Johann Dzierzon, or Jan Dzierżon or Dzierżoń , also John Dzierzon (16 January 1811 – 26 October 1906), was a
Polish apiarist
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper o ...
who discovered the phenomenon of
parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...
in
bees.
Dzierzon came from a
Polish family in
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
. Trained in theology, he combined his theoretical and practical work in apiculture with his duties as a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priest, before being compulsorily retired by the Church and eventually excommunicated over the question of
papal infallibility
Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...
. In 1905, he was reconciled with the Catholic Church.
His discoveries and innovations made him world-famous in scientific and bee-keeping circles, and he has been described as the "father of modern apiculture".
Nationality/ethnicity
Dzierzon came from
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
. Born into a family of
ethnic Polish background which did not speak German but a
Silesian dialect of the Polish language,
[Stanisław Feliksiak, ''Słownik biologów polskich'', ]Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...
''Instytut Historii Nauki, Oświaty i Techniki'', Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe
Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i ...
, 1987, p. 149. he has been variously described as having been of Polish, German, or
Silesian nationality. Dzierzon himself wrote: "As for my nationality, I am, as my name indicates, a Pole by birth, as Polish is spoken in Upper Silesia. But as I came to
Breslau as a 10-year-old and pursued my studies there, I became German by education. But science knows no borders or nationality."
It was at ''gymnasium'' and at the theological faculty that he became acquainted with German scientific and literary language, which he subsequently used in his scientific writings, rather than his native Polish-Silesian dialect.
He used Silesian-Polish in some press publications, in his private life, and in pastoral work, alongside
literary
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...
Polish.
Dr. Jan Dzierzon considered himself a member of the Polish nation.
Dzierzon's manuscripts, letters, diplomas and original copies of his works were given to a Polish museum by his nephew,
Franciszek Dzierżoń.
[Danuta Kamolowa, Krystyna Muszyńska, ''Zbiory rękopisów w bibliotekach i muzeach w Polsce'', Biblioteka Narodowa (]Polish National Library
The National Library (, ''BN'') is the national library of Poland, subject directly to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The main seat of the National Library is located in the Ochota district of Warsaw, adjacent to the Moko ...
, p. 68. Following the 1939 German
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, many objects connected with Dzierzon were destroyed by German
gendarmes
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...
on 1 December 1939 in an effort to conceal his Polish roots.
[''Mówią wieki: magazyn historyczny'' (The Ages Speak: Magazine of History, ublished bythe Polish Historical Society), vol. 23 (1980), p. 26.] The Nazis made strenuous efforts to enforce a view of Dzierżoń as a German.
Life

Dzierzon was born on 16 January 1811 in the village of
Lowkowitz (Polish: ''Łowkowice''), near Kreuzburg (
Kluczbork), where his parents owned a farm.
He completed Polish elementary school before he was sent to a Protestant school located a mile from his village. In 1822 he moved to
Breslau (Wrocław),
where he attended middle school (''
gymnasium'').
[ In 1833 he graduated from the Breslau University Faculty of Catholic Theology.][ In 1834 he became chaplain in Schalkowitz (Siołkowice). In 1835, as an ]ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
Roman Catholic priest, he took over a parish in Karlsmarkt ( Karłowice), where he lived for 49 years.[
]
Scientific career
In his apiary
An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where Beehive (beekeeping), beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to ...
, Dzierzon studied the social life of honeybee
A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the c ...
s and constructed several experimental beehive
A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...
s – possibly using ideas from Petro Prokopovych
Petro Prokopovych (1775–1850, ) was a Ukrainian beekeeper who made revolutionary contributions to the practice. They include the founding of commercial beekeeping and the invention of the first movable frame hive. He introduced novelties in tra ...
's widely-publicized developments. In 1838 he devised a movable-comb beehive, which allowed manipulation of individual honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic cells built from beeswax by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and stores of honey and pol ...
s without destroying the structure of the hive. The correct distance between combs had been described as from the center of one top bar to the center of the next one. In 1848 Dzierzon introduced grooves into the hive's side walls, replacing the strips of wood for moving top bars. The grooves were – the exact average between , which is the range called the " bee space." Such designs quickly gained popularity in Europe and North America. On the basis of the aforementioned measurements, (May 1852) in Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
and L.L. Langstroth (October 1852) in the United States designed their own movable-frame hives.
In 1835 Dzierzon discovered that drones are produced from unfertilized egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
s. Dzierzon's paper, published in 1845, proposed that while queen bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...
s and female worker bees were products of fertilization, drones were not, and that the diets of immature bees contributed to their subsequent roles. His results caused a revolution in bee crossbreeding
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...
and may have influenced Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel Order of Saint Augustine, OSA (; ; ; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thom ...
