Located in the cradle of American beekeeping, the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild works to encourage and promote urban beekeeping through fellowship and education, and to raise awareness of the importance of bees to our environment.
Why do we say we are in the “cradle” of American Beekeeping? ?Because Philadelphia is the birthplace of Lorenzo L. Langstroth, the inventor of the removable frame hive based on the concept of “bee space.” ?Without this hive style, American agriculture would be severely hampered. ?Lorenzo was born at 106 South Front St. on Christmas Day in 1810.
Not only that, but Langstroth’s “eureka” moment – when the whole design of this hive came clear to his mind – occurred as he walked from his apiary in West Philadelphia, back home to center city one night in 1851. ?So, the concept of bee space materialized (his discovery) here and the hive (his invention) was designed and patented in Philadelphia.
Referring to the births of the inventor, his idea, and his design, we consider Philadelphia the “cradle of American beekeeping.”