234 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



flowers, nor to fight, unless in self-defence. They well 

 deserve the sweet lines of the poet in kindly mention — 



" How doth the little busy bee 

 Improve each shining hour." 



"We learn from these well known habits of the bee, thfit it is 

 best to " Work while the sun shines," and that " Diligence is 

 the life of business." At a certain season, a portion of the 

 bees become of no farther use, and they are destroyed and 

 turned out of the liive as drones and pests of the colony. We 

 learn by this, that drones and lazy people are not to be tole- 

 rated, and that those who " will not work, ouglit not to eat." 

 We should hardly like to carry the discipline quite as far as 

 the bees do, and destroy them, however. Again^ if meddlers 

 hang around the hive and tantalize the busy workers, as they 

 turn away, tliey often feel a " sting behind." We learn by 

 this that it is always best to " mind our own business." 



Synopsis of Mr. Root's Statement. — Mr. Root has tried 

 several patent hives, but prefers among them. Col ton's patent. 

 The chief difficulties in keeping bees and managing them suc- 

 cessfully, are — wintering them, getting' them in a condition to 

 sivarni earli/, and keeping them free from the bee-moth. Bees 

 want plenty of fresh air. They do not die from cold or frost, 

 but from want of air. The moisture in the hive freezes in cold 

 weather, and makes ice between the layers of comb, and keeps 

 the air from the bees. This happens oftenest at the bottom of 

 the hive. To remedy this evil, he vents his hives in the middle, 

 so as to let in plenty of air. Few bees treated in this way will 

 die, and the colony will be in good condition to swarm early, if 

 they winter well. He has never lost a swarm of bees by moths 

 in twenty years' experience, keeping from ten to twenty swarms 

 annually. To keep off the moth, he planes or scrapes the bot- 

 tom board in the spring and gets olf all the cement and comb 

 that makes a lodging place for the eggs of the miller. He also 

 keeps the board clean, by daily brushing during the spring. 

 After the comb is covered, there is no danger from vermin. 

 He sets his hives in the open air, without any bee-house of any 

 kind. 



David Rice, Chairman. 



