82 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAI;. 



[Oct., 



to its views. "Necessity is tlie motlier of in- 

 vention." That would not imjily that an 

 inventor should heli) the world before he helps 

 himself. 



Where is there a man who is continually 

 crjdng — "down with patent rights! They are 

 humbugs," &c., who is willing to advertise 

 something of value to the world for nothing? 

 On the contrary, where has there been a dis- 

 covery of great value, but has had the greatest 

 iir.mber of opposers? 



It" these men that are crying humbug would 

 consume half as much time in instructing the 

 illiterate beekeeper in the science of bee-keep- 

 ing, there would be less complaint of being de- 

 ceived, and we should move on. But these fault- 

 finders do not write or talk to show the way. 

 They have other reasons* Some of their talk is 

 like the gas that arises from fermentation in 

 consequence of having been soured. Hence the 

 effervescence; or some cry "sour grapes!" 

 Some have an unusual protuberance of the 

 cranium in this direction, and do not think of 

 anything el.--e to say. 



A correspondent writing under the caption of 

 "My Patent Bee Hive," in the Journal for May, 

 says — " what intelligent beekeeper can read the 

 heading of this article without feelifigs of indig- 

 nation and disgust ? Of disgust, when he 

 thinks of the legion of foolish and worse than 

 useless devices, &c. Of indignation, when be 

 remembers, how those devices are combined with 

 valuable qualities," &c. Further on, lie says — 

 "Inventions grow." That would not imply 

 that they grow by jumping from one great 

 invention to another, leaving out all the minor 

 ones. If we reason by analogy, little by little 

 is the law of nature, and with inventions it holds 

 good. 



Every invention, however small and seem- 

 ingly worthless, helps to build up and bring out 

 greater ones. They may seem worthless, but 

 some part may serve as an index finger to point 

 to something of real value. Therefore inven- 

 tions will continue to be made so long as the end 

 justifies the means. Ideas are not new, 

 although we call them so. It is their combina- 

 tions that makes them new to us. 



The attentive readers of our American Bee 

 Journal are not likely to be humbugged by 

 patent-riglit men, especially if its contributors 

 write to instruct rather than to find fault. We 

 do not remember ever reading any of Mr. 

 Langstroth's writings wherein his text was 

 " down with humbug," &c. But for fear to be 

 thought ours is, we will stop. 



Enclosed find two dollars for the Journal, for 

 we use it in our business, and expect to do so 

 while we are a being (Bee-ing). 



Seseaye. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Patent Hive Deceivers, &c. 



Pollen, in botany, is the farina or fertilizing 

 powder communicated by the anthers of flowers 

 to the pistils. 



Wax dolls never indulge in laughter. They 

 belong to the cereous family. 



IMr. Editor: — As I have not noticed anything 

 in the Journal from Southwestern Missouri, I 

 will write you a few lines. 



]\Iy occupation calls me from home occasion- 

 ally, and in the last few days, only a few miles 

 from here, I was much surprised to find many of 

 my acquaintances paying for a movable comb 

 bee hive and right, when they were really 

 getting nothing deeded to them except a moth 

 trap and a bee-feeding box underneath the hive 

 — which I consider not worth a hill of beans. I 

 asked a friend, who had just bought one of these 

 gull-traps and right, to show me his hive ; 

 which he was quite ready to do. "Here," said 

 he, "is the Improved Movable Hive. I can 

 take ovit the combs ; divide tlie bees and swarm 

 them, as I please ; raise queens ; shake out the 

 moth-worm, ttc. Down underneath here is the 

 moth-trap, to catch the miller ; put some water 

 in there, and he will get drowned. Back here, 

 too, is the drawer to set in food and water, all 

 so good and nice. But I think I will only use 

 the upper part, and not bother myself making 

 the lower apartment. The movable frames are 

 what I wanted." 



1 said, will you show me your deed? He soon 

 produced it, and, sure eneugh, it was just as I 

 expected to find. I told him I saw that the 

 patent vendor had only deeded to him the right 

 to make and use the moth trap and bee feeder ; 

 but had not given him the right to make and use 

 the only valuable thing there was about the hive. 

 Said he — "Then, it seems, I have got only what 

 I do not care for, and am liable to pay some one 

 else for the frames." It is even so, said I ; j'our 

 deed gives you no right to use the frames — they 

 belong to the original patentee or his assignee. 

 The price this man paid for a farm right was ten 

 (10) dollars; for hive and right, fifteen (15) 

 dollars. I could hear of the patent vendor sell- 

 ing ten or a dozen rights and hives in that neigh- 

 borhood, amounting to from one hundred and 

 fifty (150) to one hundred and eighty (180) 

 dollars ; all sacrificed by these people for noit 

 being posted. Had each of them taken the 

 American Bee Journal, it is not likely that any 

 one of them would have paid ten dollars for a 

 moth trap and bee-feeder. 



Readers, let us try to circulate the Journal 

 among beekeepers generally. Some of you may 

 say that two dollars a year is too much for the 

 paper. But, remember, it is devoted exclusively 

 to your interest, and not sustained by money 

 obtained by selUng devices that are of no use, or 

 pretending to convey rights not embraced in the 

 patent. Instead of helping to deceive and de- 

 fraud you, it is striving to keep you from being 

 imposed upon and robbed. No man can keep 

 bees with success and profit without the .lournal ; 

 and the man who cannot afford to pay two dollars 

 a year for a paper that monthly brings him valu- 

 able information from all parts of tlie country, 

 had better not spend his time with bees. 



I consider the July number of the present 

 volume worth a year's subscription to any bee- 



