THE GENESEE FARMEK. 



115 



SPRING MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



Among the many jtrorainent instinctive laws 

 given to tlie bees by their Creator, we find that 

 their love of liberty is so great that they had rather 

 die of suffocation from the heat generated by 

 themselves, than to submit to involuntary confine- 

 ment. To contine them in a warm room, or in a 

 hive out of doors, during weather which is suitable 

 for them to be ont. submits them to a very severe 

 punishment, as the open air at such times is their 

 greatest delight. 



I have at one time fitted up, and at considerable 

 expense tested thoroughly the practical working of 

 keeping bees in houses according to the most ap- 

 proved theories, and during about eight years of 

 continual experiments, by close observations I have 

 arrived at these conclusions, viz: 



Where a number of swarms of bees are collected 

 together in a thoroughly enclosed room, made warm 

 and close by being thoroughly protected from the 

 surrounding cold, that the natural process of gene- 

 rating heat from the body of each bee constantly 

 going on, causes the temperature of the room to be 

 raised to the required heat for hatching, in advance 

 of the same corresponding change in the seasons 

 out of doors; and the result is, that too early in 

 the season the queen is induced to deposit her eggs, 

 Uie process of hatching thein is accomplished, and 

 U e whole brood so hatched immediately starves to 

 tteath, as the weather is not warm enough, nor the 

 season forward enough, so that the working bees 

 can get out, or if out, cannot procure the food 

 which nature has intended to provide at a little 

 latei date, for their young. As a parrallel case the 

 miller of the apple-tree worm lays her eggs in a 

 branch on a twig in the latter part of summer. By 

 a law of nature, they hatch out tlie following 

 spring, just at a time when the tender leaves are 

 putting out on the same limb that the worms oc- 

 cupy, and these leaves furnish them with their 

 natural food ; and nature has so ordained that these 

 two processes shall go on hand in hand, one de- 

 pendent on the other. Now, take the same limb 

 containing the eggs, and hang it up in a warm room 

 early in the season. The eggs will hatch out, but 

 the leaves on the limb do not put forth, but have 

 withered and dried up ; consequently the worms 

 must die, because no nourishment has been provid- 

 ed for them. And so it is exactly in the case of 

 bees confined in rooms, in most cases. Artificial 

 heat may hatch the eggs, but it can not at the same 

 time produce the necessary change in vegetation to 

 support them. 



Look to your bees and hives immediately. See 

 that they are not cracked or split by dampness 

 collected on the inside during the past winter. If 

 60, mend them by screwing, (not nailing) on cletes, 

 &c. If any holes have been bored, to ventilate 

 the hive, (which, by the way, is wrong,) close them 

 all up, and render the hive as near air-tight as pos- 

 sible, by closing all openings except the usual pas- 

 sage-way left for the bees at the bottom of all 

 hives. The bees will make corresponding repairs 

 inside. If your liives are made of single inch 

 boards, I would recommend thatching them with 

 straw, about three inches thick, by beginning at 

 the bottom of the hive and bending the ends over 

 on the top, so that the hive will be completely en- 

 veloped in straw. Then, with a pair of shears, 



cut away the straw, so that it will be no obstruc- 

 tion to the bees in going in or out of the hive. I 

 think no one who ounce tries thatching will omit 

 it in future. The hive is now prepared for hatch- 

 ing and raising the young brood. Bees require 

 about the same heat, (90 ^ , or more,) and about 

 the same time which is required to hatch a brood 

 of chickens, and the heat also requires to be a 

 steady heat; and the hive once warmed suflBci- 

 ently by the bodily warmth of the bees, the young 

 bees will hatch, and the straw on the outside pre- 

 vents their being chilled or killed by sudden 

 changes, or cold nights or days. This straw should 

 be removed from the hive when apple-trees are in 

 bloom. 



Prepare yourselves with suitable hives for the 

 new swarms ; see that Ihey are made in a work- 

 manlike manner, and so constructed to meet the 

 instinctive wants of the bee, as far as possible. The 

 kind of hives which I have been led to consider 

 the best, is made of two thicknesses of boards, 

 with a chamber for boxes above. e. kiebt. 



Mst Henrietta, N, Y., March 1st, 1S59. 



Facilities foe Growing Cattle at the West. — 

 The facilities afi:brded for this business, by even the 

 settled prairie States, have to be seen to be appre- 

 cfAted — thoroughly examined to be known. AU 

 the groves and waste lands are covered with grass, 

 and much in extent of these will remain without 

 fence for the next generation ; so that the advan- 

 tages to he derived from pasturage are to be had 

 free of expense. Winter fodder costs but the 

 securing of it, and sheds for the protection of cattle 

 are made of waste wheat straw, now burned in 

 large quantities ; so that the obstacles in the way 

 of growing cattle in this vicinity are very trifling. 

 From my farm westward for many miles, 111. C. E. 

 R. and speculators' lands (which will not soon be 

 sold) connect, affording range for a vast herd, while 

 Rock Slough furnishes water. Upon these lands, 

 thus far, wild hay as well as pasturage is to be had 

 in abundance. Individuals wishing to enter the 

 business, can do weU with time and capital in Illi- 

 nois. — W. H. Gardner, near Ainboy Gity^ III. 



Feeding Horses. — I believe all that has been 

 said in favor of cut straw and ground feed for 

 horses, yet there may he many people who have 

 more hay and roots than grain, as is the case with 

 myself. 



I desired my horses to winter on hay and car- 

 rots, and, notwithstanding they were inclined to a 

 cough immediately after they were taken from the 

 pasture, I commenced wetting their hay in advance 

 of feeding. I would pitch down a quantity and 

 sprinkle on water, then shake it up well, put in a 

 close pile, and feed from it, and be sure that when 

 I fed the last that was wet, I prepared more for 

 future feeding. Thus far, with wet hay and carrots, 

 I am satisfied that horses that are not being worked 

 hard, may winter well, even with a cough to begin 

 with. I have tried both cut straw and ground 

 feed, and the hay and carrot feed. For freezing 

 weather I prefer the latter. — L. Beae\ Marcellus. 



Corn should never follow buckwheat. Potatoes 

 are the best crop to precede corn, grass the next, 

 corn itself next, and, last of all, buckwheat. * 



