PATENT AND NON-PATENT HIVES, BEE JOURNALS, ETC. I HAVE learned from bitter experience, as has nearly every one, who has kept bees for any length of time, the dishonesty, and utter disregard for truth, of a class of speculators who prey upon the unsuspecting bee-keeper. Patent hives--the great majority of them--are a curse and a hindrance to successful and profitable bee keeping. I have no time to describe the multitude of worthless patent hives, and the many tricks and swindles of the venders of the same, but I advise every bee keeper to consult his own interests, and have nothing to do with them. Ninety-nine out of every hundred are a swindle. I have tested their merits and know whereof I affirm. The More-patent hives against which I wish to caution the bee-keeper, and particularly the beginner, are those offered by A. J. Root, publisher of "Gleanings in Bee Culture." Root makes the "Gleanings" the medium for advertising and palming off upon the public his wares. Don't invest in his trash if you wish to keep bees with profit. I am sorry to find that many of the bee journals and bee-keepers' associations, are conducted on prejudiced and selfish motives, and in the interest of some individual, or company of men, for the sole purpose of making money from the sale of some particular hive or fixture, without regard to merit, or value to the practical bee-keeper. All honest discussion, with a view to bring out facts and figures to guide the inexperienced bee-keeper in his labors, I am sorry to say, is suppressed. The bee journals should be the disseminators of _useful_ knowledge among bee-keepers. I am sorry to find the reverse true with many of them. After a thorough investigation, I feel it my duty to advise bee-keepers, and those contemplating bee-keeping, _not to take all for granted that they read in the bee journals_, for if you do, you will be very likely to soon find yourself robbed of your money, and your bees ruined. Very many who write for the bee journals with high sounding words, claiming to be adepts in bee culture, have really no _practical_ knowledge of the nature and habits of bees. We have supported a host of speculators in our business, for a long time; the object of this class has ever been, how best to secure our hard earnings, and with no desire or effort to aid in rendering bee keeping more profitable and desirable. The country is full of this class, and they always combine to crush out real merit in anything pertaining to bee culture, brought before the public by individual bee-keepers, who are laboring to advance the cause by giving their experiences, gained from hard every-day labor among bees.