it, and vras done solely to protect the 

 rights of the inventor. We should 

 have preferred that this invention 

 might not have been covered by a pat- 

 ent—but the unwise course pursued by 

 A. I. Root and A. J. King, in copying 

 or manufacturing every desirable arti- 

 cle without so much as saying to the 

 real inventors, " By your leave," must 

 be held responsible for such action. 



Those v;ho use an infringment of a 

 patented article, are liable to the law 

 as w^ell as the manufacturer and the 

 vendor of such articles. All should 

 therefore be careful, and not " burn 

 their fingers " by purchasing or u.siug 

 an infringment. Better to throw them 

 into the lire than get into trouble about 

 such a small matter. 



Whatever may be thought or said of 

 patents, and the rights of inventors, we 

 are compelled to say, that property in 

 invention and copyright is recognized 

 in the laws of every civilized nation. 

 Mr. Bingham is now the only legal 

 manufacturer of the " direct draft " in- 

 provement in Smokers, and such a val- 

 uable apparatus for the easy and safe 

 management of bees may be justly 

 regarded as a land-mark in apicultural 

 progress. 



♦ »■ ^^ .» ♦ — 



t^rWe regret to learn that Dr. W. B. 

 Rush, of New Orleans, La., met witli a ser- 

 ious accident, in a sugar mill, on Dec. 8., 

 which entailed over a month of intense 

 suffering. lie started to visit his father in 

 Penn.,011 the 25th of Dec, but was unable 

 to proceed further than Granville, O. lie 

 is slowly recovering, and expects to return 

 iiome, as soon as possible to attend to his 

 apiary. 



The a. B. C. of Bee Culture is the 

 title of a pamphlet of 52 pages by A. I. 

 Root, of Medina, O. Price 25 cents. 

 This is a "Cyclopedia of everything per- 

 taining to the care of the Honey Bee," 

 so far as the three first letters of the 

 alphabet will carry it. We believe it 

 to be Novice's intention to "continue 

 to the end" — and when he arrives at Z, 

 to be able to verify the "everything" in 

 the title. It is a vei'y useful work and 

 has already exhausted the first edition. 

 It can be obtained at this office. 



^° The manner in which The Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal begins its fifteenth 

 year of pul)lication is exceedingly gra- 

 tifying. Scores of letters, by every 

 mail, come laden with words of con- 

 gratulation and substantial evidences 

 of appreciation, in the shape of sub- 

 scriptions that are new as well as 

 renewed. It seems to be w^ell under- 

 stood that The American Bee Jour- 

 nal is devoting its energies to the 

 interests of producers, and to this end 

 it provides in its monthly " budget " 

 the best and most varied information 

 on all subjects of interest to the 

 Apiarist. It is gratifying to us to 

 notice that those who have for years 

 been prominent apiarists are still its 

 friends and constant readers, and often 

 speak of its sterling worth in almost 

 flattering terms. To all, we wish to 

 extend our thanks for both kind words 

 and deeds. 



i^° J. II. Shimer, of Ilillsboro, Ills., 

 reports that he had a swarm come out 

 Friday before Christmas, and that it 

 appears to be in good shape. For a 

 northern climate such things are indeed 

 a rare occurrence — but the mild weath- 

 er of December in this latitude was 

 just like spring. 



^' In California, it is reported that 

 they are having the " early rain," with 

 a good prospect that " the latter rain " 

 will not he withheld. But the drouth 

 of last year killed more than one-third 

 of all the bees there. Half a crop of 

 honey is all that California bee-men 

 hope for, under the circumstances, and 

 that will not more than supply their 

 home demand— last year's failure hav- 

 ing cleaned out the home markets. , 



Moke Tinkering. —A recent "ruling" of 

 the Postal Department has exchided knives, 

 scissors, &c., from the mails, and hence we 

 can no longer send "Honey Knives" or 

 "Scissors for clipping Queen's wings" by 

 mail. Tliey can be sent with other things 

 by express. We shall keep them as usual. 



In many provinces of France and Switzer- 

 land St. Valentine's day is regarded as the 

 patron-day of bee-culturists. It is celebrat- 

 ed by banquets. 



