286 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[April 1 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1825. 



NOTICE.— The office of the New England 

 Farmer is removed to No. 31 Congress street, 

 corner of Lindall street, four doors from the 

 Post Office. — 



Several communications have been received. 



BEES. 



Carefully inspect your bee hives, and if they 

 are found light, or the bees appear to be in a 

 weak and languid state, it will be best to feed 

 them. We have given some directions for that 

 purpose, vol. ii. p. 278, but as we have many 

 subscribers who are not in possession of that 

 volume, we will repeat the substance of our 

 former observations, and give some additional 

 remarks. If the hive should appear to be light 

 when raised in the hands, or the weight of the 

 swarm should be otherwise ascertained to fall 

 short of four pounds exclusive of the hive, j'ou 

 will do well to give them a little I'ooil. In this 

 case particular care must be taken to ;;void the 

 robbery of other bees. The best period for 

 feeding the bees is the evening, and on the fol- 

 lowing morning take away the surplus t'ood, and 

 restore it again in the evening. The sense of 

 smell in bees is so acute that it immediately 

 scents the food, which may be placed in a hive, 

 and an attack on it will be the consequence. 



It is recommended to feed bees with honey 

 mixed with good old white wine in the propor- 

 tion of si.\ pounds of honey to one of wine ; it 

 should be placed on a slow fire and stirred till 

 the honey is all dissolved. The following is 

 recommended by Mr Huish : — "Dissolve one 

 pound of sugar in a quart of good old ale ; boil 

 and skim it until it is clear; when cool it will 

 have the consistence of honey, and may be giv- 

 en your bees." 



The Cottager's Manual says, " the warmer 

 the hives are kept in March, [or A|)ril in this 

 country] the better, as it accelerates the hatch- 

 ing of the eggs, an<l [)roniotes the prolific na- 

 ture of the Queen." March and April are good 

 months for the purchase of stock hives — as ihey 

 have weathered all the casualties of winter, 

 and Utile fear need now be entertained of fam- 

 ine. The following directions trom the same 

 work for such jjurchase will be found useful. 



When a person intends to purchase a hive, 

 he should go in the miildle of the d.iy into the 

 garden where it stands, and take particular no- 

 tice of the manner iu which the bees of any 

 individual hive work. As it is probable there 

 may be other hives in the garden, the choice 

 is easier to be determined by a comparison of 

 one hive with another, in regard to the follow- 

 ing particular points. 



i. The number of bees which are seen going 

 in with yellow balis, or pellets, attached to 

 their legs. 



2. The number of drones ; the greater the 

 number, the more prolific the hive. 



3. The general bustle and activity which are 

 ©bserved about the hive, and whether the bees 

 ie«ve the hive with velocity, taking wing im- 

 mndialely when they come out-or whether they 

 saunter about and then re-enter the hive— the 

 litter is a bad syt»plom. 



4. The eagerness with which they appear 

 to repel the robbing bees. 



5. The number of bees which stand at the 

 entrance, fanning with their wings ; some bee- 

 masters call these bees the musicians of the 

 Queen's band, as they continually make a hum- 

 ming noise; others call them idle bees, for the 

 same reason they call a cow idle, who is cheiv- 

 ing the cud — both are fulfilling a positive law 

 of nature — and the greater the number of bees 

 at the entrance, the greater the internal heat, 

 which being occasioned by a crowded popula- 

 tion, indicates at once the goodness of the hive. 



Having fixed upon the hive which you intend 

 to purchase, loosen it gently from the board on 

 which it stands, for should it not have been 

 plastered down, the bees will have fastened it 

 themselves. Be careful not to jerk it, for this 

 motion will be apt to rouse the bees, and may, 

 perhaps, break some of the combs. The hive 

 being loosened, turn it gently up; the bees will 

 make a slight buz, and should they shew any 

 disposition to Ry or sting, smoke them with some 

 tobacco smoke from the fumigating bellows, or 

 common tobacco pipe. Proceed then to in- 

 spect the interiour, which must present the 

 following appearances. 



1. The hive must be crowded with bees. 



2. The combs must be of a yellow hue, 

 which declares it to be a new hive. Should 

 the comb be very black, reject the hive alto- 

 gether, for it is infallibly an old one. 



3. The side combs must be completely filled 

 with honey, which can easily be ascertained bv 

 observing all the cells sealed up, whereas the 

 cells in the middle combs will be empty. 



