THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



219 



crease the amount of surplus honey, as it is well 

 known that bees will store honey much faster 

 in the body of the hive than thoy will ia boxes. 

 Giles 13. Aveuy. 

 Albany Co., N. Y. 



[For tlii^ Anioricau Cne Journal.] 



Artificial Comb Guides and Frames. 



Editor Bee Jouiinal :— As your valuable 

 paper is composed in part at least of contribu- 

 tions from bce-kecpLTs, I have concluded to 

 send j'ou an item that I think Avill be of consi- 

 derable value to my apiarian friends who use 

 the movable comb hive, especially to the far- 

 mer who wishes to make liis own hives. As 

 the triangular comb guide is somewhat difiicult 

 to make, I have hit on a plan far more simple, 

 and, as I claim, much better. It is simply a 

 square strip tacked on the under side of the top 

 bar of the frames — say a strip { by | of an inch, 

 tacked on so that the width extends downward. 

 In experimenting with moveable frames, and 

 using the triangular comb guide as deseril)ed 

 by Langstroth and otlicrs, I found that fre- 

 quently the bees w'ould leave the sharp edge or 

 square corner of the frame, and then cross to 

 the opposite side of the frame, Avhich of course 

 makes the comb much Avaving or crooked. 

 But since substituting the strip I nave not been 

 troubled in this way ; for if in building the bees 

 do pass from one side of the strip to the other, 

 it is only a quarter of an inch instead of seven- 

 eighths of an inch deviaficn. 



I will now describe my manner of making 

 and the material used. I simply use common 

 plastering laths, which arc commonly about an 

 inch and a half wide. I rip them in two, ma- 

 king one strip wide enough for the top of the 

 frame, which I make seven-eighths inch wide. 

 The narrow strip that falls off makes the guides 

 and also strips for the bottom of the frame. I 

 take ofFtlie rough of the lath for the top of the 

 frame ; the rest need no dressing except to size 

 the strips for the guides or bottom. The lath, 

 when ripped in this way, also makes the ends 

 of the frame. I also prefer for my use a cen- 

 ter piece nailed in tlie frame, the same as the 

 ends. This makes the frame more solid, and 

 secures the comb from being broken while the 

 frames are handled. 



Feeling confident that this only needs a trial 

 to be appreciated, I drop it for the readers of 

 the JouuNAL. I will further say that if, in 

 connection with the frames you will use parti- 

 tion boards, to contract or enlarge the size of 

 your hive, to suit the strength of your colony, 

 it will be an additional help in securing straight 

 comb, a good stock, and surplus honey. 



Samuel May. 



Eddyville, Ohio. 



The fanning o^hccs at the entrance of the 

 hive is chielly designed fur ventilation. At 

 times however, and in other circumstances, it 

 is employed to express either grief or joy — grief 

 at the loss of their queen, or joy on returning 

 home after long continued and constrained ab- 

 sence. 



[For the American Beo Journal.) 



Are Valuable Patents Selfish Monopo- 

 lies ? 



Mu. Editor : — May T be permitted througli 

 the columns of 3^our Journal, to say a few 

 friendly words to those opposed to all Patents, 

 as selfish monopolies ? 



Such opposition was once so common that 

 honest patentees often found it impossilde to 

 protect their rights. The late Professor Olm- 

 sted, of Yale College, informed mc that Eli 

 Whitney, the inventor of the cotton-gin, found 

 it almost impossible, in a trial before the United 

 States court in one of the Southern States, to 

 find witnesses willing to swear that liis gins 

 were in public use, while at the very time of the 

 trial, the sound of gins illegally used, was plain- 

 ly heard through tlie open doors and windows 

 of the Court House ! If after years of fruitless 

 litigation he had not practically abandoned his 

 invention to those who were determined to de- 

 prive him of any remuneration for its use, and 

 applied his inventive talent to the manufacture 

 of guns for the Government, he might have died 

 an impoverished man. 



Even tweut}"- j'cars ago, to be known as the 

 owner of a patent right, was, by very many, 

 regarded as detracting from a man's good stand- 

 ing in the community. vVmoug intelligent men, 

 this prejudice has nearly if not quite, passed 

 away, and they will cheerfully admit that to no 

 class of persons, is the productive industry of 

 the country more indebted than to honest and 

 capable patentees. It is no exaggeration to say 

 that where one dollar has been paid for the 

 right to use their valuable improvements, at 

 least ten have been realized to the country at 

 large. Few men coidd afford to devote the 

 time and money needed to make valuable in- 

 ventions, if they were to become public property 

 as soon as divulged. 



Our Government began very early to foster 

 the inventive talent of its citizens, and nearly 

 every civilized nation has, by its patent laws, 

 recognized the importance of doing^ the same 

 thing. 



It is well known that many bee-kee[)ers are 

 illegally using the patented features of the 

 Laugstrotli hive. Possibly some of your read- 

 ers are doing this, and perhaps with less scruple 

 because they suppose that I have grown riih by 

 this invention. Such persons will probatjly be 

 surprised to learn that for the last fourteen 

 j'ears, I have lost at least half of my time, from 

 an attection of the head which unfits me entire- 

 ly for cither mental or bodily labor, and that 

 OAving to the numerous infringments ^upon my 

 rights, after years devoted to studying the 

 habits of bees and improving hives for their 

 management, I am actually poorer than when 

 I begun the work. L. L. Langstroth. 



Oxford, Butler Co., Ornc, 



March 30th, 1868. 



When bees are in want of honey, or when 

 they have lost their queen, or when besieged on 

 all sides by the moth worms, they will occasion- 

 ally desert their hives. 



