586 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



build comb when there was little honey 

 to store, in order to be ready for the 

 honey when it does come in quantity, 

 but this they never do, because they 

 cannot reason. — G. W. Demaree. 



Yes ; there are proofs in abundance 

 to show that bees do reason, but this 

 Department is not large enough for 

 their enumeration. We refer the in- 

 quirer, and all others interested, to the 

 article on another page on this subject, 

 written by M. L. Holbrook, M. D. It 

 gives convincing proofs of intelligence 

 in bees. — The Editor. 



Topics of Interest. 



Tie First Bee-Escaiie. 



C. H. DIBBERN. 



I have carefully read Mr. Silcott's 

 article on page 522, and will say that I 

 have no desire to keep up the con- 

 troversy. However, I wish to correct a 

 few errors and misstatements. Mr. 

 Silcott's gpneral conclusions as to the 

 working of bee-escapes, is quite correct. 

 Mr. S.'s claim of inventing the first 

 horizontal bee-escape, has fallen to the 

 ground, as his patent is antedated by 

 the one of 1 860. 



Now, as well as one can judge by an 

 illnstration of it, and his claims as pub- 

 lished, it would seem that they are very 

 similar. To say that this could not be, 

 or the Patent Office would not have 

 issued a second patent on a similar 

 device, will not do. That thing seems 

 to be a common occurrence, as the 

 10,000 patents on bee-hives abundantly 

 attest. 



I said in a former article, that Mr. 

 Silcott's escape was probably an anti- 

 quated and worthless affair; but if it 

 was really a good and valuable inven- 

 tion, then he is the more to blame for 

 keeping " dark " about it — at any rate, 

 in not advertising it loud enough, so 

 that at least one bee-keeper in a thou- 

 sand would know of its existence. 



A good bee-escape, during the nine 

 years that this patent has been allowed 

 to slumber in sweet oblivion, would have 

 been worth thousands of dollars to the 

 fraternity. 



Mr. Silcott then tries to make out that 

 my escape, which is the common prop- 

 erty of the bee-keepers of America, is 

 somehow and infringement on his, on 

 general principles, I suppose, though he 



does not threaten a "big suit in the 

 United States court." 



Had it not been for Mr. Reese, myself 

 and others, would his escape not still be 

 sleeping the sleep that knows no 

 waking ? 



Mr. S. says that the principle of my 

 escape is not new to him — that he tried 

 it years ago and failed. If that is so, it 

 is an indirect compliment to me, as I 

 have succeeded. 



When he claims, like Mr. Demaree, 

 that bees will return through any kind 

 of an escape where some obstruction is 

 not used, he is simply mistaken. In my 

 new escape they do no such thing, as the 

 hundreds of my escapes in use during 

 the past season abundantly testify. 



The intimation that my " Little 

 Giant" must be a complicated arrange- 

 ment, because I use broom wire, is over- 

 drawn. The fact is, it is about as simple 

 as any, and so far is the most rapid 

 working escape I know of, and I have 

 tried about everything in this line. 



I have tried Mr. Wilcox's escape, 

 through which he claims the bees will 

 escape in droves. My experience with 

 it is a good deal like Mr. Silcott's. Dur- 

 ing the recent hot weather, I had a 

 number of double hives, with a queen- 

 excluding honey-board between, using 

 the upper story to extract from. 



After reading Mr. Wilcox's descrip- 

 tion, and the rapidity with which his 

 escape would empty the supers, I 

 thought that perhaps after all we had 

 all been on the wrong track. 



I had little difficulty in making an 

 escape, as Mr. Wilcox had described it, 

 and while I was making it, I kept 

 picturing to myself the droves of bees 

 escaping where I could see them, out of 

 super to the hive entrance. 

 • Well, about noon I had the escape 

 ready, and placed it under one of the 

 extracting supers. 



After dinner I went at once to the 

 hive, expecting to enjoy the fun of see- 

 ing the bees "escaping in droves." In- 

 stead, however, only a few excited bees 

 w^ould run down a little ways, and then 

 return to the super. This was quite a 

 disappointment to me, as I had expected 

 more of it. 



I concluded to give the bees their own 

 time in leaving, and, after two days, 

 there were still about a quart left. Now, 

 this escape on further trial* may do 

 better, or I may not have got it just 

 right. Let us try all things, and " hold 

 fast to that which is good." 



Milan, Ills., Oct. 30, 1891. 



