NEW EMGL.ANB FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the AnRicuLTURAi. Warkhoose.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XI. 



BOSTOiV, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 1, 1832. 



NO. 3. 



A s: t* i c u 1 t ti 1* e , 



ON BEES. 



Conclu.icd from piigo 12. 

 Origin of the Apparatus, and cases in which it 

 has been vsed. 

 In April, 1830, I piircliasuii :i stock of bees, the 

 best that 1 coiilfl get, Imt it was a very old oiii' ; 

 the hive a clumsy box, and withal rotten, and 

 what was worse, I soon fiiuml it full of worms. 

 Believing that I should Jose my bees unless 1 

 could get them into a new tenement, I undertook 

 to transfer them into a Thacher hive, according 

 to the directions given in Thacher's interesting 

 treatise on bees ; that is, by drumming them out 

 I made three attempts without success. The last 

 time, I said to the young man assisting me, (Mr 

 Sewell Dole, of this parislj) that I miglit as well 

 lose them one way as another, and we would see 

 what could be done with water. Accordingly, 

 we took a large tub, set the hive inverted into it, 

 with the new one on the top, and filled the tub 

 with water. The bees passed up. We then re 

 moved it to the old stand, having put a slide un- 

 der to confine the bees. We put the torpid bees 

 ■..lid a piece of broad comb into one of the draw- 

 ers, and left them. This was done in the eve 

 ning of May 20th, 1830. The next morning, by a 

 little after sunrise, the bees were at work finely. 

 In September following I weighed them, an< 

 found they had made 44 lbs. of honey and wa.;. 

 August 12th, I procured and treated another old 

 swarm in the same way ; and another August 

 14th. But in all these operations there was one 

 special difficulty ; the difficidly of fitting the new 

 hive to the old one, so as to confine the bees. In- 

 deed we could not do it effectually. Many would 

 escape. Of course we were constantly annoyed 

 by their stings. Yet three things were proved : 

 1st, that water will expel the bees. 2d, that the 

 honey is not injured or wasted by water, as the 

 honey-cells, as soon as filled, are all sealed. 3d, 

 that there is no danger of drowning the bees, as 

 the few that were found in the water torpid were 

 easily resuscitated. These facts led to the con- 

 struction of the apparatus. It has been used with 

 entire success in the following cases. 



1. In Jiuie last, a part of the apparatus was 

 used in transferring a swarm belonging to Dca. 

 Isaac Platts, of New Uowley. They were in a 

 hive larger than the cistern, and of course tbe 

 cistern could not be used. The lighting board 

 was nailed to the hive, the hive inserted in a ho^'s- 

 head, an opening eiglit or nine inches square 

 eawed in the board, and as the ]iiece cut out was 

 removed, the receiver was slipped over. Water 

 was then applied, and the bees passed into the re- 

 ceiver, and were thence removed to their new 

 home without difficidly. No person was stung 

 during the operation. 



2. Early in July, the apparatus was used in 

 transferring a stock belonging to Mr Ebentzer 

 Steadman, of Newburyport. His hive was invert- 

 ed the season previous, and un empty one ."ef on 

 the top, into which the comb from the old hive 

 had been extended. The srparalion of the two 

 hives exposed the operators to some stings ; but 



when this was done, the transfer was easy. Mr 

 S. informed me, a few days since, that his bees 

 had done well, except they bad been armoyed by 

 millers. 



3. July 12th, I transferred a stock of niy own. 

 It was in a hive of common ditnensions, and the 

 transfer was entirely easy. A number of friends 

 were present, and some children, but no one re- 

 ceived a sting. 



4. In the early part of September, a part of the 

 a[iparalus was employed in transferring a swarm 

 on the farm in this ])arish, belonging to Gorham 

 Parsons, Esfp of Brighton. This swarm, the sea- 

 son previoys, had taken possession of the roof of 

 tho apiary, and commenced building their comb. 

 Jlr Parsons built a box around them, whicli they 

 had entirely filled. They were removed in this 

 manner: the apiary was inverted, and sliflf clay 

 ]jlaccd around the box containing the bees, so as 

 to make it watertight. An opening eight or nine 

 inches scjuare was then sawed into the bottom 

 board, and the receiver set over it. With a tin 

 tiumel the box was filled with water, and the re- 

 ceiver removed. When the box was taken in 

 pieces, ^gths of the bees were found within in a 

 torpid state. This was owing toa board, unknown 

 to the operators, lying nearly parallel with the bot- 

 tom of the box, which completely blocked uj) the 

 ptssage of most of the bees. Tliey were hovvev- 

 e: carefullj' collected and put into the chamber of 

 t(l# receiver, and soon revived. There is reason 

 <c bclifve that the queen was drowned, and put 

 into the chamber wet and torpid along with her 

 subjects, for the bees gathered into the chamber, 

 nor could they be induced to leave it until the next 

 day. Then by setting the receiver ujiright, draw- 

 ing all the slides, and thereby letting in the light 

 and air, they left the chamber, and took possession 

 of their new tenement. They immediately com- 

 menced building their comb, and worked well for 

 a fortnight, when they were attacked by robbers, 

 and destroyed. 



