46 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 1879. 



APIARY. 



Taming Stubborn Bees. 



Every beekeeper has had colonies and queens that 

 would not be controlled by ordinary means. Such 

 will be the interested in following: account, onc- 

 tributed to the Americmi Bee Journal, by W. E. Mc- 

 Bride, of Illinois. 



On October 1st I straightened up tlie combs in one 

 of my bee hives, preparatory to Italianizing: the 

 colony. Over half of the bees left for parte un- 

 known, but the queen remaind. October 5th I united 

 the bees that remained with another colony. Caught 

 and caged both queens, and afterwards killed them. 

 On the cveninii: of October 10th I hunc: a cage con- 

 taining iin Ilalian queen in the hive. On the morning 

 of the 1:2th I opened tlie hive to release her Italian 

 majesty. No queen cells had been built after I killed 

 the two black queens ; bnt I found freshly laid eggs 

 — also larvir— CO I searched for another queen and I 

 found her and soon had her beheaded. I then re- 

 moved the cork from one end of the cage and tied a 

 piece of paper over one end,supposing it would work 

 all right. I closed the hive and did} not examine it 

 again for some days. When I did I found everything 

 jiist as I had left it. She had not got liberated, but 

 the bees had started a numlier of queen cells. I tore 

 them and daulied the queen e.Tgc with them, then 

 opened the cage, without removing it from the hive, 

 tliinking slie woidd walk out. .Some of the bees went 

 in and seemed r.ot !o molest her, so I left them to 

 themselves for an hour'or so. When I went back I 

 was not at all'surpriscdjto find the queen still in her 

 rage. I tried to smoke her out gently, but wlien she 

 did come she came in a hurry and ran rapidly 

 down tl:e eonil.s, out, of the liivc, and tried to fly ; 

 but I w;is too (iiiicl; lor her; I caught her, clippad 



she remained ;!bout a qunrter of a minute, and tlicu 

 came out again. I caught her and put her in the 

 top of the hive and administered smoke. Next morn- 

 ing I found heron the bottom board. I gave them 

 smoke to my entire satisfaction, and the queen is 

 now all right, laying nicely. 



Protection of Bees Against Wasps. 



A British bee-keeper says he has witnessed the 

 destruction, in two weeks' time, of a thriving apiary 

 of five stocks, solely by wasps— which being in a 

 starving condition, and as much for warmth and 

 protection as lor food, forced an entrance into the 

 hives. The best defcnt-e he has found, both against 

 wasps and ri.Mi.-.hces from stronger colonies, is, 

 first, to keep llie slocks uniformly strong, and sec- 

 ond, to close the entrance holes to the attacked 

 hives so that only two bees can piiss or repass at the 

 same time, thus giving one means of defense which 

 they will not be slow to take advantage of. 



Industry of Bees. 



A. S. Wilson presents the following facte to show 

 the marvelous industry of bees. Approximately 100 

 heads of clover vicld O.S jrram of sugar, or l'J.5 heads 

 give 1 cram of 'sugar, and, therefore, 1-25,000 heads 



1 kilomainn fMi-nr. As each head contains 60 



floi-et.s ( f^n,(iiiiixi;(i) not less than 7,500,000 flower 

 tubes must be eiajitied of their honey to obtain 1 

 kilogramme of sugar. The honey may, roughly, be 

 estimated to contain 75 per cent, of su^ar, and hence 

 we h.ave 1 kilogramme equal to 5,000,000 flowers in 

 round numbers, or 2,.500,000 visits for one pound of 

 honey. 



No FARMER need expect to be successful with bees 

 unless he is willing to give time to them. They will 

 suffer from neglect quite as much as growing, ripen- 

 ing crops. He cannot reasonably expect honey unless 

 there are flowers in the vicinity from which it can be 

 collected. If there are no Dov.ering trees and plants 

 growing naturally, they must be cultivated. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL. 



The Hessian Fly. 

 Tiiis destructive insect made its appearance in the 

 wheat-fields last fall to a considerable extent and 

 did much damage ; but one fact connected with its 

 appearance, or rallier reappearance, should be care- 

 Uilly borne in minil— that it is only the early sown 

 wlieatihatis attacked, and this mostly when early 

 sowing is followed by a long spell of mild weather, 

 like that of last autumu, during which the grain 

 becomes quite rampant. Wheat sown the last of 

 September or the beginning of October — which is 

 early enough in most years — is seldom if ever at- 

 faekcd by the fly. There is a statement now before 

 us of a farmer in Western New York, who eavs that 

 while he sowed bis wheat as late as the 18th and 

 20th of September, his neighbors sowed in the latter 

 end of August, and that while his crop was wholly 

 free from the fly, and yielded over twenty-nine bushels 

 to the acre, the crops of bis neighbors were nearly de- 

 stroyed. He further says that a barrel of salt to the 

 acre will destioy the midge and cause the grain to 

 ripen from three to six days earlier. We think there 

 is wisdom iu his statement. 



The Apple Tree Borer. 



