214 



THE AMERICA!^ BEE JOURIJAL. 



originating with others I cannot say). 

 I make no claim to the principle, ex- 

 cept when operated by the mechani- 

 cal construction described in the 

 specifications of my patent. 



Mr. Shuck's patent, though filed be- 

 fore mine, was issued later than mine, 

 and like it, is perfectly valid ; it in no 

 way interferes with mine — neither 

 one being cited to the other during 

 the pending of our applications. Mr. 

 Shuck is working in one way and I 

 in another for the accomplishment 

 of ends which our experience has 

 taught us are valuable. Wedges are 

 not equivalent to screws, and prac- 

 tically incapable of performing the 

 functions of the latter when used tor 

 the purposes for which I use them, as 

 specified in my patent. 



I am astonislied that Mr. Pond 

 should interpret patent principles as 

 he does. In reply to his question as 

 to what is net); in my hive, and what I 

 claim as my invention, I will enumer- 

 ate them : 



1. The set-screws in combination with 

 closed-end brood-frames, or wide frames for 

 the purpose of securing them tightly in the 

 case, for the purposes of supporting the 

 frames when inverted. 



2. Arranging frames within a case (which 

 is bee-space deeper than the frames) in such 

 manner as to leave one-half of that bce- 

 Bpace on either side of the frames, or arrang- 

 ing them so they can be quickly adjusted to 

 one side or the other, thus reversing the 

 bee-space at will. 



.3. The combination of my honey-board 

 containing a hee-space in one of its surfaces, 

 or divided between each surface containing 

 slats arranged to cover the spaces between 

 the brood-combs below, with the cases as 

 above described. 



4. A cover with one or 1 oth surfaces con- \ 

 taining a bee-space, or partial bee-space, 

 when used in combination with the cases 

 above described. 



5. The coinhination of the cases, as de- 

 scribed with the bottom-board and bottom- 

 stand, as described in the specifications. 



G. In abee-hive a brood-chamber composed 

 of two or more horizontally, separable and 

 interchangeable sections, when said sections 

 are made invertible. 



The above constitutes most of that 

 part of my invention which I believe 

 is not anticipated by anything inside 

 of the Patent Office, nor outside of it, 

 so far as the state of the art is now 

 known. All of which is shown in my 

 specifications, much covered by the 

 claims, and the rest open to re-issue. 

 I could have claimed and held all 

 double brood-chambers, no matter 

 how they are constructed, had it not 

 been for the existence of older con- 

 structions in impractical form, and 

 whicli diedof that^erangement. This 

 limited me to what I believe to be 

 the best construction of it. However, 

 I claim an honorary right to all double 

 brood-chambers when used for the 

 purposes specified in my patent. The 

 matter stands like this : Arnold owns 

 a horse. Ilis horse dies. (A dead 

 horse is burial-expenses worse than 

 worthless.) Thompson has the power 

 to bring that horse to life ; and with 

 much effort he succeeds in doing so. 

 Now, who owns that hor.se ? Morally, 

 Thompson; legallv, Arnold, and he 

 will likely keep him, if he is a de- 

 scendant of " Benedict." 



As this article is already too long, I 

 will close by referring Mr. Pond' to 

 Sections 2 to 8 inclusive, and add that 

 it seems to me that all that has been 



said, and is being said, regarding this 

 invention, amounts to the best of 

 evidence in favor of its novelty and 

 utility, and I cannot yet believe that 

 many Ijee-keepers wish to avail them- 

 selves of the results of my labor, 

 either as an inventor, promulgator or 

 advertiser ; and I do believe that any 

 who may attempt it, will by so doing 

 lose more than they will gain, such 

 is the dispostion of most bee-keepers 

 to do justice and give " honor to whom 

 honor is due." 

 Dowagiac, p Mich. 



[*As we prefer not to be "mixed up" 

 with this hive controversy, we handed the 

 two patents to our foreman for critical ex- 

 amination. He gives his opinion thus : 

 " After carefully reading the specifications 

 of both hives, and the proof of the above 

 article, 1 fully coincide with the opinion of 

 Mr. Heddon, and do not find one single 

 principle in the Kretchmer specifications 

 anticipating the construction or purposes 

 of the Heddon hive."— Ed.] 



For ttie American Bee JourcaJ. 



larsMll Co,, Iowa, Convention. 



The Marshall County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at the Court House 

 in Marslialltown, Iowa, on Feb. 20, 

 1886, with the President, Mr. O. B. 

