102 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



any hive with which I am acquainted, 

 though of course, as it is, there is no more 

 room to set the boxes for surplus tlian the 

 cheap one he describes. 



He continues : — '' Full directions could 

 be published in the circular, or even given 

 in the journals, at the trifling expense, to 

 him, of making the measurements and de- 

 scriptions once." Now if he feels that he 

 has not done his share of working for 

 nothing, suppose ?ie gives " descriptions and 

 measurements," at the " trifling expense" 

 he speaks of. T would very much like to 

 see it given so plainly that it " could be 

 easily made for four dollars." Two or 

 three years since, I sent him a hive, without 

 charge, appendages and all, rather than 

 undertake to describe it myself. I would 

 like to seethe late improvements belonging 

 to the appendage — a device to clasp the 

 corimrs—fnUy described. Perhaps he could 

 tell how to make it cheaply. If a man does 

 not want anything but the simple hive, to 

 be used for extracting only, I still think it 

 best, and I would like to see it fully de- 

 scribed as well as appendages. 



As it is desirable for many to secure box 

 honey as well as extracted, I have endeav- 

 ored to adapt it to either, the advantages of 

 which are easily understood. The boxes 

 that sell best in market are made of glass, 

 costing more than if made of wood to hold 

 the same amount. These boxes, when put 

 on the hive at the side or top, must not be ex- 

 posed to the light or storms. I have enclosed 

 them by getting out boards for the sides 

 and top, of the right width and length, and 

 have succeeded, after much thought, in 

 having the clasps at the corners — that hold 

 as firmly as nails — so that they can be 

 loosened, and each piece taken away sepa- 

 rately, without a jar, and so quietly that 

 not an angry bee can be seen. It was not 

 completed with one effort. Like all else 

 that is worth much, it had to grow gradu- 

 ally ; was altered again and again, and 

 when at length I succeeded in getting the 

 present hive and appendages, I found it had 

 cost me in experiments, mechanical labor 

 and brain work ten times the amount asked 

 for it. If any man wants what I use, he 

 can have it by jniying a very small part of 

 what it has cost me for the " know how." 

 There are a few men — I mean those with 

 some generosity — who are willing to share 

 somewhat in the expense of getting a good 

 thing. Suppose a man disposed to get up a 

 paper. First, he must liave matter, which 

 ought to be liis own, to put in it. Then he 

 must re(;kon type, ink, paper, press, and the 

 labor of printing, etc. He does not get his 

 expenses back when he has printed one or 

 a dozen papers, at seventy-live cents a copy. 

 But when he has everything ready, he can 

 print the second copy, or the thousandth, 

 for a few cents only, and then, if he does 



enough of it, he can get remuneration, and 

 a little more, at seventy-five cents a copy. 



It may look to some like "pecuniary 

 profit." Now it would be hardly possible 

 to find a man so ungenerous as to claim that 

 because his last paper cost a few cents only 

 he should furnish it at cost before he got 

 recompense for making the first, or even 

 then. Is there any parallel in the two cases 

 — in making a hive and making a paper ? 



As it is pretty well known how "cum- 

 bi'ous " the hive of itself is, I will not dwell 

 on that, but when it " seems " to him that 

 the smoker would be "cumbrous" I fear 

 that some of his readers might take his 

 " seems " for facts, and I beg that they sus- 

 pend judgment till they see it work. If I 

 should send him one, it might turn out as 

 with a friend of mine who says he sent him 

 a patent feeder. If he did not claim the 

 invention, he substituted a tea-kettle for the 

 tin tube to hold the feed, and sells it with- 

 out changing the principle, calling it the 

 "Tea-kettle Feeder." There are some men 

 in the community from whom there is no 

 protection, a patent will not do it. A man 

 can spend his time and money till all is ex- 

 liausted, endeavoring to assist his fellow 

 men, and when he oft'ers to let others share 

 a small jiart with him, he finds men ready 

 to discourage him by offering the same 

 thing for just what it costs them after being 

 shown how to make them. How has it 

 been with Mr. Laugstroth, who has benefit- 

 ted bee-keepers thousands of dollars, and 

 expended time, money and intellect in 

 giving us a hive — in principle worth more 

 than all before it — in procuring a new vari- 

 ety of bees, and has due him some recom- 

 pense. But here is a man that has appar- 

 ently done his best to discourage anything 

 of the kind, by telling where hives and bees 

 can be had for the trifle that would go but 

 a small way towards it. It tends unjustly 

 to deprive Mr. L. of his rights, and gives 

 him to understand that he will not be paid 

 for employing his talents to promote bee- 

 culture, and he seems compelled to relin- 

 quish the pursuit. What have we gained 

 in the entl by being persuaded to purchase 

 a hive or buy a queen for a dollar ? We 

 have all heard of the man who peeled the 

 flint for a penny, and spoiled his knife cost- 

 ing fifty cents. 



There is much more that ought to be 

 said, but this must suffice at present. 



St. Johnsville, N. Y. M. QriNUV. 



II. (). KurscTiK, Berlin. Wis., remarks as 

 follows: "In niv article, 'Do Bees Injure 

 Fruit,' in the Mareli mniihcr of tlie Amkki- 

 ovN Bkk Jdiknai,. I stated that the New 

 >'ork 7'r(/»H;ic had not seen lit to publish a 

 siniihir article. Hut since that, I Imd tliat it 

 was ])uV)lislu'(l ill the 'VrU)\inc of Dec. ;>1. It 

 had escaped iiiv notice, and hence 1 thought 

 it had not been published. I herein apolo- 

 gize to all concerned." 



