No. 6. 



Maxims to he observed hy the Bee-heeper. 



193 



Poudrelte was used than where stable ma- 

 nure was used ; nor could I perceive any 

 difference in the grass, on mowing it this 

 season, or in the pasture up to this time ; 

 the grass and pasture being quite as good 

 where the forty bushels of Poudrette were 

 used, at a cost of $17, as where the stable 

 manure was used at the cost of .^33 per acre. 



This year I cut a piece of wheat which 

 w^as manured with Poudrette last fall, at the 

 same rate, forty bushels per acre, which is as 

 good as any in the country, yielding thirty- 

 six bushels and a half per acre, weigliing 

 sixty-one and a half pounds per bushel ; 

 though Long Island is not considered a good 

 wheat country. 



On corn, I think it should be spread broad 

 cast, as it is too powerful to be used in the 

 hill at the rate I use it, forty-five bushels to 

 the acre. My corn this year is nearly double 

 where I used Poudrette at that rate broad 

 cast on the sod before it was broken up, to 

 that which was planted with other manure. 



I have a piece of wheat sowed this fall, 

 manured with Poudrette, fifty bushels to the 

 acre, at the cost of 816,50, (Poudrette cost- 

 ing less than in 1841) which looks exceed- 

 ingly well. I have used poudrette this year 

 to the amount of over §150, and can recom^ 

 mend it as a good and cheap manure, especi- 

 ally when the farmer has to haul his manure 

 any distance. 



I remain, yours, &c., 



T. B. ToWNSEND. 



Xewtown. L. I., Nov. 2nd, 1843. 



Maxims to be observed by tJie JBee- 

 Keeper. 



One of the most interesting books we have read on 

 the subject of Bees, is that of Robert Huish, on their 

 "Natural History and General Management." The 

 author differs in many respects from Huber and other 

 celebrated apiarians, and boldly marks out and follows 

 his own path. We publish below, his 24th chapter, 

 without however adopting all his sentiments. It may 

 furnish numerous valuable hints, and lead to further 

 inquiries and investigations on questions still unset- 

 tled, and on which our best observers disagree. 



We have repeatedly referred to Bcvan's little book 

 on the Honey Bee, as containing the best information 

 within a' narrow compass, and at a low price. We 

 have it continually for sale. 



Huish is a bold e.xperimentalist.and has really made 

 a very entertaining book;— the novelty of some of his 

 views will make our Bee breeders brush up their old 

 recollections and opinions, and inquire whether or not 

 they be all correct.— Ed. 



I. A hive is composed of three kinds of 

 bees. 



1st. The queen, who is the only female, 

 and lays every egg in the hive. 



2nd. The drones, amounting in number 

 from 600 to 1000, according to the popu- 



lation of the hive. They fecundate the 

 eggs of the queen, being the only males in 

 tlie hive, and are killed by the w'orking bees 

 at the close of the breeding season. 



3rd. The common working bees, who, 

 being of the neuter gender, take no share 

 in the procreation of their species. They 

 collect the honey and make the wax, and 

 may be calculated from 1000 to 6000 in 

 every hive. In summer the numbers are 

 considerably augmented. 



II. The bees never allow but one queei^ 

 in a hive, who begins to lay her eggs about 

 the end of January, and finishes about Au- 

 gust or September. 



III. The young queens never lay eggs in 

 the parent hive. If there be not a sufficient 

 number of bees to form a swarm, the young 

 queens are killed. 



IV. A swaim without drones is not of any 

 value: when drones are wanting, about two 

 or three hundred to be taken from the pa- 

 rent hive. 



V. A hive which has drones in the winter, 

 generally perishes. 



VI. A weak swarm will weigh from one 

 to two pounds ; a middling one from three 

 to four pounds ; a good one about five pounds ; 

 and an excellent one from six to eight pounds. 



VII. Bees deprived of their queen will 

 not work, and will perish if there be no 

 royal egg in the hive from which a queen 

 can be born. 



VIII. The larvEB of the bees are about six 

 days in completing their growth, according 

 to the state of the weather; they then take 

 the form of a nymph or chrysalis, in which 

 they remain about fifteen days, when they 

 emerge from the cell a perfect bee. 



IX. Eggs are hatched successively in a 

 hive ; and when the number of bees which 

 have emerged from the cells be greater than 

 the hive can contain, they form what is 

 called a swarm, which is always accompa- 

 nied by a young queen, but never by the 

 mother queen. 



X. There are no determined signs for the 

 departure of a swarm. It generally takea 

 place from the hour of ten, A. M., to about 

 two, P. M. A swarm seldom departs in 

 windy weather, and never during rain. 



XI. A swarm never to be put in an old 

 hive. 



XII. A hive that has thrown off one 

 swarm, will generally throw off a second, 

 and a third ; the latter always to be returned 

 to the parent hive. 



XIII. The greater the number of swarms, 

 the less is the quantity of honey. 



XIV. The hives which throw off three 

 swarms, generally perish in the winter, un- 

 less the swarms be returned to them. 



