1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



197 



around for a little charity to be doled out by the 

 men who had enriched themselves by preying 

 upon my invention. 



Let not the honest and true men, who in all 

 good faith purposed to raise a Langstruth testi- 

 monial, imagine that I mean in the least to 

 retlect upon ihem, or that I shall ever forget 

 their generous appreciation and cordial recep- 

 tion ; and let those whose sinister motives, 

 though veiled under the most plausible and 

 hypocritical pretences, needed for their detection 

 only the simplest sentinients of truth and honor, 

 •centui e if they dare to unveil further the idiots and 

 intrigues of the Cincinnati convention of Feb- 

 ruary. 1871. 



Both Mr. King and jSIr. Mitchell have repeat- 

 edly taken occasion to say that they " pity " Mr. 

 Langstroth. Beekeepers of America ! I trust 

 you will never see your old friend and servant 

 fall so low as to become really an object of pitj'' 

 to siu'h men as Messrs. King and Mitchell. 



What have I ever done or said, as Mr. Mitchell 

 intimates, inconsistent with progress and im- 

 provement in bee-culture? unless it be that kind 

 of jsrogress which has its beginning, middle and 

 end in ajipropiiating the work of other men's 

 brains. If such easy virtue in the matter of 

 dealing in patents is to carry the day, what need 

 of learned judges to interpret our patent laws. 

 A new highway will have been opened to the 

 highest success. To travel safely on it, only 

 patent some contcmjjtible givi-cruck; some frivol- 

 ous if not noxious conceit ; attach it to the valu- 

 able patent of a borui, fide inventor ; enrol 

 yourself among the bands of humbugs and 

 infringers ; sign articles of agreement that on 

 the principle of "honor among thieves," you 

 will in no ways interfere with each other's 

 piratical proceedings, but prey only upon the 

 innocent public. Misrepresent, slander, and if 

 needs be blackguard every man who has rights 

 and dares to stand up in their defence, and if 

 some men are to be credited, you are in a fair 

 way to become one of the "great American 

 apiarians," and world-renowned inventors, who 

 stand in the very front ranks of progress and 

 improvement. I will venture the prediction, 

 that in due time the public will put their seal of 

 honest condemnation upon all such preposter- 

 ous pretentions. 



"Earo autecedentem eeelestum 

 Deseruit pyde poena claudo." 

 Hor. 

 Justice outstripped, seems often halting in her pace, 

 Yet seldom is slie beaten by a bad man in the race. 

 L. L. Langstuoth. 



Washington, D. C, Feb. 16, 1871. 



The Ilali'inia aquifoUum, a species of barberry 

 growing wild in Western North America, and 

 introduced in European gardens as a beautiful 

 flowering plant, is spoken of in German bee 

 journals as a valuable, handy, early blooming 

 honey plant. It is a bushj shrub, three or four 

 feet high, said to blossom profusely in advance 

 of peach, cherry and plum trees, and is fre- 

 quented by bees in crowds. How is it in these 

 respects in this country? 



The Debeauvoys Hive. 



The followiug communication comes to us alike 

 unexpectedly and unsolicited, and yet comes quite 

 opportunely. In the article concocted by H. A. 

 King, which was given in the last number of the 

 Journal, that veracious and fair-dealing dealer in 

 worthless patents refers to the book of Mr. Debeauvoys 

 and says the author therein " describes movable 

 frames coidaiiiiiig all the feattireH of the moat perfect 

 frames now used in this country." If, before writing 

 these words, King even saw and examined the 

 Debeauvoys hive, or read a correct description of it 

 and its frames, he must have knowu that he delib- 

 erately penned a gross misrepresentation, for the 

 purpose of deceivlna" and misleading his readers. 

 The Debeauvoys frames lack the essential features of 

 the most perfect frames now used in this country, 

 and for that very reason proved to be a failure in 

 practice, so decided and irremediable that, after full 

 trial they were rejected and abandoned. Perhaps, 

 alter readiu<; Mr. Dadant's description of the hive 

 and his account of its fate in France, King may 

 beifin to suspect that his ettorts at deception have not 

 been quite as successful, in this instance, as he hoped 

 they would. He is doomed to yet other equally 

 overwhelming and mortifying disai;)poiutments. 



Honor to whom Honor is due. 



In the patent hive contest which arose between 

 Mr. Langstroth and Mr. H. King, I have no more 

 wish to tfive ray opinion than I have tlie desire of 

 supi5ortimr either side. However, I think it is my 

 duty to tell what the Debeauvoys hive was when the 

 tirst two editions of Debeauvoys book were published. 

 I had those two editions (1S44-1847) in my possession, 

 and manufactured hives with their directions, lor my 

 own use. 



The frames of tlie Debeauvoys liive were as broad 

 as the interior of the hive, i. e., close-tittiug at the 

 sides, and supported in the hive by two strips of wood 

 nailed inside of tlie hive and at the distance of S of 

 an inch from the bottom. 



The hive had its roof slanting and nailed. The 

 bottom was movable. The two sides were movable 

 doors, thi'oujih which the frames could be taken out. 

 These doors, beinsr of the same size as the frames, 

 c-iuld be pushed in the hive to contract the space. 

 They were held in place with hooks. The frames 

 were kept apart by nails driven in them at each side. 



The hive worked well when new and empty ; but 

 after the bees had glued the frames, it was difiicult 

 to remove them, without breaking the combs. 



It would have been entirely impossible to remove 

 them at all, without separating the ends of the hive 

 from the frames with a chisel. 



This hive, which had gained 2,500 proselytes in 

 Fi-ance, was very soon abandoned by all ; and the 

 disciples of Debeauvoys returned to the old-tashioned 

 straw hive. ( Vide L'Apieulteiir, Paris, Fevrier 1809.) 



The inventions of Debeauvoys were disastrous for 

 French boe-cultnre The tenacity with which the 

 majority of French beekeepers hold fast to day to 

 the old system, is due to the defects of the movable 

 frame hives that they tried at first, " Chien echaude 

 craint I'eau fivide."* 



The Berlepsch hive is not much better than the 

 Debeauvoys iiive, if we are to believe what M. M. 

 bastian and Mona say of it. 



Mr. Bastian writes in his book, ^' Les Abeilles," 

 Paris, 1S68, page 148, " The Berlepsch hive costs 

 "from 1.5 to 20 francs; besides it has to be built of 

 " very exact dimensions, for the slightest varying 

 " prevents the frames from fitting in it." 



* " A scalded dog dreads even cold water." 



