Hello All, I wanted to share a wonderful historical bee article from the United Kingdom, published in the Times, London, Middlesex. October 22, 1828 It reveals a side of Huber to my knowledge not widely known. It is a wonderfully moving love story, between Huber and his wife. And besides an expression of deep love and devotion between them, it can lead one rethink; who were the eyes of Huber?,,,was it Francis Burnens? or perhaps someone else? If another person was contributing to Hubers “observations“, might this knowledge have been suppressed in Hubers publications, in pursuant with the thinking at the time? Hope you enjoy it! A PDF file of the original publication can be found at: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/ In the folder: ‘Historical Bee Articles 1800 - 1849 Under the file name: ‘1828 - Madame Huber’ The Times Wednesday, October 22, 1828 London, Middlesex =====Article Start==== 1828 - Madame Huber The following anecdote of Huber, the celebrated naturalist, appears in the Memories sur Josephine, the first volume of which has just been published by Mr. Colbum. M. Huber's work on the natural history of bees is well known in this country, but we believe it is little known that his observations relative to the habits of this insect were made through the medium of his wife, at a time when he was totally blind :—" We frequently visited," says the authoress, “an interesting and remarkable man, M. Huber, nephew of the friend of Voltaire. He had been blind since the age of 17. At that period he fell in love with a rich young lady, who returned his affections, but their parents opposed their union, and they were separated. A few months afterwards he was afflicted with gutta serena. which deprived him entirely of sight, which he regretted the more because he was unable to see the object of his affection, he was sent to Paris with the hope that a cure might be effected, but he obtained no relief, and returned in despair to Geneva. Mademoiselle Lullia having been made acquainted with his misfortune, declared to her parents that although she would readily submit to their will if the man of her choice could have done without her, yet, as he now required a person to be always with him, nothing should prevent her being united to him. Her parents became more obstinate than ever in withholding their consent; but when she became of age, she, after having refused several brilliant offers, married the person for whom she had formed a disinterested affection and their mutual conduct soon obtained for them pardon for their disobedience. This excellent woman discovered a thousand means of assuming the sad position of her husband. During the war she composed whole armies, with pins, of various sizes, and thus enabled him to distinguish the position of the different corps. She also invented for him a plan, by which he was enabled to write, and also formed plans en relief of their residence: in a word, she had but one occupation—that of making the life of her husband happy. To such a point did this amiable woman carry her attentions, that M. Huber asserted, that a restoration to sight was no longer desirable. “ I should not know,” said he, “to what extent a person could be beloved: besides, to me my wife is always young, fresh, and pretty." M. Huber had a great taste far natural history. He had read to him a great number of work, on this subject, and particularly relative to bees, of which he was very fond. He discovered that all the works which treated on that subject were very imperfect. He requested Madame Huber to provide herself with a glass, and to examine carefully the formation and habits of the bee. With her assistance he made several discoveries. which he published under the title of Recherches sur les Abeilles, a work which is very highly spoken of. =====Article End===== Best Wishes, Joe **************************************************** * General Information About BEE-L is available at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm * ****************************************************