1851. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



67 



f 



BEES. -No. 7. 



Spring Management. — The months of March and ' 

 April are a critical period for bees. Many families 

 perish from lamine during;" these two months. Dee- 

 keeper's should examine tiieir hives early and often, 

 and such as are apparently without honey, should be 

 fed. You should remove all families liable to sufier 

 from famine, to your cellar, if a dry one ; if not, to 

 any room in the house, or out-house, that can be 

 made dark. All li^iit must be excluded Here you 

 must set the hives bottom upward. The next point 

 is to give the food. If you have any honey in the 

 comb, lay the pieces directly upon the combs within 

 the hives, and as near to the bees as possible; then 

 rap upon the sides of the hives, and the bees will 

 ascend and remove the honey to the centers of their 

 combs, to be consumed at their leisure. If you feed 

 liquid honey, you should heat it enough to run freely; 

 then lay a piece of empty consb, as nearly horizon- 

 tally as may be, over or near the bees ; and to do 

 this, you may have to cut off the tips of combs in 

 hives but partially filled, or place a strip of wood 

 across the interior, to serve as a support of one side 

 of the comb. When adjusted, take your warm honey 

 in a small pitcher, and nil the cells at the upper sur- 

 face. The bees will remove this honey as before 

 mentioned. When no honey is to be had, (West 

 India honey is as good as any,) you may make a 

 syrup of sugar, by adding about a half pint of water 

 to three pounds of sugar ; then heat it till it boils. 

 After it cools, take otF the scum, and it is ready for 

 use. Hives that are full of combs, require a portion 

 to be cut out sufficient to insert a piece of comb hor- 

 izontally, as before stated. The hives may be cov- 

 ered with a cloth, or a wooden cover, always giving 

 sufficient room for the admission of air, without al- 

 lowing the bees to escape. The feeding should be 

 done at evening, since the bees will be much .more 

 quiet at this period, while removing the honey, than 

 in the day time, even if it be a perfectly dark place 

 where the bees are kept. They are apt to endeavor 

 to escape wlien aroused in the day-time, especially 

 if any light enter the hive. The period to remove 

 the bees to a dark location, for the purpose of being 

 fed, is at any time from December to April. As soon 

 as pleasant weather approaches in April, place them 

 where they are to stand for the season. I now refer 

 to a northern latitude, and especially to Western 

 New York, where we have but little warm, sunny 

 weather in the winter season. In sections where 

 tlie skies oiq more clear, and especially farther south, 

 feeding may be eflected, through the aid of the sun, 

 in the supers or chambers of hives, as fully set forth 

 in the Bee-Keeper's Manual. A little salt should 

 be put in the food of bees in the spring. Don't be at 

 all uneasy in regard to keeping your bees confined 

 several months, when it is necessary to do so. It is 

 better that they should be allowed to void their foeces, 

 but it will not seriously injure tiiem to be shut up 

 five months- T. B. Miner. 



An Enquiry — Facts vs. Theory.— H it he s.s Mr. 

 DoWxM.vG states, that the " air-tight and ten-plate 

 stoves" are the great poisoners of American health, 

 how does it come to pass that the Germans, of Penn- 

 sylvania, who have used the "ten-plate" longer, and 

 more generally, than any other American citizens, are 

 the healthiest and longest lived people in the United 

 Slates ? Can Mr. Downing answer ? S. 



^ountni l'lcs'ii)fucc0. 



We shall continue, during tlie year, to give plans of 

 cottages and farm-houses. If none exactly suits the 

 wants or taste of any one about to build, tliey will 

 certainly aid all in forming their own plans. The 

 one helow is from a correspondent, and the cottage 

 on the next page we take from Downing's Country 

 Houses, 



PLAN FOR A FARM HOUSE. 



Messrs. Editors : — A.s you are in the habit of giv- 

 ing such plans to your reader.-;, I will give you a 

 plan of a very convenient farm house. Being a joiner 

 niy.self, and working among the farmers, I have had 

 a very good chance to learn tlieir wants ; an !, as it 

 is the poorer class of farmers that are in the most 

 need of help for a plan to come within their purse 

 and convenience, (for those are tiie most difficult 

 houses to plan,) I will give you one of a small cheap 

 farm house. 1 told one of my neighbors the other 

 day, when he called on me to give him a plan of a 

 house, I should charge him one dollar (and very 

 cheap at that) for drafting for him a farm house, 

 but if he would pay three shillings for the Farmer 

 he should have as good a plan as I was capable of 

 drafting, for his convenience, and the paper to boot. 

 So he thought it much the cheapest way to obtain 

 'he plan for his house. 



A, Parior. ISbylS. B, Diniug room, 14 by IS. C. Kitchen. 15 by 

 IS. D, Bed room. 8 by 8. K, Wood-house. 12 by 16. F, Hall, 8 

 by 1.5. G, Veranda, 7 by 17. a, a. Bed rooms, "i^ by 8. b, b, 

 Closets, c, Pautry. 8 by 8. 



Here you see a house, standing end to the road, 

 23 by 33 feet, 1 J stories high, and 14 foot posts ; the 

 chamber to lie partitioned lilce the first floor, with 

 frieze lights in the side to light the bed-rootns, and 

 other rooms, if required. The wing on the right, 22 

 by 18 feet, is a dining room, or common living room 

 for the family ; with a veranda in front, and bed- 

 room, clothes-press, and pantry in the rear. You 

 see the pantry has two doors, to be convenient for 

 both rooms ; a wood-house in the rear, 12 by 16 feet. 

 The large rooms all open in the hall, and being com- 

 pact, makes it convenient. My estimate on the car- 

 jjenter and joiner work is $354, and board !|80. The 

 cost of materials would vary in diflerent places ; in 

 this place, the carjieuter and joiner work would about 

 equal all the rest of the expense of the house. Phil- 

 ip HoAG. — Richburg, JV. Y., Jan., 1851. 



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