48 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February 
Bee Notes for February. 
Winter is a good time for the apiarist to study. 
He who is about to begin may now inform himself 
as to the methods of his prospective art; while the 
experienced bee-keeper should give earnest thought 
to his business, to see how he may improve his 
methods, or plan for greater success. We will first 
advise with the candidate for labor in the apicul- 
tural field, and then offer suggestioms to be con¬ 
sidered by the experienced bee-keeper. 
For Beginners. 
Those who contemplate starting in bee-keeping 
the coming season should procure at once, and 
thoroughly master some one of the several excel¬ 
lent Manuals that treat of bees. This done, the 
prospective apiarist bhould subscribe for one of the 
apicultural papers, several of which are published 
in this country. The text book study will prepare 
one to read understaudingly the paper, and by such 
reading a person will keep abreast of the improve¬ 
ments, and so will be in the way to take advantage 
of all that may help him. Apiculture is advancing 
rapidly, and he who does not keep informed will 
soon be left in the wake of his more enterprising 
brother. After a thorough study of the subject, 
it will pay well to visit some wide-awake bee¬ 
keeper, and spend a day or two with him. We are 
happy to state that one does not need to go far now' 
in any part of the country to find such an one. 
Such visit will do much to remove the timidity that 
one is apt to feel in approaching these insects. 
The book-knowledge will become practical, as the 
various truths and descriptions are illustrated. 
The next step will be to purchase some bees. It 
is usually a mistake to buy more than three colonies. 
After this it is best to go no faster than one can 
from the increase of his own bees. The best bees 
for the beginner are the Italian. These are excel¬ 
lent, and what is more important they are very 
amiable, and seldom sting. The colonies should 
be strong, and purchased of a reliable bee-keeper, 
that there may be no mistake as to their character. 
The bees should be in a movable comb hive, with 
a frame of the form generally used in the locality. 
If one wishes to sell his bees, such a frame will help 
to dispose of them to better advantage. We prefer, 
all other things favorable, a frame which is lit 
inches square, outside measure. The beginner will 
also need a bee-veil, a smoker, and from three to 
six hives fully equipped. It will pay to purchase 
an extractor, and from ten to twenty pounds of comb 
foundation. 
The maximum expense the first year will be : 
book, $1.25; paper, $2; three colonies Italian bees, 
$30; six hives complete, $12 ; bee-veil 50c.; smoker, 
$1.50 ; extractor, $6.50 ; ten lbs. comb foundation, 
$5.00; making a total of $58.75. All of this is 
permanent capital, and each colony of bees maybe 
expected to give tw r o colonies of bees during the 
season, or if preferred one colony of bees, and 
from $5 to $10 worth of honey. The writer, in an 
experience of fifteen years, has never secured less 
than that amount. After this first outlay the wise 
bee-keeper will not expend any money until it is 
first earned by the bees. 
Suggestions to Old Bee-Keepers. 
No topic is more worthy the earnest considera¬ 
tion of bee-keepers, than that of bee-forage. It 
often happens that our bees can find honey for not 
more than five or six weens, and yet in that brief 
time they will often store 50 to 200 lbs. per swarm. 
What might we expect if the nectar-secreting 
flower were to bloom the entire season through ? 
The September flow of honey, often exceeding the 
yield in spiing, in some parts of the country, an¬ 
swers the question. How we may supplement the 
natural yield of honey by judicious planting of 
honey plants, may well receive earnest thought and 
consideration during the winter. We already know 
that by planting Figwort, Cleome, Catnip, Borage, 
Mustard, and Alsike clover, we may bridge over the 
famine of honey bloom. Of these, Alsike clover is 
good also as a forage plant for cattle, etc., and by 
cutting a portion of the crop as soon as it comes 
into bloom, we may secure a second crop of flowers, 
and so a continuous yield of honey-producing 
flowers. Figwort and Cleome, though of no other 
use, furnish abundance of good honey, and that 
too at a time of usual dearth. The thoughtful apiar¬ 
ist may with profit give to this subject much study 
during the leisure of his winter hours. In winter, 
the apiarist may get such hives and apparatus as 
will be needed the coming season. These are now 
so cheaply made at the large factories, that they 
may be bought in the “knock-down,” and put to¬ 
gether during the leisure ot winter. It costs but 
three cents at the factory to make a hive. It would 
cost the bee-keeper many times this amount. Accu¬ 
racy is also secured by buying at a factory. 
The Pollen Question 
has been much discussed of late. Some say there 
had better be no pollen in the hive in winter. Others 
say it makes no difference. Mr. Prentiss, a very 
successful bee-keeper in Ohio,feels certain that the 
presence of pollen in some of his hives, last spring, 
cost him nearly 100 colonies of bees. All of his 180 
colonies were in fine condition on the middle of 
February, and those with pollen commenced during 
the warm days of February to breed rapidly. Some 
had brood in four and five frames on March 1st, 
March was very cold, and all the colonies which 
had commenced to breed so largely died. About 
ninety colonies had no pollen, and so did not com¬ 
mence breeding, and were saved to give a good 
profit this past summer. If bees can oe kept cool 
by the use of a cellar or otherwise, until pollen 
can be gathered, the presence of pollen will do no 
harm; otherwise it is safer to remove pollen in the 
fall, by taking from the hives such frames as con¬ 
tain it. Restore these frames to the bees as soon 
as they commence to gather pollen in spring. 
