1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



M. H. Hunt — la order to have this work continued, must 

 it be looked after each year? 



R. L. Taylor— Yes, it is necessary. Each year the work 

 is mapped out and money apportioned for this and for that, 

 and unless bee-keepers show very clearly and emphatically 

 their needs, they are likely to be left out. This Society should 

 pass a resolution upon the matter and lay it before the Board ; 

 besides there should be some letters written to the members of 

 the Board. 



It was moved and carried that the Secretary draw up a 

 set of resolutions similar to those of last year, and forward 

 them to the chairman of the Agricultural Board. 



FOUL BROOD IN COMB FOUNDATION. 



VV. Z. Hutchinson — Do you not think, Mr. Taylor, that the 

 cell or two of foul brood in the colonies given the foundation 

 made from foul-broody combs might not have come from some 

 infected colonies in your yard ? I suppose you have some yet. 



Mr. Taylor — So far as I know I had no foul brood in the 

 apiary. I am satisfied that it was foul brood, but I am not so 

 sure that it was sufficiently virulent to be propagated. It was 

 not exactly like the real virulent foul brood. 



Mr. Hunt — As foundation is usually made there is no 

 danger. The heat is either greater, or else it is longer con- 

 tinued. 



Mr. Taylor — I grant that, but this experiment was made 

 to see if it were possible to render wax and make foundation 

 at so low a temperature that the germs of foul brood would 

 not be killed. If it does not show next year — is not strong 

 enough to propagate itself — we may rest assured that founda- 

 tion never contains germs of the disease. 



Next, Mr. Hunt read the following: 



The President's Annual Address. 



Since last we met, another year has been added to the ex- 

 istence of our State association, and it will be remembered as 

 one more fruitful in failures than otherwise. We have not 

 even had the solace of high prices with our short crops. Per- 

 haps we have fared nearly as well as those of other pursuits, 

 for it has not been " all pie" with the farmers and merchants. 

 The drouth that shortened the honey-flow also lessened the 

 farmers' crops, which in turn affected the merchants. 



We gain some knowledge in a season like the past one 

 that we would never get in a good one, and if taken proper 

 advantage of will be of benefit to us when Nature is more 

 lavish in yielding up her treasures. 



SELLING HONEY AT RETAIL. 



At the end of the season I found I had nearly one ton of 

 white comb honey and about 600 pounds of extracted. This 

 small crop I determined to sell at the very best advantage, 

 that is, get as much as possible for it with the least trouble. 



I found a person out of employment, whom I thought 

 would make a good salesman ; furnished him horse and suit- 

 able wagon, giving him half the profits, making the wholesale 

 price the base to figure the profits from. He commenced sell- 

 ing on the eastern and western markets of this city (Detroit) 

 the latter part of August — selling either in packages or bulk, 

 as the customer might wish. Our little crop went like magic, 

 and we have since bought and sold about five tons. 



A set of scales that adjust the tare we used to weigh the 

 pails, crocks, etc., that come to be filled. By having regular 

 days, the customers soon learn when to come, and they rarely 

 fail to bring a new customer along. 



The groceries are supplied with pint and quM't Mason 

 jars, and jelly glasses holding % of a pound ; the laUer sell at 

 15 cents each. The jelly glasses are made tight by dipping 

 the top in melted beeswax and tallow; the honey is put in hot 

 and immediately sealed up. This is our first season's experi- 

 ence with the jelly glasses, owing to the difficulty in prevent- 

 ing their leaking, but by the above plan they are perfectly 

 satisfactory, and the cheapest package we know of, only cost- 

 ing about 2 cents each. 



The result of our experiment has been satisfactory ; the 

 man employed got a living for his family, and left us much 

 better than the wholesale price for our honey ; and also estab- 

 lished a business that will be an outlet for a good many tons 

 of honey in after years. M. H. Hunt. 



Mr. Hunt's address was followed by this discussion : 

 Chas. Koeppen — Did you put on cautionary labels in 

 regard to the candying and re-liquifying of the honey ? 



