74 



Tmm MME'RIC'JCl* MUM J©^MI*MIU. 



at any time, by moving the central 

 frames on which the bees were clus- 

 tered, and placing frames of honey 

 near the bees. 



Destroying' Motli-'Worms. 



Moth-worms were frequently found 

 in hives, and in box-hives used to do 

 much damage, but with the frame hive 

 and Italian bees, moth-larvie were of 

 little account. It is stated that the 

 freezing of eggs or larvfe destroys their 

 vitality. 



It was thought best not to extract 

 the combs when working for comb 

 honey. 



It is considered an advantage to 

 shave brood-combs to f of an inch 

 when putting on surplus cases, thus 

 uncapping the sealed honey at the 

 tops of the frames, and letting the cap- 

 pings and honey run down between 

 the frames. Then space the frames to 

 a bee-space — | inch —and place on the 

 sections. 



Our best honey producers used the 

 queen-excluding zinc honey-boards, 

 thereby obviating the trouble often ex- 

 perienced, of brood in the sections. 



Well constructed chaff hives were 

 recommended as preferable to single- 

 walled hives, especially for out-door 

 wintering. 



Races of bees were a constant theme 

 of discussion among bee-men of the 

 country, but the blacks and the Ital- 

 ians were still the chief races for 

 profit. 



The whole machinery of bee-keeping 

 is complicated. It takes years of 

 practice to become conversant with 

 the various ways of manipulating this 

 wonderful little bee. 



nividinK Colonies. 



Dividing colonies may be profitably 

 and readily practiced after one knows 

 how. It needs practice in handling 

 bees, and familiarity with their ways, 

 to successfully accomplish profitable 

 dividing. It may be done by dividing 

 a strong colony and, finding which 

 section is queenless, give it a laying 

 queen, or else allow the bees to rear a 

 queen. 



Another method, involving the same 

 principle, is that of forming nuclei 

 colonies, bj' putting a frame of brood 

 in a hive, give it a laying queen, then 

 build up from difierent hives by giving 

 the young colony frames of brood. 



Mr. Pike, of Livermore Falls, gave 

 a method of shaking from the frames 

 of a strong colony bees sufficient, into 

 a box made for thepuri^ose, to make a 

 colon}' — bees from different hives could 

 be mixed in this way, care being used 

 in all cases, not to shake out the queen 

 with the bees. 



Keep this mass of bees 24 hours, run 

 a laying queen amongst them, and 



hive the bees in the ordinary way, and 

 the colony would go to work with the 

 bee's accustomed alacrit}'. 



The officers chosen were : President, 

 Rev. C. M. Herring, of Brunswick ; 

 Secretary, Dr. J. A. Morton, of Bethel ; 

 Treasurer, W. H. Norton, of Skowhe- 

 gan ; with one "Vice-President from 

 each county. 



Lewiston, Maine. 



^VliVXER s«or«6. 



Summer's joys are o'er ; 



Flowerets bloom no more, 



Wintry winds are sweeping ; 



Through the snow-drifts peeping, 

 Cheerful evergreen 

 Karely now is seen. 



Now DO plumed throng 



Charms the woods with song ; 



Ice-bound trees are glittering ; 



Merry snow-birds, twittering. 

 Fondly strive to cheer 

 Scenes so cold and drear. 



Winter, still I see 



Many charms in thee — 



Love thy chilly greeting, 



Snow-storms fiercely beating, 

 And the dear delights 

 Of the long, long nights. 



HONEY-BOARDS. 



Tbe Invention of the Wood-Zinc 

 Honey-Board. 



Written for the American BeeJofumal 



BY DR. G. L. TINKER. 



In the report of the late Michigan 

 Convention, on page 23, Mr. Heddon 

 objects to my claiming the wood-zinc 

 honey-board ! It has been a surprise 

 to me from the first, that he should, on 

 so slight a pretext, claim this inven- 

 tion as his own, and seek to deprive 

 me of the credit that rightfully belongs 

 to me as the original inventor. 



It seems that Mr. Heddon had tacked 

 strips of perforated-zinc on his slatted 

 honey-board, and so used them, but 

 had not conceived the idea of placing 

 the strips in saw-kerfs in the edges of 

 the slats till he saw a wood-zinc honej'- 

 board of my construction at the Kala- 

 mazoo State Fair, in September, 1885. 

 Yet he now says it will probably never 

 be known who was the prior inventor ! 

 Mr. H. has assumed that tacking on 

 the strips was equivalent to placing 

 them in saw-kerfs. If he really 

 thought so, why does he not use the 

 strips now as he did in the first 

 place ? 



But he was free to state at the Fair 

 (of which I have reliable proof) that 

 my wood-zinc honey-board was a "new 

 thing." Had it not been, he would 

 have stated there and then, that he 

 had used the perforated-zinc in the 

 same way. Instead of that, he said 

 nothing until several months after, 



when he set up his first claim as its 

 original inventor ! 



Mr. Heddon admits that I constructed 

 the first one (he having simply the 

 idea), and first published it, which 

 should settle the matter for all time. 

 But the "idea" ho had, was simply 

 tacking on the strips ! 



The wood-zinc honey-board is an 

 improvement of the slatted honey- 

 board. The Jirst and original honey- 

 board had auger-holes or slots to cor- 

 respond with openings in the honej'- 

 boxes that were placed upon it. Father 

 Langstroth was the well-known in- 

 ventor, and he possessed the genius to 

 create an original idea. Mr. Heddon 

 desires to be thought an original in- 

 ventor, but he has credit only for a 

 keen perceptive faculty, for all of his 

 " inventions" have been based upon 

 original ideas alreadj' advanced by 

 others. 



The honey-board being invented, it 

 was natural that many modifications 

 of it should follow, and the slat honey- 

 board was one of them. Thousands of 

 them were in use in this country be- 

 fore Mr. Heddon ever wrote a line on 

 the subject. Even his identical break- 

 joint sink honey-board (see Gleanings, 

 Vol. XIII, page 173) had been in- 

 vented and in use for many years be- 

 fore Mr. Heddon wrote of it. But he 

 was quick to perceive that it could be 

 made a good thing, and he deserves 

 all the credit that attaches to it as a 

 modification of the Langstroth ; for he 

 introduced it to the public, and first 

 made known its general value in our 

 modern methods, and takes just pride 

 in having it called " the Heddon 

 honey-board." 



Now I have invented the wood-zinc 

 honey-board, giving to the original 

 slat honey-board a distinctly new func- 

 tion. I have since added the essential 

 features of the Heddon honey-board, 

 but Mr. Heddon "objects" to my ad- 

 vertising it as "Dr. Tinker's wood-zinc 

 honey-board," and would deprive me 

 of a right which he is free to take of 

 Father Langstroth, and other prede- 

 cessors ! 



Again, Mr. Heddon modified the 

 Moore crate, and called it the " Hed- 

 don case," and would be vexed if any 

 one dared to question his right to so 

 call it. Shall I therefore forego a 

 privilege he is free to take and respect 

 his " objection " before the Michigan 

 Convention ; because he has an invalid 

 patent on the old slatted honey-board, 

 which, not even in one of its features, 

 was he the original inventor ? Cer- 

 tainly not ! 



I regret that Mr. Heddon should not 

 want to use one of my inventions 

 without laying some sort of claim to it. 

 It is public property, and any one has 

 a right to manufacture and use it, ex- 



