378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JUNE 10, 1835. 



BEE AND BEE HOUSES. 



Tho use of houses for bees, we believe, is of 

 modern date. Some three or four winters ago, 

 in travelling in Otsego county, we were shown the 

 first bee-house wo ever saw or heard of. One 

 was four, and anotlier six feet square, and six or 

 seven feet high, made perfectly tight, with a good 

 floor, and with a door for occasional entrance. 

 One had been tenanted two summers, and con- 

 tained probably about 200 lbs. honey. The other 

 iiad been occupied but a season, and contained 

 less honey. Neither had sent out a new swarm. 

 We were so pleased with this management, that 

 immediately on reaching home we had a Bee 

 House built, and in June following introduced in- 

 to it a swarm of bees, the day they left the parent 

 hive. They filled the hive in which they were 

 introduced, but no more, and the next year sent 

 out two swarms. In the mean time we made a 

 bee-house, or bee-room, in our garret, adjoining 

 the eastern brick gable end, fitted the interior for 

 the reception of a hive, and opened an ai)erture 

 through the wall at the point parallel with that 

 where the bottom of the hive would stand. The 

 first swarm that came forth were placed in it. 

 They not only filled the hive, but nearly covered 

 it with comb and honey the first season. We 

 have taken from their stores a considerable quan- 

 tity of honey for our table, always delicately 

 white and fine, which has been more than made 

 good the following summer. The quantity of 

 honey in the room must now amount to nearly 

 200 lbs. No interruption to their labors has been 

 ajiparent, nor have they sent out in the three 

 summers any new swarm, We built another bee- 

 room in the garret last summer, ami put therein a 

 fine swarm of bees. They promise to do equally 

 well with the first. A bee-moth has been occa- 

 sionally seen in the garret, and one in the bee- 

 house, but not the least indication of their web or 

 larvce about the hive or honey. 



It has been said, that where there are a number 

 of hives, the bee-moth concentrate in one hive, 

 and leave the others undisturbed. This has been 

 in a manner verified by our observation during 

 the two last years ; for we have, in both years, 

 found one hivea Imost literally filled with the worm, 

 butterfly and web, whicli we immediately consign- 

 ed, hive, honey and all, to the flames but have not 

 found a moth, or the signs of one in other hives 

 from which we have taken honey. Though it is 

 well to remark, that the honey has been uniformly- 

 taken from the up])crmostof a double hive, without 

 destroying the bees, which were driven into the 

 lower apartment. Thetwo boxes are of equal dimen- 

 sfons. A hole is made in the top of the lower one, 

 for the bees to pass up, and the upper box S('t on 

 and fastened to the lower one by hooks and but- 

 tons. The upper box is always filled first, and 

 when the imder one is filled, and this is consider- 

 ed suflicient to subsist the bees during tho vviuter, 

 the upper box may be taken ofi", the honey, which 

 isfoutrd to be pure, and free from young and bee- 

 bread, taken out, and tlie box returned. The bees 

 are driven into the lower apartment by blowing 

 tobacco smoke into the upper one. 



Ii! November last, we took two late swarms, 

 which appeared to have scanty supplies for the 

 winter and placed them on a shelf iu a dark cellar. 

 About the 20th of March they were examined. 

 The bees in one hive were dead ; they had 

 been apparently smothered for want of air or by 

 bad air. Water had got under a corner of the 



hive and produced mouldiness. The honey had 

 a])])arently suffered no diminution during the win- 

 ter. The .bees in the other hive were in good 

 condition ; not a dead one was seen ; and on be- 

 ing removed to the stand, the day being warm, 

 soon became lively. From this experiment, we 

 think weak swarms may in this way be preserved 

 during the winter in a dormant state. 



In jjieparing a bee-house, we recommend that 

 the hive which is to be put into it with the young 

 swarm, for such we should prefer, be placed above 

 the centre on the east wall, that the aperture 

 through the wall for the egress and ingress of the 

 bees, he parallel with the bottom of the hive, and 

 that the staging on that side to sustain the comb, 

 be fifteen or eighteen inches broad. The comb, 

 when extended on the outside cf the hive, assumes 

 the form of a cone, the top of the hive constitu- 

 ting the apex, spreading below equally on the 

 front and sides and extending considerably below 

 the hive. Without a broad staging, therefore, the 

 comb in front, having nothing to sustain it, breaks 

 off from its own weight, and falls to the grouiid. 

 — Cultivator. 



[From Tr-insaclions oftlie Essex Agricultural Society, for 12J4. J 

 ANIMALS— BUI. 1<S. 



