THE GENESEE FARMER. 



30T 



MANAGEMENT OF HONEY BEES. 



Thb question is often asked, How far apart should 

 . hives be set in an apiary? If I were to consult no other 

 feature of bee-keeping but that of space between the 

 hives, I should set them around singly, several rods 

 apart; but that distance is impracticable, where many 

 hives exist, and is not advisable in any case. I have, 

 during the last few years, been compelled to place my 

 hives quite close to each other for the want of space. 

 They are in rows about six feet apart, and not over six 

 or eight inches apart in the rows, sitting on stools only 

 four inches high, with a close board-platform upon the 

 ground, four feet wide, which keeps the hives free from 

 grass and weeds. 



I find no disadvantage in having my hives so close to- 

 gether; but if they were to rest upon a level stand or 

 shelf, the bees would often, wheu the hives are so full as 

 to cluster outside, mix with those of adjoining hives and 

 fight and destroy each other to some small extent. In 

 my case, the stool-shape of the stands prevents the bees 

 mixiug,,as they go down no lower than the floor of the 

 stool when they cluster out. 



The stools, or stands, are made by sawing off scantling 

 two or three iuches thick by four inches wide, fifteen 

 inches long, and nailing strips of pine boards upon them 

 so firmly that no warping can take place. In former 

 times I was led to believe that the stands should be from 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches from the ground; but ex- 

 perience has taught me that bees do equally well when 

 only four inches from the ground, on a platform, as above 

 stated. 



It would appear that when hives of bees are set in a 

 close, continuous row, twenty to fifty in a line, and only 

 a few inches apart, and all the hives as much alike as two 

 beans, that the bees would often fail to find their own 

 hives and would enter others, and consequently be de- 

 stroyed. Such, however, is not the case; and how they 

 are enabled, on their return from the fields, often after 

 twilight has set in, to make few or no mistakes as regards 

 the positions of their own houses, is a mystery that I am 

 unable to solve, except on the theory that their sight is 

 so much keener than that of man that they see something 

 peculiar to their own hives, when all are of the same 

 size, pattern and color, that we are unable to discover. 

 Occasionally I have noticed bees laden with pollen alight 

 upon the stand of a neighboring hive and seek to" enter, 

 but instantly discovering her mistake, take to the wing 

 again, make a giratory flight of a few feet in the air, and 

 alight at her own domicil. It is probable that bees that 

 are not laden with pollen often make similar mistakes, 

 but as no fighting ensues I consider such occurrences of 

 no essential consequence. 



When swarms issue, and are placed near other hives, 

 I generally place something in front of their hives, to en- 

 able the queens more easily to mark the location of their 

 homes on returning from their flights to meet the drones, 

 which occurs but once; and they are much more liable 

 to get lost and enter the adjoining hives than the working 

 bees are, which sally out fifty or more times a day. A 

 strip of board, old newspaper, or any thing that will 

 plainly denote or mark the hive, will answer, if laid in 

 front of it and left there about a week. 



This is the season to feed such families of bees as have 

 failed to store up enough honey for their winter's con- 

 sumption, unless it be advistvble to "take up" such I 

 families or unite them with others. It is not advisable 

 in the latitude of Central New York and further north 

 to attempt to winter a family with less than two quarts 

 of bees. Any less number will generally perish on ac- 

 count of being unable to generate sufficient warmth to I 

 keep them from freezing to death when there is plenty 

 of honey in the hive. Supplying families short of honey ' 

 with caps, or boxes of comb-honey, will not always save 

 them from staryation, when the winter is very cold and . 

 long-continued, owing to the bees not being able to as- 

 cend into these caps to obtain the honey. It is, there- 

 fore, better to feed strained honey, to be carried into the! j! 

 cells of the combs at once, if it be done in a manner not 

 to produce robberies. The manner of feeding I have be- 

 fore fully explained in the columns of the Farmer, and do 

 not consider it expedient to give the details on this occa- ! 

 sion. 



Clinton, 2T. V. T. B. MINER. 



A PRAIRIE FARM. 



A correspondent of the Farmer's Advocate, 

 Chicago, gives the following account of a prairie 

 farm which he recently visited : 



" I visited the farm of Messrs. Stevens & Mo- 

 Conhies, who have about eight thousand acres of 

 land in this county. They have, at this time, three 

 thousand acres fenced with cedar posts and boards,' 

 put up in the most substantial manner. In fact,, 

 their motto is: 'Do what you do, well. 1 They 

 have this year twelve hundred acres of wheat — 

 the very best prospect for a good crop that I have 

 seen. They prefer wheat to weeds — plow all their 

 land in the fall — sow from two to two and a half 

 bushels per acre — as soon as the frost begins to 

 leave the ground in the spring. The result is, they 

 got 27 bushels average per acre last year. They 

 have 700 acres of corn, which looks very fine for 

 this season. Their corn last year gave them 55 

 bushels average per acre. They fed this past sea- 

 son 250 beef cattle, whose average weight at home 

 was 1,325 pounds, and sold in the Chicago market 

 at $3.30 per cwt. They have 700 hogs on this 

 farm, work 21 teams, employ 28 hands at $15 per 

 month, and feed on the farm 125 bushels of corn 

 per day. They have J 60 acres of tame grass for pas- 

 ture field. They also have a half section of land of 

 the estate of the late Hon. Daniel Webster — the 

 4 God-like Daniel of Constitutional fame.' The 

 most of their lands were purchased of the Govern- 

 ment at $1.25 per acre, in the years 1852-'53. 

 They are breaking 640 acres this year to add to 

 their farm. 



"Farmers of Illinois, would you know the se- 

 cret of their success? They adopt the motto: 

 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 

 thy might.' 'Never leave until to-morrow, what 

 ought to be done to-day.' Keep, if possible, one 

 day ahead of time ; that is, plow, sow, reap, and 

 mow, sooner than your neighbor, and as soon as 

 the weeds begin to show themselves, call early 

 next morning — ' Up :boys, and at ihem !' " 



