Jan Dzierzon

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Jan Dzierzon

Jan Dzierzon sometimes Germanised into Johann(es) Dzierzon ((16 January 1811 – 26 October 1906) was a Polish apiarist and Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
priest

Priest

A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities....
who was best known for his discovery of parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos or seeds occurs without fertilization by a male....
among bee

Bee

Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants. Bees are a monophyly lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila....
s, and for designing the first successful movable-frame beehive

Beehive (beekeeping)

A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the genus Apis live and raise their young. Natural beehives are naturally-occurring structures occupied by honey bee colonies, while domesticated honey bees live in man-made beehives, often in an apiary....
.

Biography
Dzierzon was born and died in Lowkowitz (Lowkowice)

Lowkowice

Lowkowice is a village in Kluczbork County in Opole Voivodeship, Poland....
near Kreuzburg (Kluczbork)

Kluczbork

Kluczbork [] is a town in southwestern Poland with 26,670 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction....
in Silesia

Province of Silesia

The Province of Silesia was a Provinces of Prussia of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919; the territory had been conquered from Habsburg Monarchy during the 18th century Silesian Wars....
, Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a Germany monarchy from 1701 to 1918 and, from 1871, was the leading state of the German Empire, comprising almost two-thirds of the area of the empire....
(later Germany).He was an ethnic Pole, and considered himself a member of the Polish nation

Nation

A nation is a cultural and social community. In as much as most members never meet each other, yet feel a common bond, it may be considered an imagined community....
, In 1822 he moved to Breslau (now Wroclaw), where he attended a middle school commonly know in that area as a gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English Grammar schools in the United Kingdoms or sixth form colleges and U.S....
.

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Encyclopedia

Jan Dzierzon sometimes Germanised into Johann(es) Dzierzon ((16 January 1811 – 26 October 1906) was a Polish apiarist and Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

Priest

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is an asexual form of reproduction found in females where growth and development of embryos or seeds occurs without fertilization by a male....
among bee

Bee

Beehive (beekeeping)

Biography

Dzierzon was born and died in Lowkowitz (Lowkowice)

Lowkowice

Lowkowice is a village in Kluczbork County in Opole Voivodeship, Poland....
near Kreuzburg (Kluczbork)

Kluczbork

Kluczbork [] is a town in southwestern Poland with 26,670 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction....
in Silesia

Province of Silesia

Kingdom of Prussia

Nation

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English Grammar schools in the United Kingdoms or sixth form colleges and U.S....
. In 1833, he graduated from the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the Breslau University, and, in 1834, became chaplain

Chaplain

A chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church , or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; Laity chaplains are also found in other settings such...
in Schalkowitz (Siolkowice)

Siolkowice

Siolkowice is the name of two villages in Poland, in the Opole Voivodeship, close to the village of Popiel?w. One is named Stare Siolkowice, the other being Nowe Siolkowice....
. As an ordained

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies....
Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

Parish

A parish is a local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Methodist, and Presbyterianism churches....
in Karlsmarkt (Karlowice)

Karlowice

Karlowice may refer to the following places in Poland:*Karlowice, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Karlowice, Greater Poland Voivodeship *Karlowice, Opole Voivodeship ...
in 1835. Years later his religious authorities took offence at his scientific research and retired him in 1869.

In his apiary

Apiary

An apiary is a place where beehive of honey bees are kept. Traditionally beekeepers paid land rent in honey for the use of small parcels. Some farmers will provide free apiary sites, because they need pollination, and farmers who need many hives often pay for them to be moved to the crops when they bloom....
, Dzierzon studied the social life of honeybees and constructed several experimental beehive

Beehive

Beehive may refer to:Bee-keeping* Beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young. It includes both natural and man-made hives; the latter includes traditional designs such as skeps and gums and modern designs such as:...
s. In 1838, he devised the first practical movable-comb beehive, which allowed manipulation of individual honeycomb

Honeycomb

A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their beehive to contain their larva and stores of honey and pollen.beekeeping may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey....
s without destroying the structure of the hive. The correct distance between combs had been described as 1 and ½ inches from the center of one top bar to the center of next one. In 1848 Dzierzon introduced grooves into the hive’s side walls replacing the strips of wood for moving top bars. The grooves had been 8 x 8 mm – exact average between 1/4 and 3/8 of an inch, which is range recently called bee space. His design quickly gained popularity in Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
and North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. On the basis of the aforementioned measurements, August von Berlepsch (May 1852) in Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is located in central Germany. It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen States of Germany ....
and L. L. Langstroth

L. L. Langstroth

Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth , beekeeper, clergyman and teacher, is considered the "Father of American Beekeeping."L. L. Langstroth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(October 1852) in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
designed their frame-movable hives.

In 1835, Dzierzon discovered that the drone

Drone (bee)

Drones are male honey bees. Male honey bees develop when the queen bee lays unfertilized Egg s....
s are produced from unfertilized egg

Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
s. The discovery was publicised in 1845. His results caused a revolution in bee crossbreeding. In 1854, he discovered the mechanism of secretion of the royal jelly

Royal jelly

Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of the larvae. It is secreted from the hypopharyngeal glands in the heads of young workers and used to feed all of the larvae in the colony, including those destined to become workers....
and its role in the development of queen

Queen bee

The term queen bee is typically used to refer to an adult, mated female that lives in a honey bee colony or hive; she is usually the mother of all the bees in the hive....
s.

In 1872, Dzierzon received a honoris causa doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
from the University of Munich. In 1874, he moved back to Lowkowitz.

