among the foremost in the world, the foreign exhibits were mostly confined to liquid honey and

apiarian appliances, and were not shown in the east gallery of the agricultural building, but were

among the foreign exhibits, either in other parts of the agricultural building or in other parts of the

grounds.

The British bee keepers society had a large and exceedingly interesting collection of extracted honey

from di!erent localities in England, Scotland, and Ireland, put up in bottles of uniform size and style

and made attractive by finely printed labels. The other countries exhibiting honey, or appliances, or

both, were: Italy, Greece, Russia, Ottoman Empire, New South Wales, Ceylon, Siam, Spain, ArgentineRepublic, Republic of Ecuador, Guatemala, Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, Mexico, and Venezuela.

These foreign honeys were subjected to the disadvantages of change of climate, want of freshness (as

they were all of 1892 crop or earlier), and lack of persons in charge who understood how to properly

care for them, but much fine honey was shown in spite of unfavorable conditions.

Russia exhibited a very interesting collection of hives and models of hives, and implements used in

the apiaries of that country, showing that modern ideas have taken root in the minds of the Russian

bee keepers.


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or s o um an xpos t on, cago, ., ,Volume 2

Not honey, but a delightful exhibit, here is a grain decoration in the PA exhibit.

And what about a horse made of grain!!! I do wish I could find more honey exhibit photos.


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This was a Missouri exhibit. I love the train with corn in the coal car :-)

By Emma Craib - Elementary school art teacher interested in smiles & robots, insects & botany,

kayaking & gardening, reading & researching, honeybees & pumpkin pies.

1893 - bees at the columbian exposition

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