No. 6. 



Mahogany. 



187 



swarming, and consequently takes no mea- 

 sures to furnish the young' princesses. 



Indeed it often occurs, that she neglects 

 to do this in cases where the greatest neces- 

 sity exists for them ; and as a swarm never 

 leaves in such a case, we find many of our 

 hives loaded with bees, clustering around 

 and below during the entire warm season, 

 wiiich we watch with anxiety from day to 

 day, or hour to hour, wondering what can 

 keep them spell-bound to their tenement! 

 As tlfe needle invariably points to the north 

 pole, and no human power can change this 

 law of nature, so is the queen-bee the load- 

 stone that draws every bee to her. The 

 broiling rays of a summer sun, famine, nay, 

 the prospect of a certain death cannot move 

 them. But when a young queen sallies forth 

 on the wing of uncertain destiny, she is the 

 magnet that draws after her a goodly portion 

 of the animated mass. Whither she goes 

 they follow, and as she would gather her sub- 

 jects around her, preparatory to the journey, 

 she selects a slender branch of some small 

 tree and alights. The bees at once com- 

 mence clustering around her, perhaps some 

 few minutes before the last have left the 

 hive. Whether the bees ever select a hab- 

 itation before leaving the hive, is a matter of 

 doubt witli me. They sometimes do take at 

 once, after issuing, to some suitable tene- 

 ment, such as a decayed hive, or some hole 

 in a building, or perhaps they may cluster 

 for a few minutes, and then rapidly take 

 their flight to the forest. All of this may 

 be and probably is concerted after swarming. 

 In confirmation of this, I once had a swarm 

 issue from the hive in which the day previ- 

 ous it had been lodged, and after revolving 

 a long time in the air, settled down upon the 

 very hive from which they had just issued. 

 Now here is an instance where a particular 

 location is fixed upon wdiile on the wing. 

 What caused this singular operation I can- 

 not say, unless it was that they took some 

 dislike to the hive, and afterwards concluded 

 to try it again. In order to remove such a 

 difficulty, I took another hive, and as soon as 

 they had fully clustered set it upon a table, 

 and also set the hive with the bees upon its 

 side near it; then with a dusting brush 

 swept them gently down upon the table, and 

 they quietly entered the new hive, and did 

 well. 



The number of bees produced from April 

 to July, in a strong stock, may be estimated 

 at from 20,000 to 30,000. The first swarms 

 I have generally found to be the largest, 

 though some consider that in general* the 

 second are. The third are usually small. 

 The period between first and second swarms 

 is nine days; between second and third six or 



seven, and if yet another, the next day or 

 two. The time, however, is dependent upon 

 the weather. If we have hot, sultry wea- 

 ther, the bees mature more rapidly, and are 

 increased in numbers, and consequently 

 throw off swarms faster, but we need never 

 look for a second swarm sooner than a week, 

 and if the weather be cold and wet, it may 

 be delayed fourteen days. 



There is a catastrophe attending a rainy 

 spell of weather during the swarming sea- 

 son, that many persons may not be aware of, 

 which is this: the queen, in laying the found- 

 ation of new princesses, calculates upon 

 their maturity at certain periods; when, if 

 tlie weather should permit, swarms would 

 be ready to issue, according to her principles 

 of the science; but as she cannot foretell 

 the weather, she is often caught with three 

 or four of these royal scions on hand, and 

 the weather does not permit the issue of a 

 swarm for several days, as fine weather for 

 such an operation alone will do. 



As these princesses ripen in maturity, a 

 spirit of jealoiisy begins to be engendered, 

 that sets the whole hive in an uproar. Here 

 is a sad dilemma ! The old queen expects 

 to go ofi^ with the first swarm, in person, as 

 soon as the weather becomes fine; in the 

 mean time there are several young expect- 

 ants of assuming the reins of government, 

 who begin to show a spirit of revolt as they 

 grow in strength and age. If this state of 

 things last for a week, through rainy wea- 

 ther, their jealousy becomes so furious that 

 a general fight of extermination takes place, 

 and the one that finds herself alive last, as- 

 sumes the reins of that stock ; and if all the 

 princesses have matured, there will be no 

 more swarming that season. 



This is another reason why bees do not 

 swarm, when we think they do not know 

 what is for their own interest; but I assure 

 the reader, that when they do not send off 

 swarms, it is for a good and sufficient cause, 

 though we way not be able to comprehend 

 it. T. B. Mi.NER. 



Ravenswood, L. I., May, 1847. 



Mahogany. — Dr. Gibbons, an eminent 

 physician, in the latter end of the seven- 

 teenth century, had a brother, who was the 

 first that brought from the West Indies 

 some mahogany logs to London, for ballast. 

 The doctor was then building him a house 

 in Covent Garden, and his brother, the cap- 

 tain, thought they might be of service to 

 him, but the carpenters found the wood too 

 hard for their tools, and it was laid aside as 

 useless. Soon after, Mrs. Gibbons wanted a 

 candle box, and got a cabinet maker to make 

 it out of the useless wood lying in tlie gar- 



