86 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



who remove into Western America, Birkbeck ob- 

 Berves, sliould bring with them the power and the 

 inclination to dispense, in a great degree, with ser- 

 vants. To be easy and comfortable there, a man 

 should know how to wait on himself and practice 

 it. In other respects, this gentleman and his friends 

 hope to live on their estates at the prairie ' much 

 as they were accustomed to live in England.' 



" As a Country for a British Farmer to Emi- 

 grate to, we consider the United States as superior 

 to every other, in two respects : First, on account 

 of its form of government, by which property is 

 secure, and personal liberty greater than anywhere 

 else, consistently with public safety, and both main- 

 tained at less expense than under any government 

 in the world ; secondly, on account of the stock of 

 people being generally British, and speaking the 

 English language. The only objection we have to 

 America is the climate — the loflg and severe win- 

 ter, and the rapid and hot spring and summer. 

 Land equally good, and nearly as cheap, may be 

 had in the south of Russia and in Poland ; but who 

 that knows any thing of the governments of these 

 countries, would voluntarily put himself in their 

 power while the United States were accessible?" 



ITALIAN HONEY BEES. 



Eds. Genesee Farmeh: In answer to the nu- 

 merous letters of inquiry pertaining to tbts new 

 species, allow me, through the columns of your 

 paper, to give a description of this peculiar kind 

 of bee. 



When they were first introduced into this coun- 

 try. I regarded them more of a humbug than an 

 improved species of honey bee, and no doubt but 

 others have come to the same conclusion. But 

 after due consideration and experiments for the 

 past three years, I have become fully convinced of 

 their superiority over the native bee. They seem 

 to be a very tough, hardy bee, will stand the cold 

 of our northern winters better, collect honey much 

 faster, work earlier in the morning and later at 

 night than our native kind. The queens are more 

 prolific, and will brood much faster than the com- 

 mon species. They will collect honey from some 

 species of flowers which other bees pass by. Their 

 proboscis seems to be a trifle longer, and being 

 stronger and more active they will frequently tear 

 the anthers of flowers open to obtain the sweets, 

 which the common bee will never do, and, as has 

 been frequently alleged, will collect honey from 

 tlie smaller species of red clover. Tlieir size is 

 governed by tiie size, of the cells where they are 

 reared. If comb of other bees' make is used, they 

 will be about the same size as our common bees. 

 lint if they are allowed to build their own brood- 

 comb they will be considerably larger. 



It has been frequently asserted tliat the Italians 

 have no weapon of defense. Tl)is is an error, as I 

 learned in the early part of my experiments. I 

 then thought they had instruments of warfare of 

 unnsual length. By careful management I find 

 they are much less liable to sting than the old 

 kind. Bee-keepers who are not thoroughly ac- 

 quainted witli the nature of bees, would do well to 

 use a fumigation y)ipe, which will render any swarm 

 perfectly manageable in less than ten secimds. 

 They can be even shook out of the hive, and not a 

 bee will resent it. 



Tliey seem to differ very materially in coloi 

 well as in the shape of their body, from the c 

 mon kind. Their bodies seem to be somew 

 longer, and taper to near a point. The workers 

 all marked by a series of gold bands, encirc 

 their bodies just under their wings. The drc 

 are not so strongly marked. The workers res 

 ble the common yellow wasp quite as much as t 

 do the common kind of bees. The queens var 

 color ; some of them are a dark brown, others* 

 quite light, approacl^'g to near a gold color; 

 the progeny of a dark queen bear the mark qi 

 as plain as a light colored one. 



In regard to their moral habits I can not sp 

 very favorably, unless it is for the robbery of 

 common stocks. In that capacity they will ej 

 anything I have ever seen. Being very smart : 

 active, they will make their way into any comn 

 hive and get a load of honey and make their esc 

 unharmed. They will have a full hive whethei 

 is a good honey season or not ; and I have : 

 quently had them fill two hives by placing one 

 the top of the other. 



I would advise all persons who engage in tl 

 culture to make the entrance of the hive conts 

 ing the native species very small, to prevent be 

 robbed by them. The entrance of the Ital 

 swarms should also be contracted to prevent th 

 robbing neighboring apiaries. The Italians 

 not so liable to rob their own species. 



£urhngt(m, Vt., Feb., 1S63. K. P. Kjddei 



NOTES BY S. W, 



Eds. Geitesee Farmeh: I see that you fa^ 

 grinding cobs with corn for feeding cattle. Wb 

 cobs are worth $4.00 per tun as fuel and kindlin 

 wood, and the potash is saved, I think they i 

 worth more as fuel than for grinding as food. 



I am making a large pile of manure from o 

 cow, treating her excrements every morning wi 

 sawdust, turner's shavings and coal-ashes. Eith 

 of these wj^ condense or absorb all the risi; 

 effluvia. I do not wheel it out on my lot and gs 

 den oftener than once a fortnight, and not thi 

 nntil it is thoroughly mixed. Tliat which I put ( 

 my grass patch 1 shall try to have fermented befo 

 spreading. 



I have trenched a piece of hard clay that h 

 always heretofore laid to commons, hoping, wi 

 the aid of my compost, to have it fit for a coj 

 crop by the 5th of May. 



I have a bushel of Isabella grapes spread out ( 

 newspapers, up chamber, where they keep co 

 but hardly freeze. They have "sliriv'elled " vei 

 much, but their juice is very sweet. 



The greatest luxury I have of my own growir 

 is some rongh-pod butter beans. The long-i)o 

 caseknife pole beans yield better, but they are n( 

 as rich, neither are the Liinas. 



''Old Hurricane," in the Country Oentl&mai 

 tells the true story of carrot-growing. Beets ai 

 more prolific, and may be got at half the expense 

 and I find that the long blood beet is sweeter tha 

 carrot. It will not grow as large as the Weorsel 

 but may be set closer tf>getlier. I grew enough fc 

 my cow on a very small space. 



