156 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



all hives so as to be bee and queen proof 

 in its connections ; but a super such as is 

 being used in the apiary, being made for 

 the hives, will fit as a matter of course. 



"No leak holes." Well, let's see about 

 it. Brother Root has great faith and in- 

 terest in the Pratt hiver. There is one 

 case on record where the Alley hiver 

 has failed to hold a swarm but two days, 

 though it did catch and hive the swarm 

 as I have guaranteed they should. Now, 

 let's see if the Pratt svvarmer has done 

 as well as the Perfection. 



The Pratt swarmer was placed on a 

 hive in my apiary May 30, and by Mr. 

 Pratt himself In less than ten minutes 

 a swarm issued and it failed to catch 

 either queen or bees. 



The swarmer has failed in Pratt's own 

 apiary ; also in the apiary of A. Fahen- 

 stook, Laporte, Indiana, and I know not 

 in how many other places. Yet, Bro. 

 R. commends it in preference to the 

 Perfection hiver Bro. Root also says 

 the Perfection hiver is expensive. It 

 is no more so than the Pratt. The Per- 

 fection hiver will cost the manufacturer 

 about 20 cents each. 



By the way Bro. R., why don't you 

 use the Pratt self-hiver as illustrated in 

 a recent issue of Gleanings! That is, 

 by placing it in front of the colony, in- 

 stead of under it? I notice since I ex- 

 posed the impracticability of the Pratt 

 hiver illustrated as above stated, that 

 not only Root, but brother Pratt have 

 both turned a complete somersault, and 

 now they have not a word to say about 

 that "best I have seen self-hiver." 



Brother R. accused me in Gleanings 

 of condemning something in the Pratt 

 swarmer and then said 1 afterwards 

 adopted it. 



I resented the imputation in a short 

 article to Gleanings, but the editor lias 

 not as yet found it convenient to give 

 it space in his paper, in which he falsely 

 and unjustly accused me. Try and be 

 fair, brother R., as you have generally 

 been in most cases, and treat others as 

 you desire to be treated. 



I would like to reply to Dr. Miller's 

 article about the Perfection hiver, but 



I can't spend my time writing articles 

 for any editor's waste basket. 



Had Dr. Miller used the hiver ac- 

 cording to directions, he would have had 

 no trouble. He experimented for his own 

 satisfaction, and did not succeed, and 

 so condemns the hiver. The metal on 

 the hiver which the Dr. says the queen 

 got through was made by Root. I use it 

 and never knew a queen to escape 

 through it. 



A PROPOSKD PATENT. 



A friend in the State of New York, 

 writes us as follows : 



"As you have had quite an experience 

 with patents, permit me to ask a ques- 

 tion or two. First let me say why. 

 During the past season I have perfected 

 a plan of management for the success- 

 ful prevention of swarming. 



Theie will be no caging of queens, 

 cutting of cells, overhauling of combs 

 or brood-chambers, or anything of the 

 kind. Simply build them up strong in 

 the spring, give them room in the sect- 

 tions once a week, then fix them up for 

 winter and that is all. 



My question is this : 



Will the benefit of such a plan warrant 

 me taking out a patent on it, and on 

 the necessary trap to go with it? It 

 seems to me that this is just what bee- 

 keepers have been holding their breath 

 for ever since the frame hive came in- 

 to use, and when beekeeping became a 

 profession. 



By saying what you think about the 

 advisability of a patent, briefly, if need 

 be, I shall be greatly obliged." 



[It will be pretty hard to make the 

 experienced beekeepers believe that any 

 arrangement can be devised that will 

 prevent bees building queen cells at 

 swarming time. Yes, it is just the thing 

 beekeepers need, 1 ackowledge, but it 

 will be a very hard thing to convince 

 them of its practicability.] 



A well known and prominent lady 

 beekeeper writes the Apt as follows. 



"I see a great many envy your position 

 in queen rearing, or new developments, 

 etc. But let them paut, you will get there 

 first all the same." 