's pioneering genetic research. The theory remained controversial until 1906, the year of Dzierzon's death, when it was finally accepted by scientists at a conference in Marburg
Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...
.[ In 1853 he acquired a colony of ]Italian bee
The Italian bee or Italian Honey bee (''Apis mellifera ligustica'') is a subspecies of the western honey bee (''Apis mellifera'').
Origin
The Italian honey bee is endemic to the continental part of Italy, south of the Alps, and north of Sicily, ...
s to use as genetic markers in his research, and sent their progeny "to all the countries of Europe, and even to America." In 1854 he discovered the mechanism of secretion of royal jelly
Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.Graham, J. (ed.) (199 ...
and its role in the development of queen bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...
s.
With his discoveries and innovations, Dzierzon became world-famous in his lifetime.[ He received some hundred honorary memberships and awards from societies and organizations.][ In 1872 he received an ]honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from the University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
.[ Other honors included the Austrian ]Order of Franz Joseph
The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph () was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne.
Classes
The order was originally awarded in three classes: ''G ...
, the Bavarian Merit Order of St. Michael, the Hessian Ludwigsorden, the Russian Order of St. Anna, the Swedish Order of Vasa
The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce.
His ...
, the Prussian Order of the Crown, 4th Class, on his 90th birthday, and many more. He was an honorary member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...
. He also received an honorary diploma at Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, presented by Archduke Johann of Austria. In 1903 Dzierzon was presented to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
.[ In 1904 he became an honorary member of the ''Schlesische Gesellschaft für vaterländische Kultur'' ("Silesian Society for Fatherland Culture").
Dzierzon's questioning of ]papal infallibility
Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...
caused him to be retired from the priesthood in 1869. This disagreement, along with his public engagement in local politics, led to his 1873 excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...
. In 1884 he moved back to Lowkowitz, settling in the hamlet ''An der Grenze'',[ (''Granice Łowkowskie''). Of his new home, he wrote:]In every direction, one has a broad and pleasant view, and I am pretty happy here, despite the isolation, as I am always close to my beloved bees – which, if one's soul be receptive to the works of the Almighty and the wonders of nature, can transform even a desert into a paradise.
From 1873 to 1902 Dzierzon was in contact with the Old Catholic Church
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches, or Old Catholic movement, designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undiv ...
,[ but in April 1905 he was reconciled with the ]Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.[
He died in Lowkowitz on 26 October 1906 and is buried in the local graveyard.][
]
Legacy
Johann Dzierzon is considered the father of modern apiology
Melittology (from Greek , ''melitta'', "bee"; and ''-logia'') is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of bees. It can also be called apiology or apicology. Melittology covers the species found in the clade Anthophila within th ...
and apiculture
Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (bee), Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless be ...
. Most modern beehives derive from his design. Due to language barriers, Dzierzon was unaware of the achievements of his contemporary, L.L. Langstroth,[ the American "father of modern beekeeping", though Langstroth had access to translations of Dzierzon's works.]
Dzierzon's manuscripts, letters, diplomas and original copies of his works were given to a Polish museum by his nephew, Franciszek Dzierżoń.
In 1936 the Germans renamed Dzierzon's birthplace, Lowkowitz, ''Bienendorf'' ("Bee Village") in recognition of his work with apiculture. At the time, the Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
government was changing many Slavic-derived place names such as Lowkowitz. After the region came under Polish control following World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the village would be renamed ''Łowkowice''.
Following the 1939 German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, many objects connected with Dzierzon were destroyed by German gendarmes
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...
on 1 December 1939 in an effort to conceal his Polish roots. The Nazis made strenuous efforts to enforce a view of Dzierżoń as a German.
After World War II, when the Polish government assigned Polish names to most places in former German territories which had become part of Poland, the Silesian town of ''Reichenbach im Eulengebirge'' (traditionally known in Polish as ''Rychbach'') was renamed ''Dzierżoniów
Dzierżoniów (; until 1946 ; ) is a town located at the foot of the Owl Mountains in southwestern Poland, within the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Dzierżoniów County, and of Gmina Dzierżoniów (although it is not part of the ...
'' in the man's honor.
In 1962 a Jan Dzierżon Museum of Apiculture was established at Kluczbork.[ Dzierzon's house in Granice Łowkowskie (now part of Maciejów village) was also turned into a museum chamber, and since 1974 his estates have been used for breeding Krain bees.][ The museum at Kluczbork houses 5 thousand volumes of works and publications regarding bee keeping, focusing on work by Dzierzon, and presents a permanent exhibition regarding his life presenting pieces from collections from National Ethnographic Museum in ]Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, and Museum of Silesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's Testament of Bolesław III Krzy ...
in Brzeg
Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on t ...
