is annually 'cleared.' 



Tliis case is no fiction — and if it were, it would 

 be a faithful representatitm of many unwritten in- 

 stances of like results. 



If atrricultural papers, then, are productive of so 

 much good — if their tendency is to ' make two spears 

 of grass grow where but one grew before,' no means 

 should be spared to extend their circulation: let 

 the fanner «ho is a .subscriber induce hi.s neighbor 

 who is not, to become one also ; — let agricultural 

 societies lend all possible aid in the cause. I can 

 conceive of another method for advancing my ob- 

 ject : — In every village there are generally two per- 

 sons upon whom the citizens bestow extraordinary 

 respect, or a sort of voluntary reverence, on account 

 of their (supposed) superior intelligence — I mean 

 the minister and the physician. Suppose these 

 important pe.-sonages should exercise the influence 

 they are capable of, to the end of improvino- the sa- 

 a'iculture of their towns, by inducing their fellow 

 citizens who follow the plough, to read — to improve 

 tlis mind in order to improve the soil, — could not 



the great object of enlightening the yeomanry the 



hard-handed, honest-hearted yeomanry — be further- 

 ed by such a praise-worthy movement .' 



It is, chiefly, to the influence of such papers as 

 the New England Parmer, the Albany Cultivator, 

 the Genesee Farmer, and others of a like charac- 

 ter, that our improvements in rural economy are to 

 be ascribed ; — that influence needs encouragement 

 — encouragement from States as well as individu- 

 als, — it needs to be more widely diffused ; for, in 

 proportion as it is extended, in nearly that same 

 proportion will the profession of agriculture be ex- 

 alled in the public estimation, its operations facili- 

 tated, and its products increased. J. H. D. 



Boslo7i, October, 1839. 



[For the New England Farmer.) 



BEES. 

 Mk Colman. — We wonder every body does not 

 keep bees, such active beings as they are and so 

 liberal in dispensing " the swee's of life." Yet we 

 afe glad they do not, for if they did, even though 

 they had a " small beginning," they would at 

 length become so numerous tjiat sad consequences 

 might result. This we have found to be the case 

 to our cost, for in the Spring of 1833, we establish- 

 ed a colony, which, as there were none about us, 

 , did very well, and our success excited others to em- 

 bark in the same enterprise, so that in two years 

 they were "as thick as bees" through the neigh- 

 borhood and town. The consequence was, all the 

 bee pasture in the community was overstocked, 

 and the long, severe winter which followed put an 

 end to all our anticipated sweets, inasmuch as that 

 there was scarcely a hive remaining in the circle 

 of our acquaintance, whose inhabitants could be 

 numbered among the living. We might have 

 saved ours in a way which we shall speak of soon, 

 but they had a usual supply of honey and we did 

 not expect an unusual winter. 



Last spring, we obtained a hive and began 

 again. Maugre the cold wet May and .Tune,°we 

 have obtained three swarms from it, the hive-( of two 

 of which are very heavy and the third in quite a 

 wmterable condition. Our first swarm came off 

 about the middle of May, and lit on a curraat bush, 

 consequently we had no trouble in hiving it, but 

 Ihe second which came off only a few days later. 



