1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



225 



IIow clianged frcm the Homer A. Kiiiq- of a year 

 ago, offering to pay tlious;iiids of dollars ft>r a 

 license under a patent which he could prove by 

 foreign testimonij to be invalid !* 



Now comes something which is not sworn to. 

 Mr. Otis is represented as admitting substan- 

 tially that if Kings' hives are pronounced by 

 the courts to be no infringements upon the 

 L. L. patent; that patent ''still lives." "The 

 moth blocks are a good invention," so Mr. 

 King inf- rs, that he intends to secure an ex- 

 tension, and push others to the wall. Strength- 

 ened by such a wise conjecture, he can see a 

 little further into this mill-stone of nefarious 

 plots. "Mr. L. is already in Washington, 

 and Mr. Otis is believed to be on his way 

 there, to secure his lion's share of the sec- 

 ond exten.sion." 



Let us have a few farts to set off against so 

 much iiifereu'e. Neither Mr. Otis, nor any 

 one else, will have an intei'est in any further ex- 

 tension. I have applied for no such extension, 

 nor have I thought ot' d<)ing so before the suit 

 of Otis against King has been decided. 



"What a. laughing stock has Mr. King made 

 of himself in this whole matter. !~^cattering 

 his blank petitions against my application — he 

 flies to Washington on the wing'i of ex prexK i^ienm, 

 to oppose it in person — rushes almost breathless 

 into the presence of the astonished officials, re- 

 questing the sight of that petition, concocted to 

 escape the i^iercing vision of such a kingly eagle, 

 and lo to his intense mortilication finds a new 

 illustration of the Huddibriastic couislet. 



" That optics keen it needs I ween. 

 To see tilings that cauuot, be seen." 



If Mr. King is confident that my claims will 

 be so ground up in the legal hopper, that iioth- 

 ing but the moth blocks will come out intact, 

 what interest has he or any one else in opposing 

 an extension ? Why should he deprive me of 

 what may i^rove so harmless a plaything for my 

 "second childhood ?" WTiy should not the dull 

 routine of Congressional duties be relieved by 

 such a huge joke, as the play of Hamlet with the 

 character of Hamlet, Ghost, Queen, King and 

 company rtZ/ left out? An application for the 

 extension of a patent whicli after ariogating so 

 much, has .so " fallen fiom its highe.state," as to 

 hide itself under a moth trap ! Perhajjs if I had 

 the true rigal atulacity, I might not think it im- 

 possible, even with such shallow pretences, to de- 

 ceive the willing public, or force them however 

 unwilling to enter my trap. Visions of patent 

 moth traps would flit through my brain, and 

 wounded as I am, would ahnost make me dance 

 for joy at tiie thought of my fat'-nt moth trap 

 — ExTENTED by Act of Congress — and all the 

 bee-keepers of the land fluttering around its 

 pernicious light, to have their silfy wings 

 singed for my special benefit ! 



L. L. Langstroth. 



[For the .\inericau Bee Journal.] 



Hives at the Indianapolis Convention. 



* See March No. of A. B. J., p. 196. Had Mr. Kint^ 

 contented liimself with an houorabic deleuce of his 

 suit, instead of attempting in every way to forestall 

 public opiniou, this aud other documents sn damatjing 

 to him — need never have been given to the public. 



Mr. Editor:— On page 193 of the February 

 number, Mr. Gallup states that there were any 

 quaniity of ])atent hives at the National Conven- 

 tion at Indianapolis, that were worthless ; 

 that is, they were not calculated for the honey 

 extractor. If this be the true interpretation 

 of his language, I beg leave to differ with him ; 

 for I do know that he either labors under a 

 mistake, or I do not at all understand when a 

 hive is adapted to the use of the melextrac- 

 tor. Consequently all my efforts, with tho.se of 

 many others, in endeavoring to get a hive 

 adapted to answer this purpose, are simply fail- 

 ures. 



I have visited quite a number of apiarie.s, and 

 con.sulted many beekeepers of extensive experi- 

 ence, and among them I had a lengthy inter- 

 view with Mr. Langstroth. In the course of 

 our conversation he stated to ine that a hive 

 containing two sets of frames, one set situated 

 directly above the other, and of equal size, 

 would unquestionably procure the largest yield 

 of honey ; and my own experience, together with 

 that of all others whom I have consulted rela- 

 tive to this particular subject, agree that j\Ir. 

 Langstorth's position is true. They also agree 

 that a hive thus arranged is not only adapted, 

 but better adapted, to the honey emptying 

 machine, than any hive containing only one .set 

 of frames. For with a two-story hive, properly 

 arranged and prudently managed, we are not 

 troubled with brood in the upper set of fiames, 

 as the queen is confined to the breeding cliani- 

 ber below — which should never be resorted to 

 for surplus honey, except in cases where the 

 queen is about to be crowded out of .space in 

 which to deposit eggs sufficient to keep up the 

 population of the hive. .'\nd in such cases, it 

 is my opinion, that we should be very cautious 

 not to uncap all the cells in any one frame, ex- 

 cept perhaps the outside ones ; for it may be, 

 and no doubt often is the case that we rob the 

 breeding apartment of all the early gathered 

 honey, which is less diluted with water, than 

 that collected later in the season. Later gath- 

 ered honey is not .so well calculated to winter 

 bees on, as that which is collected during the 

 earlier part of the .season. Then, as already in- 

 timated, we should uncap and empty out only suf- 

 ticient honey to afford the queen room, for laying 

 eggs. This may be accomplished by uncapping 

 the cells two-thirds of the way from the bottom 

 of the combs towards the top. The upper set 

 of frames should be of precisely the same size 

 of the lower ones, for the very plain reason ami 

 well established fact that bees will not always 

 work in either boxes or shallow frames, when 

 honey is plenty in the fields ; and when, conse- 

 quently, there is no good reason why they 

 should not leave the breeding apartment and 

 go above to store honey. Under such circum- 

 stances I he apiarian is not left in a helpless con- 

 dition, if both the upper and the lower frames 

 are of equal size ; for in a few moments he can 

 lift one or two frames containing brood toijether 



