12 



S{)e iarmer's iUontl)ln llisitor. 



preimied, wlieu given in proper lime, and in siif- 

 fii-ieiit qiianlity. 



Covirit.g the Hives. — Bees are evidenlly natives 

 of a uarni cliiiiate, a liij:!) tein|jerature biMnjrali- 

 solii;ely necessary to llieir existence; anil itieir 

 continiiin;;' to live in Imllow trees iliuiiif; tlie se- 

 vere winters of Russia and America ninst depend 

 on the heat proilnceil from ihc j^'reat size of the 

 swarms which inliahit these aiiodes. From my 

 own ol)servation, the hives which are hest cov- 

 ered dnring winter, always prosper most the th\- 

 lowing Slimmer. In conserpience, nhont the crni 

 of iiarvest, I ndd to the thin coverine of straw 

 put on the hives at the lime of swarmine, a thicU 

 coat, and slnit tip the ajjerture thrnnuh wliich the 

 hces entered, so that only one can pass at n time. 

 Indeed, as a very small portion of air is necessa- 

 ry for bees in nlieir torpid state, it were heller, 

 diirinjt severe frosts, to he entirely shut up, as 

 nnmbeis of them are often lost (i'om heiii,? en- 

 ticed to quit the hive by the sunshine of a winter 

 ■ day. It will, however, be proper at times to re- 

 move, by a crooked wire or similar instnnnenl, 

 tiie dead bees and other filth, which the living at 

 this season are unable to perform of themselves. 

 To hives whose stock of honey was sufficient 

 for their maintenance, or those to which a jn-oper 

 quantity of sugar had been tiiven forll»E purpose,, 

 no futlier Mtention will be itecessary, milil the 

 breeding season arrives. This, in warm situa- 

 tions, generally takes place abnitt the beginning 

 of May, and in cold about a month after. 



Owners of hives are often astonislied, that at 

 this advanced season, when their bees had, for 

 weeks preceding, [uit on the most promising ap- 

 pearance, alter a few days rain, they became so 

 weak and sickly as to be unable to leave the hive, 

 imd cotuiuue declining until they at last die. 



F>om paying attention In this snbjeci, I am 

 convineed thiit the cause is as follows. The 

 Toififg bees, for a sliort time previous to their 

 leaving their cells, an^^l some time after, require 

 fieing fed with the same regiihirity that young 

 Wrds are by their parents; and if thest'ire in the 

 hive be exhausted, and the weather such as not 

 to admit of the working bees going abroad to 

 collect food in sufHcient rpianlity for themselves 

 ."ind their brood, the powerful principle of affec- 

 tion for their young, coinpels them to part with 

 what is not enongii iiir tl«ir support, at the ex- 

 pense of their own lives. 



To prevent such accidenl.s, I make it a rule, 

 that if dming the bj'ee4ingsea«)n, it rain fortwo 

 sixfessive days, to feed all the bees indiscrimi- 

 nrjteiy, as it wnnld be difficult to ascertain those 

 »;i!ly who reipiire if. 



Of SiDurming. — For severrd years past, my 

 hives have uiiifiiriTiiy sent forth thair first swarms 

 dming the second week in July, from which il 

 .tppears, that early or late swarming !")i Ihs same 

 siiuations is not .-^o much regulated by good or 

 iMid seasons, as might have been expected. Near 

 the sea,.lhis will of course take place some weeks 

 earlier. 



The first swarming is so long preeeired by the 

 .^!Ipearance of drones, anil hanging out of work- 

 ing bees, timt if the time of their leaving the hive 

 vs- not observed, it must be owing to want of care. 

 Tlie signs of the second are hovvcvfr more equiv- 

 ocal, the most certain being that of the qneeii, a 

 diiy or two beiTn-e swarniing, at intervals of n few 

 liiinntos, giving out a rsonnd a good deal resem- 

 bling that of u cricket. It t^requeutly ha|ipens, 

 ihiit the swann will leave the old hive and return 

 again several time.";, which is alwaysowing to the 

 queen, not having acconipgiiled them, or IVom 

 having dT<i[i))ed oil iiie gromid, being tonyoimg to 

 l7y to a distance. In such cases, I have seen her 

 finmil near to the old hive, and on being taken 

 ap and pluced in the new one, the swarm instant- 

 ly settled. 



