Amos Ives Root

Amos Ives Root was a shining example of the American spirit. Known as “the father of modern beekeeping”, A. I. was a gentleman of integrity and scientific curiosity who was just as at-home in the pulpit as he was addressing a Congressional hearing. A true innovator and entrepreneur, he always sought a better way. His inquisitive mind lead him to build a better beehive, that, for the first time, made it possible for beekeepers to harvest their honey without destroying the colony of bees. His books and magazines, including The ABC’s of Bee Culture and Bee Culture Magazine, continue to be published today and remain as the primary source of information to the beekeeping industry.

A. I. was a visionary with faith in others who dared to dream. A friend of the Wright Brothers, he published the first account of their flight (found today in the Smithsonian Institute) when few others believed what they had done. He was a humanitarian lauded by 11 year old Hellen Keller for his kindness. Amos Ives wrote in 1917, “I looked up at the stars and stripes that were floating in the wind from the flag pole over our company and said, “The A. I. Root Company, God permitting, will last for years after A. I. Root, himself, is gone”.

Now in its fifth generation, the Root family continues to extol the virtues of honesty, integrity, and plain old hard work, in the very same place the company was started in 1869.