264 



The Roller. 



Vol. II 



abled to make tlieir way back again, and 

 most generally, in process of time, destroy 

 the bees. Again, bees, suspended from a 

 pole, as above described, are less likely to 

 light and rob each other, than when placed 

 on a bench. Care should be taken to place 

 a few boards in such a position as to prevent 

 the sun from heatnig the hives. In the fall 

 of the year the hives should be taken 

 oft' and placed in some suitable situation to 

 remain during the winter. In my judgment 

 there is no need of a bee house, as it is only 

 a harbor for insects, particularly ants and 

 miller worms. 



If you design to put on cap hives, make the 

 braces of a sufficient length to admit the 

 hive. In regard to cap-hives I have had 

 but little success — sometimes the bees would 

 work in them, at other times they would not. I 

 have generally succeeded much better by spli- 

 cing the hive. When I see the comb coming 

 down, and the hive getting full, I lengthen 

 the hive six or eight inches by screwing on 

 the splice. This is easily done. Make the 

 splice so as exactly to fit the hive, set it on a 

 bench, then take oft the hive and place it on 

 the splice, and with two small strips of t!iin 

 boards screwed to each, fasten them well to- 

 gether, and the bees will continue on their 

 labors as usual. I have sometimes neglect- 

 ed splicing and the bees have extended the 

 comb six inches below the hive, and at the 

 same time there was a cap hive on. Bees 

 will fill the hive with comb, and make a cer- 

 tain quantity of honey and no more, although 

 it may be in the honey-making season, lor 

 this reason, that they will always leave open 

 cells sufficient in tlie comb for tlieir accomo- 

 dation through the winter. Bees placed on 

 a bench will, in the latter part of the season, 

 "hano- out," those in this situation will cease 

 their labors unless the hive be spliced. I 

 weigh my hives every ten days, and mark 

 them, so I know exactly how tlie bees are 

 getting on. I make the hives out of white 

 oak boards; yellow pine will do, but white 

 oak is the best, as this wood, when well 

 seasoned, tries the teeth of the worms so that 

 they cannot bore, whereas white pine or 

 cedar is not proof ayainst them. The worms 

 generally commence boring the hives the 

 latter part of the season. They penetrate 

 the wood, in which they pass the winter 

 in a torpid state ; in the spring they make 

 their appearance, and frequently destroy a 

 hive in a few days. I screw my hives toge- 

 ther so that they may be readily taken apart 

 without injury. I have in the winter season 

 miscrewed a iiive and taken out two or three 

 reefs of comb and honey ; but this plan will 

 not answer. In preserving bees through the 

 winter, be careful to select those hives that 

 contain the largest number of bees and comb. 



Fifteen pounds of clear honey will be sufii- 

 cient for a large hive. I have kept fine hives 

 over; in the spring they would weigh from 

 forty-five to seventy pounds clear of the hive, 

 and these hives were just as likely as not to 

 be the last in swarming. Bees that have 

 consumed their winter stock, will commence 

 their labor much earlier than those that 

 have a supply remaining. As I weigh the 

 bees I know something about it. I can weigh 

 a hive in a minute. My plan is to hook un- 

 der tlie pin of the hive, and take a hog gam- 

 brel and hock over it; then raise it up clear 

 of the pole and you have the weight without 

 disturbing the bees. 



I find, from experience, that narrow long 

 hives, say ten inches square and two feet 

 long, are much better than those made wide 

 and large. When I first commenced keep- 

 ing bees I made the hives wide, from fifteen 

 to seventeen inclies square. The bees would 

 remain only a few days, make a little comb 

 in one corner of the hive, and then swarra 

 again, and either go oft' entirely, or return 

 whence tliey came. In the narrow hives 

 they generally appear contented and do well. 

 Sometimes, however, they appear unmanage- 

 able — in this case I do not meddle with them, 

 and in the course of a few days they become 

 quiet. M. B. 



West Jevsfy, March 5, 1838. 



i'or the Farmers' Cabinet. 



TIae Roller. 



This implement which has come into gen- 

 eral use, only within the last few years, is of 

 so deservedly an useful character, that it now 

 ranks in importance with the plough and 

 harrow — and no farmer can consider his stock 

 of agricultural implements complete, with- 

 out the possession of one of these. They are 

 principally constructed on two plans, the one 

 consists of a single cylindrical piece of timber 

 set in a frame, in which it revolves, by gud- 

 geons, the oth er, of two such timbers, each of 

 which is half the length of the single one. 

 The latter is preferable in the turning of the 

 angles of fields and lands. The objects to 

 which it can be advantageously applied are 

 various: — Grounds, whicii remain cloddy 

 after being ploughed and harrowed, can be 

 reduced by the roller to a state of pulveriza- 

 tion, which vvitli the harrow only, could 

 scarcely be accomplished. Crops, succeeding 

 Indian corn, may be taken oft'with much more 

 facility, particularly if they be heavy and 

 lodged, by having the corn stubble and other 

 protuberances levelled down with the roller. 



It is of considerable utility in mowing 

 grounds, by pressing small stones in the 

 ground, which would otherwise impede the 

 scythe in the mowing, and by levelling 

 weeds to the ground, which greatly facilitates 



