May 7 , 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
375 
this in many cases is not worth the trouble. The next best thing 
is to add young bees till it acts on the defensive. What we wish 
to fnlly impress on bee-keepers is to avoid the teachings of those 
who advise smearing the robbed hive with carbolic acid. To 
do so is courting failure. It turns the bees from the point of 
defence, and allows the marauding bees to enter without resent¬ 
ment, and w'ill pass through entrances heavily smeared with 
carbolic acid for the coveted sweets within. We have lessened the 
robbing greatly by smearing the entrance and landing board of the 
robbing hive, but only made matters worse when the robbed hive 
was smeared. 
Bee Escapes. 
Contrivances for emptying supers of bees have been receiving 
much attention of late from Americans and bee-keepers of this 
country. I think it was the late Rev. Mr. Taylor that was the 
inventor of this “ bee trap,” as it was then called, and was 
described in the “ Cottage Gardener” and “Bee-keeping for the 
Many ” about thirty years ago, or perhaps more. I am writing 
from memory. Of the different contrivances I have seen and tried, 
none is superior to the original ones ; but many were sent out 
that had the trap in one piece, so that when bees passed out others 
went in. 
The proper form was to cut the talc or other transparent material 
into narrow strips, a little less than quarter-inch wide. These 
were either hinged to a wire transverse to the pieces of talc, or 
gummed to a ribbon ; the former plan was the best. A bevelled 
doorway, cut out of an inch board the width of the trap, completed 
the arrangement. The super stood upon the board, and the door¬ 
way was cut from about IJ inch down to nothing in the bottom 
edge, and the trap placed in this the bees soon left the super, and 
none could enter. 
But neither it nor any other effects the emptying of supers of 
bees so satisfactorily nor so quickly as the carbolicised paper. When 
properly performed a few seconds suffice to finish the operation ; 
consequently, there are no combs broken by the bees, as are some¬ 
times apt to be when escapes are used. 
“ The Honey Bee.” 
My opinion is asked respecting the above work. I have not 
seen it, but have heard the plates are good, and I think the text 
compiled from such high authorities should also be good, although 
it may not be faultless. I understand that he mentions that 
stimulating bees is the cause of queens failing sooner than other¬ 
wise. Stimulative feeding certainly exhausts the queen both in 
egg-laying and constitution, and is pi'oductive of much evil in the 
hive, and it will be well if the warning note be taken, although it 
is not intended as one. It states that it is the spermatheca that 
becomes exhausted, but in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred 
exhausted queens I have examined, the ovaries and not the 
spermatheca were exhausted. The review also states that “care 
has been taken when treating of discoveries to give the discoverer 
the full credit of his work.” If this is new in nee literature, and 
worth purchasing on that account. 
Patent Rights. 
I beg to thank “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper ” for the valuable 
information he has given. Some of it is just what I expected. I 
never could understand why patents could either be sought for 
or granted for contrivances that little intelligence could conceive^ 
as is the case with many things connected with bee appliances, 
some of them being but the common arts of the trade. A great 
fuss was made in America about the invention of the one-piece 
sections ; one-piece supers and one-piece boxes have been made in 
this country from time immemorial. I have made them for forty 
years, and have still the patterns of some in my workshop. As 
regards Meadows’ claim to protection I cannot see he has the 
slightest, and I am prepared if required to defend any action that 
he might think of commencing. 
The fundamental principles of bee-keeping have in many cases 
been entirely ignored under the regime of modern bee-keepers, 
who are but gradually beginning to grasp what they ought to have 
taken a firm grip of at the commencement of their career. 
Happily self-interest has had its day, and bee-keepers are now 
seeing that they have been misled, and are now striking out for 
themselves into paths and appliances more consistent with and for 
bee-keeping than they were forced to adopt.—A L.\naiiksiiire. 
Bee-keeper. 
PATENT RIGHTS. 
