Background
Walter T. Kelley was born in Sturgis, Michigan, in 1897.
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Walter Kelley
Edit ProfileEducation
Kelley graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in apiculture in 1919.
Career
Kelley also wrote extensively about apiculture and published the bee journal Modern Beekeeping. He interrupted his education to enlist in the Army Signal Corps, 1918, but in a few months was released from service and returned to university. He worked for the United States Department of Agriculture from graduation until 1924 when he started keeping bees full-time in Houma, Louisiana.
The Kelley Company He sold durable cypress hives and woodware originally built in Louisiana then later at his factory in Kentucky.
He created or greatly improved upon ventilated bee gloves (1938), wired foundation (1939), bee blowers (1969), and plastic bottom boards (1975). Kelley"s business included a 100-acre (400,000 m2) farm in Cade, Louisiana where his queen and package bee operation grew to 1500 colonies.
He sold queens and replacement bees throughout North America. After 85 years the company is still providing beekeeping supplies today. and Ida Kelley were major donors to the Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in nearby Leitchfield and a wing of the hospital was named for them in their honor.
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Born
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Died
1986 (aged 89) -
Nationality
United States