:i58 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 2, 1826. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1826. 



by burying them deep through the winter, which 

 do not coincide with those expressed by Mr Bart- 

 LETT, and published page •"WJ. We shall not at- 

 tempt to decide on a question which can only be 

 determined by experiments. Neither Veritas nor 

 Mr B. suggest that they persojialb/ made or wit- 



BEES. 



JIu Fessenpen — I noticed a communication in 

 the New Englind Farmer of the 5th of May, on nessed any trials for preserving bees by burying 

 the preservation of Bees, by a " Young Inquirer." | them in the ground. Mr B. however gives some 

 He wishes to ascertain the practicability of " bury- ; testimony in favour of the possibility of preserving 

 ing bees to the depth of three or four feet, to com- bees by the method referred to ; and says, '• I have 

 bine the preservation of their honey with the pres- i no doubt of its correctness." Veritas observea " I 

 crvation of their lives." 'am not positive [that they cannot be preserved by 



As this inquiry is conceived in humanity, I shall i that method] from any exj)eriment of the kind." 

 10 the same spirit reply to your correspondent, — He likewise says, "to insure the preservation of 

 hoping it may have so much influence as to prevent bees with the preservation of the honey, one thing 

 an experiment of this kind. I think it impossible is certainly necessary, that of their being in a tor- 

 that a swarm of bees buried in the earth three cr pid state. Now to effect this, they must be placed 

 four feet, could survive the winter. in an atmosphere many degrees (I should say 30) 



I am not positive from any experiment of the kind ' below the freezing point." We are not certain, 

 — my opinion is founded on certain facts : — { however, that a less degree of cold may not render 



To insure the preservation of the bees with the bees, (if not quite torpid) at least so chilled and 

 preservation of the honey, one thing is certainly ' benumbed, that they will consume but little food, 

 necessary — that of their being in a torpid state, without depriving them of life. If the inside of 

 Now to effect this, they must be placed in an at- ! their hives could be kept uniformly at 32 degrees, 

 niosphere many degrees (I should think 30) below (the point at which water freezes) we doubt wheth- 

 the freezing point, — otherwise they will continue er they would consume much food ; perhaps they 

 to feed, and of course exhaust their store of provi- would soon cease to exist. The larger the swarm 

 eion. Let any man of common sense determine . the greater the heat which is developed by the vi- 

 whether a situation in the earth four feet below i tal principle, and intense cold would be necessary 

 the surface, is not many degrees above the freez- I to render torpid a populous swarm, in a tight wood- 

 ing point. I have repeatedly rapped on my hives ' en or straw hive. We know that Hies become tor- 

 in the winter, when the atmosphere was many de- | pid, or nearly so, in autumn, in a room where wa- 

 grees below the freezing point, and the alarm was ' ter would hardly freeze, and resume their original 

 no sooner made than it was answered by hundreds, I activity if the room is warmed. If we could ascer- 

 that animation had not forsaken them. tain the precise temjierature at which hoes may 



That a free circulating atmosphere is necessary be rendered inactive without destroying them, and 

 to them, I infer from this fact, that scores of swarms 1 introduce them to an atmosphere of that tempera- 

 iiave been lost from their being casually buried by ture, we might, perhaps, keep them without food 

 a driving snow storm — " the bees were stifled," to for some months. There are, however, various 

 use the language of apiarians. I opinions on this sniiject. 



That a damp air is prejudicial, I have abundant j x)r James Howison, in a paper published in the 



at 4 o'clock on Sunday morning the Senate ad- 

 journed. 



House, May 19. The resolution offered yester- 

 day by Mr Everett, on the subject of American 

 claims on foreign nations, was taken up and agreed 

 to. 



Mnj 20. The House agreed to a resolution re- 

 questing information from the President touching 

 the impressment of American seamen by British 

 or other foreign vessels. — The House agreed to 

 recede from its disagreement to the bill for the re- 

 lief of James Monroe ; and in effect passed the bill 

 as amended, allowing Mr Monroe .921>,000. — The 

 House adjourned, to meet on the first Monday of 

 December next. 



MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE. 



On the 31st ult. the Legislature of this State con- 

 vened. In the Senate John Mills was chosen Presi- 

 dent, Paul Willard, Clerk, and John Farric, jun. 

 Assistant Clerk. 



In the House, William C. Jarvis was chosen 

 speaker, by an unanimous vote, and Pelham C. 

 Warren, Clerk. 



Soon after 12 o'clock, the members of the Le- 

 gislature, preceded by the Governor and Council, 

 and escorted by the Independent Cadets, Lieut. 

 Col. Baker, proceeded in procession to the Old 

 South Church, where the annual Election Sermon 

 was delivered by the Rev. Mr Dewey, of New 

 Bedford. 



evidence. In one instance, I recollect putting a 

 fine swarm into a new hive which was made of 

 porous wood, — a moist atmosphere succeeded and 



Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, 

 says, " Bees are evidently natives of a warm cli- 

 mate, a high temperature being absolutely neces- 



BOSTON SCHOOLS. 



