1878. 



GLEAXES'GS tS' BEE CULTUEE. 



smoker, the fire will not go out. I remarked 

 that since mv o^nti had become rickety, it 

 •did not go out. and it was loose just where 

 the blast entere the tube that holds the tire, 

 allowing a driift of air to enter there all the 

 time. That old Quinby smoker is still in my 

 possession. 3Ir. BinghanAwas one of our 

 subscribers at that very time. His smoker 

 is so made as to leave an opening at all times, 

 in that very spot. If I am not mistaken, 

 several of our readers sent in sketches 

 i»f direct chaft smokers, before ilr. B. gave 

 his to the public. 



The Bingham smoker is certainly an im- 

 provement over the Quinby. in making Lar- 

 ger tubes for the fire, but making a thing 

 larger, can scarcely be called an invention. 

 A patent was granted. Very true, but so 

 was a patent granted on making honey comb 

 artificially : as good a patent as ever was.and I 

 stood out' of the way. and let our friend Per- 

 line. carry off my "machine, and raise the 

 price of fcLn. froni 7oc to Sl.i5 per lb. Our 

 friend King of the Magazine, with commend- 

 able zeal, hunted up some old volimies of 

 the Bknfn Zfitung. and away went Perrine"s 

 patent, like smoke. The patent office would 

 without doubt give any one a patent today 

 on artificial comb, or a Quinby smoker. It 

 is utterly impossible for them to teU whether 

 a thing is new or not. Worse than that, they 

 seem, of late, to be utterly incapable of tell- 

 ing what has already been patented, for pat- 

 ents have been granted several times, on 

 precisely the same thing. 



I do not wish to be stubborn, and I am 

 willing. I think, to pay for aU I receive from 

 anyone: but who will' teU us just what is 

 right in these matters? I should willingly 

 have paid Mr. Quinby a couple of hundred 

 dollar's for the privilege of making his smo 

 kers. just because I wanted to see them sold 

 at what I thought would be a fail- price, and 

 because I knew a large sale woiild f oDow 

 such reduction in price." I am willing to pay 

 Mr. Bingham for his invention if good 

 judges in the matter say I am infringing: 

 but I certainly think 1 ought to pay Mr. 

 Quinby"s widow five dollars where I pay Mr. 

 Bingham one. If. on the other hand." Mr. 

 Bingliam is wronging our people by trying 

 to make them pay Sii.tsO for a smoker "tha^ 

 should be sold for less than one. having no 

 patent that would stand law at that, as is the 

 case with most of the l»ee-hive patents. I 

 think it my duty to sift the matter by law. if 

 it cannot lie done otherwise. 



P. S. Who will devise a bellows that will 

 give us a constant blast? ."^ome sort of a 

 double beUows. it seems tome, can be made, 

 so that one will open while the other is clos- 

 ing. Xo springs will then be needed: but 

 the difficulty seems to be. to constrxict it so 

 as to be easily operated with one hand. A 

 little fan. to be run by gearing, would work 

 nicely, btit it would taike both'hands to turn 

 it. This would give a steady blast. 



It has been intimated that our smoker was 

 inconvenient to pick up. As the beUows is 

 only five inches wide, the thumb and finger 

 will easily si>an it. and I woiUd call it even 

 more convenient than the taU cues: but you 

 must rll judge for yourselves in such mat- 

 ters. 



DEPOSITORY OF 



Or Letters ficm Those T(bo Bare 5Iade 

 Bee Culture a lailnie. 



BLASTZD HOPES. 'WITH SOKE GCCD LE£«OyS. 



^ ET me beg an mtrcdtictlcn to the nQmeTcns 

 ^ T readers of your excellent paper. I have kept 

 5^=1 bees S3 years, bctjght the light, acd used The 

 first LaEgstrcth hive in McLean Co.. and still use the 

 I- hire, thcngh not in the crrg^na! fcim. 



I have sometimes teen sncti-tssfuL and have often 

 met with losses: The year 1>:2 wss the most disas- 

 trous: tees made but little hrcey. and- though 1 bad 

 no swarms, the seasc^n eksed with l"l> stccks. 

 and few. if any. had enough hcney to eairy -.hem 

 through the winter. Instead of dcu'tling- theiii. as I 

 should have dene. I fed 126 dollars worth of sugar, 

 and lost, during the winter. j-5c stccks. 



Suc-c-eeding Icsses reduc-ed my ntmter. and in May. 

 1?T6. I had tut s;i. and cce cf ihtm cjueenless. 



I have now oi stocks In gc<:d c-cndiricn. en their 

 stunmer stands, well protected by placing 7 or S 

 frames in the c-tntre cf the hive with divlsirntc aids, 

 the sides filled with tow. tcps c-cvered with QUilts. 

 and c-aps filled with chaff atd straw. Bees fiew V2 

 days in succession in Decemtier. acd two cf mice flew 

 so far. they never c-ame back, taking hives and hcney 

 with them. 



Last year I tocsk especial pains to fix my tees fo^ 

 winter. They were light, having cnly at^ut 17 lbs cf 

 honey to the hive: so 1 bought paper." such as is used 

 to cover tuildicgs. cut it in pieces just large encrgh 

 to cover the front, bottcm and tack of the hive inside, 

 with »mall holes in frc^nt for an entrance, and trans- 

 ferred the bees to the c-entre: thus trakicg with the 

 division boards, a c-ompleie doutle hive: 1 was so 

 well pleased with the way they were fixed, that 1 was 

 preparing a report for GieaniEgs sc met hitg like this. 

 '"Winteicd >'. stccks of tees, in paper lined hives, 

 without loss," but finally er>ncluded to make a verbal 

 repcMt. as I intended to stop at Medina en my way to 

 to the Centennial. 



Now for the iest.h. I exsmincd thetives JarulCth 

 and found the paper scaking wet: had to i veihai:! 

 and take them all cut. and lest atf ct ^ cf the bees. 

 I didn't go to the CentcuEiaL didnt visit Medina ic, 

 but learned two thirgs. \Il. that t<es dcn't leouire 

 papered rocms. and that it Is cf little usefcr sn old 

 man to form plans cf life. 



J. L. WOLCCTT. 



Bloomington, Ills. Feb. 17th '75. 



There has been a great deal of talk, and 

 several patents on paper fcr use in bee-hives. 

 My experience with it. h£s been much like 

 that of friend W. I have also had some ex- 

 perience much the s; me :s Lis in ti;y:ng 

 sugar tor weak colonies. 



We c-an deliver hives in the fiat, or Simplicity 

 hives made up, in X. T. City, for ?1.W per hundred. 

 The Simplicities are so compact, with no projections, 

 that we have teen allowed to ship them at half the 

 usual rates on bee hi res. when as many as two 2-stG- 

 ry hives are ordered at one time. 



OtTR friend H. H. Flick, has still amtber follower 

 in the "Ambrosial honey" business. This one calls 

 himself W. H. Chidester. hails frcm SIS Fultca St.. 

 X. Y.. and c-alls it Crystal Honey. His advertisement 

 is dmost word for word, like the one we showed up 

 in "Humbugs and Swindles'" cf June. 1575>. These 

 fellows usually copy each other veibatim. frcm year 

 tc» year, but »his one has brains enr ugh to invent one 

 new line, to the effect that the "Crystal He ney will 

 neither conges! nor 'cander'." Dees anyone knew 

 what "cander" means? The price cf the "right" has 

 cc>me down to ?!.(>?. and if you tell anybody else, he 

 says, "the law ciacts heavy penalties for the small- 

 est breach or infringement."' 