Gooselierry or currant bu^llcs slionid be plant- 

 r;d at a short distance from the hives, for llie bees 

 5o swarm upon, as by attending to this I have not 

 iost II swarm, by straying, for several year.s. This, 

 t .TM), however, (!onvini'ed, ih'iieiuls much on the 

 si'itiwe oftho lues which I'mii: tlie stock. When 

 a, lave yields more than two swiirm.s, these should 

 unifmHidy b(! joined to others that ,-n'e weak, as 

 iVoiii the hueiiess of ihe season, and drtliriency in 

 iivimber, they will otherwise perish. This jmic- 

 lion is eiir^ly formed, by inverting at night the 

 hive ill whi/.-l; they ine, and phning over il the 

 oneyun intciid tliein to enter. Tliey soon ascend, 

 i-nd app.'n'O.miy with i-.,) ojiposiiion from the for- 



mer possessors, as I have never observed fighting 

 to be a consequence. 



It being very mdversally believed, that two 

 queens caiiuot live logethe'r in the same hive, I 

 have for several days after "this tinced junction, 

 setnched for the murdered queen, but never with 

 success. Should the weather, for snuie days af- 

 ter swarming, he untiivorable liir the bees goiu" 

 out, they nmst he fed with care until it clears up, 

 otherwise the yoimg swarm will run a great risk 

 of dying. 



Method of obtaining the Honey without hilling the 

 Hees. — ^The Society will see, from the peculiar 

 structure of the hive, with which I accomplish 

 this object, that I was under the necessity of 

 making it of wood, in [ilace of straw, wliich, for 

 the/easons before given, I should have preferred. 



It consists of two distinct hexagons, one placed 

 above the otiier. The under is formed of six 

 t)anes of half-inch deal, each measuring ten 

 inches in width, and eight in depth, and covereil 

 with a thin lioard at the top. This forms .t box 

 that will coiiiain two pecks measure of corn, and 

 wliich, I consider, as sufficient fiir the largest 

 swarm. This is intended for the breeding as well 

 as winter habitation of the bees. The upper is 

 of the same dimensions and form as the under 

 at bottom, but in order to give it a conical shape, 

 for the more conveniently fixing thereon a coat 

 of straw, the panes at top are only five inches 

 wide, which is also covered by a piece of board. 

 The upper box has a moulding fixed to its under 

 part, which projects about a quarter of ai> inch, 

 and so exactly emliraces the upper part of the 

 lower box, as to join these two firmly to^Hther. 

 In the deal which forms the top of the lower box, 

 are cut four oval holes, each one inch wide, and 

 two inches long, through H hich the bees pass 

 into the upper. This communication, when not 

 wanted, is shut by a board, w hich moves on a nail 

 in its centre. The sma'd pane of glass in the ton 



admits of seeing the progress 

 "it 



of the ii[i|)er liox, 



the bees have iriade in il, without separatin 



from the lower one. 



When the swarm is first put into the lower box, 

 Ihe commtmication is not made with tfie upper 

 until tiie bees have completely filled the lower 

 with combs. The communication is then to be 

 opened, when the bees will ascend, and if the 

 season is favorable and the swarm numerous, 

 they will fill it also, but not until they have com- 

 pletely stocked the lower. By removing th>-. 

 straw covering, and looking through the glass in 

 the upper box, it niay be seen what honey has 

 been collected. Should a paVt or the whole of it 

 he wauter!, it w'ill only lie necessary carefully to 

 separate the upper fi'om the lo«er box, and shnt 

 the hoard of communication. The tipper bo.x is 

 then to be removed to some distance, and the 

 bees contained in it driven ofT", on whicli they 

 will immediately join their crompaiiions in the 

 lower. So soon as the honey is taken llom the 

 box, it can be re[ilaeed, .ind if early in the se.ason, 

 tiie commnnic.itioii (3|i(;nc<l for making more 

 honey; but if late, it must be ke|>t shut until the 

 hive has swarmed next summer. If hoirey (;miil) 

 early next season is preferreil to n swarm, then 

 liin commnnicalion tiinst be ojiencd abont the be- 

 ginning of .Fnne. 



All the honey jirocnred in this way is remark- 

 able for its purity, none of the cells having been 

 ever polluted by the bntching of young bees. 



The greatest advantages, however, fiasji this 

 ir-eihod, are the early and large ssvarms — the cnn- 

 seqiience of not killing the bees. 



Coitc'ttsioii. — I shall conclude this essay with 

 same curious fiicts in the history of the bee, which 

 presented themselves to my notice during the 

 managemeiit of this singular insect. 



1st, I have frequently observed, that during 

 swarming, the t.wig or branch which supported 

 the swarm, weighing fVom five to six pounds, or 

 30,000 bees, had its snrface completely covered 

 with the first cOO or 400 that alighted upon it, 

 the remainder of ihe .s-warm having their wliole 

 weight supported by that small number, which, 

 in any other situation-,, must h.ave lorn ihem to 

 atoms. 



2dly, That light is not necessary tn-tfie iidH>rof 

 bees, or if it is, it must be in a degree incompic- 

 iiensihle to us. The passage to the abode of the 

 hiimhie bee is often a zigzag, several yards in 

 length, tlirongli wliich it appears inijiossible for 

 any light to pass. 