By official returns recently made, this city con- 

 tains 10,23ti pupils, of which 7044 are in public, 

 and ;Wi>2 in private schools. Number of schools 

 •215 — annual expense .■?! 1.52,722 — of which individ- 

 uals pay $55,417, exclusive of large sum? annually 

 espemied in the erection and repairs of school 

 houses. 



five in hollow trees during the severe winters of 

 Russia and America, must depend on the heat pro- 

 duced from the size of the great swarms which in- 

 habit these abodes. From my own observation, 

 the liives which arc best covered during winter, 

 always prosper most the following summer." In 



the swarm left the hive the first pleasant day after, ' sa^ry to their existence; and their continuing to 

 and upon examining the hive it was found very 

 damp witliin, which appeared to be the cause of 

 the desertion, as they had made much comb during 

 their short stay. In another instance I had occa- 

 sion to move a hive from a shieMed situation to one 

 exposed to the east ; a cold N. E. storm succeed- 

 ed, and the consequence was, that great numbers g^^^n, this is a question which can only be decided 

 of them were found dead after the storm was over. ^ by experiments ; and should this uieet the eye of 



A swarm buried in the earth must imbibe moist- ^ ^^y pers^n^ „-l,o h,-,s ^nsdc any trills of the above 

 uro in abundance— sufficient, I should think, to kill; njjje of preserving this valuable insect, he will 

 any living thing that was not prepared by the God benefit the public, and confer a favour on us by 

 of Nature for such an interment. ; communicating the modes and results of his pro- 



Whopvor has watched the habits of Bjcs will ceedin^s. 

 agree witii me, that they are the most delicate of 

 the insect tiibe. I have witnessed many experi- 

 ments for the preservation of bees through the win- 

 ter ; such as pliicing them in cellars, barns, &c. 

 but the result proved to my satisfaction, that all 

 interference, however liumane, is attended with 

 consequences fatal to theiu. 



If the " old ac<iuaintance" who .suggests the plan 

 of interment, has a swarm of bees that he designs 

 to take up the cnsuiHg t'lll, let him bur;/ itfourj'eet 

 rffft/), and favour the public withf'the rCsuU. 



Taunton, May 15, Ici'JIi. \ i;RlTAS. 



Remarks hi/ the Editor. — Our reailers will per- 

 ceive that our correspondent " Veritas'' entertains 

 opinions on the practicability of preserving bees 



CONGRESSIONAL. 



Sf!nate, May 18. The bill for the preservation 

 and repair of the Cumberland Road was the prin- 

 cipal topic of discussion in both Houses of Con- 

 gress this day. It involves the constitutional ques- 

 tion of the power of Congress to appropriate mon- 

 ey for internal improvements. The question was 

 decided in favor of said power in both Houses. In 

 the Senate the yeas were 23, nays 15: In tlic 

 House the yeas were 92, nays 62. 



M'vj 20. The Vice President announced that 

 he slioulil rctir-; from the chair ; and Uic Hon. Na- 

 tlianiel Macon, after 17 ballots, was chosen Presi- 

 dent fro tempore. Various bills were passed, and 



Fire in C'harlestoivn. — The large store occupied 

 by Messrs Jacob & Charles Foster, cabinet makers, 

 with seven or eight smaller buildings, including 

 three dwelling houses owned by Messrs. Tufls, 

 Proctor and Crowninshield, was destroyed by fire 

 Wednesday afternoon in Charlestown. These 

 buildings were in the vicinity of the Rev. Mr Fay's 

 meeting-house, which took fire two or three times 

 on the roof, but was preserved from destruction by 

 the well directed efforts of the enginemen. A 

 large quantity of valuable furniture and unwrought 

 stock, belonging to the first named gentleman, was 

 entirely destroyed. The fire is supposed to have 

 originated from the firing of India crackers among 

 the shavings. 



INSTINCT OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 



Dr. Hancock has lately published in London, a 

 very entertaining as well as instructive book, on 

 the subject of Instinct. In showing the instinct 

 of plants, he adduces the following instance, which 

 has proliably been observed by many persons. 



He says, that if a vessel of water is placed with- 

 in six inches of a growing cucumber, that, in 

 twenty-four hours time, the cucumber will alter 

 the direction of its branches, and not stop till it 

 comes into contact with the water. That if a 

 pole is placed at a considerable distance from an 

 unsupported vine, the branches of which are pro- 

 ceeding in a contrary direction from that towards 

 the pole, the vine will, in a short time, alter its 

 course, and not .stop till it clings round the pola. 

 But the same vine will carefully avoid cttachiog 



