PATENTS RELATING TO BEE CULTURE 
653 
it to sell at a high price. The extracted 
honey is bought by bakers, and the large 
quantity obtained partly atones for the 
quality. 
PASTURAGE. — See Artificial Pas¬ 
turage. 
PATENTS RELATING TO BEE CUL¬ 
TURE. — Under the head of Inventions 
Relating to Bee Culture is given a list 
of all the useful ideas and inventions, pat¬ 
ented or otherwise, that have been accepted 
by beekeepers. It is but fair to state that 
there is in use today hardly a hive of value 
that is covered by an unexpired patent. 
The field of apicultural invention has been 
so thoroly covered by some 3,000 patents 
on file in the Patent Office that it is very 
difficult to secure a patent on any hive or 
bee-appliance today that will have claims 
of any value. Even if the patent is granted, 
the claims are generally so loosely drawn, 
and so complicated to avoid conflicting 
with other patents, that it is usually worth¬ 
less. As already pointed out at the close 
of the article on inventions, no patent 
granted today on beehives or bee-feeders 
will be worth anything to the inventor. 
The unpatented hive has so far reached the 
point of utility and perfection that Jit 
would be practically impossible to make 
any improvements; and the improvements, 
if any, would not be fundamental. 
When the field was wide open, as in the 
days of Langstroth, it was possible to 
secure fundamental patents; but even with 
a fundamental patent Langstroth was 
robbed of the fruits of his brain, and died 
almost penniless, notwithstanding the fact 
that his invention was so useful that it was 
accepted, at the time of his death, practi¬ 
cally thruout the whole known world, but 
long years after his patent of 1852 had 
expired. 
In the early days of bee culture the 
country was full of patent-right venders 
who sold county or state rights. Some of 
these sharks reaped a harvest in selling 
moth-proof hives. Practically all of these 
patent-right venders sold useless contrap¬ 
tions, and most of them were men without 
principle—so much so that the business 
of selling out county and state rights has 
become of such ill repute that it has been 
discontinued. 
PEDDLING HONEY. — See Honey¬ 
peddling; also Extracted Honey. 
PENNYROYAL (Satureja rigida ). — 
Perennial shrubby plants, 2 to 3 feet tall, 
growing on sandy barrens and pine lands 
thruout southern Florida; but it is of little 
value to the beekeeper north of Lake Apop¬ 
ka. The stems branch diffusely and bear 
head-like clusters of light purple, 2-lipped 
flowers. It is abundant in the southwest¬ 
ern part of the State below Tampa on the 
west coast, and near Stewart on the east 
side. The honey flow comes in January, at 
a time unfortunately when the colonies in 
this section are usually weak, but the plant 
does not cease entirely to bloom until 
March. During the flow colonies build up 
very rapidly and fill the hives with stores. 
While good crops have been obtained three 
years in succession, rainy weather is very 
likely to interfere with the flow. 
The honey is light colored and has a 
minty flavor and odor. The aromatic taste 
might not be agreeable to everyone, but 
only a small quantity of the honey is placed 
on the market. A beekeeper at Hansford 
writes under date of Jan. 17: “I examined 
15 colonies yesterday and found them full 
of bees, with from 4 to 6 frames of brood 
in each hive and an average of 50 pounds 
of surplus in the supers. Pennyroyal is 
now just at its best and has yet 60 days to 
yield. Don’t call it erratic; this is the 
third season 1 have secured a surplus.” See 
Purple-flowered Mint. 
PEPPERBUSH (Clethra alnifolia ). — 
Sweet pepperbush. White alder. A shrub 
5 to 10 feet tall, with wedge-shaped, sharp¬ 
ly toothed leaves and numerous racemes, 
or oblong clusters, of very fragrant white 
flowers. It is common in swamps and wet 
woodlands from Maine to Florida near the 
coast. A surplus of honey from this shrub 
has been reported in southeastern Massa¬ 
chusetts, Rhode Island, and southeastern 
Georgia. In New England the comb honey 
is white; the extracted honey is tinged with 
yellow, and has a fine slightly peculiar fla¬ 
vor suggestive of the spicy fragrance of 
the flowers. The honey often fills with 
bubbles, which may force off the cappings 
if it is taken from the supers too early; but 
it finally ripens if left in the hive. It is 
