MY SEES. 133 



hives which date from twenty years ago, the 

 bees are never much disturbed when honey is 

 taken out of the hive ; the idea of killing bees 

 in order to get honey would now be considered 

 atrocious barbarism. The modern method of 

 taking the honey-boxes out of the hives is sim- 

 ply to drive the bees from the boxes down to 

 their own frames by the use of the smoke of 

 rags, when the boxes may be lifted off without 

 injuring the bees. About five hundred patents 

 have been taken out within the last twenty 

 years for improved beehives, and the farmers 

 in some parts of the country have been so 

 annoyed by the claims of people who pretend 

 to own patent rights upon hives which they 

 had purchased, that the rapacity of these hive 

 inventors has driven many of them out of the 

 business. The moment a man bought what 

 seemed to be a sensible and cheap hive, he was 

 called upon to pay royalties to some one who 

 claimed the patent. The number of different 

 hives, each type having its champions, is a very 

 large one, and almost every well-known bee- 

 keeper has left a hive of his own devising which 

 is expected to do something that other hives 

 will not do. It has been found by long experi- 