Our friend, “A Hallamshire Bee-keeper,” is not quite correct in hi's 
explanation of the Patent Laws. The public do not “ patent things 
which should be registered as designs, and register things that should be 
patented,” for the simple reason that they cannot; the Office looks after 
that. The Comptroller cannot refuse an application for a patent for 
anything so long as it is not contra honos mores —that is, not against 
good morals, and anything can practically be patented whether it is 
useful or not, provided the stamp duties are paid. The “ validity ” of 
the patent rests with the Courts—that is, it does not follow because the 
Great Seal has been appended to a specification that the “ inventor ” 
has a monopoly in his invention. That is a matter to be tested. The 
“ Hallamshire Bee-keeper ” is altogether wrong about Bell, Edison, and 
Hughes. Bell’s telephone in its original form is known as the “ English 
Mechanic ” telephone, because a description of it was published in that 
paper before the patent was granted in this country ; Edison claims the 
carbon transmitter, and those who own that patent have succeeded in 
establishing their point; but it is wrong to say that “ subsequently ” 
Professor Hughes invented the microphone, and that “ unfortunately 
for himself ” he did not patent it. Professor Hughes never had any 
intention of patenting his microphone, which in its simplest form was 
merely three wire nails (one laid across the others). He certainly was 
not “subsequent,” but rather preceded Edison’s patent, and Edison 
accused Preece of informing Hughes, as can be seen by reference to 
correspondence in the English Mechanic. 
The “ Hallamshire Bee-keeper ” is also wrong when he says that 
“ Any person can get a valid patent.” He must omit the word “ valid,” 
the validity being entirely a matter for the Law Courts. To put it 
briefly a patent is simply a register that So-and-so invented, or said he 
invented, such and such a thing, and until his claim is upset in a court 
of law it holds good ; but letters patent do not do more than offer 
proof that he claimed the invention, and obtained a patent on his specifi¬ 
cation, the wording of which, especially the claim, is of great import¬ 
ance, as in the very instance cited of the Edison telephone, which 
turned entirely on the question as to what is a “ carbon contact.” The- 
advantage of taking oi^t a patent is just this, that it is a prima fade 
evidence of prior invention, and that the onus of proof to the contrary 
lies on the infringer.— Samuel Ray, Algernon Road, Hendon, N, IF, 
Bees and Bee Plants.— The busy bees have worked their way 
into the good graces of the masses, and their sweet product is welcome 
upon the table everywhere. The apiary is not unknown to many coun¬ 
ties of the older States, and in many townships there are several. The 
subject is so important that the leading farm journals devote space, 
regularly to the subject. If all this is so it seems about time to begin 
to consider the honey crop as one to be planned for as much as- for- 
Sorghum or Maple sugar, for Maple orchards planted for tapping are not. 
rare nowadays. Some plants are pre-eminently honey or nectar producers, 
and it may be possible to grow these as a crop for the sake of furnishing, 
a pasture for the bees. Professor Cook claims that the greatest hin-- 
drance to bee-keeping is not “ winter killing ” or “ foul brood,” but lack 
of nectar. It is possible to depend upon wild flowers for a large share 
of the crop, and provide a pasture at the times wffien there would other¬ 
wise be dearth of nectar. There is a species of Cleone known as the 
Rocky Mountain bee plant that has been tested somewhat. Then there 
is the Chapman honey plant (Echinops). A Mint (Melissa) has also been 
employed. The right plant may not yet have been found. Those 
experimenting in the apiary are doing a good work along many lines,, 
and in time the bee pasture will be a thing to be admired for its beauty) 
and its profit as well.— (^American Agriculturist.') 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Messrs. Messenger & Co., Loughborough.— Illustrated Catalogue ojU 
Horticultural Buildings and Heating Apparatus. 
Messrs. Hogg ck Wood, Coldstream, N.B.— List of Farm Seeds. 
Auguste Ray G. Boucher, 101, Avenue d’ltalic, Paris.— General 
Fruit Catalogue. 
