720 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and believe fully that every one should 

 be as much protected in the labor of his 

 brain, as in that of his hands, still I also 

 believe that the application of the pat- 

 ent law^ as made to apicultural imple- 

 ments, has done much tovi^ard prevent- 

 ing advancement in the science of api- 

 culture ; and further, I believe that so 

 long as the public are constantly threat- 

 ened with suits for damages, by those 

 who have secured patents on combina- 

 tions of old principles of value, in con- 

 nection with some new feature of no 

 practical value whatsoever, that ad- 

 vancement will be slow, and real prog- 

 ress retarded. 



What gave the impetus to bee-keeping 

 as a science ? Was it not the introduc- 

 tion of the movable-frame principle '? 

 And what really valuable step in that 

 direction has been taken since that in- 

 troduction ? At least what so-called im- 

 provement has been made, that has been 

 of any real, positive benefit? I confess 

 I am unable to learn of any. It is true 

 that in some minor points, improve- 

 ments have been made, but those im- 

 provements have not been the result of 

 the working of any one particular mind, 

 but are the aggregation of the workings 

 of many, each contributing a small share 

 in producing the grand result. 



The arguments and claims that are 

 being made at the present time, in re- 

 gard to the actual ownership of this or 

 that feature, seem to be overshadowed 

 in the minds of the people by the query 

 of, What do they amount to, after all ? 

 Great claims are made for them, and 

 great results promised by their use ; but 

 let us inquire if any better results have 

 ever been accomplished by the use of 

 these much-lauded "patented things," 

 than in the use of the frame hives that 

 have been before the public since the 

 original was introduced by Father Lang- 

 stroth. If they have, where is the rec- 

 ord ? I am anxiously looking for it ; it 

 has been promised frequently, but the 

 promise is not yet redeemed by fulfil- 

 ment. 



All I can say is, there are now in use 

 many unpatented hives that have re- 

 corded better results than I know of 

 being made by those patented of late, 

 and from which we were promised such 

 immense gains. These old hives are the 

 very ones that have been the means of 

 giving the general public that enlight- 

 ment it now possesses ; and until some- 

 thing is ofTcircd in their place, with a 

 provcid record of sii])eriority, it looks to 

 me like the height of foolishness to dis- 

 card them for the new, simply because 



they bear the magic imprint — "Pat- 

 ented." 



I write in the interest of no one ; I 

 assail no one ; I stand on the broad 

 ground of historical fact, and ask — In 

 what have I stated an untruth, or been 

 guilty of endeavoring an error ? If I 

 am right in my position, my work is a 

 public benefit ; if I am wrong, show me 

 the proofs, and I will retract. Till such 

 proof is offered, I consider that I am 

 but doing a duty in presenting my views 

 to an intelligent public, and am ready 

 to stand by its verdict. 



North Attleboro, Mass. 



Something About tlic White 

 Sage of California. 



Written for the American Be-e, Journal 

 BY C. W. DAYTON. 



That renowned California white sage 

 is now (May 20th) approaching an end- 

 less sea of bloom, and why the bees do 

 not gather honey from it is a most pro- 

 found mystery to me. I examined it 

 this morning, yesterday, day before yes- 

 terday, and several other times before 

 that, and honey is so abundant in the 

 flowers that I could plainly see and taste 

 it — in fact, there is a small drop in each 

 blossom, and from three to five blossoms 

 would make a good load for a bee. 



In all I have only seen two bees at 

 work on it, while this morning, in ten 

 minutes time, I saw four humming-birds 

 and two very large jet-black bumble- 

 bees, and they were very busy, so busy 

 that the humming-birds continued to 

 visit the blossoms right close by me. 

 Ants are also busy on it. 



The bees are gathering honey very 

 slowly from wild alfalfa, which is about 

 like heart's-ease in quality, and amber 

 iu color. Black or burr sage has been 

 in bloom for some time. The bees work 

 on it considerably, but I can see or taste 

 no honey by examination of the tubes. 

 I believe if my bees were in a location 

 where there was nothing but white sage 

 (and such locations are hard to find), 

 perhaps they would work on it, and 

 they would be able to fill the hives rap- 

 idly where it is more a matter of waiting 

 and hoping than anything else to see 

 them fill up from wild alfalfa, hore- 

 hound, oranges, etc. 



If white sage is so beneath the notice 

 of our common honey-bees, and so at- 

 tractive to humming-birds, bumble-bees 

 and ants, I wonder what Apis dorsata 

 would think of it. Several colonies of 



