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80 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



Makch 



contended in the Geneve Farmer for Sept., 1861, 

 that if the war continued two or tliree years, prices 

 would rapidly advance. Some of my friends laugh- 

 ed at the idea. But " hi.story repeats itself, " and 

 it would he well for us all to heed its lessons. I 

 may be pirdoned for feeling a little proud of that 

 article, written when everybody thought we were 

 on the brink of ruin, and farmers sold their pro- 

 ducts for les^ than the cost of production. I was 

 offered corn that j^ear in Bloomingt )n, 111., for ctj. 

 a bushel, cash, or for 10 cts. in "trade !" At Van- 

 dalia I was offered eggs at 3|- cts. per dozen, and 

 " the barrels thrown in !" .Potatoes were oifered 

 at 5 cts. a bushel, but found no purchasers ! 



From the Country Gentleman. 



Which is the Best Bee-Hive. 



Messrs. Editors. — As quite a number of the 

 bee-keeping readers of the Co. Gent, have address- 

 ed to me various inquiries on the subject of bee- 

 culture, I wish to avail myself of the use sf your 

 columns, not so much to relieve me from answer- 

 ing interrogatories severally, as an opportunity of 

 answering the general inquiries, that all who feci an 

 interest in the matter may judge for themselves. 



One very general inquiry has been made, and 

 that is as to the character of the "hive that I use, 

 or whose p itetit hive is the bfst." I have used a 

 variety of hives contrived by different individuals, 

 and am acquainted with about all of the patented 

 features of the virious hives. If the beekeeper 

 expects to realize from this branch of ruarl econo- 

 my the greatest profit that it affords to skilful man- 

 agement, he cannot dispense with the use of mov- 

 able comb hives — in fact it is the only means by 

 which he can excel in this intercsing vocation. 



The movable comb frame, the iscovery of which 

 renders to apiculture the only advantage — in the 

 arrangment of hives — gained during the present 

 age, is the invention of the Rev. L. L. Langstroth. 

 Simultaneous with this invention, and in America 

 long before it, fruitless attempts at rendering prac- 

 tical the moveable comb theory, was had in Eu- 

 rope; but to Mr. Langstroth are the public indebt- 

 ed, and to him justly belongs the honor of having 

 given utility and practicalness to the principle of 

 moveable c:jmb hives. 



To those who are acquainted with patent right 

 affairs, I would say, challenging any and all for 

 proof to tho contrary, that all hives having mov- 

 able comb frames, no matter what may be the style, 

 size or peculiar features of the frame or arrange- 

 ment of the hive, it is substantially a "Langstroth 

 hive," and that irrespective of other claims to nov- 

 elty or patents granted, because it is for the use of 

 the moveable comb system, that is the essential feature 

 covered by his patent, and no two patents are 

 ever issued to different persons for the same, or 

 covering the same invention. Patents are granted 

 for additiojial improvements on former inventions, 

 but such subsequent issue, however, could not 

 grant the rigkt to vend or use what was embraced 

 or covered by the original and all prior patents. 



Strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, the 

 hive that was awarded the " premium " at the N. 

 Y. State Fairin '61, '62, and' 63, inclusive, is a gross 



infringement on, and a palpable counterfeit of the 

 Langstroth hive and patent. The contriver of said 

 premium hive, claims to different patents for it, 

 and a third patent pending, none of which relate 

 to the use of movable comb frames, nor does cither 

 of those several patents allow or grant him the 

 right to use or vend a movable comb frame of any 

 sort or kind in A's hive or in conjunction with his 

 patents. At those fairs, however, as elswhere, the 

 movable comb frames were displayed as the prom- 

 inent merit of the counterfeit hive. 



But more strangely still may it appear when the 

 indicative fact is known that though this hive was 

 awarded the several premiums, no one of our sever- 

 al distingushed scientific aparians, among whom 

 is Mr. M. Quinby the prince of practical aparians 

 in this country, either commend it, use it, or coun- 

 tenance it in any way other than with contempt. 



Mr. Quinby, who designed the best hive for and 

 in general use prior to the introduction of the 

 mcob frame, and himself the author of a very ex- 

 cellent treatise on the art of bee-keeping, approves 

 of no movable comb hive other than the Langstroth 

 hive with some slight modification of his own. 



Mr. Quinby is the only person who has added 

 any utility to the "movable comb hive." Much 

 difficulty has been experienced in using the movable 

 frame, for the reason that bees do not uniformly 

 build each c;ird of comb correctly and separately 

 within each frame. To remedy this, very many 

 devices, several patented, have been tried with va- 

 ried success. This obstacle, however, is so com- 

 pletely removed by so simple a method discovered 

 by Mr. Q.'s ingenuity, as to entitle him to share in 

 the honor of giving to the public the eminestly 

 important advantages of the moveable system. His 

 method is to elevate the rear end of the hive, thus 

 inclining the frame lengthwise several degrees. 

 Tiiis should be done when the bees are first placed 

 on the stand after being hived, and remain in such 

 position until the combs are begun the whole length 

 of each frame. The writer has tried and proved 

 this method in his own experience, therefore he 

 commends it. 



Thus much has been said on the arrangement of 

 hives, not with the intention to favor or prejudice 

 any inventor or invention, but merely to aid bee- 

 keepers who have not given the subject due atten- 

 tion, in a knowledge of the facts, to the end that 

 all may be able to distinguish without inquiry what 

 is valuable and what is worthless. 



Tho writer hopes to continue in a future issue, 

 the subject of hives. C. J. Robinson, Richford, 

 N. Y. 



A Short Chapter on Poultry^ 



It has been proven by many an experiment that 

 the keeping of poultry on a large scale cannot be 

 made profitable. When men come to count on the 

 profits of a few hens and calculate to receive the 

 same ratio of profits from three to five hundred, 

 they will be disappointed, for we believe there is 

 not an instance on record where these expecta- 

 tions have been realized, and there is a good and 

 valid reason for it. 