In 1966 a Polish-language plate was added to his German-language tombstone.
Selected works
Dzierzon's works include over 800 articles,[ most published in ''Bienenzeitung''][ but also in several other scientific periodicals, and 26 books. They appeared between 1844 and 1904,][ in German and Polish. The most important include:
*15 November 1845: ''Chodowanie pszczół – Sztuka zrobienica złota, nawet z zielska'', in: ', Issue 20, Pszczyna (Pless).
*1848–1852: ''Theorie und Praxis des neuen Bienenfreundes''. ("Theory and Practice of the Modern Bee-friend")
*1851 and 1859: ''Nowe udoskonalone pszczelnictwo księdza plebana Dzierżona w Katowicach na Śląsku'' – 2006 reprint
*1852: ''Nachtrag zur Theorie und Praxis des neuen Bienenfreundes'' (Appendix to "Theory and Practice"), C. H. Beck'sche Buchhandlung, Nördlingen,
*1853: ''Najnowsze pszczelnictwo.'' Lwów
Magazines published by Dzierzon:
*1854–1856: ''Der Bienenfreund aus Schlesien'' ("The Bee-friend from Silesia")
*1861–1878: ''Rationelle Bienenzucht'' ("Rational apiculture")
Articles published by Dzierzon since 1844 in ''Frauendörfer Blätter, herausgegeben von der prakt. Gartenbau-Gesellschaft in Bayern, redigirt von Eugen Fürst'' ("Frauendorf News" of the Bavarian Gardeners Society) were collected by Rentmeister Bruckisch from Grottkau (Grodków) and re-published under the titles:
*''Neue verbesserte Bienen-Zucht des Johann Dzierzon'' ("New improved bee-breeding, of John Dzierzon"), Brieg 1855
*''Neue verbesserte Bienen-Zucht des Pfarrers Dzierzon zu Carlsmarkt in Schlesien'' ("New improved bee-breeding, of priest Dzierzon at Carlsmarkt in Silesia"), Ernst'sche Buchhandlung, 1861
*''Lebensbeschreibung von ihm selbst, vom 4. August 1885 (abgedruckt im Heimatkalender des Kreises Kreuzburg/OS 1931, S. 32–28)'', 1885 (Dziergon's own biography, reprinted in 1931)
*''Der Zwillingsstock'' ("Semi-detached beehive"), E. Thielmann, 1890
English translations:
* ''Dzierzon's rational bee-keeping; or The theory and practice of dr. Dzierzon of Carlsmarkt'', Translated by H. Dieck and S. Stutterd, ed. and revised by C. N. Abbott, Published by Houlston & sons, 1882]
See also
*List of Poles
This is a partial list of notable Polish people, Polish or Polish language, Polish-speaking or -writing people. People of partial Polish heritage have their respective ancestries credited.
Physics
*Miedziak Antal
* Czesław Białobrzesk ...
*List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*L. Brożek "Jan Dzierżon. Studium monograficzne" Opole 1978
*W. Kocowicz i A. Kuźba "Tracing Jan Dzierżon Passion" Poznań 1987
*A. Gładysz "Jan Dzierżon, pszczelarz o światowej sławie" Katowice 1957
*H. Borek i S. Mazak "Polskie pamiątki rodu Dzierżoniów" Opole 1983
*W. Chmielewski "World-Famous Polish Beekeeper – Dr. Jan Dzierżon (1811–1906) and his work in the centenary year of his death" in Journal of Apicultural Research, Volume 45(3), 2006
*S. Orgelbrand "Encyklopedia ..." 1861
*"ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture" 1990, article Dzierzon p. 147
External links
Rational Bee-keeping
online English translation of Jan Dzierzon's book (London: Houlston & sons, 1882)
Jan Dzierżon at History of Kluczbork
Jan Dzierżon Museum in Kluczbork
Jan Dzierżon Museum in Kluczbork
Church Records of Lowkowitz, Silesia from 1765–1948, where Johann Dzierzon was born in 1811 and died in 1906
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzierzon, Johann
Beekeeping pioneers
1811 births
1906 deaths
People from Kluczbork
People from the Province of Silesia
German beekeepers
German entomologists
19th-century German zoologists
University of Breslau alumni
Polish entomologists
19th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests
19th-century Polish zoologists
Catholic clergy scientists
Recipients of the Order of Franz Joseph
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna
Recipients of the Order of Vasa