TMw mmimmic^mm mmm j^ismnmi^. 



263 



almost the entire siirfatc, and came 

 oft' rajj'ged with fractureil comb, re- 

 <iuinng a lot of scraping before it 

 could be put down again. The slatted 

 honej'-board will obviate this, but so it 

 will with a tliin top-bar. I would have 

 the top-bar thick enough to prevent 

 sagging— no more. There are fash- 

 ions in bee-keeping as well as in dress, 

 and ever the old styles come up again, 

 and are looked upon by the younger 

 people as the latest novelties, whereas 

 the veterans know that they are the 

 old styles "made new." 



The Bee-Escapes. —I was describing 

 three samples of those I saw in the 

 Bee JOUKN4L oBice, and expressed the 

 opinion that they were too labyrinthine, 

 and required too much cuteness on the 

 part of the bees in order to get out. 

 My notion of a bee-escape is, that it 

 should rather tempt and coax the 

 bees to get out, and make it difficult 

 for them to go in. I was glad to find 

 that Mr. Heddon agreed with me. 



Selp-Hivers. — I doubt their uniform 

 working according to the doctor's or- 

 ders. So doe.s Mr. Heddon. But, no 

 doubt, man}' of them will be tried the 

 coming season, and "we shall see 

 whftt we shall see." 



Specialism in Bee-Keeping. — Mr. 

 Heddon's faith in this is unshaken. 

 When I told him that Mr. Hall had 

 been led bj' the stern logic of three 

 poor seasons to contemplate combin- 

 ing something else with bee-keeping, 

 he merely said, "He'll rue it." 



Mr. Heddon is full of electricity — 

 he always was, for that matter, but I 

 mean he is full of the science. His son 

 William has become an expert in prac- 

 tical electricity, and it has switched 

 liim oft" from bee-keeping, so that his 

 father loses liis best helper among the 

 bees. William has charge of the elec- 

 tric lighting system in Dowagiac, which, 

 for the uses of a small town, is the 

 best I have seen. The incandescent 

 lights are now in operation in Dow- 

 agiac, and I own that I was surprised 

 to note the illuminating eftects pro- 

 duced by 100 such insignicant-looking 

 lamps. The arc lights being so high 

 up, there is a good deal of waste sky- 

 wai'd, where, until people learn how 

 to fly, artificial light is not needed. 

 Mr. Heddon's house is lit up through- 

 out with these incandescent lamps, and 

 it is very nice to be able to ignite or 

 put them out by the simple turn of a 

 button. 



From Dowagiac I went to Flint, 

 where I have a son living, who has 

 charge of the Armstrong Manufactur- 

 ing Works — a branch of similar works 

 in Guelph. It is one of the beauties 

 of our international tarift", that an in- 

 ventor in this country must either sell 

 liis patent to some one in the United 



States, or go there and start a similar 

 enterprise. The branch in Flint is 

 bigger than the parent tree in Guelph, 

 and so we lose the inflow of capital 

 which might, and ought, to come here, 

 if the frowning customs wall did not 

 shut it out. 



Of course, I called to see Mr. Hutch- 

 inson, but could only make a short 

 visit. I found him in his shirt-sleeves, 

 busily at work in his printing-office, 

 where he is editor, foreman, composi- 

 tor, and devil. The oflice is connected 

 with the sitting-room by one of those 

 draped archways, which are " all the 

 go " now-a-days. I saw Mrs. H. and 

 the olive-branches. (N. B., one of 

 them is an Ivy. ) Their home must be 

 a very pleasant place in summer. The 

 cosy family air inside would indicate 

 that it is pleasant in-doorsall the time. 

 Mr. H. looked well. The "grip" has 

 dealt more gently with him, than with 

 most of its victims. 



