222 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



November, 



I 



PATENTS. 



Ibccellent Advice and Suggestions 

 to the Beginner. 



By Arthur C. Miller. 



MANY AN AMERICAN, perhaps 

 it might be said the average 

 American, is not happy unless 

 he is inventing .something. Certainly 

 many of onr Amei'ican bee-keepers 

 turn their minds and hands towards 

 the development of new implements 

 and new hives or the improvement 

 of old ones. Close upon the con- 

 ception of a 'Seemingly bright idea 

 comes the thought of patents and 

 vi.'^ions of wealth flowing therefrom. 

 Very, very few such visions material- 

 ize, and fortunate is the individual 

 who does not sink hard earned money 

 in worthless patents. 



In an endeavor to help would-be 

 inventors to avoid loss and disappoint- 

 ment I subjoin a few facts and sug- 

 gestions from a patent attorney of 

 many years' experience. His first ad- 

 vice iis to stick to a line with which 

 you are familiar. Do not try to in- 

 vent something for work you know 

 little Or nothing of, othemase after 

 spending much time and some money 

 you may find that your idea was an 

 old one, used and discarded long 

 ago. Select one line, one kind of work 

 or manufacture, make yom-self 

 thoroughly familiar with its present 

 condition and pa^st history, stick to 

 that line, develop that line, and keep 

 ahead of the art, which is to say 

 forsee the needsS and anticipate the 

 wants. 



I have in mind a man who began 

 his business life making buckles. He 

 devotetl his whole mind to it and it 

 was not many years before he de- 

 veloped machines with which he 

 made buckles which he sold for much 

 less than any competitor could even 

 make them. He kept ahead of the 

 rest of the trade. He won. He did 

 it by intelligent application to one 

 thing. 



The value of a patent lies in the 

 scope of the claimis and the care with 

 which these claims are expressed. 

 In securing these things the services 

 of a capable and experienced attorney 

 are invaluable. The attorney who 

 secures the most patents does not 



neces-sarily secure the best. Before p 

 paying a miniiiium price for some 

 thing which when you get it niayfcj 

 lirove of no value, go to a good at- 

 torney and pay his price, act on his 

 advice. Sometimes it will pay well 

 to have a search of the patent records 

 made for all patents in the line you 

 are at work upon. It helps by inform- 

 ing you of what has already been 

 done, by posting you in the history 

 of the art. 



A patent protects for seventeen 

 years, it prevents any other person 

 from making, using or selling any 

 machine or appliance covered by the 

 same. No person has a right to make 

 for his own use any patented article. 

 The only way he can get the right 

 to use it is to purchase the right from, 

 the inventor or buy a machine from 

 him or from authorized makers or 

 dealers. 



Providence, R. I.. Oct. 18, 1905 



Sixty Years Among tlie Bees. 



By W. J. Davis, ist. 



ANOTHER HONEY season has 

 come and gone and added its 

 new lessons of experience. 



Our season in western Pennsylvania 

 has lieen a very wet one, with a large 

 amount of thunder and lightning. 

 Tlie i)ees have not been able to crowd 

 the queents and as a result, the hives 

 have been crowded with brood, and ais 

 another result, many swarms have is- 

 sued. I have hived 73 swarm,s in my 

 home yard, quite a number of them 

 double .swann-^, besides several return- 

 ed to the parent hive. Some of the 

 prime swarms were deprived of their 

 queen and made to return. But in 9 to 

 11 days they Avould come out again 

 with young queen, or queens, bigger 

 than befoi'ej and hereby hangs a tale: 



One morning a lai'ge swarm with 

 laying queen issued, and was soon 

 joined by another still larger with 

 virgin queep. They settled together. 

 The fertile queen being clipped was 

 easily secured in a wire cage and said 

 cage hung between two of the central 

 frames and the immense swarm hived 

 a,s quickl.v ' as possible. But none 

 too soon, for two others, in tbe same 

 relative condition issued and were 

 treated in the same way. The lesson 

 for the beginner is this: Had I hived, 



