82 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



new one. It would doubtless have been 

 carried out before this, but for the paucity 

 of State organizations. Let these only 

 be multiplied to a sufficient extent and it 

 will be easy to make the continental body 

 representative, which is obviously what it 

 ought to be. Each State could send one 

 or more delegates, and what is an oppres- 

 sive expense to the individual bee-keeper, 

 would be but a small charge on the funds 

 of a State a=;sociation. We can see im- 

 portant results to be secured by a council 

 of eminent representative bee-keepers, 

 and our hope is that the Society, instead 

 of voting to disband, will resolve itself 

 into the representative body above de- 

 scribed. A meeting at the Centennial 

 Exhibition would be a favorable oppor- 

 tunity for making this change, although 

 we are of opinion that the circumstances 

 will not be favorable for having a busi- 

 ness meeting. Those of us who go to the 

 exhibition will do so to enjoy ourselves, 

 and have a good time generally ; to forget 

 bee-stings, apiarian troubles, and the vex- 

 ations of life generally. A reunion with 

 apicultural friends will be pleasant, but 

 business will be a bore. It will be a 

 much nicer thing for the Soeiety to take 

 on a new form of life at tne Centennial 

 than it will be for it, there and then to 

 " give up the ghost." For our own part, 

 our motto is, " Never say die." Make a 

 new departure, strike out afresh, do some- 

 thing more manageable and practicable, 

 but avoid that which is undesirable in it- 

 self, and would be interpreted by out- 

 siders as a proof that bee-keeping is on 

 the decline, which we know it is not, by 

 any means. 



The Society has got over some diffi- 

 culties which threatened its earlier stages; 

 it has accomplislied much good, but its 

 mission is by no means lulfilled. "To 

 be or not to be, that's the question." We 

 cast our vote for continued existence in a 

 better form. " Destroy it not, for a bless- 

 ing is in it." w. p. c. 



^^ Particular attention is called to 

 the new advertisement of J. H. Nellis & 

 Brother, opposite the first page of this 

 issue of the Journal. They are good 

 square dealing men and may be depended 

 on. 



For the American Bee JournaU 

 Artificial Comb Foundation, 



Will you be kind enough to give some 

 information on the artificial comb ques- 

 tion? Who holds the patent right for 

 making artificial comb? Is the comb 

 foundation, sold by John Long, patented? 

 Who first brought comb foundation to 

 notice? I saw a piece, years ago, made 

 of this paper, coated on both sides with 

 wax. A friend who tried it reported that 

 his bees would not make use of it. 



w. c. p. 



The foundation spoken of by Mr. P , 



made of paper coated with wax, was 

 probably a plain sheet without any of the 

 cell configurations, and he does not state 

 whether the bees simply left it untouched 

 or destroyed it. We do not know definitely 

 of any experiments made with waxed 

 paper configurated, but we have assur- 

 ance that several experiments will be 

 made under difl'erent circumstances early 

 this season. It is thought that fine tissue 

 paper may be used to advantage. We 

 shall give the result of these experiments 

 in due time. 



Artificial combs have been in use in 

 Germany and in Italy for many years. 

 A patent was issued in tlie United States 

 to the late Mr. Samuel Wagner, then the 

 able editor of this Journal. It was 

 lately purchased by Mr. Perrine, of Chi- 

 cago. See notice on last page of this 

 issue. 



John Long's Foundation was made by 

 Mr. Weiss in New York, by a machine he 

 had invented for that purpose two years 

 ago, on which he is now getting a patent. 



Novice (A. I. Root) has also invented 

 a machine for making it, that really turns 

 out a nicer article than that sold last 

 season in New York. This machine has 

 been purchased by Mr. C. O. Perrine, and 

 will be used in the manufactory now be- 

 ing fitted up by him in this city. 



Mr. Perrine has also permanently en- 

 gaged Mr. Weiss to superintend his 

 works — and soon they will be ready to 

 fill all orders promptly. Orders may be 

 sent to this office for it in any quantity. 



m^" If 3'ou know of any bee-keepers 

 who ought to take the American Bee 

 Journal, but do not, and will send us 

 their names and Post Office addresses, 

 we will send each a sample copy. 