We talked mainly of the Meview, and 

 I gave him "free gratis" my opinion 

 of it, which cannot, in full, be quoted 

 here. But this much I may say, that, 

 in its establishment, Mr. H. has shown 

 a vast amount of tact and pluck ; that 

 it has made a niche for itself ; and 

 that, like the new Heddon hive, it will 

 attract only a select class of bee-keep- 

 ers. Alone, it would not fill the bill, 

 but is a valuable supplement to our 

 bee-literature. It is an addendum 

 rather than a rival to other bee-peri- 

 odicals. It has evidently come to 

 stay, as it is past the critical stage, 

 and is beginning to pay fairl}' well. 

 Mr. H. is at home very much as he is 

 at conventions, all eyes and ears, but 

 says little. He looks you all over and 

 through, draws you out with leading 

 questions, and forms his own mental 

 conclusions. He makes me think of 

 Burns' couplet : 



" A chiel's among" ye, takin' notes. 

 An' faith, he'll print 'em !" 



I do not know whether he got any- 

 thing worth having out of me, but I 

 know that I did not get much out of 

 him, and I felt pumped-like when I 

 left. He is a pleasant, genial fellow 

 whom you cannot help liking, whether 

 or no. But the readers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal will be saying, 

 "That Clarke's as long-winded as 

 ever." So I'll quit, right hei-e. 



Guelph, Out. 



The IBeport of the proceedings of the 

 20th annual session of the International 

 American Bee-Association contains, besides 

 the interesting report, the new songs and 

 music then used, and engravings of the 

 present officers as well as the retiring ones. 

 In all, it contains 36 pages. It is for sale 

 at this office. The price is 35 cents, post- 

 paid. 



BEE-ESCAPES. 



A CompariNon of tlic Horizontal 

 Bce-E§cape!$. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY C. H. DIBBERN. 



The horizontal bee-escape ! Much 

 has been said, and many misleading 

 articles have been written, and pub- 

 lished, as to the inventor of this style 

 of bee-escapes. On page 798, of the 

 American Bee Journal for Dec. 14, 

 1889, I published the first description 

 with a cut, though a poor one, of my 

 horizontal bee-escape, and as far as I 

 know, it was the first description of a 

 horizontal escape ever published. 



Of course, as I had anticipated, a 

 number of modifications of this inven- 

 tion soon appeared. Now if bee-keep- 

 ers will carefully examine these vari- 

 ous escapes, and compare them with 

 my published patterns, thej' will readily 

 see that they are but modifications of 

 mine. 



Mr. Reese, on page 231, says that I 

 claim the horizontal arrangement un- 

 der a hole in a board, and in the liee- 

 space, etc. Now no one knows better 

 than Mr. Reese, that I have a right to 

 make this claim, as I sent him the first 

 diagram and description of such a de- 

 vice that he ever saw. Not only do I 

 claim the escape in a bee-space, but in 

 the thickness of the board, only \ or f 

 of an inch thick ; and what is still bet- 

 ter, one that is instantly removable 

 from the top, without taking off the 

 board, or disturbing the bees. If Mr. 

 Reese will examine the model sent 

 him, which he pronounces good, he 

 will see that it is just that kind of an 

 escape, and is not placed in the bee- 

 space at all. 



I have not much to say about Mr. 

 Reese's last escape, as it is patterned 

 after my No. 4 ; it is not so bad, only 

 he nails it in a board, where it is to 

 remain when used as an inner cover 

 to worry and annoy the bees. We are 

 consoled, however, by the assurance 

 that we can scald, or build little fires, 

 and burn the propolis oft' the escapes 

 which the bees will be sure to put 

 there. I think that Mr. R. has his out- 

 lets to the escape too small, being only 

 about the size of a lead-pencil. 



I also take exception to Mr. R's 

 statement, that testing escapes by 

 means of feeding or robbing, really 

 proves nothing. There are no bees so 

 persistent as roljbing bees, and when I 

 place the escape, reversed, on a hive 

 that is being robbed by thousands of 

 bees, and in an hour find that robbing 

 has entirely stopped, I am satisfied 

 that no bees can find their way back 

 through the escape. 