The Committee on the examination of Bulls, 

 beg leave to report: 



That they have attended to that duty, and find 

 twelve bulls regularly entered for jiremium, also 

 one bull calf for exhibition only, and after close 

 exatnination and discrimination to the best of their 

 judgment, they have awarded to Abraham Balch, 

 of Topsfield, for his dark red bull, 2 years and 6 

 months old, the first premium of $10,00 



Gideon Currier, of Newbury, for his red bull, 

 the second premium of $5,00 



Luke L. Dole, of New Rowley, presented for 

 exhibition a bull calf of native breed, 6 months 

 and 6 days old, of a dark red color, fine form, 

 gentle temper and weighing 505 lbs. This calf 

 had sucked from his birth. To encourage the 

 raising and the patriotism of showing such elegant 

 animals, we think Mr Dole entitled to the thanks 

 of the community and to a gratuity from the So- 

 ciety, of $2,00 



The Bulls offered were of a quality generally 

 to do honor to their breeders and benefit to their 

 race, and they would cheerfully have bestowed 

 more premiums had the Society granted them. 



The Bull is one of the most important animals 

 to the farmer, and great discrimination and judg- 

 ment should be used in his selection either for the 

 draft or the dairy. For the dairy it is a most 

 important point bis maternal ancestors shoulil be 

 great and rich milkers, and his paternal ancestors 

 out of stock known to possess these qualities iu 

 great perfection ; and no Bull calves even under 

 these circumstances should be raised except those 

 of most vigorous physical powers, well turned 

 limbs, and compact bodies, with good temper and 

 close smooth hair. 



The Bull for procreation is equal in the exten- 

 sion of his race, if properly fed and employed, to 

 50 or 100 Cows ; and one animal of this kind has 

 been known to successfully cover near 200 cows in 

 a season ; which circumstance alone fully proves 

 the necessity of strict attention to every important 

 point in his selection when intended for that pur- 

 pose : and in raising him shouldhe not conlinueto 

 possess all the good qualities requisite for such an 

 animal, he should be mutilated and condenmed to 



the yoke or fatted for the shambles. In fact, your 

 committee would wish all the Buds in Essex to 

 be as formidable as the Bulls of Bashan, and all 

 their progeny to be as strong and healthy as the 

 flocks Jacob gained in the service of Laban. 

 All of which is duly submitted by 

 Hector Coffin 



WiLLlAJ 



Daniel 



II 15-uiiiy suuiiiuieu \3y 



R Coffin \ 



iM Johnson, Jr. } Committee. 



[. Adams, 3d. ) 



AGRICULTURAL, TOUR. 



The Rev. Mr Field, whose farm is on the hiU 

 side, on the eastern bank of the Decrfield river, 

 together with three other persons in the vicinity, 

 have recently commenced the cultivation of mul- 

 berry trees, the raising of the silk worm, and the 

 manufacture of silk. Some of Mr Field's family 

 were, on my arrival, engaged in spinning silk on 

 a common spinning wlieel for sewing silk, and 

 which found a i-eady market in the neighborhood. 

 Mr Field has comparatively few worms; but is so 

 well encouraged by his success, that he designs to 

 extend his establishment to the utmost of his 

 ability to provide accommodations for the worms. 

 He thinks the situation ) artieiilarly favorable to 

 the raising of silk, as he found that one peck of 

 cocoons, containing eight hundred and twenty two, 

 has yielded six ounces of si.k, which is equal to 

 one and a half pound to a bushel, a much larger 

 product than is usually stated in the books. 1 he 

 silk, in the form of sewing silk, produces about 

 eight dollars per ] ound. Mr Field stated a fact, 

 probably familiar to those acquainted with the 

 subject, that there are two kinds of worms, one 

 which iJi'oduced but one, and one which might be 

 made to produce two crops of silk in the course of 

 the year. Of the latter kind he had received a few 

 from Mansfield, Conn. By the report of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society, it appears that 

 as good silk has been obtained from worms fed 

 on the black as from those obtained on the white 

 mulberry tree. 



Oats may be considered the best crop in Charle- 

 mont. Considerable corn is produced but little 

 or no wheat. The innholder, Mr "1 hayer, liimself 

 an extensive and successful farmer, informed me 

 that he considered their best business to be that 

 of raising young stock, which when of an age to 

 be stall-fed, were usually sold advantageously to 

 the farmers on Connecticut river. A good deal 

 of pork is fattened, and principally upon Indian 

 meal and potatoes. 



The road continues for several miles to follow 

 the course of the Deerfield river, which becomes 

 a narrow, rapid, and shallow stream, finding its 

 way by a very winding course over its rocky bed, 

 among the mountains, which rise precipitously 

 to a considerable height liom the very edge of the 

 stream, covered with a thick and imjiervious 

 growth of wood to their summits, and leaving in 

 many jilaces not even room enough for the road, 

 excepting by crossing the river ; and at other spots 

 furnishing small pieces of rich intervale, occu|)ied 

 by some industrious settler. In one case where 

 least you could have expected it, you suddenly 

 emerge from the woods, and at the foot of the 

 Iloosic mountain you come upon one or two ex- 

 tensive and beautifiil farms, ])resenting rich mea- 

 dows, surrounded on all sides by preci[)itous and 

 lofiy mountains ; and in the very bosom of tho 

 valley, almost secluded from the world, presenting 

 an aspect of remarkable neatness, comfort and in- 