Legacy

Dzierzon is the father of modern apiology

Apiology

Apiology is the scientific study of honey bees, a subdiscipline of melittology, which is itself a branch of entomology. Honey bees are often chosen as a study group to answer questions on the evolution of social systems....
and apiculture. All modern beehives are descendants of his design.

While Dzierzon considered himself a Pole and was born to Polish parents, several modern English language sources name him German, others call him an ethnic Pole recalling his statement that he is a member of the Polish nation

Nation

A nation is a cultural and social community. In as much as most members never meet each other, yet feel a common bond, it may be considered an imagined community....
, having been born to ethnically Polish parents. Some sources also stress his region of birth (Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas....
), and refer to him as Silesian.

In 1936, his hometown of Lowkowitz was renamed by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
to Bienendorf (German

German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
for "Bee Village") and kept the name until 1945. It was renamed Lowkowice

Lowkowice

Lowkowice is a village in Kluczbork County in Opole Voivodeship, Poland....
after the region came under Polish control following World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

Also, after 1945, the town of Reichenbach was first renamed Rychbach, then Dzierzoniów
Dzierzoniów

Dzierzoni?w [] is a town in southwestern Poland. It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship . It is the seat of Dzierzoni?w County, and of Gmina Dzierzoni?w ....
in Dzierzon's honor. In 1962, a Jan Dzierzon's Museum of Apiculture was established in Kluczbork (Kreuzburg)

Kluczbork

Kluczbork [] is a town in southwestern Poland with 26,670 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Kluczbork County and an important railroad junction....
. Another was established in the town of Maciejów

Maciejów

Maciej?w may refer to the following places:*Maciej?w, Leczyca County in L?dz Voivodeship *Maciej?w, Zdunska Wola County in L?dz Voivodeship *Maciej?w, Lublin Voivodeship ...
, which was called Matzdorf when he worked there.

Dzierzon received many honors, among them the Austrian Order of Franz Joseph

Order of Franz Joseph

The Imperial Austrian Franz Joseph Order was founded by the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on December 2 1849 on the first anniversary of his assumption of the Imperial Crown....
, the Bavarian Merit Order of St. Michael, the Hessian Ludwig Order, the Russian Order of St. Anna

Order of St. Anna

The Order of St. Anna was a Holstein and then Russian order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia....
, the Swedish Order of Vasa

Order of Vasa

The Royal Order of Vasa was a Swedish Royal order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce....
, the Prussian Order of the Crown

Order of the Crown (Prussia)

The Order of the Crown was Prussia's lowest ranking Order . Instituted in 1861 as an award equal in rank to the Order of the Red Eagle, it could only be awarded to commissioned officers , but there was a medal associated with the order which could be earned by non-commissioned officers and enlisted men....
(4th Class) at his 90th birthday, and many more. He was an honorary member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, among others. Dzierzon received an honorary diploma at Graz

Graz

Graz , with a population of around 290,000 as of 2008 , is the List of cities and towns in Austria#List of cities and towns by population size in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria ....
, presented by Archduke Johann of Austria

Archduke Johann of Austria

Archduke John of Austria was the thirteenth child of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Louisa of Spain. His son from a morganatic marriage was Franz von Meran....
. In 1903 he was presented to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Franz Joseph I Karl of the Habsburg was Emperor of Austrian Empire, Apostolic King of Kingdom of Hungary from 1848 until 1916 ....
. In 1904 he became an honorary member of the Schlesische Gesellschaft für vaterländische Kultur ("Silesian Society for Fatherland Culture").

Selected works

His works include 800 articles in several scientific magazines and 26 books, published in German and Polish. The most important include:

15 Nov 1845: Sztuka zrobienia zlota, nawet z zielska Tygodnik Polski Poswiecony Wloscianom, Pszczyna.
1848-1852: Theorie und Praxis des neuen Bienenfreundes ("Theory and Practice of the Modern Bee-friend")
1851 and 1859: Nowe udoskonalone pszczelnictwo ksiedza plebana Dzierzona w Katwicach na Slasku. Leszno
1852: Nachtrag zur Theorie und Praxis... (Appendix to "Theory and Practice")
1853: Najnowsze pszczelnictwo. Lwów
1854-1856: Der Bienenfreund aus Schlesien ("The Bee-friend from Silesia")
1861-1878: Rationelle Bienenzucht ("Rational apiculture")
1890: Der Zwillingstock ("Semi-detached beehive")

Articles by Dzierzon in Frauendörfer Blättern were collected by Rentmeister Bruckisch from Grottkau (Grodków)

Grodków

Grodk?w [] is a town in Opole Voivodeship in Poland. It has 8,709 inhabitants and lies 20 km south of Brzeg.Grodk?w was granted city rights in 1268 by Duke Henryk IV Probus....
and re-published under the titles:

Neue verbesserte Bienen-Zucht des Johann Dzierzon, Brieg 1855
Neue verbesserte Bienen-Zucht des Pfarrers Dzierzon zu Carlsmarkt in Schlesien, 1861
Lebensbeschreibung von ihm selbst, vom 4. August 1885 (abgedruckt im Heimatkalender des Kreises Kreuzburg/OS 1931, S. 32-28), 1885 (Dziergon's biography, reprinted in 1931)
Der Zwillingsstock, 1890

External links

online English translation of Jan Dzierzon's book (London: Houlston & sons, 1882)

Jan Dzierzon

Biography

Legacy

Selected works

See also

Further reading

External links