1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



295 



I had no reason to question the honesty of my 

 oi)iJonent or his priority in the use of the sharp- 

 edged guide. Talking for granted that the pat- 

 ent would issue to him, I entei'ed into negotia- 

 tions to purchase the control of it. The proper 

 papers were prepared, and I made him a visit to 

 complete the business; but just before our pa- 

 pers were signed, he was informed that, if he 

 sold his invention to me, a mortgage upon his 

 property would be foreclosed. As soon as I 

 learned this. I at once released him from his 

 promised agreement, although he said he was 

 still willing to sign it. I returned home with a 

 heavy heart indeed, for. as matters then looked, 

 the control of that comb-guide by some one 

 ehe would prove a very serious injury to me. 



While in this state of anxiety, instead of re- 

 ceiving notice that the case had gone against 

 me, my lawyer in Wasliington telegraphed me 

 that he had found a "'way of protecting my in- 

 terests." It seems that the Commissioner of 

 Patents had told him that he had decided to 

 issue the patent to the other party, when, just 

 as he had left him, he met the late Mr. R. C. 

 Otis, whom he knew to have purchased a large 

 interest in my invention. Informing him of the 

 adverse decision, Mr. Otis, to his gi'eat stirprise, 

 told him that he had just come from Missouri, 

 whei'e he had seen this very guide in actual use 

 by a bee-keeper who had ])robably invented it 

 before either of the other claimants. The com- 

 missioner was immediately informed of this 

 new phase of the case, and consented to sus- 

 pend the issue of any patent until further testi- 

 mony could be taken. By the advice of my 

 lawyei'. Mr. Otis returned to Missouri and made 

 an agreement that the new claimant should ap- 

 ply for a patent, which, if granted, should be 

 sold to us for a certain sum. The application 

 was made, and all the parties duly notified of 

 this new interference. All now seemed to be 

 plain sailing. If the Missouri man could prove 

 his right to the patent, it would come under our 

 control: and even if he had publicly used it too 

 long for any patent to be granted, it would be 

 free to all. Before the new issue was passed 

 upon, the commissioner refused to grant a pat- 

 ent to any one. on the ground that the device 

 had been anticipated in a printed publication. 

 L. L. Langstroth. 



THE TRUTH ABOUT BEE-ESCAPES. 



THE VARIOUS BEE-ESCATES COMPARED, AND 



THE PKIXCIPI.ES UI'ON WHICH THEY WORK; 



A CAREFUI-LY CONSIDERED ARTICLE 



BY C. H. DIBBEKN. 



Noticing what Mr. H. Alley says, and your 

 comments thereon, on page 173, I am reminded 

 that the general principles of bee-escapes are 

 not fully understood, and have never been 

 thoroughly explained. It is true, that it is gen- 

 erally known that, in order to get the thing to 

 work, we must have an escape-board, with an 

 escape in that will allow bees to pass out read- 

 ily, but permit none to get back. But just why 

 it is that bees want to gt^t out under certain 

 conditions and not under others, is still a good 

 deal of a mystery. During the past three years 

 I have experimented more with bee-escapes 

 perhaps than any other one man, and I think I 

 can cast some light on the subject. 



In the fii'st i)lace. it is the escape-board that 

 furnishes the inducement for the bees to desire 

 to leave the supers, or, rather, to find their 

 queen and brood. There is no attraction about 

 the escape itself, as in the casn of the fly- 

 trap. Place an escape-board, without any es- 

 cape or hole in it, undei' a super ready to take 

 off, and the bees will soon becomt^ greatly ex- 



cited, and will pour out of a small knot-hole to 

 the outside, if no other exit is found. Now, if 

 the super had been separated from the main 

 hive by a single thickness of wire cloth, no par- 

 ticular excitement would ensue, and, of course, 

 no bee-escape would work. Now, in case the 

 queen or young brood is pi'esent in the super, 

 little excitement will be noticeable, and the 

 bees will only partially vacate, perhaps know- 

 ing that they have the means for continuing 

 their existence indefinitely. It would seem 

 that, in case where bees are separated from 

 queen and brood by wire cloth only, they are 

 able to keep up communication, and do not seem 

 to realize that they are really separated. This 

 is, perhaps, the reason why some of the earlier 

 escapes, made of wire cloth, did not prove very 

 successful. The escape-board is nothing very 

 new, as it was used with the old Reese escape, 

 and was also a feature of escapes patented in 

 1885 and 18(50. 



Now, as we have the cause in the escai)e- 

 board, the next step is the escape itself, and the 

 principles involved. There are. perhaps, three 

 classes or kinds of escapes now in general use; 

 viz., those using springs, like the Porter and 

 Hastings; those using pendants, like Demaree's 

 and ray Little Giant; and those using only 

 shutes, without any obstructions, like the Lar- 

 rabee and new Dibbern. All these escapes, 

 however, have some features in common. The 

 first is the well, or place into which the bees 

 pass after dropping through the hole or inlet, 

 to escape. When bees find themselves in this 

 small place, apparently cut oflF from both super 

 and hive, they lose little time in getting to 

 either one place or the other. As the hole 

 through which they have passed is directly 

 overhead, with edges projecting downward, 

 they do not seem to find their way back very 

 readily, and become more excited. In this con- 

 dition" they will readily pass through lietween 

 springs, raise pendants, or pass long distances 

 through shntcs. Now, if the entrance were by 

 perpendicular walls, without the overhead 

 holes, bees would not pass through even such 

 delicate springs as in the Porter, but, after feel- 

 ing the obstruction, would generally return to 

 the super. It will thus be seen that the well is 

 an important point. 



Another feature of similarity is, that all the 

 escapes under consideration are placed horizon- 

 tally in the board, all of which were present in 

 my original escape, described Nov. 15. 1889, in 

 the Aiiiericmi Bee Journal, and after which all 

 others have lieen patterned. It was Mr. Dem- 

 aree who said, in regard to my invention, that 

 bees would not pass long distances alone in the 

 dark. That is quite true, and is just th(i prin- 

 ciple on which my shute theory depends. \J\\- 

 dcv ordUiftry circiiinstances bees will not pass 

 long distances alone through narrow passages, 

 neither will they pass through springs or pen- 

 dants. After the bees get into th(! well they 

 are no longer under ordinary circumstances, 

 and, to rejoin their companions, will travel long 

 distances, or pass through obstructions. The 

 fact that they will not ordinarily do so is the 

 main reason why they do not return through 

 my shute escape, where no obstructions prevent 

 them. 



It is not an easy matter to fairly test bee-es- 

 capes, as hives under apparently the same con- 

 ditions will vary greatly, even with the same 

 kind of escape. I have several times put the 

 super on again, and made another test, in a day 

 or two. with varying results. I have tried all 

 the well-known escapes, including some of my 

 own that have never been published; and 

 where escapes work at all, there is little or no 

 difiference as to the time required for clearing 

 supers. During the last few years it has been 