"dlv. Upcs are entirelv directed to tbtir food 



by smell, as appears from the following experi- 

 ment. 1 placed in a tea-kettle a cloth, through 

 which I had strained some honey, and after fixing 

 the lid, 1 put it on the ground alioul 200 yards to 

 windwarii of some hives. 1 was soon alier much 

 amused in seeing a number of bees followi'ng the 

 difFenmt windings of the scented breeze, iiiilil 

 they reached the spout of tlie kettte, wliicit they 

 immediately entered. 



4thly, Killing the drones by the worUfng bees, 

 when the breeding is at an end, is perfiirmed in 

 a singular way, and done liy one bee in general. 

 It almost unitbiinly fixes on tlie drone at the in- 

 sertion cf the left wing, when it tears «iili its 

 fangs the nmscle which mofes the wing, so that 

 when thrown from the stand of the hive, it cannot 

 again rise, and is usually killed by the cold of the 

 following night. No stinging or other violence 

 is ever used ; and although the drone is four 

 times the size of his executioner, no attempt at 

 retaliation is ever offered. 



On the Cultivation of Asparagus. 

 Br .Mi«. DA.NiEL JUDD, F. S. H. Gardener to 



CHARLES CAMPBELL, ESQ., of Edmonton. 



From the Transactions of tfie London HnrticuUural 



Society. 



Having laid before the iriemhersnf the Society 

 a sjiecimen of asparagus raised by me, and as it 

 has been pronounced by those who saw it to be 

 the finest they had ever seen, I presume that an 

 account of my method of cultivating it will not 

 be unacceptable to the Society. It 18 as fol- 

 lows: — 



I select some of the finest and etuViest heads, 

 as they make their appearance in the spring, for 

 seed; these should l->e tied to stakes during the 

 summer, to keep them upright, for the better 

 ripening of the seed ; in doing so, caie sliould be 

 taken not to drive the stake through the crown of 

 the plant, wliicli woidd injure it tor the ensuing 

 season. In autumn, when the seeds are ripe, 

 they slioidd he washed out of [he berry, if lliey 

 are to be sent to any distance ; but for home sow- 

 ing 1 prefer keeping them in the berry till the 

 lime of sowing, the pulp being a great nourish- 

 ment to the seed, which ought to {k kept in a dry 

 place during the winter. 



The seed should be sown in the niortli of 

 ^larch or beginning of April, a rich piece of 

 ground being first prejrared fin- the purpose, in 

 drills drawn Vfidi a comnion hoe, deep enough to 

 admit of the seed being buried about an inch and 

 a li.df below the siirlace ; and these drills, i8 

 inches apart, to admit of cleaning withonl dam- 

 aging tlie plant. The seeds should not be sown 

 too thick, if the summer proves dry, a good 

 watering about once u week or furtnight will be 

 of great benefit. 



The next season prepare a piece of good land, 

 imincnmhered with tiees, and that lii s well l"or 

 the sun ; give it a good dressing of «cll reduced 

 horse-dung from 6 to JO inches thick, all regu- 

 larly spread over the siirfiice; then proceed with 

 the trenidiiiig, (if the soil will permit) two feet 

 deep; alier this first trenching, it should lieidiout 

 a fbrtniglil or three weeks, ami then be turned 

 back again, and then again in the same space ot' 

 time; by this |;rocess liie dung and mould he- 

 come well incorporated ; it uiay then be laid in 

 small ridges till the time of plaining. The work 

 should all be perfiirmeil in the hest uealher llu.- 

 winter will alioril, that k, not while il rains, or 

 .sHifHv is lying on the ground, as it wuuht lend to 

 make the hind heavy and sour; all ihis is to be 

 ]>artic;iJarly atiended to, as the prcpar.ition of 

 the soil is of more consequence than all the man- 

 agement afterwards. A>1 the lime of planting, I 

 always spread over the ground another thin coat 

 of very rotten t4Hng, and- [loint it in half a spade 

 deep, niakiiig my bedetis-ree feet Vr-ide only, uiili 

 two feet of alleys, ew that three rows of gnis.s, 

 one foot ajiart, ar* all \ plani on e;ich bed; 1 finil 

 this to be the best method, as by this plan there 

 is not the least trouble in gathering, whereas yfiti 

 ru'e obliged to set a foot on one of the wide beds, 

 before you can eet at all the grass, to the great 

 injury of the bed and the buds under the sur- 

 liice. 



My time of planting is \i hen I observe the 

 plants are beginning to grow, which is the best 

 lime for the plants to succeed; if moved earlier, 

 as it is iho practice with mtisl people, they prr- 

 Inps have to li" torjiid for two or three numths, 



