THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



151 



recommended in a former number of the Jour- 

 nal. But this latter -would not answer, as the 

 bees gnawed it off in less than twenty-four 

 hours, and of course before they had fastened 

 the combs. I now use broom twine, which 

 does very well. 



The bees transferred in June scarcely gathered 

 honey enough to live upon. They killed off al; 

 their drones at once. Linn came into bloom 

 the latter part of the month. They collected 

 enough from that and buckwheat to winter 

 upon, except three swarms which I very foolish- 

 ly divided at the time of transferring. The 

 three queenless parts hatched out their queens, 

 all of which were afterwards lost. I then put 

 in a frame of brood into each, with the following 

 results ,• No. 1 hatched out a queen. I was very 

 busy at that time and did not look at it for ten 

 days after. I found no sign of a queen, but 

 plenty of moth-worms. I burnt that lot, giving 

 the bees to another swarm. Nos. 2 and 3 

 hatched out queens on the same day. I watched 

 closely when the drones were flying. At last I 

 saw something uncommon about the action of 

 the bees. Whilst watching, I saw a very small 

 glossy black queen alight from her flight, but 

 with no signs of impregnation, go into hive No. 

 2. She had hardly disappeared when I saw a 

 very handsome queen go into hive No. 3, with 

 signs of impregnation upon her. The results 

 are, queen No. 2 laid drone eggs, which hatched 

 out. No. 3 grew to be a tolerable swarm, con- 

 sidering the chance they have had. Query, was 

 No. 2 a fertile worker ? I could scarcely tell 

 the difference between her and a common bee. 



Bees in this vicinity failed to make any sur- 

 plus honey to any amount. Will some of your 

 correspondents inform me if they have any plan 

 of feeding bee-bread in the hives, and what they 

 use? Will rye-meal. mixed to a paste and spread 

 upon cotton cloth answer, if placed on the top 

 of the frames. 



Frederick Crathorne. 



Bethlehem, Ind. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



New Smoker Described. 



Mr. Editor : — I have an item which I think 

 may be of importance to my bee-keeping frends, 

 who are so very liberal in keeping the readers 

 of the Journal posted in their discoveries and 

 improvements in bee-keeping. 



The item I have reference to is a convenient 

 smoker, to subdue and control our bees, aud is 

 simple and very cheap. I tried various ways of 

 smoking bees. I tried rags until I became satis- 

 fied of their inconvenience. I then tried pieces 

 of decayed wood, but found that in laying the 

 kindled wood about, much risk was incurred, as 

 I came near setting our house on fire on one oc- 

 casion. I also tried Quinby's Smoker, and 

 that did not suit me. So in trying and experi- 

 menting I finally found something that just suits 

 me, and we think that what suits us will be apt 

 to suit others. It is on a plan somewhat like 

 that described by Mr. Quinby. Take a piece of 

 sheet-iron aud make a tube about eisk*. iuches 



long and two inches in diameter. This is easily 

 done with the small rivets used by tinmen; and 

 almost any person can make it. Now make a 

 plug for each end, tapering down each to a 

 point. Bore a quarter inch hole in the plugs, 

 and cover the large ends of the plugs with 

 screen wire, which I bend so as to raise them in 

 the centre; this keeps trash from filling the holes 

 in the plugs. Next the one end is nailed fast, 

 and the other is left movable that it may be 

 taken out when the pipe or tube thus prepared 

 is to be filled with decayed wood — which is to 

 be kindled at the open end of course. You yet 

 want a handle, which is made by boring a two 

 inch hole in apiece of H inch plank and shaping 

 it to suit you. Then slip the tube into it, and it 

 may be fastened by inserting a nail between the 

 wood and tube. One plug should be shaped 

 convenient to be held in the mouth when blow- 

 ing smoke through the tube ; though in all ordi- 

 nary cases I simply blow across the mouth of the 

 tube after lighting the wood. When I wish to 

 blow the smoke through the tube, I insert the 

 plug made for a mouthpiece, and then I can 

 smoke the bees sufficiently in quick time. By 

 adding fuel occasionally you can keep it burn- 

 ing any desired length of time, keeping the one 

 cud open when not in use. 



Samuel May. 

 Eddyville, Iowa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Patent Claims. 



Having published the claims granted to L. L, 

 Langstroth, by the Patent Office, on what is 

 known as the Langstroth Hive, in the earlier 

 editions of the " Hive and Honey Bee," and in 

 numerous small pamphlets and circulars, as well 

 as printed them upon the back of all deeds con- 

 veying individual or territorial rights, sold for 

 many years past, we "had supposed tiiat they 

 were generally known to the bee-keeping public. 

 But we find that many correspondents of the 

 Bee Journal persist in speaking of the inven- 

 tion as it were simply a hive with movable 

 combs of particular shape and size, and could 

 not be constructed of different dimensions or 

 general arrangements, without going away 

 from the "claims" of the patent. 



Others gravely describe hives which they 

 have constructed and used, and which they an- 

 nounce are free to all, as they make no claim to 

 a patent on them. These either do not know, 

 or forget to state, that some of the principles, 

 and in many instances the most important in 

 their hives, are already covered by our re-issued 

 and extended Letters Patent. As* therefore sev- 

 eral of the correspondents of the Bee Journal 

 call for the patent claims of the various patents, 

 perhaps those who are already posted will bear 

 with us in requesting space to present agaiu the 

 claims granted to L. L. Langstroth by the Pa- 

 tent Office under re-issue No. 1,484, and which 

 have been extended for seven years from Octo- 

 ber 5, 1866, by the then Commissioner of Pa- 

 tents. 



