360 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



claims to a hive-construction which does not infringe 

 mine? (Remember that it is his cimstniction and 

 not his claims of invention that infringes.) I tliank 

 you for J our offer to give us all a fair and impartial 

 hearing.' James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



[Mr. Heddon indirectly asks whether a proof 

 of his former article was sent to Mr. Danzen- 

 baker's atioriiey. No such proof was sent; but 

 I wrote to Mr. D., requesting that his attorney 

 state whether Mr. H. had either a legal or a 

 moral right to the divisible-brood-chamber 

 idea, and hence Mr. Williamson's reference to 

 the "moral right." 



Whatever legal claims Mr. Heddon may or 

 may not have, if he has. by these years of ad- 

 vertising, made popular a certain system — if he 

 has been the lirM one to show the world at 

 large that it may have points of merit, then he 

 certainly has a kind of moral right— a right 

 which I think bee-keepers will be quick to re- 

 spect. Understand, I do not go so far as to say 

 that he has or has not legal or moral right to 

 certain hive-constructions. I could render an 

 opinion, but. as I said. I shall adhere strictly to 

 the ground of taking no sides. lean not do 

 any better than to repeat the words of the 

 great Master of all things, who said, under 

 similar circumstances. "Render unto Csesar 

 the things that are Cte^ar's." Naturally, after 

 the severe way in which Mr. Heddon has criti- 

 cised us in the Dowagiac Times extra, we 

 should be Inclined to take sides against him, 

 but this should and does have nothing to do 

 with the matter at all. I do not very often 

 stand "on the fence;" but for the present, at 

 least, I do not know of any reason why any of 

 us here at the Home of the Honey-bees should 

 desire to get on either side of said fence.— Ed.] 



is properly constructed I believe these ad- 

 vantages are fully attained. 



So far as I know, the use of a jacket of tin 

 completely surrounding and extending some 

 way below the fire-chamber toward ihe bellows 

 is original with me. I think it would be better 

 if plain tin were used for this purpose, and 

 small washers were used where it is riveted to 

 the lire-chamber, so it would set out }-s inch 

 from it on the back, although it might not look 

 quite so well then as now manufactured. 



My claims were allowed some months ago; 

 but for various reasons I delayed having it is- 

 sued until the present month. 



There are some obvious reasons why a new 

 invention, or an improvement on an old one, 

 should be patented, one or two of which I will 

 mention: It greatly facilitates its introduction 

 to the industrial world, and often enables the 

 manufacturer to pay the inventor a fair royalty, 

 and then, by manufacturing in large quantities, 

 be able to sell them for even less to the consum- 

 ers than would be possible if a large number of 

 persons engaged in their manufacture without 

 paying royalty. J. E. Crane. 



Middlebury, Vt., March 22. 



A NEW DEPARTURE. 



" Trade Notes," a corner in which we poor in- 

 ventors may blow our horns "with none to 

 molest or make us afraid," as I see from the 

 last issue of Gleaking.s. Now, that is " fair 

 play," and we all like fair play — at least, for 

 ourselves; we are not always so particular 

 about the other fellow, I am afraid; so I will 

 just trot out my hobby— a kind of hobby it is, 

 the Crane smoker, which is henceforth to wear 

 that little motto, ''Patented March 12,1895," 

 which witnesses that the United States govern- 

 ment, through one of its departments, has care- 

 fully examined into my claims, and has 

 pronounced them " new and useful," and that 

 it is ready, through its courts, and, for aught I 

 know, its army and ironclads, to defend them. 

 My claims are very quickly told: An air-cham- 

 ber ^ituated between the fire-chamber ^and 

 bellows, one end extending and opening into 

 base^f the~ fire-l;hamber7and {he other com- 

 municating with the outside atmosphere, and a 

 valve so situated as to open and close alter- 

 nately this opening, so that, as the bellows 

 closes, the valve opens, thus forming a continu- 

 ous passage from the bellows to the fire-cham- 

 ber; and when the bellows opens, the valve 

 closes, thus giving a draft to the fire-chamber. 

 The advantages to be obtained are twofold— 

 . a strong blast, and the exclusion of smoke and 

 sparks from the bellows; and when the smoker 



NGN -SWARMING BEES. 



Questioji.— Three years ago last June I pur- 

 chased a queen of you said to be reared by the 

 plan given in your book. This queen has done 

 well for me; but the point of interest just now 

 is this: Although she has kept her hive full to 

 overflowing with bees, fully as well as any 

 queen I have, yet only one swarm has issued 

 from her colony since I got her. About the 

 time I received her I purchased your book and 

 reared a few queens in accord therewith. Very 

 few of the queens so reared have led out 

 swarms, and the bees behave very similarly to 

 those from the queen purchased from you, 

 while my other colonies have kept up excessive 

 swarming each year. The queens not reared 

 in accord with your book were reared under the 

 swsrming impulse, by colonies casting swarms, 

 as are the most of the queens in any apiary 

 where the bees are allowed to swarm. Now, I 

 should like to know if you claim that queens 

 reared by the plan given in " Scientific Queen- 

 rearing " have a greater tendency not to swarm 

 than those reared by the bees during the 

 swarming season, as most bee-keepers allow 

 their bees to rear them. 



Answer. — I have never made the claim that 

 queens reared in upper stories, over a queen- 

 excluder, while the reigning queen was doing 

 good work below, were less inclined to swarm 

 than were those reared when the bees were pre- 



