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Patents are generally the thing " most 

 to be desired " by young bee-keepers. They 

 think they must invent something in order 

 to be brought to public notice. They never 

 dream of reading up the literature or his- 

 tory ot bee-keeping ; but, instead, they will 

 conceive of something different from what 

 they have been using — imagine that it is 

 neiv, and then foolishly spend their money 

 to get a patent on some discarded imple- 

 ment or device ; or, perchance, on some- 

 thing that may be in general use, but is 

 not known to them. We commend to such 

 the pithy remarks of friend A. G. Hill, in 

 the last issue of the Bee-Ktepcrs' Guide : 



Mr. Leonard Hopkins, of Maxwell, In- 

 diana, has secured a patent on a supposed 

 new bee-hive. May 13, 1890. The first 

 claim is on a kerf in the top-bar, and also 

 in the upper end of the side-bars for the 

 purpose of securing a starter. This is a 

 very common thing, and a great many 

 have built frames in this manner for a 

 number of years. The dovetailed Sim- 

 plicity flames of wood are all made in this 

 manner. The second claim is on a case for 

 sections. The top case is clamped down to 

 the lower case by metal hooks and eyes, a 

 set at each corner. This makes it neces- 

 sary to have three honey-boards, one at the 

 top, one at the bottom, and one at the 

 center, besides the sections are clamped 

 sidewise in the usual manner with a 

 wedge, and a glass side. The feature is 

 new because we do not think any one ever 

 before saw the necessity for clamping the 

 upper tier of sections to the lower ones, and 

 we fail to see it now. The two cases are 

 not clamped or fastened to the body, nor is 

 the cap secured in any such manner, so the 

 hive cannot be designed to overcome the 

 effects of wind storms. The third claim is 

 an endeavor to tighten the grip on the 

 second. Now it would seem better for 

 those who get the patent fever on bee- 

 hives, to first spend four or five dollars for 

 bee periodicals and books treating on the 

 subject, as it is jiossible that a better 

 knowledge of what has been done, and 

 what others have done, might be as good a 

 (■ureas.*7.T spent for a patent for some- 

 thing already in use or not worth using. 



Xliat Pioneer Apiarist, Mr. O. W. 



Childs, died at I-os Angeles, Calif., on April 

 17, 1890. About 40 years ago he left 

 Vermont and located in Southern Califor- 

 nia. Mr. C. N. Wilson, in the Rural Cali- 

 fiim'um, gives this biographical sketch of 

 Mr. Childs : 



He was very largely engaged in the 

 nursery business for many years, and thou- 

 sands of citrus as well as deciduous trees 

 that now form extensive orchards in Cali- 

 fornia, were his proctuct. His palatial 

 home on Main street, Los Angeles, sur- 

 rounded as it is by an almost endless variety 

 of fruit and ornamental trees, together 

 with a superb collection of flowers, are all 

 living witnesses of his singularly good taste 

 and refinement. 



To him alone belongs the honor of bring- 

 ing to Southern California the first hives of 

 honeybees. He purchased some in San 

 Francisco, and brought them to Los An- 

 geles, in March, 1855, setting them up in 

 his nursery on Main street, about opposite 



to where he built his late splendid residence. 

 The bees did well, and Mr. Childs sold his 

 comb honey as fast as it was produced, for 

 one dollar per pound. He remained in the 

 business for a number of years, conducting 

 it successfully, introducing everything that 

 tended to impi'ovement in the apiary. He 

 manufactured the first honey extractor 

 ever used in this locality, and introduced 

 the first Italian queen-bees, paying as high 

 as SlOO each for them. 



He has left as marks of his business 

 ability the structures he caused to be 

 erected, notably his late residence, the 

 Grand Opera House, and the fine building 

 on the corner of Temple and New High 

 streets. But the bee-keeping fraternitj- 

 will long remember him as the amiable 

 gentleman who brought the first honey-bees 

 to Southern California, and for many years 

 carried on successfully the first apiary 

 established in this part of the United 

 States. 



i^ The Indiana State Fair will be held 

 at Indianapolis from Sept. 33 to 37, 1890. 

 In Class 38, "Bees and Honey," we find 

 the following in the premium list : 



1st. 2(i. 



