744 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bee-JParalysis in California is 



getting to be something very serious. Prof. 

 Cook, on May 29th, wrote us as follows 

 from his home in Claremont, Calif. : 



The bee-paralysis is doing terrible work 

 about here. It is estimated that 5,000 colo- 

 nies have died this spring. It is a serious 

 epidemic. I think it is a sort of "la grippe." 

 What else can it be ? A. J. Cook. 



Ah, indeed, "what (else) can it be?" 

 That's the question— and a difficult one, 

 too ; and if not satisfactorily answered, and 

 the devastation stopped, it is liable to rival 

 foul brood in its awful ravages. We hope 

 that Prof. Cook will at once thoroughly in- 

 vestigate the disease, as he now has such 

 good opportunity, and also discover some 

 successful method of treatment. Others 

 who are in a position to do so, should also 

 learn all they can about the trouble. 



Here is a chance for some one to win 

 fame, as Mr. McEvoy has done in so suc- 

 cessfully eradicating foul brood. Who will 

 it be? 



In R«-<tiieei»iiig an apiary, select 

 only queens that remain quiet on the 

 combs. A queen that runs off the comb 

 whenever a hive is opened, generally pro- 

 duces bees that are hard to handle and very 

 cross. — rrogre><sive Bee-Keeper. 



" Emerson 'l'. Afe'bott, successor to 

 St. Joseph Apiary Co.," St. Joseph, Mo., 

 is the way it reads now. Bro. Abbott is 

 the President of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, and also deals in bee- 

 supplies, bees, queens, honey and beeswax. 



Secnring- Patents. — Some of our 

 /eaders (judging from a few letters that we 

 have received) seem to have gotten it into 

 their heads that we are opposed to getting 

 anything patented, whether it be some- 

 thing useful to bee-keepers or otherwise. 

 If such is the idea entertained by those 

 readers of the Bee Journal, we can say 

 that nothing could be further from the 

 truth. 



We do believe in getting new and origi- 

 nal ideas patented when put into anything 

 that will be of use to mankind ; and we 

 also believe that every honest man will be 

 perfectly willing to pay a little extra for 

 the privilege of using such invention. We 

 certainly would be fjlad to do so. Of course, 



we don't think that a patent should cover 

 the right to rob people, by charging extor- 

 tionate prices, and yet, this being a free 

 country, whenever any one feels that too 

 large a price is asked for any new article, 

 he need not buy it, but let it severely 

 alone, for in so doing he will be just as well 

 off as he was before he learned of the new, 

 though expensive, thing. 



How much better it would have been for 

 Father Langstroth, could he have retained 

 the patent on his hive, and thus assured to 

 himself and his family a continuous in- 

 come that would have kept them nicely 

 during their lives. Surely, all bee-keepers 

 who cared enough to use his valuable in- 

 vention would gladly have paid something 

 extra for that privilege. 



We believe that good ideas, when put to 

 some practical use, should be as willingly 

 paid for as manual labor. Many an inven- 

 tion has cost its originator much hard 

 labor besides actual financial outlay, and 

 certainly it is no more than right that he 

 should be reimbursed in some way, and 

 what better way than by patenting his in- 

 vention, and thus protecting himself and 

 personally securing the benefits resulting 

 from honest and worthy effort ? 



We have not written the foregoing for 

 the purpose of starting a discussion on 

 patents, for we believe that such discussion 

 would be only a useless waiste of valuable 

 space in these columns. We simply wished 

 to explain our position in the matter. 



I do not want to miss a number of 

 the Bee Journal. It saved me money last 

 year." — W. P. Gardner, of Iowa, on May 



14, 1894. 



Xlie Caliiornia Bee-JHeeting;.— 



Mr. W. A. Pryal wrote us as follows on 

 May 28th, concerning the proposed meeting 

 of California bee-keepers at the Midwinter 

 Fair: 



The closing day of the International Ex- 

 position that was inaugurated in San Fran- 

 cisco last January, is fast drawing nigh. In 

 fact, at this writing hardly five more weeks 

 of the big western show remain in whi?h it 

 will be open to visitors ; after that time it 

 will be a memory, like that of the magnifi- 

 cent Exposition that was held in Chicago 

 last year. 



The California bee-keepers were in hopes 

 of holding a special convention of their 

 State association at the Fair before it 

 closes; their President, Prof. Cook, is so 



