Nephi Ephraim Miller (November 24, 1873 – June 18, 1940) was a pioneer in the modern practice of migratory beekeeping.

Early life

Miller was born on November 24, 1873, in Providence, Cache Valley, Utah.Packham Family genealogy pages

Beekeeping

Miller gained an interest in

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfam ...

as a child, while living on his father's farm. He was to inherit his father's farm and become a farmer, but his interest in bees grew, so he traded a few bags of oats, left over from the harvest in exchange for seven bee colonies.The Miller's Honey story
As the colonies grew and blossomed into a burgeoning business, Miller quit his job on a wheat-threshing crew and devoted all his time to beekeeping. As the number of his colonies grew, so did the by-products such as

beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...

. At the time many industries were learning the value of by-products that previously had been considered waste and were discarded. Miller wanted to learn how to effectively clean the wax and traveled to California where he met M. H. Mendelson, an experienced beekeeper who showed him how to render the beeswax into smooth cakes. While he was in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, he discovered that bees there kept gathering nectar deep into the winter months while his bees in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

huddled together to keep warm, losing many bees to the cold. Once he returned to Utah, he decided his colonies would suffer fewer losses of bees and he could double honey production if he moved them to warmer climes in winter months. After much difficulty finding anyone willing to transport the bees, Union Transport Railroad finally agreed to carry Miller's bees from Utah to

Colton, California Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Nicknamed "Hub City", Colton is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is a suburb of San Bernardino, approximately south of the city's downtown. The population ...

in 1907. Other beekeepers followed suit, and the practice of cross-country

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

was born, making Miller the father of commercial beekeeping in Utah.

Family

Miller married Harriet Ann Kidd (known as "Hattie") on November 18, 1896. They were the parents of seven children. At least one of Miller's great-grandchildren is still in the business of migratory beekeeping.Nordhaus, Hannah
"The Silence of the Bees,"
''High Country News'', 19 March 2007.

Death

Miller died in

on June 18, 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Nephi Ephraim 1873 births 1940 deaths Latter Day Saints from Utah American beekeepers People from Cache County, Utah People from Colton, California Latter Day Saints from California