THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



211 



aiANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



The hive should be made of sound boards, free 

 from shakes or cracks, and planed smooth outside 

 and in, made in a -n-orkmanhke manner, and paint- 

 ed white on its outside ; it should be made tight in 

 the joints, so as to exclude the light and air. The 

 lower apartment, where the bees store their food, 

 rear their young, and perform their ordinary labor, 

 should hold about as much as a box 13 or 14 inches 

 square, or a bushel. If the hive is much larger, 

 the bees will never swarm, and will not be likely to 

 .fill up the drawers in several years. The back side 

 of the hive should slant forward of the lower apart- 

 ment, so as to render the same smallest at the bot- 

 tom, the better to secure the combs from falling 

 when cracked by frost or nearly melted by heat. 



The bee-owner should have his hives in readiness 

 in the apiary, with the boxes bottom upwards to 

 prevent entrance when hiving ; when a swarm has 

 oome forth and alighted, saw off the limb, (unless 

 the hiver is used,) shake it gently over the table so 

 as to disengage them; place the hive over them, 

 taking care to lay one or more sticks under the hive, 

 before many rise in the air. If they will not enter, 

 invert the hive and brush them in carefully with a 

 quill; place them in the bee-house and keep the 

 hive well ventilated. To prevent robberies, the 

 moment it is discovered that robbers are within or 

 about the hive, close the bottom board nearly, so 

 as to prevent entrance but let in air ; open at night 

 to let the robbers go, and close early next morning. 



The apiarist shoidd beware of the moth, which 

 enters the hive generally by night, and locates itself 

 in a kind of glue or cement which the bees use to 

 stop up cracks, lays its eggs, which soon hatch into 

 a maggot, and if the hive is not well guarded by the 

 beos, will destroy the whole colony. 



All hives should be weighed and marked before 

 used, and by their weight in the fall the apiarist 

 can tell how much they lack to sustain them the 

 coming winter, or how much to take away. If 

 they need feeding, place some comb and strained 

 honey on the bottom board. 



STorUi Boston, Ei-ie Co., m T. B. F. BOTVEN. 



EASMING IN TEXAS-A HAPPY EDITOR. 



Geo. W. Kendall, one of the proprietors of the 

 New Orleans Picayune., owns large estates in 

 Texas. Writing to a friend in Boston, he des- 

 dribes his mode of life, as follows : 



" You may, perhaps, wish to learn the mode and 

 manner of my life hareaways ; let me enlighten you. 

 Three days in the weak I ordinarily pass at my 

 rancho here, three or four miles fi'om New Braun- 

 fels, with my family ; two days I spend at the 

 Estancia. a place of mine, thirty miles Avest, and 

 where my flock of sheep are pastured ; and the 

 other two days I am on the road, backwards and 

 forwards, my conveyance an old Jersey wagon, 

 with two trusty horses. There is one gap of eight 

 miles on the road without a house, and another of 

 twelve; yet the way is not lonesome. I never 

 pass over it without seeing an abundance of deer, 

 turkeys, ducks, partridges and the like; I carry 

 alongside of me a double barrel gun, a Sharpe's 

 rifle and one of Colt's revolvers, and some kind of 

 game is sure to grace my wagon, both gomg and 



coming. My sheep now number some 3000, and 

 finer flocks you never set eyes upon. In May, I 

 hope to be able to count upwards of 4000, as my 

 lambs come in April. I have, besides, a fine gang 

 of brood mares, besides some forty cow^s, and like 

 the elder Mr. Norval, ' to feed my flock and in- 

 crease my store ' is now ' my constant care.' Did 

 I not once tell you that I had much rather see my 

 lambs skipping upon the hills and playing in the 

 valley than to witness the pirouettes and entrechats 

 of the best corps de ballet that ever existed? I 

 have seen a good deal in my day, Jim — the world, 

 the elephant, etc. — but never saw anything which 

 aftbrded so much real enjoyment as my flock, when 

 doing well. And since I have been here on tlie 

 spot in person, now nearly two years, I have had 

 extraordinary good luck ; I have not lost two per 

 cent, of my sheep per annum, and when I tell you 

 that 20 per cent, is the average loss the world over, 

 yon may well imagine that my success is remarkable. 



" I never sell a ewe or anything which produces. 

 I have pasturage for 20,000 sheep, and any number 

 of horses and cattle ; and to see all this space cov- 

 ered is now what I am working for. I don't bother 

 my mind a moment about Kansas,, or Brigham 

 Young, or politics of any kind— don't care who is 

 President — fear God and hate the Indians— try to 

 keep my feet warm and head cool — and smoke my 

 pipe in peace with all mankind. 



" Here, notwithstanding we occasionally have a 

 cold and blustering norther, our climate is delicious. 

 I am now writing on this 1st January, A. D. 1858, 

 sitting in my shirt sleeves, doors and windows wide 

 open, no fire, and robms and other summer birds 

 singing in the green live oaks of my yard. Think 

 of that, all mufiied up as you are, and weep. And 

 then here among the mountams we have no fevers, 

 no chills, no consumptions, no sickness of any kind. 

 There's balm in Texas." 



■ — — ^« ■ 



TO KEEP TIEES TIGHT ON WHEELS. 



Messes. Editors : —I desire to ask room for the 

 following, which I believe to be an excellent sugges- 

 tion, and that the mechanic who shall take the in- 

 itiative in the matter, will be sure to find his reward 

 in the greater call for his work. D. — Gates. 



I wish to communicate to the public a method by 

 which tires on wheel carriages may be kept tight. I 

 ironed a wagon some years ago, for my own use, and 

 before putting on the tires, I filled the felloos with 

 linseed oil; and the tires have worn out and were 

 never loose. I ironed a buggy for my own use, seven 

 years ago, and the tires are now as tight as when put 

 on. My method of filling the felloes with oil is as 

 follows : I use a long cast iron oil heater, made for 

 the purpose, the oil is brought to a boiling heat, the 

 wheel is placed on a slick, so as to hang in the oil, 

 each felloe one hour, for a common sized felloe. 



The timber should be dry, as green timber will not 

 take oil. Care should be taken that the oil be made 

 no hotter than a boiling heat, in order that the timber 

 be not burnt. Timber filled with oil is not suscepti- 

 ble of water, and the timber is much more durable. 

 I was amused, some time ago, when I told a black- 

 smith how to keep tires tight on wheels, by his tell- 

 ing me, it was a profitable business to tighten tires, 

 and the wagon maker will say, it is profitable to him 

 to make and repair wheels— but, what will the farmer, 

 who supports the wheelright and smith, say "i—Cor. 

 Southern Planter. 



