XH® HMEJRIClSNt WMW JOURKKl. 



791 



Formei-ly, I practiced spreading tljc 

 brood, frame by frame, horizontallj'. 

 Now, it is performed by reversing the 

 Restrictor, and is performed without 

 tearing the brood-nests apart, to di.s- 

 courage the bees or chill the brood ; 

 but by their reversion, which is as 

 .simply and quickly done as to lift an 

 ordinary reversible frame from the hive 

 — turn it over and place in hive again. 



The inversion places the empty cells 

 at the bottom of the combs, at tlie top 

 in the most inviting position to be 

 filled with eggs. As the honey, that, 

 before inversion, was above the brood 

 is now below, it will be moved above 

 again, leaving more empty cells to be 

 brought above to be filled with eggs. 



The frame toji and bottom bars are 

 alike, without projecting arms, and. 

 when they are not in use in the 

 Restrictor, are provided with single 

 frame-reversing wires to hang upon 

 the rabbets, the same as other frames. 



Up to swarming, or to the opening 

 of the honey harvest, the queen is 

 allowed the whole hive, including the 

 Restrictor, and by the time she fills 

 eight frames with brood, and attempts 

 to go outside the regular brood-combs 

 to lay eggs in drone-cells, it is time to 

 adjust the zincs for her restriction. 



It should be observed that, with the 

 use of this contrivance, the regular 

 brood-combs only are ditierent from the 

 frames now in general use; and. by 

 arranging these, the most contractable. 

 reversible and exclusive system of 

 management possible may be practiced. 



Perforated honey-boards are dis- 

 pensed with, and the sections or ex- 

 tracting-combs are filled in on both 

 sides of the Restrictor. or alternated 

 with the e.xtra brood-combs, and if the 

 combs contain drone-cells, it is all the 

 same, for the queen does not get the 

 chance to lay eggs in them. 



The invention of the Restrictor was 

 an easy matter, but it has taken me 

 year after year of study and experi- 

 ment to discover the uses to which it 

 might be put. 



Clinton. Wis., Oct. 15. 1800. 



BEES ON TRIAL. 



Tlic Farcical Oiilcomc of the 

 Expcrimciil. 



Translated for the AvicHcan Bee Journal 



BY REV. STEPHEN KOESE. 



It seems war is not waged in this 

 country alone against bees and bee- 

 keepers, but in the old fatherland also. 



In Alsace-Lorrain. the one-fifth ter- 

 ritory taken from France by Germany, 

 at the close of the Franco-Prussian 

 war. in 1870, and annexed to Germany, 

 quite recently a rich castle-owner. 



with eight prominent nurserymen, 

 filed a bitter complaint against bees 

 and bee-keepers before the Ijcgislature 

 of Alsace-Lorrain. stating that bees, 

 when honey-))asture gets short, throw 

 themselves upon fruit and crops, cau.s- 

 ing great destruction of the same. The 

 petitioners pray for the Legislature to 

 enact laws to restrict the increase of 

 colonies in that Province, to a certain 

 number. 



Representative Adam presented the 

 petitions of the eight nurserymen, 

 which were referred to a commission 

 that reported that the ))etitioners were 

 laboring under mistaken ideas, and 

 were blaming bees for what wasps, 

 sparrows, ants, and rains wei'e doing. 

 Bees having no teeth would suck only 

 the juice of fruit and crops, after such 

 had been pecked and eaten by wasps, 

 ants and sparrows. 



A hot debate ensued on both sides. 

 Representative Gunsert claimed that, 

 according to the newly-enacted law on 

 apiculture, in 1888. the number of 

 colonies could not be limited in any 

 apiary, and as it was a further proven 

 fact that bees had proved a blessing, 

 instead of an injury, in regard to ferti- 

 lizing fruit and tlower blossoms. 



