278' 



THE GEiVESEE FAEMER. 



ripen the earliest; the early sown this year has en- 

 tirely escaped the midge, while that which was 

 sown later lias heen slightly injured. 



As resjjects spring wheat, I should think the 

 early sown is ahout one-half destroyed, wliile tliat 

 wliich was sown later is uninjured, though the early 

 sown is a heavier crop and a plumper grain. It is 

 my opinion it will yield nearly as much per acre 

 as the late sown. 



Peas and oats will be above an average crop, 

 and the hay crop is excellent. 



The prospect is, that if we get a few more show- 

 ers the potato and corn will be an abundant crops, 

 and I think that tiie oppressioi^ of 1858 and '59 

 will be left far in the rear, and that our fanning 

 community will cease to complain of "hard times."' 



Xmt Co., a W. II. WHITE. 



BEE-HIVINO- MANAGEMENT, ETC. 



Eds. Genesee Farmek: — J. 11. A., Avon, C. "W., 

 on page 25(3 of tlie Farmer, says: "I would like 

 an article from some of your experienced corres- 

 pondents on the management and working of bees. 

 Almost all the bees are leaving round here ; some 

 of them leave after they are hived and start to 

 work." 



Having had experience with bees, I will reply. If 

 "almost all the bees are leaving," it is time that a 

 ditierent system of practice was substituted, let 

 that system be what it may. What way the bees 

 in his section are managed, of course I cannot say. 

 I presume the management is quite dilTerent from 

 mine. My neighbors who lose their bees by flight 

 adopt quite diti'ereut modes of operation. For 

 more than thirty years 1 have had the sole charge 

 of large apiaries; and during that. time have not 

 lost by flight enough swarms to average one in live 

 years ! 1 have no patent mixture or potent charm 

 to induce them to stay, but simple common sense 

 management. That others are not equally success- 

 ful 1 am well aware, as 1 tind that those employed 

 by us to take charge of a yard during the swarm- 

 ing seasons, who have had full instructions, fail in 

 some" instances. There will arise some conditions 

 not provided for in the directions. Yet success is 

 so generally good, that we can not but ascribe it to 

 management. By contrasting the two methods we 

 tind some dili'erence. For instance : First, the bees 

 are sadly neglected till a swarm issues; then a tin- 

 horn, tin-pan, or bells, or any thing to make a hor- 

 rible noise, is used to make them cluster. Very 

 often a hive is to be constructed ; or an old one, untit 

 to use any way, needs some cross-stici<s inserted, 

 or something to take time. If the hive is ready, 

 it lias been lying in the sun all day, and made 

 hot enough for an oven. If it is painted, it is planed 

 inside as well as out, and has been done so recently, 

 that the rank smell is very otfensive; or some dark 

 color lias been applied that absorbs the rays of the 

 sun till the heat cannot be endured. When the 

 bees are introduced, something nice to wash the 

 inside must be had, to make them like it. A table 

 is set out, and a cloth spread upon it; sticks are 

 put down to raise the hive an inch or more. If 

 tiiey succeed in gettiug the swarm even on the out- 

 side of the hive, it is left; if the bees go in, it is 

 well — if they go off, why, hope for " better luck 

 next time." The hive is left unsheltered in the hot 

 sun, and when there is no wind, the heat is soon 



insupportable; the bes hang in loose strings, in- 

 stead of a compact body as when kept cool. They 

 are very apt to fall, and when they do, will rush 

 out on every side ; and if the queen chances to drop 

 with them, they 7nai/ leave. Two-thirds of all the ' 

 bees that go to the woods are managed in this or a 

 similar manner. 



On the other hand, the bees are properly cared 

 for. When a swarm leaves, it is not disturbed by 

 hideous noisas — we being satisfied that they will 

 cluster without any such demonstration. It is 

 possible that one in three or five hundred may 

 leave for a tree in the woods without first cluster- 

 ing; yet I have had a few thousands, not one of 

 which have done so. Hives are all ready in season, 

 and cool when used. They are generally used 

 without paint; but if painted, a light color is put 

 on, and done long enough previously to lose all 

 smell of oil, etc. j^fothing hut bees is put into the 

 hive. If thehive is new, the inside is left rough 

 from the saw, not planed ; if an old hive, it is inade 

 sweet and clean, and the inner surface scratched 

 rough so that the bees can hold fast. They are 

 hived in the most convenieilt and simple way: a 

 board large enough to set the hive on is laid on the 

 ground; should there be grass, a sheet spread down 

 first will facilitate the operation — the bees shaken 

 down by the hive, or in it, as is most convenient. 

 Should they settle in a place where they cannot be 

 shaken, they are dipped off and emptied by the 

 hive ; one side of the bottom of the hive rests on 

 a board, and the other raised an inch or more. The 

 whole swarm is made to enter before leaving them. 

 When they go in reluctantly, they are stirred witli 

 the feather end of a quill; and when very obsti- 

 nate, a little water is sprinkled on them to facilitate 

 their motions. When all are in, except the very 

 few that will continue to fly, the hive is let down 

 on the board and carried to the stand it is to oc- 

 cupy, the front raised half an inch, and thoroughly 

 shaded from the sun. When the weather is very 

 hot, and they cluster outside, water is occasionally 

 sprinkled on the hive, to cool them. 



Should two swarms unite, making too many to 

 be comfortable, the boxes are added immediately. 

 This .is all that is done. One in fifty may call for 

 something more ; yet this system carried out will 

 secure success generally. Eaising the hive on one 

 side, and thoroughly shading it, is very important. 



St. Johnst:iUe,K. Y. M. QUIMBY, 



Author of Bee-keeping ExpUiiiied. 



HoEACE Greeley ox Agricdltural Papers. — 

 There are at present some fifty or sixty periodicals 

 published in our country devoted to Fanning — as 

 many, I presume, as in all the world beside. They 

 have been built up at great expense of talent, labor, 

 and money ; for when Col. Skinner started tlie first 

 of them at Baltimore, some forty or fifty years ago, 

 the idea of teaching farmers anything iu that way 

 was hooted by them as ridiculous, and he found it 

 hardly possible to give his early numbers away. 

 Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent 

 on these publications ; and they are this day, in my 

 judgement, doing more to promote the true gri)wth 

 of the country and the substantial, enduring wel- 

 fare of our people, than Congress, the Army and 

 the Navy, for the support of which they are taxed 

 some Forty Millions per annum. 



