400 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



the control of political demagogues. That our work 

 ing-mon, generally, do not yet fully understand their 

 own interests, is apparent from the political and social 

 evils whicli exist in our country, and wUl continue 

 to exist ur.til the people shall demand a reform. — 

 Bryant's Address, Chicago, III. 



MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



Ed. Ohio Cultivator : Some of your correspond- 

 ents occasionally mention the subject of raising bees ; 

 but I do not think that sufficient is said to excite that 

 interest the .mportance of the business demands. To 

 be successful, it requires promptness and diligence, 

 and then, if ;t does not impart that peculiar relish and 

 delight which is essential in any employment, a fail- 

 ure is almost inevitable. Aside from the profits of a 

 good supply of honey, the apiarian should have a 

 care for the comfort and welfare of his little laborers. 



I oifcr the following hints to those who may not 

 have experience in the management of bees : Make 

 your boxes of good quarter inch lumber, well jointed, 

 80 the millers cannot deposit eggs at the top or cor- 

 ners ; the tops should extend one inch over all round, 

 and instead of nails for fastening down, use screws, 

 so it can be taken off and put on without knocking 

 the life almost out of the bees. The size should be 

 about twenty-two inches high, and twelve by fifteen 

 inches broad, (unless the swarm is small,) as it is more 

 convenient to get the honey from large than small 

 boxes. Pvobbing should be done immediately after 

 the swarming season is over ; there is no difficulty in 

 this operation, if you first tie a sheet or table-cloth 

 around the hive at the bottom, so as to keep the bees 

 inside, and, as j-ou raise the top, sprinkle the bees 

 with water, which must be continued more or less 

 until done. An expert hand can soon extract all that 

 should be taken, which should be regulated by the 

 size and strength of the swarm : fasten down the 

 top as at first, and the bees will go willingly and 

 rapidly to work to repair their loss. Place your 

 boxes on a clean plank, under a shed, closed on one 

 side. On the first day of May, raise your boxes on 

 one-inch blocks, for the double purpose of ventilation, 

 and to prevent the return of worms, that may be ex- 

 pelled or thrown down from the inside by the bees ; 

 then split a few elder joints, and place them under 

 the boxes ; the worms will go under them, and by re- 

 moving the elders once a day, or every other day, and 

 killing the worms, it will prevent any formidable in- 

 jury. The above refers entirely to common boxes. 

 There are many plans by which the honey can be 

 taken much easier, and with less injury to the bees. 

 Some adopt the old plan of using small boxes on top, 

 which docs very well ; but the tops of these boxes 

 should be screwed on. I have constructed a fancy 

 improvement, (in which I find I was almost super- 

 seded by friend Mallory, of Bucyrus,) upon the last 

 plan, by adding a second storji to my boxes, with a 

 door hung on small hinges, and fastened with a but- 

 ton, and putting in a box or boxes large enough to 

 fill it up, with glass in front, so as to witness the de- 

 positing process, and to see when the box is full. I 

 screw the lids on, and put a screw in the end for a 

 knob to pull out by ; and when I wish to take the 

 box out, insert a sheet of tin under the box, closing 

 the communication between the main box and little 

 one, then set the box some distance off, and the bees 

 will come out and return to their home. The honey 

 can be cut out ; or, if there is another box to fit, I set 

 the box away, and cut it out when wanted for use, 

 ■which is much the best way, as the honey will not 

 candy. 



We have Dugdale's and other patents in use in 



this neighborhood, and, when properly attended to, 

 are successful ; but I think, with the same attention 

 given to destroy the worms, as shown above, that it 

 will require in the miller-catching patents, an api- 

 arian will be about as successful in accumulating 

 swarms and gathering honey. 



Bees did well in swarming this season, and in mak- 

 ing honey, up to the 20th Jul}', but since that, have 

 done nothing ; they have not worked on the buck- 

 wheat as usual. 



Respectfully yours, JOS. C. BRAND. 



Champaigx Co., Sejd. 21, 1850. 

 — Ohio Cultivator. 



TO MEASURE CORN IN CRIB. 



First find the solid contents of your crib in feet, so 

 far as it is filled with good slip-shucked corn. This 

 will show the number of solid feet of corn your crib 

 contains. We suppose one third of these contents to 

 be of cob, one third of shuck, and one third only of 

 pure corn. Now, dividing the above ascertained solid 

 contents by three, would give you the number of 

 bushels of pure corn, provided a solid foot of shelled 

 corn made a bushel, and three solid feet of slip- 

 shucked corn made a bushel. But this is not cor- 

 rect, because it takes five solid feet to make four 

 bushels. Then you must deduct one fifth from the 

 number of solid feet, in order to ascertain the num- 

 ber of bushels which the house could hold, or does 

 hold, of shelled corn. Remember, if the com is only 

 slip-shucked, then one third only of the number of 

 bushels must be counted, for the rest is only of cob 

 and shuck. 



Suppose a crib is 14 feet wide and 20 feet long, and 

 that the corn in it is ten feet deep. Then multiply 

 the width by the length of the inside of the crib, and 

 multiply that product by 10. This gives you the 

 number of solid feet of corn, viz. : — 



14 by 20=280 by 10=2,800 soUd feet of corn. 



2,800 divided by 5=560 to be subtracted. 



2,800=r560=2,240 bushels, if shelled corn. 



2,240 divided by 3=746 bushels, if in the shuck. 



Thus, if I was to measure a gentleman's crib, I 

 would do it as follows : The crib 20 feet long, 14 feet 

 wide, and 11 feet high, I would calculate thus : — 



20 by 14=280 by 11=3,080 — 616=2,464 divided' 

 by 3=821i bushels to be the contents of the bodj'of 

 his crib when filled with good slip-shucked corn. 



Proof. — One solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches, 

 and one bushel contains 2,160.| solid inches. Now, 

 1,728 multiphed by 5 is equal to 8,640. 

 2,150i " 4 " 8,601. 



You see it is near enough, for measuring corn, to 

 say that five solid feet make four bushels ; and from 

 this simple fact the rule is derived. 



In measuring a roof that is full of corn, I multiply 

 the length, breadth, and height together, the same as 

 the body of a house, and then divide by 2, before 

 making other calculations ; for the roof contains only 

 half as much as a pen having the same length, 

 breadth, and height, but not tapering. — Selected. 



Pickling. — Put fresh cucumbers, as soon as they 

 are picked from the vine, into weak bruie, boiling hot, 

 and let them remain twenty-four hours. They should 

 be taken out and put into the vessel in which they 

 are to be kept, and vinegar, boihng hot, poured upon 

 them, sufficient to cover them. In three days' time 

 the pickles will be fit for use. 