4. If a number of Queen cells are perceived, 

 which will be seen attached to the sides of the 

 combs, like small inverted acorn cups, only 

 more closed at the top — reject the hive, for it 

 is a sure indication of an old hive. 



5. If a very strong odour issues from the 

 hive, reject it. This is, however, a difficult 

 criterion to establish, as it cannot he supposed 

 that an unexperienced person can immediately 

 distinguish the different odours which proceed 

 from a hive. 



6. If any liquid spots of dark colour appear 

 on the board of the hive, it would not he pru- 

 dent to purchase it, for it is certain that the 

 bees arc afflicted with the dysentery. 



7. If you perceive on the stool a great num- 

 ber of small yellow particles of wax it is a posi- 

 tive proof that the hive is infected with moths 

 —it would be throwing money away (o purchase 

 such a hive ; and if amongst those particles some 

 small grubs are perceptible, with a reddish head, 

 you may condemn the hive as good for nothing, 

 for it will not last two months longer. 



8. If you perceive the wings of the Bees to 

 he r.ngged or torn at the ends, it is a positive 

 sign of an old hive. 



Having thus examined the hive, outside and 

 inside, and determined on the purchase of it, the 

 next step to be taken is its removal. For this 

 purpose, the evening must be selected, and when 

 it is perceived that the Bees are all come home, 

 stop up the entrance with some clay or any oth- 

 er substance at hand; this, however, is under 

 the supposition that you can take the hoard also 

 on which the hive stands, but should it be placed 

 with others upon a bench, which is a most inju- 

 dicious plan, a board must then be laid upon the 

 ground, exactly in the front of the hive, and the 



hive must then be gently lifted upon it; but 

 here a difficulty will occur, which shews the in- 

 convenience of placing several hives on the same 

 bench. As soon as the hive is taken off, a oreat 

 number of Bees will be found on the board, 

 which must not be sacrificed; the hive must 

 therefore be held level with the board, and the 

 bees must be swept into it with a goose's wing 

 or a small branch of a tree ; the hive must then 

 be placed upon the board, and the entrance 

 stopped up, and every crevice through which a 

 Bee can escape. The hive can then be remov- 

 ed by tying an old sheet or table cloth round it, 

 and carried by the hand or on the head. If you 

 have purchased two or three hives, they may 

 be removed on a hand barrow, or carried like 

 two milking pails. Having arrived at the plafte 

 of their destination, let them settle for about 

 half an hour, taking the clay from the entrance, 

 that the Bees may not be sutTocated ; then de- 

 posit the hive on the pedestal, letting it frpnt 

 the south-east, and on the following day plaster 

 it round the bottom. The stock njiay then be 

 considered to be fairly established. 



BREED OF HORSES. 



At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Society, held the 22d 

 instant, the cordial thanks of the Board were 

 voted to Admiral Sir Isaac Coffi.v, of the British 

 Navy, for a Stud-Horse and Mare, of the York- 

 shire Cleveland Bays, the most highly approved 

 breed in England for the coach, and for the road, 

 which were ready to be presented by him, and 

 to be placed at the direction of the Society in 

 Liverpool. They are expected to arrive in 

 this city in June, when notice will be given 

 where they will be placed. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF W0At>. 



We hope that the valuable article, which we 

 have this day republished from the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural Journal, on the above mentien- 

 ed subject will meet the attention it merits from 

 Agriculturists and Manufacturers. It appears 

 to us to be well calculated to increase the re- 

 sources and augment the wealth of the United 

 States ; and as such, claims the consideration of 

 the statesman and the merchant as well as those 

 who may be employed either in the cultivation 

 of woad or in applying it to its uses in our man- 

 ufactories. 



Gen. Dearborn has been so good as to oblige 

 the Editor with a copy of his translation of the 

 treatise on woad by C. P. De Lasleyrie. This 

 we hope to give to the publick through the me- 

 dium of our paper, either in whole in part, as 

 we can find room in our columns. 



The opinions of Gen. Dearborn respecting the 

 culture of Indian corn do not coincide with 

 those of some of our ablest agriculturists. They 

 were expressed immediately after the signal 

 failure of that crop in 181G, when it was almost 

 a general sentiment among practical as well a3 

 scientific cultivators that the culture of that 

 plant in New England was unprofitable and 

 therefore unwise. 



TO The EDiTon of the new England farmer. 



POTATOES. 



Slockporti {Pa.) March 22, 1825. 

 Mr Ff,ssf.kden, — I thank your correspondent* 



