Tmm JEME'Micaf* mms j^ismmmi^. 



295 



worth, to a person who handles many colo- 

 nies, at least the price of an individual right 

 to use his patent. 



I can only say that I have sought to avoid 

 all over-statements, and have, in addition to 

 what 1 could see with ray own eyes, ques- 

 tioned at much length some wlio have 

 largely handled the Heddon hives, and have 

 been from the beginning familiar with 

 every step in tlie progress of his invention. 

 I would therefore not be afraid to risk my 

 reputation for sound judgment as to the 

 great value of the forward step whicli lie 

 has taken, even if I did not know that my 

 opinion accords so well with the e.xperience 

 of many who have had the opportunity to 

 put the hive and system to the test of prac- 

 tical use. 



It is proper that I should say before clos- 

 ing this article, tliat 1 have carefully ex- 

 amined the claims of the Heddon patent, 

 and the reasons which have been thouglit by 

 some to invalidate them. Neither my ac- 

 quaintance with the literature of bee-keep- 

 ing, nor my familiarity with our patent 

 laws, nor any facts which have been alleged 

 against the Heddon patent, lead me for a 

 moment to question its validity. 



History seems often to" repeat itself. In 

 my own day, how often it was declared to 

 be enough to invalidate the claims of the 

 first person who had invented a hive, which 

 commended itself at once to those most 

 largely engaged in the production of honey 

 —how often, I say, it was thought enough, 

 to show that some one before me, had used 

 a frame in a bee-hive. It mattered nothing 

 that I never claimed to have been the first 

 to invent a movable-frame— that my frame 

 and way of using it were fully described, 

 and that the few frames which antedated 

 mine were of no practical account— still the 

 attempt was for many years persisted in (I 

 sometimes shudder now at the bare recol- 

 lection of tlio.se weary years), to persuade 

 the bee-keeping public that my patent was 

 invalid. 



On all sides patents sprung up, using, 

 BUT NOT CLAIMING tlie most valuable fea- 

 tures of my invention, and one bee-paper, 

 having then the largest circulation, went so 

 far as to accuse me of perjuries, which, if 

 committed, ought to have sent me, in my 

 old age, to the penitentiary. Thus were the 

 feelings of my wife and cnildreu outraged, 

 and even where no credit was given to such 

 atrocious accusations, many honest bee- 

 keepers were so misled as to believe that 

 •they had a perfect right to the free use of 

 ray movable frames, or were induced to pay 

 for infringing patents the money which 

 would have provided amply for me and 

 mine. 



I do not think that the bee-keepers of this 

 country will ever suffer a similar outrage to 

 be perpetrated either against Mr. Heddon 

 or any other lionest Inventor and benefactor. 



928 Steele Ave., Dayton, Ohio. 



BEES AND FLOWERS. 



Benefit!!) of Bees to Agriculture 

 and Horticulture. 



Bead at the Fremont, Mich., Convention 

 BY GEO. E. HILTON, 



From the very " pointed " argument 

 used by the bee in self-defense, either 

 real or imaginary, the masses believe 

 that the sole occupation of the bee is to 

 sting ; and we often hear the remark 

 that, " a bee will go ten rods out of its 

 way, any time, to sting me." 



Let us see if this be true. The bee, 

 is never more happy than when hard at 

 work, and at a time when honey is 

 coming in rapidly. There is nothinc! 



stingy about them. At that time of 

 the season I have taken from the hives 

 hundreds of pounds of honey without 

 the least protection of either smoke, 

 veil or gloves. 



Why is nectar placed in the flower or 

 blossom ? Is it necessary for the set- 

 ting and maturing of the fruit V The 

 scientific horticuturist says, No 1 Was 

 it placed there for the bee? Again the 

 scientist say.s, No ! Then let us exam- 

 ine the mysterious construction of the 

 blossom, and see if we can solve the 

 problem. 