Probably no scheme has been 
presented recently likely to do so 
much mischief, as one advertised 
far and wide as Ozone. It prom¬ 
ises much and appeals to a vast 
number of people, especially to 
farmers. Were a part only of what it promises 
true, it would indeed be what it proclaims itself : 
or the air, and hence can not be sold in packages at 
$2, or at any other price. As the article this com¬ 
pany offers is not Ozone, they are placed in the 
position of selling something else under that name. 
What <lo they Sell as Ozone ? 
Their directions for the use of the preserving 
stuff in their packages require one to proceed ex¬ 
actly as he would if he were to make use of Sulphur 
as a preservative—that is, by burning to produce 
Sulphurous Acid. The article to be preserved be- 
ing placed in a tight vessel, not over two-thirds 
full, the “Ozone powder” is to be burned in the 
air of the vessel. The “ Ozone powder ” is black; 
its blaze is blue, and its odor takes us back to the 
days of brimstone matches ! Sulphur properly em¬ 
ployed may be sometimes made useful as a preserva¬ 
tive, but why color it black, and why call it Ozone ? 
This Ozone matter is perhaps the meanest humbug 
of 1881. The advertisement was widely published, 
both in papers that will publish anything that will 
pay, and in other journals that are more careful as 
to what they print. The “ Sunday School Times,” 
Philadelphia, Pa., in its issue for Dec. 17th last, 
apologizes for having published the advertisement. 
It says: “But subsequent personal examination 
has convinced the Publisher that some of the dec¬ 
larations in the advertisement are unqualifiedly 
false, and that, however, good ‘ Ozone ’ may be as 
a preserver, the statements of its Cincinnati adver¬ 
tisers concerning it are not worthy of confidence.” 
The “S. S. Times” goes even further in making 
amends. It says that if any of its subscribers have 
been led to purchasing sample packages, and are 
dissatisfied with the results : “Our Publisher will, 
upon their application, refund to them the money 
they have paid out for such packages.” That is 
honorable at least. If, instead of promptly reject¬ 
ing this advertisement, our own publishers hadinad- 
verdently admitted it, they would doubtless do as 
the “S. S. Times” proposes to do. Will the pub¬ 
lishers of other respectable journals who have is¬ 
sued the advertisement, do the same now ? Will 
this lesson lead them to be more guarded in the 
future ? We hear that the advertising agency that 
placed this pernicious advertisement has recently 
failed. We hope that we have heard the last of 
Ozone. 
Patents, Patent Solicitors, and Dealers in 
Patents. 
“The King Fortuue Maker.” 
A concern in Cincinnati, Ohio, advertises “ Ozone, 
a new process for preserving all perishable articles, 
animal and vegetable, from fermentation and putre¬ 
faction, retaining their odor and flavor.” Eggs, 
fresh meats, butter, fruit, and vegetables, are 
among the things enumerated, and it is stated that 
“there is nothing that Ozone will not preserve.” 
It is claimed that “ a fortune awaits any man who 
secures control of Ozone in any township .or 
county.” The advertisement shows : 
“How to Secure a Fortune with Ozone,” 
which is, in brief, to buy “a test package of 
Ozone ” for $2.00, and try it on eggs or other perish¬ 
able articles, and then to buy “an exclusive county 
or township privilege.” This very attractive ad¬ 
vertisement has appeared in a great many papers, 
and it may be looked at from two points of view. 
Ozone is Advertised for Sale ) 
not only in packages, but “ exclusive rights ” are 
offered to purchasers. Is the article offered, that 
which is known to science as Ozone ? or is the name 
of a not thoroughly understood chemical substance 
or agent made use of to sell an entirely different 
thing ? In an article elsewhere, entitled “ What is 
Ozone ? ” we have endeavored to show in brief the 
important characters of Ozone. It will be seen that 
Ozone is only known as a gas, and can not be sold 
in packages. The very offer to sell “ a test package 
of Ozone” is of itself an absurdity. Had the 
venders been sharp enough to offer packages of 
materials for making Ozone, they would not have 
shown the folly of their claim. We are quite sure 
that, whatever these people offer, what they sell 
Is not Ozone, 
as that has never yet been produced in an isolated 
form : it is only known as a gas mixed with oxygen 
It is a matter of regret that business at the Patent 
Office at Washington is not so simplified that any 
citizen of the United States can deal directly with 
it, and himself take out a patent on his own inven¬ 
tion. At present it is necessary to employ a Patent 
Solicitor or Patent Lawyer to do the business. A 
few years ago we asked the then Commissioner of 
Patents, why an inventor could not do business di¬ 
rectly with the office. He replied that while he 
would give an inventor every facility in so doing, 
he would not advise the attempt, as the Patent 
Laws, which he had no hand in making, were so 
intricate and in such confusion, as to require an 
expert to avoid mistakes which might invalidate a 
patent. As the Patent Office is probably the only 
department of the Government that is carried on at 
a profit, why can it not itself employ the needed 
legal help ? This ought to be done, and we ask the 
present Congress to take action in this direction. 
Why can not the laws be so simplified that any one 
can understand them ? But we must take things 
as we find them, and as Solicitors must be employ¬ 
ed, every inventor should endeavor to 
Employ only those who are Trustworthy. 
Several complaints have been received of one 
Barritt, in New York City, as taking money and 
giving no service in return. It would appear that 
others besides ourselves have had complaints of 
him, as his name is honored by a place in the 
Official Fraud List. This Barritt proposes to obtain 
patents in Canada, but the “ N. Y. Weekly Sun ” 
some time siuce gave an official note from the 
Deputy Commissioner of Patents at Ottawa, Cana¬ 
da, that “ the gentleman does not transact any busi¬ 
ness with this office,” and adds: “We have fre¬ 
quent complaints from citizens of the United States 
who have paid him money to obtain patents in 
