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THE HOFMANN APIARIES 1906–1935

By all accounts Emil Hofmann was a bright, talented individual. He had an artistic bent, was good with his hands, studied, and was inventive, inquisitive and eager to find and try, or experiment with new methods and equipment to improve and grow his business. When he thought of a tool or piece of equipment that would make some bit of work easier but that did not yet exist, if possible he designed and built it. He was neat and extremely efficient. From American Bee Journal, August 1916: “Hofmann belongs to that rare class combining neatness with good practice and extensive production. His hives are nicely painted, stands are level, grass is cut, all equipment is in place, and everything is slick as the parlor of a Dutch housewife.”

He was also, unfortunately, a bit of a spendthrift and was inclined to at times spend money with extravagance, especially on his business. Whenever he became interested in something, it was his habit to devote whatever resources were necessary to fulfill the requirements of his interest. This meant that money that might have been saved or applied to debt often was not. However, this approach served him and The Hofmann Apiaries well for many years (figure 11).

figure 11. View of the south home yard showing a newly constructed bee cellar in which bees were kept during winter. The cellar is the light-colored structure between the honey house and the windmill. For many years all bees were kept in cellars during winter, and at one point there were four cellars: two at the home place and two in out-yards. Photo probably taken sometime between 1915 and 1920.
 
In about 1921 a large, concrete water reservoir was constructed to provide running water to both the house and the honey house. Improvements to the house were also undertaken that included a bathroom, an enclosed back porch, a small office, a wood and coal-burning furnace, and an enlarged basement. As the business grew, so did the requirements to handle this growth. Two or three hired hands lived and worked at the farm full-time, boarding in an upstairs “hired men’s room.”

The most significant improvement occurred in 1923 when a major addition was made to the old hog barn honey house. Not only was the original structure expanded and remodeled, but a large, three-story addition was added that included a steamheated warming room, an extracting room with modern equipment, one floor dedicated to storage, and a hand-operated elevator that serviced all three floors. It had six 350-gallon tanks for extracted honey, making a total capacity of 2,100 gallons, or 25,200 pounds. Designed by Emil, it was a thoroughly modern and innovative building that drew attention both locally and nationally (figures 12-17).
 
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