MR. NOVICE & CO:—Arn’t we greenies glad that we settled down on _our
own Standard_ frame before you _decreed_ something that one must
print the dimensions with chalk over his work bench lest he forget
it. _We_ dislike the everlasting vulgar fractions and odd and even
numbers about the size of frames. _We_ adopted 12 inches inside of
frame—144 square inches of emptiness—until filled with comb. Now any
body can remember this size—and every one can build outside their
frames just what kind of hive he pleases. It is just the nicest
frame for taking in one hand, and for turning this way and that way
for inspection and work, and also for leaving one hand to do
something else, and we do find plenty for the free hand to do—all it
_can_ do sometimes. Then for shipping, why they are just the nicest
and handiest frames ever made, and for housing too, hives of 10
frames pack away like brick in a wall. So you see we are not a bit
sorry for ourselves—and we are so glad to have the ladies with us,
we have Mrs. Tupper who is a representative character and carries
the women with her in this matter. Of course we are sorry your
wind-mill won’t work for us in the wood work of our hives at the
“Standard prices” but we can’t be driven by wind into abandoning our
12×12—“On this firm rock etc.” Why our hives are so jealous they
won’t let one frame of the Factory of the Wind, enter their yard
now—we have no doubt that to set down one of your vulgar fraction
and odd number frame hives would raise a mighty buzz and set all the
12 inches on a revolution against any such vulgar innovation. By the
way we have got a hive “the likes on’t you never did see.” We took
the Alley hive—paid the right to it too—and now we have some Alley,
and some Quinby, and some of our own whims, and it is going to be
just the nicest and handiest of a’ the bee gums that can be found in
Patentdom or out of it. May be we’ll tell you what it is some day—if
you want us to bother you.
_We_—that is we greenies—use the Isham honey box—the nicest,
staunchest, and handiest honey box _we_ ever saw. We know him he
lives round here, he _has_ a patent on his box—we saw his papers,
all reg’lar—he deserves them too—has lately sold three counties to
an apiarian who has seen a good many such affairs, and sold for a
handsome sum. If you saw it, you would want a State at least—the
_work_ would suit your taste.
Now to finish all this rigmarole and to convince you that we are
your friend, tho’ we expect you will blow us with a stiff breeze, we
say—we frankly confess, that we have tried your tin corners for
frames, after using wooden ones, and we don’t want to see in our
hives another frame that has not those same tin corners. And our
_green_ advice to all beginners is, don’t make a single frame till
you get these corners. We shall get rid of all our frames which have
not these corners just as fast as we can. We have tried several
hundred of them and now we send our orders for 6500 more _with the
cash_, as evidence that we mean what we say.