The blossoms are composed of one or 

 more leaves called petals. The base of 

 this is called the corolla, and there, as 

 a rule, nectar is deposited. The sta- 

 mens or pollen-bearing stems— in other 

 words, the male organs of the plant — 

 protrude beyond this nectar, and in or- 

 der for the bee to secure this much 

 coveted sweet she must brush by these 

 stamens, and to a greater or less ex- 

 tent the pollen adheres to the legs and 

 body of the bee. It no sooner drains 

 the cup that Nature has filled for a 

 two-fold purpose, than it hies away to 

 another, and here is where the wise 

 economy of Nature is being performed. 

 The bee in coming in contact with this 

 second blossom, mingles the pollen of 

 the two, impregnation takes place, and 

 all fruits and vines are made to bring 

 forth fruit, "each after its own kind." 

 If any doubt this assertion, next spring 

 when your fruits, vines and clovers 

 blossom, just before they open, with a 

 bag having the meshes small enough to 

 exclude insects, see how much fruit 

 and seed you get from the blossoms 

 thus treated. 



In the West, in some sections where 

 the bee and hornet do not exist, they 

 fail to raise pumpkins, for the want of 

 something to fertilize the blossoms. 

 In some of the mid-ocean islands they 

 could not raise red clover seed until 

 they imported bumble bees to impreg- 

 nate the blossoms. Now the Italian 

 bee is aiding in this grand work. 



The bee is the friend of horticultur- 

 ists and agriculturists, and as there is 

 no insect that increases in such vast 

 numbers so early in the spring when 

 their services are so much needed, they 

 are of more value to the farmer, gar- 

 dener and fruit-grower than all other 

 insects. 



A man near Boston makes a business 

 of raising cucumbers for the winter 

 markets. I am informed that he has 

 several acres under glass, and until 

 within the past few years he did all the 

 fertilizing by hand. This was a most 

 tedious and expensive piece of work, 

 reducing the profits to a minimum. 

 But now in each section of this vast 

 winter garden, he has a colony of bees, 

 and while the mercury is sporting with 

 zero outside, these little helpers are 

 gathering honey from cucumber blos- 

 soms, and at the same time doing the 

 work of many hands; and one great 

 advantage is, that they do their work 

 so much better. The proprietor says 

 that by the old method they never suc- 

 ceeded in fertilizing over 50 per cent, 

 of the blossoms, but that the bees fer- 

 tilize at least 80 per cent, thus advanc- 

 ing his industry from a basis hardly 

 paying expenses, to one that is profit- 

 able. 



I might dwell for hours upon things 

 connected with this very interesting 

 pursuit, but I will not tire you, for 

 what may seem interesting to me may 

 be idle talk to you ; but let us learn a 

 lesson from the bees to do all the good 

 we can in this life. The bee that gath- 

 ers the nectar from and fertilizes the 

 blossoms, never lives to consume the 

 honey stored for the winter months; 

 but toils on uncomplainingly, and if 

 the season be favorable it not only 

 stores sufl!icient for the winter's supply, 

 but a surplus sufHcient to compensate 

 the bee-keepers for the attention given 

 during the summer months besides, and 

 giving us the only pure sweet known to 

 the civilized world. 



Fremont, Mich. 



EKE HIVES. 



AVIiat they are, and AVIiat they 

 are Used for. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



Although my description of eke hives 

 on page 1!)9, seemed to me very plain, 

 the editor advised his readers to see 

 comments on page 197, vi'here he says : 



" An ' eke ' is a small additional 

 story (generally a half story) placed 

 under a hive to add to its capacity." 

 And further : " These ekes and nadirs 

 bear no relation to a brood-chamber 

 that is divisilile, and should not be 

 confounded therewith." 



To show that a hive raised with an 

 eke is not an " eke hive," and that 



eke hives were formed of divisible 

 brood-chamliers, as I described them, 

 I send engravings of divisible brood- 

 chambers ; of which we have procured 

 the electrotypes, with many others 

 representing hives of the old country, 

 which will appear in the new book, 

 "Langstroth revised." One engrav- 

 ing shows a siiuare hive formed of 

 three ekes. The hive has 7 combs, and 

 cannot hold luc^-e than a hive with 

 seven Langstroth frames. Then the 

 three ekes are about of sufficient ca- 

 pacity to satisfy partisans of small hives. 



