1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



75 



[From the Western Karmor.] 



About Patents. 



A student in tlieMlcliigan AgricuUural College 

 has invented a gate latcli, for which he has re- 

 ceived $10,000. 



We find the above item in our exchanges. 

 Assuming it to i)e true, we commend tiie good 

 sense of the student. If the usual results follow, 

 the purchaser will eillier lose money by the oper- 

 aiion, or Avill speedily sell "rights "to i)arties 

 who will lose money. We have no wish to dis- 

 courage inventors, for they certainly are entitled 

 to lull reward ior any improvemenis or discov- 

 eiies they give the world. But we think it is 

 clearly true that the great mass of inventors — es- 

 pecially those whose inventions relate to " little 

 things," or articles in common u-e — place too 

 high an estimate on the value of their patent 

 right, often holding it, waiting for better otTers 

 from manufacturers or purchnsers of " territory," 

 until some one patents a better device for tlie 

 same purpose, when the first becomes useless or 

 nearly so. 



Tnere are certain inventions of very great value, 

 because they supply a want universally felt. But 

 even in such cases it is rare that the original in- 

 ventor secures so high a degree of exctllence 

 that some one else cannot improve on his de- 

 vice, lie may, however, succeed in patenting 

 sometliing which subsequent inventors will have 

 to use, and for which privilege they must piay 

 him. To illustrate : the plow is of almost univer- 

 sal use, yet there are objections to the best plow 

 that has been or will be constructed. Suj.pose 

 some one should invent an implement that would 

 obviate all these objections, and do the work of 

 ]U'eparing the soil for seeds better than any plow 

 can, and do this work quickly and cheaply. 

 8uch an invention would be of almost incalcula- 

 ble value, and the inventor might well expect to 

 become very wealthy. Yet it would be strange 

 il' some one did not improve on this invention, 

 and thus divide the profits — perhaps take the 

 larger share. Hundreds of men have suggested 

 iuiprovements of more or less value in reapers, 

 alter the main principle had been given to the 

 public. 



In case of such an invention as a gate latch, it 

 must be remembered that there are already very 

 good ones in existence, and probably a still bet- 

 ter one may soon be invented ; and so we say 

 that, in all ordinarj^ cases, it is better to sell the 

 patent if any such price as $10,000 is offered for 

 it. However useful such an invention may 

 really be, the inventor as well as the mtending 

 purchaser of a "right'' should carefully avoid 

 forming extravagant opinions as to "the moncj' 

 there is in it." The farmer or other business man 

 who gives up his regular business to engage in the 

 sale of patents, in the great majority of cases, 

 does a very foolish thing. 



We write this, because we have noticed in 

 many cases the high anticipations of inventors or 

 of purchasers of "territory" for some patent, and 

 the disappointment and loss that followed. If 

 any of our readers have invented anything they 

 are convinced is of value, we say patent it by all 



means ; but do not think of leaving your farm or 

 other business to engage in its sale, or dream of 

 sudden wealth to come from it. 



[For the American Bee Juurnal.] 



Hurrah for 1870, and the Honey-3linger. 



The best honey season on record, and the most 

 useful invention ! Long live our German friend, 

 who gave it to us without a patent ! 



The battle is past, and we can look back and 

 see if the generalship has been, like that of the 

 Prussians, vrell managed — or, like that of the 

 French, left to manage itself 



I had two stocks last spiing, and the empty 

 combs from two hives that died about the first of 

 March. The first swarm was hived on the 18th 

 of June, and the honej'-gatheriug on bass-wood 

 closed .Tuly 2nth — so that none of the j'oungbees 

 in new hives were then old enough to gather 

 honey. 



I have taken one hundred and eighty-seven 

 (187) pounds with the machine, and on the 2f5th 

 of July had from five hives, 228 lbs., or forty-five 

 [)Ounds each. They had gained forty pounds 

 eacli, in thirteen days, on bass-wood blossoms. 

 The best stock gained, 52 lbs. 8 oz. A queenless 

 stock gained 33 lbs. 10 oz. The best day's 

 work, 7 lbs., Aug. IG. The best da3''s work in 

 June was Raturdaj' and Sunda}', the 25th and 

 26th — a gain of 21 lbs. 6 oz. on red raspberry 

 blossoms, or 10 lbs. 11 oz. per day. I sec that 

 NuviCE rejiorts 43 lbs. in three days. 2.5th, 2()ih, 

 and 27th of June. As he reports bass-wootl at 

 its best July 0th, the flowers must be ten or 

 twelve days earlier than at this place. So his 

 best yield of honey, on the same days as mine, at 

 600 miles distance, was perhaps on account of 

 the weather, or some electrical state of the atmos- 

 phere. 



In June I took from my stocks what honey 

 they had above twenty pounds each. While 

 bass-wood was in blossom, I tried to take what 

 they had above forty pounds each. The honey- 

 emptier appeared to take away all dispositiim to 

 raise a lot of drones in July, When I depended 

 on box honey, the hive was crowded with honey 

 before the bees would work in boxes. 



As it took two pounds per month in winter to 

 support a colony of bees, at this rate the twelve 

 ounces of honey required to rear a thousand 

 drones would keep a thousand workers four and 

 a half months. I believe drones usually live 

 about two nionths. So when Novice shaves off 

 the heads of drone brood sealed over, he has al- 

 ready lost two-thirds of what it would cost to let 

 them live ; and the presence of drones might per- 

 haps prevent the raising of more drone brood. 



I would like to have Novice answer one ques- 

 tion tlirough the Bee Journal, and that is — Do 

 light queens make better honey-gatheiing stocks 

 than dark queens from the same parents? 



Henry D. Minek. 



WasJdngton Harbor, Wis. 



A charlatan is an impostor who lives by the 

 folly of those who are imposed upon. 



