240 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



About Patent Bights and Claims. 



Mu. Editor: — I see that the Bee Journal is 

 open for free discussion, and that those who are 

 interested in bee-culture make many inquiries 

 and arc answered through its valuable columns. 

 That is what makes the Journal so interesting ; 

 for we get the ideas of different bee-keepers in 

 all parts of the United States. Now will some 

 of the readers of the Journal give us informa- 

 tion in regard to patent bee hives ? The hive 

 I prefer using, in common with nearly all the 

 bee-keepers in this section, is Peter J. Sever- 

 son's Double Surplus Frame Hive, which he 

 claims he obtained Letters Patent dated Febru- 

 ary 25, 18G3. I will give a brief description of 

 this hive. It is 12 by 12 inches inside and 1G 

 inches high. The frames are 10^ by 14 inches. 

 The top arrangement consists of a box the same 

 size as the hive, and G inches deep, with neither 

 top nor bottom. This box contains five frames 

 5h inches deep, 1;| inches wide, with perforated 

 partitions between each frame. The honey- 

 board is then removed, and the surplus box 

 placed on the top of the hive ; the frames being 

 f of an inch above those in the hive. Thus, 

 you see, we have the same degree of heat in the 

 surplus apartment as we have in the hive; 

 which we all know is very essential for bees to 

 build comb. 



On page 151, February number of the Bee 

 Journal, I find that Mr. Langstroth claims to 

 be the inventor of all movable frames for bee 

 hives. He also says that there are at least forty 

 different patents of bee hives, and nearly all of 

 them using fiames which are an infringement 

 on his rights. Now, I have no reason to dis- 

 pute Mr. Laugstroth's word ; but wi 1 he please 

 to inform us why he has allowed different par- 

 ties to construct bee hives and get them patent- 

 ed, all using the frames which he claims are his 

 property ? 



Now the question is, first, does the Patent 

 Office grant patents to different parlies upon 

 one invention, without the consent or license 

 of the inventor ? 



Second. Of whom shall we buy the right ? 

 Langstroth claims to be the inventor of all 

 movable frames. Severson claims that he in- 

 vented his hive, and that his patent is as good 

 as any that has ever been granted by the Pat- 

 ent Office. 



Let, us hear from Mr. Langstroth, Mr. Gallup, 

 Mr. Quinby, or anyone else ; for my mode of 

 doing business is, first to know that 1 am right, 

 then go ahead. 



Bees have done well the past season, and 

 were put in winter quarters with their hives 

 nearly full of honey. They have wintered 

 well, as far as heard from; excepting in one 

 apiary, and that belongs to one of our neigh- 

 bors. He partitioned off a part of his 

 wagon house, and lined it with straw, with no 

 ventilation, above or below. He put his hives 

 in this coop, in as good condition as any I ever 

 taw ; and the result was that this spring, out 



of fifty-three colonies, he had twenty-two left. 

 All that died had the dysentery. Was this 

 caused by not having proper ventilation ? 



B. C. AUCHAMPAUGIT. 



West Townsiiip, N. Y. 



[For the American Beo Journal.] 



To Introduce Italian Queen Bees. 



Although I am an old queen bee breeder and 

 queen bee introducer, I lost a queen once in a 

 while — though following the instructions of 

 Mr. Langstroth. Last season, when I had so 

 many to introduce, I concluded to try Mr. 

 Thomas' way, to tie an old cotton rag over tuo 

 opening of the cage, and leave it to the bees to 

 perforate it and liberate the queen. Of about 

 one hundred, every queen so introduced, late 

 in the season, when bees are not usually very 

 willing to receive a stranger queen, was libera- 

 ted and received by the bees without difficulty. 

 I therefore feel myself under great obligations 

 to Ml". Thomas, and would recommend to every 

 beekeeper this mode of introducing queens. 



Disposition of Black Bee3 to become 

 Drone Breeders, in Nucleus Hives. 



When I first commenced raising Italian 

 queens, I was compelled to use black tiees. At 

 that time I did not know the difference between 

 them and Italian bees, as far as workers becom- 

 ing drone-layers is concerned. In hlmoft every 

 nucleus some workers commenced laying be- 

 fore the young queen hatched, at which time 

 they would stop laying ; but wlien I took away 

 the queen after she became fertile, these drone 

 layers would begin their work again. Then, 

 in most cases, the woikers would not build new 

 queen cells, and if any such cells were furnished 

 from other stocks, they would be sure to he de- 

 stroyed, unless very nearly ready to hatch. 



Two years ago I had a fair chance to ascer- 

 tain that black bees. or poor hybrids are a great 

 deal more apt to turn drone-layers than Italian 

 bees. A neighbor of mine asked me to laise 

 some queens. I promised to do so, provided 

 he would furnish the nucleus hives with bees, 

 from his apiary. He brought a lot of black 

 bees, which we put into two nucleus hives, and 

 I succeeded in raising a queen in each 

 of them, although some drone -laying workers 

 had already made their appearance. But 

 neither of these nucleus hives built a queen cell 

 from the brood left by the fertile queens when 

 taken away. A number of queen cells inserted 

 were successively destroyed, and the bees went 

 on breeding drones uninteruptedly for nearly 

 six weeks, when I concluded to kilt the lew re- 

 maining. At the same time I had more than 

 sixty nuclei, stocked with Italian bees, of 

 which, though treated exactly hke the others, 

 not one became drone-breeding. 



A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