I have an orchard of two acres, planted eight and 

 twelve years ago. About five years agol found the 

 borers at work in all the trees, more or less. The bark 

 would turn black and peel oflT, and then would appear 

 decayed in spots the size of my hand and larger. I 

 commenced to scrape with my knife, and found a 

 white grub working between the bark and tree. In 

 some trees I found as many as ten worms in one tree. 

 They killed two of my largest trees, and injured five 

 others so that they died. I first tried soft soap suds; 

 it seemed to kill them by drowning. I afterward took 

 strong Ije, that would float an egg ; this killed all 

 that it touched. I dug out several worms after using 

 the lye, and every one was dead. I have washed ray 

 trees iu May and September ever since, and have not 

 lost a tree. 



LITERARY AND PEROSNAL. 



Impoved WiLLOUGUBV GRAIN Drill, manufac- 

 tured by J. B. Crowell & Co., Greencastle, Frankliu 

 county. Pa. 12 pp., 8 vo. 



A. C. Yates' Fashion Reporter, for fall and 

 winter of 1878, is also a remarkably well executed 

 quarto of 8 pages, devoted to fashion and clothing 

 literature. 



L. B. Case's Botanical Index. — An illustrated 

 quarterly botanical magazine, Richmond, Indiana. 

 16 pp. octavo, excellentfy gotten up, and this Jan- 

 uary number, 1S70, is full of valuable matter on the 

 subjects of Roots, Fruits and Flowers. 



Pr.EMiuM List and Regulations of the first 

 annual exhibition of the "Germantown Poultry and 

 Pet Stock Association." Parker's Hall, Main and 

 Price streets, Germantown, December 24th, 25th and 

 26th, 187S. 10 pp., 8 vo. 



Address of Francis D. Moulton, before "First 

 Internaiional Dairy I'air," American Institute, New 

 York, Saturday evening, December 7th, 1878. We 

 are under obligations to Mr. J. H. Reall for a copy 

 of this excellent address, an interesting extract from 

 which will be found in this number of The Farmer, 

 under the caption of "Population and Producton." 



The Poultry Monthly, Albany, N. Y. The 

 January number of this royal 4to of 18 pages and 10 

 pages of .advertisements is before us. Excellent ma- 

 terial, beautilully illustrated and printed. No. 1, 

 Vol. 1, is before us. This is a new enterprise, and if 

 it don't succeed the reproach must be on the people 

 and not on the printers and publishers. §1.00 a year. 



The Sugar Industry o? the United States 

 AND the Tariff. — A report of the assessment and 

 collection of duties of imported sugars ; on the r3- 

 sults of an eeonomieal and financial inquiry into the 

 relation of the sugar industry of the United States in 

 its several departments of production, importation, 

 refining and distribution of product, to the existing 

 federal tariff. By David A. Wells, New York, 18T8. 



IIakd Times and the Way Out. — A speech de- 

 livered by Robert G. Ingersoll, at Music Hall, Bos- 

 ton, October LOth, 1878. An 8 vo. pamphlet of 24 

 pages, published by Gibson Brothers, Washington, 

 D. C. Mr. Ingersoll talks a good deal of "sense 

 and nonsense" in his course through the world ; but 

 this pamphlet, although not free from error, con- 

 tains much that belongs to the category of "sense." 



The Farm. — A journal for the farm, garden and 

 household. Published by Thomas McKenzie & Sons, 

 Dublin, Ireland. A quarto of 10 pages. Two shil- 

 lings a year in advance. Address of editors, .34 Daw- 

 son street. This is a remarkably well gotten up 

 journal, both in its typographical execution and its 

 literary contents. In size, style and general appear- 

 ance it, is not much unlike The Lancaster Farmer. 

 We heartily welcome it to our exchange list as a 

 worthy representative of the agricultural and domes- 

 tie interests of the "Green Isle of Erin." 



Badyland.— The January number of this juvenile 

 magazine for 1879 is a most excellent specimen of 

 the graphical and typographical arts adapted to 

 babyeulture. We have not had a baby born to us 

 for twenty-five years, and we a' most regret that we 

 have not a baby, or are not a baby ourself. The 

 illustrations are so pretty, so pure and so character- 

 istic of child life that we feel quite sure Babtjlaud 

 will "flow with milk and honey " to all the appre- 

 ciation of the juvenile world. 50 cents a year. D. 

 Lothrop & Co., 22 Franklin street, Boston, Mass. 



The American Farmer.— The December number 

 of this most excellent journal has been received, 

 (somehow for nearly a year we have not seen a 

 copy) freighted as usual with valuable lore to the 

 farming world. We do not recognize an agricultural 

 magazine in the country that is more worthy of the 

 patronage of the farming public, and yet every 

 "once in a while" it becomes evident that that fact 

 needs a clearer apprehension and a more liberal 

 realization at home. 34 pp. royal 8vo. at ?i!..50 a 

 year in advance. A club of five for §1 each. Samuel 

 Sands & Son, 1.8 West Baltimore street, Baltimore, 

 Md. 