 Barrows, in the chair. The minutes 

 of the previous meeting were read and 

 approved. There being but few pres- 

 ent, it was thought best to defer the 

 regular programme until the after- 

 noon session. The convention then 

 adjourned to meet at 1 p.m. 



At the afternoon session the Presi- 

 dent made quite a display of tools 

 from his apiary, that are of conven- 

 ience to the practical bee-keeper. The 

 exliibition seemed to interest all pres- 

 ent. The regular programme was then 

 taken up. 



By request the Secretary read Mr. 

 L. Keeper's essay as follows, on 



HONEY-PLANTS OF IOWA. 



The soft maple is the first bloom in 

 the spring, but it is often lost on ac- 

 count of the cold weather. The dan- 

 delion is the next to bloom, but it is 

 not of much imjDortance, as the honey 

 is dark and of a bitter taste, and 

 makes the bees very irritable. The 

 raspberry is a good honey-producer, 

 and yields a very good honey that is 

 excellent for the queen in the laying 

 season. 



During the past three years the 

 most important honey-plant has been 

 the white clover. It is abundant, and 

 produces a clear, white honey. Sumac 

 yields a dark honey, and very poor 

 bee-bread. The willow yields some 

 honey, and the best bee-bread of all 

 the different honey-plants, yet it 

 would have been better had we never 

 known the white willow, on account of 

 the plant-louse, wliich is sure destruc- 

 tion to the bees. 



The basswood affords a fine aromatic 

 honey which is a medicine for man 

 and bees, especially the queen-bee, 

 when she is exhausted from laying so 

 many eggs daily. Second-crop red 

 clover produces good, thick, brown 



honey. Alsike clover is a good honey- 

 plant, and lasts through the early 

 part of the summer ; but being a 

 biennial plant, it lasts only for two 

 seasons. Goldentod is the richest 

 honey- flower here, and if there are 

 plenty of flowers, the bees will store 

 •5 pounds of honey from this in the 

 same time that they would gathers 

 pounds from white clover. The only 

 one of importance remaining i3 the 

 buckwheat, which yields a thick, 

 brown honey. 



Gooseberries, plums,fruit-blossoms, 

 elms, hard-maple, box-elder, corn, 

 cucumber, melon, squash, cane and 

 many other plants produce honey, but 

 not in paying quantities. 



The essay was of interest to all 

 present, and called out a number of 

 questions which were satisfactorily 

 answered by Mr. Koeper. One was, 

 " Why is the willow injurious to 

 to bees V" Mr. Koeper replied that 

 the willow was the natural home of a 

 plant-louse or aphis ; and this aphis 

 was a great producer of the so-called 

 honey-dew, as well ;is are many other 

 aphis or minute insects of other trees 

 and plants that produce tlie honey- 

 dew by exudation. This substance 

 is often gathered by bees. It is of 

 very poor quality, and poisonous to 

 the bees when stored in their hives. 

 It is no uncommon thing for whole 

 colonies to be killed by it. In Ger- 

 many he had seen 16 different kinds 

 of aphides examined by a powerful 

 microscope, and all showed this so- 

 called honey-dew. some of the smaller 

 ones producing the most. He said 

 this was the only way that honey-dew 

 was produced. 



The Secretary stated that, from 

 reports, in many parts of the country 

 during the season of 1884, whole api- 

 aries were badly injured, or entirely 

 destroyed by this honey-dew. He 

 said if there was such a thing as 

 honey-dew, as many believe there is, 

 it would be on all kinds of vegetation 

 alike, just the same as the common 

 dew. 



G. W. Keeler, on the subject of ex- 

 tracted honey, said that he was not 

 prepared witli an essay, but would 

 tell how he worked his own apiary. 

 He used a two story hive, the lower 

 story being 11 inches deep, and the 

 upper 7 inches. He extracts entirely 

 from the upper story, unless there is a 

 crowding of the brood-chamber, in 

 which case he extracts tlie extra 

 honey and puts empty combs in the 

 centre of the brood-chamber. He 

 extracts the honey when the combs are 

 partially sealed ; puts the honey into 

 barrels, and covers them with a cloth 

 so as to allow the honey to cure well, 

 keeping it in a warm, dry place. 



Mr. L. Koeper extracts as soon as 

 the combs are full, and before it is 

 capped. This saves the trouble of 

 uncapping, and he thinks he can get 

 much more honey than to wait for it 

 to be capped. He lets it ripen in open 

 vessels. He uses a one -story hive 

 with a large brood-chamber with 16 

 frames ; takes the honey from 4 to 6 

 of the outside frames at first, and on 

 every second day, getting from 4 to 11 

 pounds per colony in two days. He 



