382 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



THE SEVEN DAYS' CALENDAK. 



Sunday — church doors enter in, 

 Rest from toil, repent of sin ; 

 Strive a heavenly rest to win. 



Monday — to your calling go ; 



Serve the Lord, love friend and foe ; 



To the tempter, answer, No I 



Tuesday — do what good you can ; 

 Live in peace with every man, 

 Remember, life is but a span. 



JFednesday — give away and earn, 



Teach some truth, some good thing iearn. 



Joyful, good for ill return. 



Thursday — build your house upon 

 Christ, the mighty Corner-Stone ; 

 Whom God helps, his work is done. 



Friday — for the truth be strong. 

 Own your fault if in the wrong ; 

 Put a bridle on your tongue. 



Saturday — thank God and sing ; 

 Tribute to Heaven's treasure bring, 

 Be prepared for Terror's King. 



Ji'or the New England Farmer. 



BEE CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor : — "With the old-fashioned box hive, 

 I do not believe it possible to be successful in bee 

 culture. Out of a large number who have made 

 the attempt with these hives, very few have contin- 

 ued beyond five years with any number of stocks. 

 Those who adopt and carry out the old "brimstone" 

 system, may preserve a few hives for a long series 

 of years, I have no doubt. The reason is obvious. 

 Your bees must be kept in such a hive as to give 

 their owner an opportunity to examine the condi- 

 tion of the comb, and detect trouble at its com- 

 mencement. In the old box hive this cannot be 

 done without injury to the healthy and sound comb, 

 when the attempt to do so is made, provided you 

 know where the difficulty is situated, which is usu- 

 ally in the upper portion of the comb, or top of the 

 hive inside. Out of a large number of diseased 

 hives which I have had an opportunity to examine, 

 in all, without exception, the moth commenced his 

 ravages in the upper portions of the comb, and I 

 believe this to be generally the case. Now with 

 any kind of hive with a glass window in the back, 

 when trouble is going on it can easily be seen, its 

 location known, and the proper corrective resorted 

 to. 



I am one of those who believe that there is no such 

 thing as a moth-proof bee hive, for it must be evi- 

 dent to any person of common sense, that the moth 

 can enter the hive where a bee can, and thus they 

 most frequently do enter ; when they do not, it 

 forms the exception, and not the rule. I have be- 

 fore observed that whatever may be the particular 

 form of the hive selected, it should be made of the 

 best material and in the most perfect manner. This 

 implies that there should be no shakes, cracks, or 

 imperfections about it, to give moths or any kind 

 of vermin a chance to lay their eggs, or to find a 

 lodgement. If they get in at all, they should be 

 obliged to travel the usual way, and if the bee-keep- 

 er looks after his swarm, and gives them the care 

 which they ought to receive, and which they must 

 receive to be successful, he will not be likely to be 



greatly annoyed by them. The great trouble is, 

 the moth enters the hive after sundown usuallj", 

 when the bees are all in and at rest, or busily en- 

 gaged in disposing of the store collected during 

 the day. But if the swarm is large, healthy and 

 thriving, the moth stands a poor chance even after 

 getting into the hive. I have seen a dozen bees 

 attack a moth at a time, and "shake his liver out 

 of him in less than no time." When however, 

 these rascals once get a good foot-hold, it requires 

 an extraordinary effort on the part of the bees to 

 get rid of them. Generally the bees come out at 

 the "Kttle end of the horn," and the stock is lost. 



No careful bee-keeper will allow things to go on 

 to this extreme. The bottom of the hive should 

 be so arranged as to be easily removed, for purpo- 

 ses of examination, cleaning, &c. This latter, if 

 done occasionally, and it ought to be done once or 

 twice a week in the spring, will save the bees a 

 large share of laborious effort, and help them along 

 wonderfully. When I purchased my first stock, a 

 secret came with it, which was warranted to keep 

 moths out of the hive, and to drive them out if al- 

 ready in. The gentleman stated he gave five dol- 

 lars for the information. I used it during the past 

 summer, and believe there is virtue in it. For the 

 good of those bee-keepers who take the JVew Eng- 

 land Farmer, I will here give them the informa- 

 tion "gratis," As soon as your bees begin to come 

 out freely, and the weather grows warm, insert thin 

 slices of common chewing tobacco at the err- 

 trance, and let it remain on the bottom board. Re- 

 new this every few weeks during the warm weath- 

 er. While 1 think it accomplishes good, in prevent- 

 ing the moth attacking the comb or bees, I am by 

 no means satisfied about its being a "patent moth 

 preventing remedy." Norfolk. 



March, 1857. 



1 



For the New England Farmer. 



LABOR OF BOYS. 



Mr. Editor : — I am pleased to see the acute 

 witicisms of your correspondent "Experience," from 

 Hamilton, (we all know there are those of great 

 experience there,) on my hasty remark, that "hoys 

 should be allowed from 37 to 45 cents per day," 

 for their services, when employed upon the farm, 

 boarding themselves. This would leave only frona 

 15 to 25 cents per day for labor exclusive of board. 

 I respectfully say, if boys have been properly 

 trained until they are fifteen years of age, this would 

 be but a moderate compensation, only about one- 

 quarter part what is claimed and paid for the ser- 

 vices of laboring men. No principle of morals, or 

 of political economy is better established, than that 

 "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and that "the 

 hire should be proportionate to the labor." Will 

 any one pretend, that 07ie dollar per day is an ex- 

 travangant allowance for an efficient laboring man? 

 Will not a healthy, well-instructed boy of fifteen 

 years, earn one-quarter part as much as a man ? 

 If he should foil to do this, the fault must be, not 

 so much in the boy, as in those who guide him. 

 The remark w'as made originally in reference to 

 the labors of the boys at the State Reform School. 

 I have not the papers at hand, to note the connec- 

 tion in which it was made, nor the signature under 

 which it was sent abroad. *• 



June 20, 1857. 



