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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Nov. 14, 1828. 



needles is closed over tlie entrance of the hive, Bs 

 soon as the bees liave retired for the night. This 

 is done during the months of April, May and June ; 

 after that if the weather sets in warm, and the 

 .bees are oppressed by heat, the floor of tlie hive 

 's let down, which, as it is fastened to the liive be- 

 ind witli hinges, and on the side with hooks and 

 ^'aplcs can easily be accomphshed. Two rows 

 "f scanthngs or joists four inches square, and rnn- 

 iiing the whole length of the apiary, receive the 

 liives between them, which are thus suspended at 

 a distance of about tliree feet from the ground. 



Tlie hive is thirteen inches scjuare at the top, 

 and is of the same size at the bottom of the front 

 and back, but the bottom of the sidts is only seven 

 inches wide. By this slope of the hive the combs 

 wedge themselves as they are made, and there is 

 no use for the ill-contrived crossed sticks, that are 

 generally thrust in the old hives, to keep tlie combs 

 from faUiiig down by liicir own weight. Tlie floor 

 Is, as we observed, fastened by liinges and hooks. 

 It is likewise an inclined plain, having a slope of 

 at least four inches. 



Tlie advantage of this inclination will be in- 

 stantly seen. The perspiration of the bees, which 

 is copious, is, by the inclination of the sides and 

 floor, conveyed off at once, without being absorb- 

 ed by the boards. All extraneous matter can be 

 carried away by the bees with very little trouble, 

 and they can defend themselves from robbers or 

 <'orsair bees with much greater ease than if the 

 floor were flat. 



As the floor opens and sh.uts, the observer can 

 inspect the interior of the hive at pleasure, not 

 with the hope of getting at the minutire of the 

 less' policy, but to see the forwardness of the 

 combs, the number of the bees, and the general 

 appearance, which a practised eye will soon un- 

 derstand. When the floor of the hive is left down 

 all night, and the bees hang very low from the 

 combs in the morning, they will soon remove 

 themselves up again, if the floor is raised very 

 gently and slowly and fastened as usual. 



The cover of the hive is of course thirteen in- 

 ches square. It is made of common [une, as is 

 the hive, with two cletes on the iqjper part, as 

 well to prevent tli- board from warping, as to pre- 

 vent the box, or upper story, which is always ad- 

 ded, from being moved from its place. The cov- 

 er of the hive has three holes of an inch diameter, 

 within a quarter of an inch of the other. These 

 holes are to allow the bees to pass to the upper 

 box, when the hive is full of lioney. 



It is ascertained satisfactorily, that the young 

 brood and the bee-bread or pollen are deposited in 

 the hive where the swarm is first put. The holes 

 in the cover are thei'efore kept shut by plugs, un- 

 til the hive be filled. The holes are then opened, 

 the bees immediately pass up, and if the season 

 he propitious, they fill the upper box with comb 

 and honey, which, as there is neitlier brood nor 

 bee-bread is of the finest and purest kind. 



We have often seen forty and fifty pounds ob- 

 tained by this simple proceeding ; and the box is 

 also used to feed a famished hive in the spring. 

 A single comb, left in one of these boxes will sus- 

 tain a swarm, that has eaten up all its honey, till 

 vegetation commences. As the boxes and hives 

 are of equal size, any box will fit a hive. 



When the combs in the liive are three years 

 old, two of them can be taken out every winter, 

 provided there remain honey enough in the rest 

 for the use of the t^ees. Thirty weight of honey 



is the average quantity that suffices for a swarm 

 of large size. The hives in question weigh, when 

 empty about twelve pounds, a swarm of bees four 

 pounds, the wax two pounds. The whole, there- 

 fore, ought to weigh about fifty pounds in Novem- 

 ber. All over this quantity can be taken out to 

 advantage, as the wax becomes very dark after 

 two or three yfears. The whole of the combs can 

 be thus renewed in the course of four years, as 

 the bees replace them early in the spring. We 

 omitted to mention that the length of the back of 

 the hive is twenty-two inches, and the floor pro- 

 jects in front about three inches, thus forming an 

 apron or ])latform, on which the bees alight be- 

 fore they enter in at the little door. Models of 

 this hive have been sent to several of the horticul- 

 tural societies of Europe, and they are getting into 

 use in this county. 



When a swarm is to be hived, the hive is put 

 in a moveable frame which is easily carried to the 

 tree where the swarm hangs, and this is proved 

 to be the easiest method of hiving swarms ; as the 

 screws are taken out of the cover antj the hive 

 lifted up to the swarm in which they are shaken. 

