THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



For I e American Bee Journal. 



The Eureka Hive Again. 



BoMnASTES ab Initio, Fruioso do flnlbus. 



At length I own the power of the pill, 



(Horace Epod. xvil, 1.) 



The physic makes liim worse and sicker still. 



(Ancid xii, 40.) 



Mn. Editok: — As our .amiable and beloved 

 brother correspondent, Wni. A. Bennett, con- 

 fines my strictures upon Allen's Bee Hive to 

 j)lain EnriUsh^ I would beg your leave at present 

 to remark brielly that inasmuch as the bombas- 

 tic introduction to the object under review, 

 July No. 1867, page 17, smacked so strong of 

 Greece and Rome, I felt asthough all my Greek 

 and Latin quotations were necessary to imjjress 

 his super-lucid, logical faculties with my liigh 

 appreciation of his ancient rhetoric; and as 

 though his Sophocles and Virgil were not dis- 

 graced in the presence of an Archimedes and a 

 Cicero. 



If brother Bennett means to pick a literary 

 quarrel, 1 confess that I am not the man who 

 has sought either to provoke his acidulated re- 

 torts, or to engage in a dispute upon so ignoble 

 an object as the hive in question, but simply 

 meant to inform my bee-keeping friends upon 

 matters with which I consider myself as. well 

 acquainted as brother B. Still, as iilain Eng- 

 lish seems to be good enough for mv very modest 

 friend, I shall not refrain from giving to him, 

 as well as "to all whom it may concern," my 

 opinion in his vernacular dress. 



In the first place, I disclaim all intention to 

 misrepresent his language. The withdraw- 

 ing of frames from the hive is a very simple 

 matter in any movable comb-hive; not so, how- 

 ever, their replacement, without killing any 

 bees. It is one thing to open a hive and close 

 it, for the mere purpose of gratifying the curiosi- 

 Xy of a visitant friend, and quite a different one 

 to perform practical operations with the same. 



In nine cases out of every ten, the practical 

 apiarian wishes to ascertain the state of the 

 central combs only, not merely of one hive, but 

 of nearly all, in as short a period as possible, 

 and in these particular instances I deny the 

 least adaptedness to public favor to this puffed- 

 up imitation of a hive, which as described else- 

 where, requires indefinitely more skill in man- 

 agement and time in operating, than the Lang- 

 siroth hive in any of its various legitimate forms. 

 Supposing the operator would Avish to confine 

 the queens toward the end of the honey season, 

 he, with the Langstroth hive, removes the 

 honey-board, shifts and lifts any particular 

 frame where she is most likely to be found; and 

 not unfreqneutly this hive may be opened, the 

 queen confined and hive closed up, before a side- 

 opener is ready for the removal of a single 

 frame. Does he wish to obtain brood from a 

 side-opener Avith the thermometer at GO or 64? 

 Even Mr. Bennett, if he understand anything 

 about the matter, will surely not pretend to in- 

 sist that he can obtain it, rei^lace the frames, 

 and insert it in its appropriate place without 



chilling it, or killing it outright. And how 

 would it work with these hives, were you to 

 take away the queens Avith the view to their 

 constructing queen cells, intended for the mul- 

 tiplication of stock, at a time when the hives 

 with permanent sides are often too cold to in- 

 sure their construction and safe removal to 

 nuclei? 



Now, all this, in addition to what I have al- 

 ready said elsewhere, is surely not a very great 

 great inducement to apiarians who understand 

 their business, to produce and introduce them 

 into their yards; and if these do not patronize 

 your hive, your hive will surely never become 

 popular^ and this I call plain English, without 

 misinterpretation, as well as the point which I 

 intended to establish, and which time will prove 

 I have established. 



As to 1)rolher TtVwnQiV s.'^Hncidenta.l allusion ,'''' 

 Sir, you will find by referring to his description 

 that tliis frame work and frames WM're by liim 

 considered "perhaps the most important im- 

 provement;" and that therefore (luihhling about 

 incidentals were unnatural, inasmuch as the 

 main subject is altogether w^orthless in itself. 

 These, my very dear sir, are no misstatements, 

 and need not the assistance of my silent friend 

 Cicero to make them weigh with that class of 

 people who buy Jiomes for their bees, as we 

 think, clearly pre-eminent. 



If, however, these plain English ventilations 

 of the "Home" are not thought sufficient to 

 put it in a healthful condition, the subject may, 

 by a little more pressure and the forebearance 

 of the Editor, be made susceptible of admitting 

 such a quantity of condensed steam, which, by 

 bursting the container, will cause it to collapse 

 of its own accord, and occasion the loss of 

 another grain or two of that homoeopathic apis 

 with which its logical advocate is so super- 

 aboundingly imbued. Yet, as in my opinion, 

 I have neither harmed nor fondlecl the poor 

 thing in any way, I would earnestly entreat 

 all those fond of the "best of its kind," to in- 

 A'est a couple of dollars in the purchase of a 

 dozen or tAvo, and report their favors through 

 the present medium, and thus help it and its 

 protectors upon their legs, for the sole sake of 

 another additional public good. And if already 

 I have not done more good than harm by thus 

 indirectly adA'ertising an object, which, in my 

 private opinion, publicly expressed, is altogether 

 worthless in profitable and extensive bee cul- 

 ture, I shall feel more happy than hurt by 

 brother B.'s irascibility, Avhich smacks a little 

 too much of that kind of logic, that ahvays en- 

 tirely fails at writing or reasoning a darling 

 hobby into public favor and approbation. 



You will, therefore, perceive, Mr. Editor, 

 that I have not endeavored to coniorm to syllo- 

 gistic reasoning, because movable sides and 

 distanced frame-Avorks have beeu coherently 

 reasoned out of use "long, long ago." And as 

 moreover that kind of reasoning Avould avail 

 but little Avith a Avriter so dead set against quo- 

 tations, Avho can yet quote the illustrious "moon 

 of green cheese," "the Avorld-lbmed millstone," 

 and "Necker's two spears of grass," without 

 giving credit to the dapstcriug world for the 



