US1387734A - Entrance for beehives - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK L. NITSCE AND AUGUST MEIER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK L. Nirson and AUGUST MEIER, citizens of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Entrance for Beehives, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object an entrance for bee hives and particularly a win ter entrance which is particularly simple in construction, economical in manufacture readily applied to the hive and highly efiicient and durable in use.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my entrance showing the same applied to a hive which is shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of this entrance.

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views on lines 4-4, 5-5, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of this entrance.

This invention comprises generally, a

housing having inner and outer walls orv front and rear walls formed with openings or slots therethrough, the openings of the inner wall being arranged out of alinementwith those of the outer wall and also communicating with the entrance slot of the hive.

1 designates the hive which may be of any suitable form, size and construction, it including a box resting upon a suitable base 2 and having an entrance slot 3 at the lower edge of one of its sides.

4 designates the winter entrance which is in the form of a housing or box quadrangular in cross section and having a top wall 5, front and rear walls 6, 7, and end walls 8, the top wall inclining downwardly from the rear wall toward the front wall.

Preferably, the entrance openings of this housing are provided in the front and rear walls 6, 7 and usually the front wall is formed with a central entrance slot 9 and the rear wall with slots toward the ends thereof, these slots 10 being alined with the end portions of the entrance 3 of the hive.

Preferably, the housing is formed from a blank of sheet metal and the top consti;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16*, 1921.

Application filed August 27, 1919. Serial No. 320,159.

tutes the body of the blank and the front and rear walls 6, 7 and end walls 8 are flaps bent downwardly, at an angle to the body.

The entrance 6 of the front wall is formed by slotting said front wall to form a flap 11 which is bent upwardly to form a cover for the slot 9.

In use, the entrance is mounted on the base 2 between the sides of the base, the end walls 8 being sprung outwardly far enough to engage the sides of the base and frictionally hold the entrance in position.

This entrance is particularly advantageous in that owing to the arrangement of the openings 9, 10 the bees are protected in cold weather from drafts and snow and furthermore this arrangement prevents robbing, or rather makes the defense of the hive by the bees easy against a robber swarm.

Furthermore, the arrangement of the slots 10 at points spaced apart compels the bees to feed from two different points so that they are always progressing into their winter feed and hence the (lager of starving is small, it being understood that the habit of the bee is to feed outwardly from the center and that after they have reached the limit in one direction from the center, they are unable in winter to move fast enough to the other side of the hive before they die of starvation. Hence by the arrangement of the slots 10 at two points the bees will always progress in one direction and will not be compelled to retrace their steps as in hives in which the entrance is centrally located.

hat we claim is:

1. An entrance for bee hives comprising a housing in the general form of a quadrangle in cross section and being folded from a blank to have top, front, rear and end walls, the top wall forming the body and the front, rear and end walls being flaps bent downwardly at an angle to the body, the front and rear walls being formed with passages therethrough, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a bee hive having an elongated entrance slot at the bottom thereof, of an entrance comprising a housing extending along said slot and including a top, front and rear and end walls, the front wall being formed with a central entrance slot and the rear wall being formed 1 6 t e d th l ts communicating with the slot of the hive, the slots of the front and rear Walls of the entrance being out'of alinement, substantially as end for the purpose described.

3. An entrance for bee hives comprising a housing in the general form of 2t quadrangle in cross sectionfolded from a blank to have a downwardly ineli11ed,top,,2tnd front, rear and end Walls, the inolined top foi' ningabody and the front, rear andend walls being flaps bent downwardly at an angle to thebody, the front and rear Walls 7 being formed With openings therethrough, and the portion of the front Wall displaced to form the opening therein being-'"bent upwardly to form a canopy or cover for the opening in the front Wall, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof, We have hereunto signed ournames at Syracuse, in the county of Onondtge, and Stete of New York, this 15th day of August, 1919.

FREDERICK L. NITSOH. AUGUST MEIER.

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