 The frame and hive are then placed on the ground, 

 and the cover is gentli/ laid on or screwed f;ist to 

 the hive. Little sticks are put against the apron 

 and rest on the ground, serving for ladders for 

 those bees that fell to the ground when the main' 

 body was shaken into the hive. Bees from the 

 moment of their leaving the hive (when swarm- 

 ing) until they are fairly settled and at woik in a 

 new habitation, seem stupid and confused. This 

 arises, however, from the precarious situation of 

 their queen. If she fall into the hive when the 

 swarm is shaken in, all the remaining bees will 

 soon find their way to the entrance ; for a pecul- 

 iar sound is emitted by these insects when their 

 queen is present. If, however, she remain on the 

 limb, it will be necessary to shake it again over 

 the hive, as the bees will leave it to fly up to the 

 place where the queen is. When the bees are 

 quiet in the hive (which is ascertained by the 

 number that are seen hovering in the fiont of the 

 entrance on the wing, and by others ventilating 

 the hive with their wings), the top can be covered 

 with a sheet, doubled several times, to keep off 

 the heat of the sun. The hive must remain in 

 the same spot until eight or nine o'clock in the 

 evening, whon two persons can quietly convey it, 

 frame and all, to the apiary, and jilace the hive, 

 with great care between the joists where it is per- 

 manently to remain. 



Hives should be made and painted a year be- 

 fore they are us^d, as the smell of paint is disa- 

 greeable to the bees. The smoother the boxes 

 and hives are, inside and out side, the better both i 

 for the health of the bees and for preventing the 

 dejiosite of the eggs of the miller. We must ex- 

 cept the roofs of the hive and of the box, as they 

 should be rough ; for we have ascertained, that 

 the propolis, or bee-glue does not adhere so close- 

 ly to a smooth surface at all times. 



And here we would remark, that it has been 

 the custom, from the earliest ages, to rub the in- 

 side of the hive with a handful of salt and clover. 



any peculiar smell or mustiness will be acceptable 

 to the bees ; and the more closely the hive is join- 

 ed together, the less labor will the insects have, 

 whose first care it is to stop every crevice, that 

 light and air inay be excluded. We must not 

 omit to reprehend as utterly useless, the vile prac- 

 tice of milking an astounding noise, with tin pans 

 and kettles, when the bees are swarming. It may 

 have originated in some ancient superstition, or it 

 may have been the signal to call aid from the 

 fields to assist in the hiving. If harmless, it is 

 untirccessary ; and every thing that tends to en- 

 cumber the management of bees should be avoid- 

 ed. (To be continued.) 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, NOV. 14, 1828. 



Samuel Breck, Esq. of Philadelphia, has deliver- 

 ed an address in honor of Judge Peters, before 

 the Agricultural Society of which Judge Peters 

 was formerly president. 



An establishment is in operation in Kentucky 

 for water rotting and breaking hemp. The vat is 

 one hundred by seventy feet, and rots a ton and 

 a half of hemp in about seven days. The ma- 

 chine breaks 1200 a day. 



AMERICAN LYCEUM. 



rA respectable meeting was held at the Ex- 

 change Coftee-house on the evening of the 7th 

 inst. to take into consideration the subject of the 

 American Lyceum. The meeting was organized, 

 by choosing the Hon. Mr. Webster to the chair, 

 and 31r. G. B. Emerson secretary. In answer to 

 the call of Bfr. Russell, editor of the Journal of 

 Education, ftlr. Holbrook gave an account of the 

 establishment of branches of the Lyceum in seve- 

 ral places, in this and some of the neighboring 

 States ; of the mode in which they had been con- 

 ducted, and of the good effects, which had al- 

 ready been produced by them. 



The Hon. Mr. Everett expressed the interest 

 which he felt in the success of the institution. He 

 stated some facts in relation to the good which 

 was promised, and which had been effected by sim- 

 ilar institutions in this country and elsewhere ; and 

 remarked particularly upon the facilities which 

 would be afforded by the associations of the na- 

 ture of the Lyceum, in procuring books and in- 

 struments, which individuals would not be able 

 to procure for themselves. The chairman made 

 a few observations on the benefits resulting from 

 these associations. Several resolutions highly ap- 

 proving of their objects, were passed, and a com- 

 mittee, consisting of Messrs. Russell, Holbrook and 

 Emerson, was appointed to reiiort to the meetir>g 

 at the adjournment, in what way the most effect- 

 ual aid could be afforded to the interests of the 

 Lyceum. The meeting adjourned, to meet agaui 

 this evening at 7 o'clock, at the Exchange Coffee- 

 house ; at which tune the committee will report. 



Good farming. — It is stated in the American 

 ' Traveller, that J. L. Bovlston, Esq., of Princeton, 

 or some other grass or sweet scented herb, pre- ;„ this State, has rai.sed 'this year, from three and 

 viously to the swarm's being put in the hive. We ; ^ j,alf acres and twentv-eight rods of ground, two 

 have seen no advantage in this ; on the contrary, hundred and twentv-six bushels of corn ; averag- 

 it gives a great deal of unnecessary labor to the i,^g sixty-one and a half bushels of shelled com 

 bees, as they will be compelled to remove every pg^ acre. And also on the same land, fiftv cart 

 particle of foreign matter from the hive before [oads of pumpkins, and a hundred and twenty 

 they begin to work. A clean cool hive, free from bushels of^ turnips. 