Queen-bee $3 S2 



Comb honey, not less than 10 lbs., 

 quality and manner of putting 

 up for market to be considered. . 5 3 

 Extracted honey, not less than 30 

 lbs., quality and manner of put- 

 ting up for market considered.. . 5 8 

 Display of honey, the product of 



one apiary of the present year. . 15 10 

 Display of wax, not less than 10 



lbs 3 1 



Display ot apiarian supplies 5 3 



Apparatus for the manufacture of 

 comb foundation, to include all 

 necessary articles for its manu- 

 facture, the owner to manufac- 

 ture comb during time of exhibit 5 

 Comb foundation for use in brood- 

 nest 3 



Comb foundation for surplus honey 3 



Honey extractor 3 



Wax extractor 3 



Honey vinegar, not less than one 



gallon 3 



Section-box for surplus honey S 



Display of wholesale packages and 



crates for honey 2 



Display of retail packages for ex- 

 tracted honey 3 



Collection of honey-plants,not less 

 than 6 varieties, properly labeled 

 in order, with date of bloom 10 



■Carrels ot'lluney, it is said, were 

 recently found in a bluff of ground in 

 Franklin, Ky., and a leading Chicago daily 

 newspaper gave the following account of 

 it, and comments thereon, in its editorial 

 columns, on July 3, 1890 : 



The industry of the little busy bee seems 

 to lose force as a moral example when the 

 profitless and unnecessary toil of a lot of 

 Kentucky bees is considered. The home of 

 these bees was a bluff 170 feet high near 

 Franklin, and for a number of years they 

 have been seen to emerge from a fissure 

 near its top. It recenty occurred to a 

 farmer that the bluff might be full ot honey 

 and, in company with a number of neigh- 

 bors, he undertook to find out. A hole 

 bored in the bluff completely corroborated 

 his theory. It di.sclosed one of the most 

 remarkable finds of honey ever discovered 

 Everybody for miles around has filled a 

 barrel or two, and the farmers are supplied 

 with honey enough to spread on their bis- 

 cuits and sweeten their beverages for years 



to come. But the industry for which bees 

 are lauded by the novelists seems to have 

 been misdirected in this case. They pro- 

 duced an enormous surplus of honey which 

 they could not use themselves, and which 

 they intended nobody else should use — only 

 to be robbed of it in the end. 



There are many stories afloat concerning 

 lakes of honey, etc., being found, which 

 hardly ever materialize when they are 

 sought. We do not give much credence to 

 such newspaper yarns, though there may 

 be a little truth in some of them. 



__^ The statement has been widely 

 circulated, probably by parties who wished 

 it might be true, that John B. Alden, Pub- 

 lisher, of New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, 

 had joined the " Book Trust," which is 

 trying to monopolize the publication of 

 standard books, and to increase prices from 

 35 to 100 per cent. Mr. Alden sends us 

 word that he has not joined the Trust, and 

 there is not and never has been any prob- 

 ability of his joining it. The "Literary 

 Revolution " which has accomplished such 

 wonderful results within the past ten years, 

 in popularizing literature of the highest 

 character (no "trash" ever finds place on 

 his list), stOl goes on. Instead of increas- 

 ing prices, large reduction in prices has 

 recently been made, particularly on copy- 

 right books by American authors. A cata- 

 logue (96 pages) sent free to any applicant. 



One of the latest issues from his press is 

 " Stanley's Emin Pasha Expedition," by 

 Wauters, a very handsome, large-type, 

 illustrated volume, reduced in price from 

 «:3. 00 to 50 cents. This work tells a most 

 interesting and complete story, beginning 

 with the conquest of the Soudan, and con- 

 tinuing through years of African explora 

 tion, the revolt of the Mahdi, the siege of 

 Khartoum, with the death of Gordon, the 

 return of Dr. Junker, besides the story of 

 Stanley's own adveutures, including his 

 successful Relief Expedition. It is one of 

 the best and most complete works issued 

 upon the subject. Send Alden your address, 

 and you will receive his 96-page catalogue, 

 and from time to time specimen pages of 

 his new publications. John B. Alden, 

 Publisher, 393 Pearl street, New York, also 

 Chicago and Atlanta. 



Uooliltie on <tHeen-Kearing. 



Queens can be reared in the upper stories 

 of hives used for extracted honey, where a 

 queen-excluding honey -board is used, which 

 are as good, if not superior, to Queens 

 reared by any other process; and that, too, 

 while the old Queen is doing duty below, 

 just the same as though Queens were not 

 being reared above. This is a fact, though 

 it is not generally known. 



If you desire to know how this can be 

 (jone— how to have Queens fertilized in up- 

 per stories, while the old Queen is laying 

 below— how you may nafely introduce any 

 Queen, at any time ot the year when bees 

 cay fly— all about the different races of 

 bees— all about shipping Queens, queen- 

 cages, candy for ipieen-cages, etc. — all 

 about forming nuclei, multiplying or unit- 

 ing bees, or weak colonies, etc.; or, in fact 

 everything about the queen-business which 

 you may want to know, send for"Doolit- 

 tle's Scientific Queen-Rearing;" a book of 

 170 pages, which is nicely bound in cloth, 

 and as interesting as a story. Price, $1.00. 