Representative Wehrang said, "I 

 cannot see why the number of colo- 

 nies of bees should be reduced in this 

 Province, because some citizens claim 

 that they do injury to fruit. Whj" is it 

 that fruit-growers are practical apiar- 

 ists at the same time, and keep their 

 hives right under the shade of their 

 fruit-trees ? Because fruit and crops 

 have been injured bj- wasps, ants, 

 sparrows, or rain, and bees have been 

 seen only to suck them, in other coun- 

 tries ! The Governments, like Baden, 

 protect and aid apiculture by 3.100 

 marks annually, and shall we aid in 

 putting it down ?" 



Under-Secretary Von Schrant spoke 

 earnestly, saying : •• It seems that the 

 cause of apiculture has found more 

 defenders in this body than friends for 

 the petitioners. We have called for a 

 discussion on the subject, and the 

 majority seems to be in favor of clear- 

 ing the bees from the criminal accusa- 

 tions, as fruit and crop destroyers. The 

 law of 1888 restricted bees to a certain 

 distance from highways and dwelling 

 houses ; and the alleged crime of bees, 

 that thej- suck the juice of the already- 

 destroyed and spoiling fruit, the work 

 of ants, wasps and sparrows, is not so 

 great after all. Factories are turning 

 our beautiful cities into smoke-nests."' 



After this speech Representative 

 Ostermeier withdrew his motion, and 

 the proposition of the commission was 

 accepted, that the honey-bees should 

 not be restricted in their rights at 

 present! as the earth has room for all. 



Maiden Rock. Wis.. Oct. 26. 1800. 



EXPERIENCES. 



II|>M and Downs of Apiculture. 



Written for the American BeeJov/mal 



BV W. L. MARSHALL. 



Almost everybody and everything, 

 in this mundane world of ours, have 

 their ups and downs. The merchant, 

 the miller, the farmer — -yes. and even 

 the bee-keeper — and no doubt the edi- 

 tor can call to mind some time in the 

 past when he has been badly downed. 

 and. may be. he has had some of the 

 "ups" in times past, so that he can 

 think aod hope, and hope and think, 

 that still there may be some ■• ups " for 

 him yet. 



Almost every one will remember the 

 first colony. This first colony is, in 

 ni}' opinion, the bee-keeper's first 

 '■ up." Then the new ideas and in- 

 ventions which work their way into 

 his swollen head are his first "downs." 

 If he is successfnl in getting his new 

 inventions before the public, there is 

 ninety-nine chances out of everj' hun- 

 dred that the many who are foolish 

 enough to invest in the so-called new 

 invention get badly downed. 



Well, 1 keep bees, and you will not 

 be surprised if I should tell j-ou 

 that I have had my • • ups " and 

 •downs." About six years ago I 

 bought my first colony of bees, and 

 many happy hours I spent that sum- 

 mer lying in front of the hive and 

 watching the loads of (supposed) 

 honey which the busy little workers 

 carried on their legs. In my dreams I 

 could hear the humming of the same, 

 and also the puffing of the engine in 

 my new hive-factory, turning out hun- 

 dreds of hives, and thousands of sec- 

 tions each day- Great slacks of comb- 

 honey stood before me. selling at 25 

 cents per 14 ounces. 



I also dreamed that mj- head was a 

 foot-ball, being kicked around by the 

 bad boys of the town. But my vision 

 vanished with the darkness, (that is, 

 all but the foot-ball part), and I found 

 mj-self calling for one drop of water to 

 sooth ni}' swollen head. 



But times have changed. My one 

 colony of inferior hybrids has changed 

 to fifty colonies of beautiful Italians. 

 My wonderful alternating, convertible, 

 double-walled hive has changed to the 

 simple dovetailed-hive. witliout honey- 

 boards, using thick top-bars to prevent 

 brace-combs. And I am keeping bees 

 on the Dr. Miller common-seuse plan. 

 These have been my •• ups." 



And now. friends, let me tell you that 

 the worst I have ever been 'downed" 

 since I commenced keeping bees was. 

 when I destroyed three beautiful Ital- 

 ian queens, in order to test the wonder- 

 fully prolific Carniolans. I found that 



