The President read the following 

 paper on 



Patents, n » applied to Implement* ol* the 

 Apiary. 



The subject, "Patents, as applied to Im- 

 plements of the Apiary," might have been 

 stated as applied to all vocations as well. 

 The principle remains the same, with this 

 difference : the whole system of apicultural 

 appliances being made up generally of in- 

 significant items, many so small individu- 

 ally that, as to the gradual improvements 

 therein we often hesitate and find ourselves 

 asking the question, " Does it pay to patent 

 such inventions ?" 



What constitutes ground for a patent is, 

 as the statute requires, newness and novelty 

 among other qualifications. Novelty con- 

 sists in producing a new substance, or an 

 old one in a new way, by new machinery, or 

 a new combination of the parts of an old 

 one operating in a peculiar, better, cheaper, 

 or quicker method ; a new mechanical em- 

 ployment of principles already known. 

 But when the diligent strike upon a princi- 

 ple, even by mere accident, which principle 

 leaves nothing more to be desired in that 

 regard as an invention, such should be se- 

 cured by patent claiming the essential 

 feature, as no additional claim for improve- 

 ment in that direction could be held subse- 

 quent thereto, without liability for infringe- 

 ment upon the original. 



By an incentive to inventors, the apiary 

 in common with some other known indus- 

 tries, has within the last few years achieved 

 grand results ; but should a genius desire to 

 patent each successive step in his advance- 

 ment as brought out by diligent applica- 

 tion, shoe-leather worn out upon the tiles of 

 the patent office or by interviewing counsel, 

 would be a loss greater than could be gained 

 by patenting many simple appliances of 

 ideas suggested by fertile brains, when often 

 the improvement can be as easily evaded by 

 like ingenuity on the part of others, or by 

 infringement without fear of detection. 



The indifferently inclined pay tribute 

 when they go on carelessly, allowing the 

 wide-awakes to do their thinking, which, 

 by the "law of compensation," allows the 

 indolent the only alternative to submit to 

 the more successful and enthusiastic com- 

 petitors. Excelsior !— not conservatism- 

 should be the aim of every apiarist, and 

 whether this is best conserved by "patent," 

 or upon direct business principles, is a mat- 

 ter to be determined by the virtue which 

 respectively in them lies. The possession 

 of a while elephant is the reflex or ghost of 

 an ingenious apiarist, who continually is 

 haunted by a desire to patent new ideas as 

 developed in his intercourse with the bees, 

 which, after a calm deliberation, frequently 

 settles the point in his mind as to the course 

 to pursue for a pecuniary profit or loss, by 

 prosecuting more diligently than ever his 

 regular vocation. 



Had the movable-comb frame or the mov- 

 able frame hive rested at that, without dis- 

 puting about the size or shape— which at 

 best is now most conflicting— a competence 

 would have inured of which the conceded 

 honorable claimant is now so sorely in need. 



The honey extractor, by centrifugal force, 



is the principle by which it comes in contact 

 with other known prior inventions, for in- 

 stance in the refining of sugars, by which 

 the syrup is eliminated from the crystals ; 

 but a valid claim might have been set up by 

 certain combinations, whereby an extraor- 

 dinary remuneration would have followed. 



Comb foundation — if, instead of the ma- 

 chine of whatever design to produce this 

 article, the originator had obtained exclus- 

 ive control in the use of said material, as 

 artificially made for use in bee-culture, the 

 royalty emanating thence would be of enor- 

 mous magnitude. 



The bee-smoker, consisting of a bellows 

 and stove, by which the "direct-draft" 

 patent settles it as the simplest and best, 

 and which, upon examination, confirms all 

 claimed for it, for it is impossible with less 

 material or fewer elements to support the 

 peculiar combustion necessary, for which it 

 was designed. 



The honey knife is an example of the 

 general rule of modification : but how many 

 would ever think of obtaining a patent 

 thereon ? The bevel edge as constructed, 

 as offering the least resistance in uncapping 

 combs, makes it par excellence the best. 

 Thus, while millions of knives are con- 

 structed for their respective uses (which are 

 legion), this modification for the apiarist in- 

 sures the "millions in it" for the would-be 

 patentee, which "patent applied for," if not 

 granted, ought to be. 



Unlike the long ages past, where the 

 apiarian industry remained so long dormant 

 that, contented with the then existing evils, 

 our fathers were prone to look no further 

 for improvements in bee-culture ; the pres- 

 ent generation, on the contrary, promises to 

 solve many intricate problems, and will not 

 rest short of the goal. For instance, fertili- 

 zation in confinement, and wintering bees 

 successfully upon summer stands, will, from 

 present indications, be thoroughly estab- 

 lished, and that, too, within our day and 

 generation. May he who accomplishes 

 either fact have a generous benefit accrue 

 therefrom, for being able to produce a de- 

 sired result, within immediate control, and 

 under ordinary climatic conditions. 



No fawning sentiment, nor creed, nor 

 cant, nor sophistry, nor hypocrisy, should 

 be allowed to warp the judgment as to our 

 particular apiarian patents, which ought in 

 justice to rest intrinsically upon what should 

 be designed forthem, " their own bottom ;" 

 nor should thecaviler be allowed to unjustly 

 arraign a system which our fathers and a 

 majority of those now living deem as most 

 wise, by affording "the greatest good to the 

 greatest number." The business of inven- 

 tions or patents is like any other legitimate 

 business, but it is rarely managed with that 

 tactthatordinary business requires, because 

 poverty too often finds lodgment with 

 genius ; though poverty be no particular 

 discredit, it is a decided inconvenience; to 

 add to this the invidious distinctions making 

 patents as applied to the apiary unenviable, 

 which, contrary to many other pursuits in 

 life, some apiarists assail, as if all original, 

 hard-earned ideas should be given gratuit- 

 ously to the public, when often they them- 

 selves inconsistently patent their own ex- 

 pressions of others' ideas, or description of 