Scientific Men and the Press on the Sugar 



Question.— The great Cuban effort to transfer the 

 American refining business to Cuba by a change of 

 the sugar tariff fully detected at last. These are~two 

 octavo pamphlets, the former 119 pp., and the latter 

 20 pp. It is needless to say these pamphlets discuss 

 the sugar question with ability on the negative side- 

 that is, the side opposed to the 23.2 cents specific 

 duties on all grades of sugars whatever. The sym- 

 pathies of the people, the sugar dealers, and the 

 men of science, including the 2'>'css, seem to be with 

 the American refiners ^but it would be diflBcult to 

 say what Congress might do or might not do if the 

 measure is "backed" by such a large sum of money 

 as has been reported at various times. 



Report of the twenty-seventh annual session of 

 the Teachers' Institute of Lancaster county. Pa., 

 held at the Court House, November 11th to 1.5th, 

 1878. This is number eleven of the annual reports of 

 the Institute ; and, although the preceding ones have 

 been able and interesting, this last and best is in ad- 

 Vance of them all, and is, no doubt, a true reflex of 

 the progress which has been made iu our system of 

 public instruction. Of course every teacher, in Lan- 

 caster county at least, has a copy of this excellent 

 report, and it ought to be in the hands of every 

 teacher iu the State. There is no other sixty page 

 royal octavo that can be of more interest to the pro- 

 gressive teachers anywhere than the perusal of what 

 was done by their eo-laborers elsewhere, and how 

 and by whom it was done. The faithful teacher in 

 the most remote and secluded corner of the Com- 

 monwealth, even though he or she may never have 

 had the privilege of attending the meetings of an 

 institute, may sit down and read these proceedings 

 with almost the same intelligent satisfaction as those 

 that were really present. There are recorded, too, 

 all the names of the teachers iu Lancaster county 

 who were in .ittendance, with their local residences ; 

 besides all the essays, lectures, discussions and ex- 

 ercises which then and there took. place and were 

 participated in. 



The Phrenological Journal for January begins 

 the sixty-eighth volume of- this well-known popular 

 and sterling magazine. There are few, if any, peri- 

 odicals which have done more to direct man's atten- 

 tion to himself and to such means as will better his 

 condition physically and mentally. The present 

 number opens with an excellent portrait and phreno- 

 logical and biographical sketch of L. N. Fowler, one 

 of the founders of this Journal, and of the old firm 

 of Fowler & Wells. Following this is a most inter- 

 esting chapter on "Brain and Mind," with several 

 illustrations, and including special directions to be 

 followed in examining heads. An instructive and 

 lively paper is The Study of Entomology, with illus- 

 trations. There are also a portrait and sketch of 

 Lord Dufl'erin, besiiles very readable sketches on : A 

 Good Figure ; One of the Seven Ages ; and " Color 

 Blindness;" this last throwing much light on the 

 subject. A ratlier critical article touches on Butter, 

 and the Use of It. Otheis discuss The Feet, and the 

 Dressing of them ; Hot Springs of Arkansas ; Poison 

 Ivy, and Ivy that is not Poison; Self-Knowledge a 

 Social Need ; while one finds a good many useful 

 facts in the Scientific Notes, Answers to Questions, 

 etc. The above tends to show the scope and value 

 of this excellent magazine, which has been reduced 

 from §3.00 to §2.00 a year, or iO cents a number, 

 and offers a Phrenological Bust premium to each 

 subscriber. No one can do better than to send 20 

 cents iu postage-stamps for the January number, 

 and full particulai-s as to premiums, etc., to S. R. 

 Wells & Co., 737 Broadway, N. Y. 



Scientific American Supplement.- We need 

 hardly say anything in reference to the Scienliflc 

 Amcr'kan, for that "distinguished journal has de- 

 servedly earned a world-wide reputation in its special 

 sphere. The supplement , however, which is also 

 published weekly, and is uniform in size with the 

 Seienlific American, may not be so well known to 

 our readers. We have received a quarto catalogue 

 of the valuable papers contained in the supplement. 

 These papers include a very large number of scien- 

 tilic, mechanical and domestic subjects, mainly re- 

 lating to chemistry, metallurgy, mechanics, engi- 

 neering, electricity, light, heat, sound, technology, 

 agi-ieullure, horticulture, botany, rural and house- 

 hold economy, materia inedica, therapeutics, hygiene, 

 natural histoi-y, biology, meteorology, terrestrial 

 physics, geography, geology, mineralogy, astionomy, 

 ifcc. This catalogue contains the titles and synoptic 

 contents of about 5.50 sepai-ate papers published iu 

 the supplement with references to the particular 

 numbei-s in which the diffei-ent papers may be found. 

 Each number of the supplement contains 16 quarto 

 pages profusely illustrated, and is published at ?5 

 per annum, and may be had of Munn & Co., pub- 

 lishers, 37 Park Row, New York, or at the office of 

 almost any news dealer in the country. We also 

 acknowledge the receipt of a copy of that beautiful 

 little annual vade mecmn of the patentist, The Scien- 

 tific American Ifand-Book for 1879. No one ought 

 attempt to "dabble" in the patent right business 

 without a copy of tliis little book in his pocket, and 

 its contents in his head ; 48 pp. 16mo., beautifully 

 printed, illustrated and indexed, published as aboye. 