.5. A lady (Mrs Kent) in my parish, having a 

 swarm which she was expecting to smother for the 

 sake of their honey, was induced, from mo- 

 tives of humanity and personal kindness, to pre- 

 sent them to me. September 20th, I rode to her 

 house before breakfast, took the bees into a re- 

 ceiver and brought them home, and united them 

 with the stock which I transferred July 12ih. 

 The union was effected by setting the hive upon 

 the receiver and drawing the slide. Nor did the 

 tenants of the hive refuse them the hospitalities of 

 their house. Professional duties called me away 

 imn)e<liately after breakfast, and I did not return 

 until evening ; so that I failed to witness the bat- 

 tle of the queens, if there was one. When I re- 

 turned, every bee had gone up, and all was per- 

 fectly still. Mrs B. bad watched them quite at- 

 tentively through the day, and saw no signs of 

 contention among them at any time. Both swarms 

 were old, and rather small, but united they make 

 a fine stock. 



MISCEt.LANEOCS RE.MARKS. 



1. I am somewhat at a loss to determine at 

 what season of the year it is best, on the whole, 

 to transfer bees. Several things are to be consid- 

 ered. If you transfer a stork early, say in May, 



they will " begin the world again " the same as s 

 new swarm, having the whole of the honey season 

 before them. But in this case you will dstroy 

 many young bees, partly grown, and lose a swarm 

 which they would probably have thrown out il 

 they had stood undi-sturbed until July or .Au- 

 gust. Yet if they stand thus long, you may prob- 

 ably get a new colony ; but the old one, if it is 

 then transferred, must be liberally fed. This 

 point is clear, that no swarm ought to be disturbed 

 after the niiddle of June, unless the owner is will- 

 ing to be at the expense and trouble of giving 

 them back 25 or 30 pounds of the honey taken 

 away, or some other. But if a stock is much in- 

 fested with worms, it is best, I should thiid<, to 

 transfer it at any time, even as late as October. 



2. I have found the Havana honey to be a very 

 cheap and excellent thing to feed with. As it is 

 usually candied, I take it, and put a little water 

 with it, and set it by the fire until it nearly sim- 

 mers. This dissolves all the sugar particles. 



3. In feeding, special care must be taken that 

 the bees do not get into the lioney, and perish. 

 There are two methods which answer the |)ur- 

 pose entirely. 0ns is, to ]iour the honey sIo\yly 

 over dry comb iinlil the cells arc full, and no 

 more. The bees will take it out of the cells with- 

 out getting into it. The other is, to make a wood- 

 en dish perf(;cily true, with a very thin floating 

 wooden cover, hnviirg njany holes in it. Put the 

 honey into the dish, and the bees will extract it 

 through the ||olrs. 



4. In feeding, special care should be taken to 

 keep away the bees of other hives. For this I'ur- 

 pose, make a light box of the size of your hive, 

 and 6 or 8 itjches deep. Let there be a hole in 

 the top large enough for the bees to pass up and 

 down with facility, and a door in the front side. 

 Set the hive on the box, and at the door put in 

 your comb upon a plate. The bees will pass down 

 and carry up the honey, and lay it away for their 

 winter's store. It is best not to open the box ex- 

 cept in the evening, or early in the morning, lest 

 other bees should find the honey, and be tempted 

 to rob the swarm yon are feeding. 



5. As to the time of feeding, it is best to com- 

 mence immediately after your stock lias been trans- 

 ferred, even if it is in August or July. I am sat- 

 isfied, that none of my bees the two past sea 

 sons gathered honey enough to live upon through 

 the months of July and August. In September 

 they did better. And further, when a slock has 

 been transferred after the lioney season is jiast or 

 nearly so, finding themselves reduced to a state of 

 entire bankruptcy, and little or no business abroad 

 to be done to repair their broken fortune, they set- 

 tle down in heartless despondency, and die. This 

 is not theory, but fact. The middle of August, 183(. 

 I transferred two swarms, as already mentioneo, 

 and left them to take care of themselves, expect- 

 ing that they would get their living for a lime, and 

 something more. But they were dispirited and 

 inactive; and befoi«e I was aware of it, one half 

 or two thirds of the bees ir. each hive were dead. 

 I then united the remnants of the two stocks, but 

 it was still a dispirited colony. Some time in the 

 early part of Septe;idier, I began to feed them. 

 This at once threw life and animation into the 



