US1555A - Engel - Google Patents

Description

M. ENGEL.

Bee Hive.

Patented April 15, 1840.

MARTIN ENGEL. 0F EASTQN; PENNSYLVANIA.

BEIEI-IIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,555, dated. April 15,- 1840.

To all whom it may] concern.

Be it known that I, MARTIN ENGEI}, of the borough of Easton, inthe State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the h Ianner of Constructing Beehives, which improved hives I denominate the bee-palace"; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof. 7 g

In the accompanying drawi-ngs- Figure 1, is a perspective view of the hive, in the formin which I ordinarily make it. Fig. 2, is a front View of the body of the hive, the exterior case being opened, or removed, for the purposeof sl iowing the interior. Fig.- 4 is a vertical section of the hive from front to -back.

The dimensions of this" hive may be varie'd but those which I shall give I consider as furnishing a good ordinary size.

The body 01% the hive I make two feet eight inches wide, and two feet tour inches high, andone foot six inches deep from front to back. This body issupported at the corners by the columns or legs a, a, Fig. 1.

I divide my hive, lengthwise; into two compartments by means of" a partition extending from top to bottom, and front to rear. This partition is seen edgewise at A, A Fig. 2, and flatwise at A A, Fig. 4. The lower portion of it, A, is solid, the upper part is perforated so as to constitute a grating B, B, with vertical bars, between which the bees may pass freely from one compartment to the other, when it is desired that they should do so; but when the numbers are small, and it is desirable to con; fine them to one compartment, these grate bars may be covered by sheets of iron or of tin plate which are shown, and marked Fig. 12. These plates are used also to cut, or separate the comb when it is desired to remove the honey from one of the divisions of the hive, of which there are several.

Each of the compartments formed by the partition A, A, is divided into three chambers by means'of horizontal sliding shelves, formed as chosen in Fig. 3. These shelves have gratings formed of bars which may be half an inch wide, and the same distance apart, leaving openings similarv to those in the vertical partition A A. From the frame 6, b, of these shelves rise vertical rods or building sticks, of wood a, a, which come nearly into contact with the shelf or floor above them they are about eight inches long, and serve the purpose of building sticks to support the comb and for the bees to pass up. These shelves slide in and out upon ledges or cleats, marked Z7, Z2, Fig. 2, and they extend from frontto back of each compartment. Thelower chamber, beneath the lower sliding shelves, has an inclined bottom, as shown at 71', Fig. 1, upon which there is a frame c, which supports vertical rods' or climbing and building sticks 0, 0, similar to those on the shelves a',a, Fig. 2; these sticks rise to within about an eighth of inch o'fthelower' sliding shelves; The" in'clined bottom 5, is about eighteen inches wide its lower edge extends to within three or tour inches of" the back of the hive, where it comes nearly into contact with a second inclined or traveling plane d, which is about nine inches wide, andstands like the former the whole widthof the hive. Between the upper side of the plane and the edge of the plane, 6,..therc i'san aperture of about an inch for the passage of' the bees; Upon the u per side oftheinclined plane I affix a narrow strip 9, the edge of which comes within half an inc'l'r of the upper side of the plane" 5, by which means an abrupt change is made-in the direction of the en=- trance, obliging the bees or other insects to turn about in entering, and thus affording a decided advantage to the inmates of the hive in attacking intruders.

For the purpose of closing the entrance aperture at night, when it may be thought desirable to protect the bees, I place a sliding strip or shutter 2', which may be made to cover the opening or entrance, between the inclined planes.

In Fig. 1, o, 0, are doors, which may be either hinged or made to slide as preferred, these doors cover panes of glass '0. On the opposite side of the hive there are alsopanes of glass which are covered by hinged or sliding doors; these afiord a view of the interior when required, and access thereto may be obtained by making the glass removable. There are openings at each end of the hive, as at (Z, d, Fig. 1, which are closed by shutters, giving the means of ventilation when said shutters are removed.

1 Having thus described the manner in which I construct and arrange the body or lower part of my hive, I now proceed to describe the upper stories, or parts above the body, which, however, may be varied in form but that given I have essayed, and" found toianswer .Well in practice. The main floor, or dividing platform, 'between the body of the hive and the upper'storiesa as shown in Fig. 6; the dotted lines 9, 9, represent the upper edge of the body, to which the floor is to'be secured; the edges of this floor are seen atfih, h,Fig. 1,'and at eye, Fig. 2, likewise e, c, Fig. 1. It is three feet two inches "long, and two test two inches widegAt 0,0, Fig. 6, the floor is nine inches shorter than at its sides, for the purposeof constituting sheltered recesses at the ends of the hive, as seen'in Fig. 1. 'The middle part of this floor is provided with grate bars, a, a, the openings between which allow. the

. bees to ascend fromihe two compartments.

in thebody, into that shown at g, Fig. 1. Two sliding boxes or drawers having neither tops nor bottoms,"occupy theicompartment 9, one being slid at either end of the hivefas at g, Fig.1. These two'drawers meet at the middle of the compartments, and their outer ends f Fig.9 areto be glazed to admit of inspecting the interior;

these it drawers are comtained between two upright partitions marked 6' 6, Figs. 6. and 4;; and there are, outside of these, cross partitions e, .e, e, whichdivide each of the gablespaces 'f, f, igs.1 1, and 2, intofour or any other convenient number of com-.'

partments, each of which contains a box filling said spaces. Fig.- 10, shows the end holes the bees have access to them, for build- I ing their. combs; theyrare seen inplace at f, f, Fig. 2. Above the compartment 9, F gs. 1, and i; there is anothergmarke-d 7a, which contains ftWQ, boxes without bottoms seen at h, h, Fig. 2, and in end 'viewyat Fig. 11,

furnished with astrip of glass at a. F ig. 7,

is the floor of these compartments, having 'grates'at a, 06,. ThisfloorjIprefer to make of thick plank forthe purpose of obtaining 'rounded eave,as shown at an, Fi 1 2 311614;; 1 i

Havingithus fully described the manner in which I construct mybeehive or bee palace, itis to be understoodthat I have included 'in said" description many things which'I dognot claim as new, an'dlto the particular-form and manner of constructing which I do notintend tolimit myself 5' but What Ido claim as my invention and deabrupt turn asshown in the drawings.

2. I claim incombination with said en-' trance, the closing slide z, shown in Fig.4.

3. Iclaimaljso themanner of constructing and usingthe sliding frames, Fig. 3, with their vertical rods, climbing, or building sticks and also the constructing of theihorizontal grates in the manner and. for the.

purposeset forth. a a i [MARTIN ENGEL.

.Witnesses: i i a 1 GEO. BUs V G110. SIGMAN,

Images