US529116A - Super for beehives - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 sheets-'sheet `2.

G. o. FERGUSON. SU'EER FOR BBEHIVES.

No. 529,116. Patented Nov. 13, 1894.

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vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. FERGUSON, OF ODELL, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MATHIAS OS WALD, OF HANOVER, KANSAS.

SUPER FOR BEEHIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,116, dated November 13, 1894.

Application iled April 18, 1894. Serial No. 508,042. (No model.) Y

.To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. FERGUSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Odell, in the county of Gage and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Supers for Beehives, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in supers for bee hives.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of supers, to provide, for controlling the passage of bees to the super, means, which will be protected from honey deposits and which will, therefore, always be free to operate, and to prevent the honey sections from sticking together.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawingsz-Figure lis a perspective view of a super embodying my invention,with the lid and drop-door open. Fig. 2 is a similar view, with the follower and covering-plate removed. Fig. 3 is a similar view with the honey section trays removed. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the super. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same, the section being taken through one of the slides.

Fig. 7 isa perspective view of the super provided with comb-frames, some of which are omitted to show the .arrangement and construction. Fig. 8 is a similar View, showing the super provided with honey section holders in lieu of the honey-section trays, and showing the manner of supporting the same within the super. Fig. 9 is a detail view, in perspective, of one of the` honey section holders and contained honey Fig. 6- is a detail view in perspective of one of thel honey section trays.

the upper edge of the rear Wall 4. Suitable fastening devices are provided for the lid or cover and the drop`door, such devices, in the construction illustrated, consisting of a common form of hook arranged to engage a corresponding eye.

The super is lvprovided with a false bottom 7, which is arranged upon the main bottom 2, and these parts are provided with a series of registering openings 8, forming bee passages. 6o Fitted in countersunk grooves or ways 9, in the upper surface of the main bottom 2, and below lthe plane of the false bottom, are slides l0, provided with openings 11, which are adapted, in certain positions of the slides, to register with the openings 8. These slides eX- ceed in length the Width of the super, and are provided at their extremities with perforations l2, adapted for the reception of lockingpins 13. When the slides are extended for- 7o ward and project at their front ends beyond the front drop-door 5 of the super, the openings ll register with the openings 8, and the locking pins 13 may be inserted in the perforations12; and when the slides are moved 75 to the opposite position and project beyond the rear Wall 4 of the super, the openings 8 are closed, and the lockingpins 13 may be inserted in the perforations 12 in the rear ends of the slides.

Secured to the upper surface of the false bottom are the supporting-strips 14, arranged .near and parallel with the side walls of the super, a front supporting-strip 15 and an intermediate supporting-strip 16, which is preferably divided or out away at its center to form bee passages, to allow the bees to pass from one side of said intermediate strip to the other. The movement of the slide is limited,bymeansofascrewl7,extendingthrough 9o a longitudinal slot 1S of the slide. It will be understood that this construction is duplicated in the other slide.

A honey section tray 19 is employed, and it consists of front and rear Walls 20 and 2l, 95 respectively, and the side Walls 22, said front and rear Walls being provided at their lower edges and in their inner faces with vertical kei-fs 23, in which are fitted the vertical Webportions 24, of the supporting-bars 25.YY These 1o 52eme supporting-bars are preferably made of sheet metal folded upon its longitudinal center to form the said web, and having the free edges of the strip turned outward laterally to form siipporting-ledges 26. Upon these supportingledges, and held separated at their contiguous ends by the vertical webs, are the honey sections 27, the construction of which forms no part of my present invention. Any desired number of these honey section trays 19 may be employed, the construction illustrated in the drawings being provided with two, the upper tray being covered by means of a covering plate 2S, which rests at its ends upon shoulders 29 formed by cleats arranged adjacent to the upper edges of the side walls 3, which are rabbeted, and the upper surface of said plate is Hush with the upper edges of said walls. Between the front sides of the honey section trays and the inner surface of the drop-door is arranged a hollow rectaiigiilar follower 3l, provided at its upper edge with ears 30, said follower, 3l, being provided with a cavity or recess formed by marginal flanges or strips to avoid interference with the handles 32 on the front ends of the trays.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings I have shown the super of the hive provided with comb frames 33, in lieu of the honey sections and trays above described, each comb frame being provided at its upper edge with ears 34, for engagement with the above-described cleats at the upper edges of the side walls of the super.

The function and use of these frames are so well known in the art as to render further explanation thereof unnecessary.

`Nhen preferred, a series of independent honey section holders 35, each provided with two or more honey sections 3G, may be arranged in the super in place of the honey section trays hereinbefore described. These independent honey section holders are shown in Fig. 8, and in detail in Fig. 9; and they are provided in their lower sides with openings 37, adapted to register with corresponding openings 38 in the honey sections. The honey section holders are provided with duplicate opposite doors or closures 39, to facilitaie the removal and replacement of the honey sections. The sides or doors 39 of the honey section holders, in Fig. 9 of the accompanying drawings, are shown swung down to a horizontal position, for the purpose of showing the honey sections contained within the holder; and they are provided with iiexible bands or strips, which are adapted to be tied at the top of the holder for securing the sides or doors in a vertical position. l

From the above description it willbe seen that the separation of the slides, which control the passages to the super, prevents the sticking of said slides, by means of a deposit of honey; and it will be seen furthermore, that the above-described construction of honey section trays, by holding the end s of the honey sections out of contact, facilitates the independent removal thereof.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may b e resorted to without departing from the principle, or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention. Y

A super comprising a bottom having openings fOImDg bee passages, the false bottom having corresponding openings, the side walls 3 having rabbeted upper edges, and provided on their inner faces with horizontal cleats, the rear wall 4, the lid 0r cover hinged to the rear Wall, the drop door hinged to the bottom at the front edge thereof, the slides concealed within the bottom and provided with perforations adapted to register with those of the bottom, the supporting strips located on the upper face of the false bottom. adgacent to the edges thereof, the intermediate supporting strip 16 cut away to form central bee passages, the honey section trays supported by the strips above the false bottom, honey sections located within the said trays, the vertically disposed follower suspended from said cleats and provided at its inner face with a recess or cavity, and a covering boardor plate supported by said cleats and having its upper face flush with the upper edges of the walls of the super, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE C. FERGUSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. Siednns, H. H. SIMMS.

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