FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 19 



It is indeed true 3 that many Farmers in Greatbritain 

 brew their own strongbeer ; but there is but little of that 

 country where apple- orchards are natural, either to the soil 

 or the climate ; and hence, as a substitute for cider, this 

 drink has been resorted to. It is an expensive liquor for 

 the Farmer to make much use of, as it requires four 

 bushels of malt to make a barrel, even of common ale, and 

 eight, for a barrel of beer of the strongest kind. 



BEES. Every hive must have its Queenbee; and if she 

 be taken away, and cannot be replaced by another, or a new 

 one brought forth, in the manner hereafter to be mentioned, 

 the Swarm soon quit their labors and become extinct. The 

 Queenbee is the Mother of the whole 5 as well of the suc- 

 ceeding Queens, as of the working Bees, which are much 

 the most numerous in every hive, and of the Males, or 

 Drones, which do not work. The eggs for each kind are 

 laid in cells particularly intended for their reception. The 

 Queen, or Mother, is about a fourth larger than the Work- 

 ers, and an eighth larger than the Drones : She has a 

 much larger and longer belly, and is of a darker color, than 

 the rest. 



The only apparent use for the Males is for impregnating 

 the Queen ; and yet but one out of the whole performs this 

 office. On some fine warm day, early in Summer, she 

 leaves the hive for this purpose, mounts out of sight in 

 the air, is gone some considerable time, and, if successful 

 in accomplishing the purpose of her flight, returns with 

 evident marks of impregnation; the genitals of the Male 

 being left in her. 



When the Males are no longer of use, for the purpose 

 of impregnation, or rather in the month of August, they 

 are fallen upon by the Workers, dispatched by their stings, 

 and thrown out of the hive. 



If the Queen is not impregnated, until after the expira- 

 tion of twenty days from the time when she first comes 

 from her cell, she will produce no other eggs than those 

 for Drones all her life ; and she will begin to lay in the 

 cells intended for them in forty-six hours after her impreg- 

 nation. 



But, if impregnated before she is twenty days out of her 

 cell; then, in forty-six hours thereafter, she commences 

 laying eggs successively for the young Queens, and for the 

 Workers, in the cells intended for them respectively, and 

 at the rate of about two hundred a day, for about eleven of 

 the succeeding months; when she commences laying eggs 

 for Drones, in the cells intended for them. 



The cells for bringing forth the Workers, and the 

 Drones, are the hexagonal boles of the combs. These are 