Pres. Hunt — We aid not. When honey is sold in small 

 quantities to families it is consumed before it candies. When 

 sold in glass to retail dealers we always take back any that 

 candies, and give new packages that are not candied, and the 

 candied honey can be easily liquified by putting it in a warm 



place. When we sell it in 60-lb. tins we always give instruc- 

 tions in regard to the candying and the liquifying. 



Mr. Koeppen — I have retailed my extracted honey by put- 

 ting it in lard-cans furnished with molasses gates. The cans 

 and contents are weighed when they are left with the dealers, 

 and the next time around they are weighed again and the 

 dealers pay me for what has been sold. 



Next came an essay from Mr. T. F. Bingham, of Abronia, 

 on 



Influence of Patents on Improvements. 



The thousands of patents granted by the most progressive 

 nations may be regarded as evidence of their value in national 

 and private advancement. No nation has such a complete 

 patent system as the United States ; and no other nation has 

 ever added to the world's wealth of conveniences so much in 

 the same space of time. 



While thousands of men may move in the same society, 

 and among the same people, having the same or similar needs 

 and desires, not many among the thousands are inventors. 

 Generally speaking, people do as they have been taught, and 

 ao not add to or diminish the wealth or happiness common to 

 their ancestors. Occasionally, however, some artisan, not 

 unlike others in environment, conceives a different plan by 

 which a certain end can be more readily attained. It is here 

 that the patent laws come to the aid of invention. They say 

 to the inventor : Proceed with your experiments; perfect 

 your invention ; take out your patents, and continue your im- 

 provements. Never rest from your labors until your invention 

 is absolutely perfect. 



It is true that some people, in other respects worthy, cry 

 out against patents. We are not called upon to discuss the 

 reasons of their cry. It has been discovered that politicians 

 often take up the cause of the people before election. 



By securing a patent on a valuable invention, the con- 

 sumer is placed in a position where he can be sure of getting 

 the best of the kind at a reasonable price. 



A patent may, or may not, be of much value. But in this 

 age of patents, it is safe to say that any machine claiming to 

 be an improvement or an invention — which the inventor does 

 not patent — does not have any valuable patentable features. 

 The undisputed evidence of an invention is the record of the 

 Patent Office. 



How often do we see valuable space taken up even in bee- 

 papers with the contention, "Who invented it? Who was 

 the first to suggest it ?" Suggestion is not invention. One 

 may ask questions he cannot answer. The inventor is he who 

 joins thought with Nature's forces, and patiently and per- 

 sistently works out a process, or constructs a machine. 



To save contention, and secure the credit due a valuable 

 invention, and conserve the interests of the innocent consumer, 

 every invention should be patented. 



T. P. Bingham. 



Mr. Bingham's essay was then discussed as follows: 



L. A. Aspinwall — There are many small inventions thatare 

 patented and thus protected in their manufacture, to make 

 them better and more cheaply than they could do if some 

 Tom, Dick or Harry could step in with a cheap imitation. 



Mr. Taylor — Mr. Root, has, I believe, abandoned his opposi- 

 tion to the patents. 



Mr. Hutchinson — He has always believed in rewarding 

 invention, but when there was no patent, Mr. Root was the 

 one to say how great should be the reward ; when there is a 

 patent, it is the inventor who dictates the terms. 

 (Concluded next week.) 



Early Queens the Best. 



W. W. GRAVLEE. 



Every consideration, perhaps, that must be observed in 

 order to secure the highest development of the queen-bee has 

 been given in the last two volumes of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Yet I have seen no statement as to what influence the 

 different seasons exert upon her majesty's development and 

 future usefulness. Are early queens — those reared about the 

 time of early swarming — better, other things being equal, 

 than those reared later in the season ? 



Against an answer in the affirmative it may be urged that 

 it is difficult to determine. So many things are beyond our 

 control, that we cannot know just when they are all equal. 

 Queens from the same lot of cells vary. Some bees will prob- 

 ably rear better queens than others. The location and the 

 season have something to do with the result. So I suppose we 

 shall have to content ourselves with a comparison of the 

 actual products of the two classes of queens. 



