Walter T. Kelley

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Walter T. Kelley (* 1897 in Sturgis, Michigan ; † August 22, 1986 in Grayson County , Kentucky .) Was an American beekeeper who founded a large beekeeping and queen breeding company in Clarkson, Kentucky ( Kelley Beekeeping Company ). He also invented some beekeeping supplies that are still used today. Kelley also wrote extensively on beekeeping as a practical author and published the bee magazine Modern Beekeeping and the standard work for American beekeepers: How to Keep Bees and Sell Honey .

Youth and education

Walter T. Kelley was born in Sturgis, Michigan in 1897. He had his first experience with bees when he was 10 years old. At that age he watched a swarm of bees settle in a tree in his school yard. A beekeeper who happened to be present told him that a swarm had no chance of survival in July because the first frost arrived in southern Michigan in mid-September and swarms had no good prospects of getting through winter.

Kelley's father built a wooden soap box to house the crush and the neighbor shook it into the improvised wooden box. The swarm was taken into the Kelley's yard and the first frost did not occur until late that year and the bees survived. During this time, Kelley read a lot of literature about bees and was able to significantly increase his bee population by establishing offshoots .

Kelley began his apiculture studies at Michigan State University . However, he broke off his studies at short notice to enroll in the United States Army Signal Corps in 1918 . However, he was released from active duty and retired within a few months . So he returned to the university. In 19191 Kelley graduated with a bachelor's degree in apiculture . He then worked for the USDA until he kept bees full-time in Houma in 1924 .

Time as a company founder

Captured queen bee with worker bees. The bee cage invented by Kelley has a fodder dough plug in the entrance area.

In 1924 he began selling local bees and beehives under the name Gulf Coast Apiaries . In Louisiana he met his future wife, Ida Babin. They married in 1926. After the Wall Street stock market crash in 1929, they opted for more profitable production. Due to the increasing transport costs over the Mississippi River, Kelley decided to relocate the company to Kentucky. With little money, Kelley opened the business in Paducah in 1934 as The Walter T. Kelley Company . To launch an effective advertising campaign that would grab the consumer's attention, Kelley created his legendary Bee Man. In 1938 the “Bee Man” brand was registered. He was quoted as saying, "Make a fool of yourself and people will remember you."

In November 1952, Kelley moved his company 160 miles to Clarkson, Kentucky, where the company he founded continues to exist today.

His wife Ida Kelley died in 1978. Walter Kelley was very actively involved in the day-to-day business of his company until a few months before his death in 1986. In old age he opened the daily mail, dictated letters, made phone calls and ordered raw materials for the factory.

He died on August 22, 1986 in Grayson County, Kentucky.

Inventions and products

He sold durable cypress canes and a variety of beekeeping supplies, originally built in Louisiana and later built in his Kentucky factory. He invented u. a. also the ventilated bee gloves (1938), a wire-bound foundation (1939), the queen cage, and plastic floorboards.

Kelley's business also included a 400-acre bees and queens breeding farm in Cade, Louisiana. In its economic heyday, the company housed around 1,500 bee colonies there. He sold queens and replacement bees across North America. After 85 years, the company still supplies beekeeping supplies nationwide.

Queen cage

One of Kelley's most innovative inventions was a queen cage that slowly integrated the new queen bee for a colony. Sometimes the bees of an already existing colony will kill the new queen because you see her as an intruder. That's why Kelley designed a cage to make the transition easier. The hand-sized rectangular cage is designed for a queen bee and around five worker bees . The entrance is sealed with a sugary dough. Worker bees inside and outside the cage eat the "candy," as Kelley called it, and get used to the smell of the new queen as they eat the batter. When they have eaten their way to the queen, the worker bees know their typical smell and are more likely to accept the new queen in their midst.

Textbook author

Walter T. Kelley was a prolific and avid author of specialist beekeeping literature, including his 1978 magazine Modern Beekeeping, and his standard How to Keep Bees and Sell Honey, published in 1978 .

social commitment

Walter T. and Ida Kelley were major donors to the Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center near Leitchfield. A wing of the hospital has been named in their honor.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historical Overview of the Walter T. Kelley Company on the website of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF E-Buzz: September 2011) This and all parts quoted are from the 75th anniversary of the honor of Walter T. & Ida Babin Kelley. (accessed on March 23, 2019)
  2. ↑ Joseph O. Moffett: Beekeepers and Associates from 1979 p. 60 (B000MPH1BY)
  3. ↑ Historical Overview of the Walter T. Kelley Company on the website of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF E-Buzz: September 2011) This and all parts quoted are from the 75th anniversary of the honor of Walter T. & Ida Babin Kelley. (accessed on March 23, 2019)
  4. ↑ Joseph O. Moffett: Beekeepers and Associates from 1979 p. 69 (B000MPH1BY)
  5. ↑ Keepers Of Bees (And A Legacy) At Kentucky's Walter T. Kelley Company on the homepage of Elissa Yancey (accessed March 23, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Kelley, Walter T.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American beekeeper
DATE OF BIRTH 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Sturgis , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1986
Place of death Grayson County , Kentucky