cies, ror tney lit on tne Dody ot a beautiful ftiaple 

 on one side of our yard, just at the place where the 

 lower branches put out. We tried almost as many 

 devices to get them off as the " old man" did to drive 

 " the rude boy" from his apple tree and with no 

 better success ; we jarred the tree, but we could not 

 jar them off; we tried to brush them down, but to 

 this they objected ; we confined a liive to the tree, 

 and wound a cloth around it and them, hoping to 

 lure them to a domicil in this way, but they had 

 no more ambition to climb, than propensity to de- 

 scend. We however secured them where they 

 were in this way, for that day and the coming night, 

 which brought the elements to our aid in the form 

 of a " hoarse north easter" cold with wind and tol- 

 erably charged with rain, which two qualities unit- 

 ted so benumbed the physical faculties of our tru- 

 ant friends, that we could dispose of them as we 

 pleased ; we accordingly with all care took them 

 down and placed those which possesed animation 

 in the hive, while the remainder we protected 

 from the storm, and on the first sunny day laid them 

 out to dry. iMost of them revived and joined their 

 family, but their tranquillity was of short duration, 

 for in consequence of their exposure, a dysentery 

 attacked some of the community, and those in 

 health, instead of remaining to protect the weak 

 and heal the sick saw fit to decamp, and after en- 

 joying a healthful sailing excursion in the air they 

 went to the hive in which the first swarm had been 

 put. Their stay there was not very tedious, for in 

 a week or ten days and instead of aspiring to the 

 trunk of a choice shade, at ten feet from the ground, 

 their '' meek and lowly spirits," led them to clus- 

 ter on a raspberry bush but a few inches from the 

 surface, from which they were taken and put in a 

 condition satisfactory to themselves as their quie- 

 tude and thrift fully attest. 



Our last swarm came off in June, and not with- 

 standing the old adage that "a swarm in June is 

 not worth a spoon" we should refuse an ©ffer of 

 two spoons for this, and more unless they were 

 very nice and very heavy. True, the quantity of 

 honey which they have gathered is not very great, 

 but with our way of managing such hives we tnink 

 amply sufficient for their supply. We propose bury- 

 ing them, through the winter, a practice which we 

 have adopted in two successive years, and had we 

 continued it the third, our old colony instead of 

 coming to an untimely end, would probably have 

 been in existence now through its descendants. 



My method of burying bees is as follows. The 

 operation is performed the last of Nove.nber. The 

 pit in which they are to be placed is dug considera- 

 bly larger than the hives, in every respect. On 

 the bottom of the pit two sticks say of scantling 

 four inches square, are placed that a cavity may be 

 left into which the water if there is any may settle 

 and run off without inj^!''V to the bees. On these 

 blocks I lay my floor board, which should be sound 

 and full an inch thick, if more no matter. The 

 top of the hive should be covered with a two inch 

 plank, or if more convenient a piece of wide thick 

 slab with the rounding side up, so that if the frost 

 comes out, and heavy rains fall it may serve as a 

 roof to carry the water from over the hive and turn 

 it into the pit below, Straw is then placed as 

 compactly as may he around the hive and the earth 

 thrown on 30 fts to form a cone above it, which 

 again operates as a, roof to turn the water as it falls. 

 With regard to the depth of burying we can only 

 say, that in our former experiments, we never sunk 



displayed an obstinacy worthy of the human spe- 1 the\/ip"of tbrhive'bllortre'VurfaTe.'" W^ 



would be well to do so we Cannot say. Some 

 when burying their bees, drive doM-n a stake neat 

 tlie hive as they say to admit the air, but we do not 

 see why a stake drove down with the earth com- 

 pactly placed around it, can form an air hole more 

 than the earth itself And if it could, we do not 

 <ee the necessity of it, for the object of burying 

 bees, is to put them as much as may be in a state 

 pf dormancy through the winter, by which their 

 rtock of provisions is lengthened out, to secure them 

 trom sudden and often fatal changes from heat and 

 Cold and from storm and sunshine. 



In selecting a place for burying it is important 

 jhat a dry one should be chosen, and toe prefer one 

 (hat is cold to a warm one, and could we regulate 

 [he condition of the earth around them, we w.mld 

 Freeze it the night after their burial, and keep it 

 frozen until time for their exhumatio.i in the spring. 



We in both instances of our former burying, took 

 [hem up some of the last days of March, and all 

 )he dead we found I'rom the four hives thus kept 

 ivould not half fill a person's hand, and on exposure 

 ;o the sun and atmosphere the living were as bright 

 mi lively as though they had known no winter, 

 md they gave swarms earlier and more frequently 

 han did the hives that were not buried the ensuincr 

 Rummer. 



/ We have thus far kept only the old'fashidhed 

 'square hives, but intend during the comingwin'ter 

 to have some manufactured after the Griffith and 

 perhaps other plans. We shall do so, not that we 

 have any particular objection to the square hive, but 

 in order to profit by improvements in the article ; 

 ahd to do this we wish to give each variety a trial. 



Our hives have uniformly been made of pine 

 hoards, and put together in the closest manner pos- 

 sblc, after which we have spread a salve made of 

 beeswax, tallow and rosin over the joints within 

 aid without. This wax gives the hive an odor 

 v<ry pleasant to the bee, in consequence of their 

 wa.ll being a part of its composition. It also closes 

 the small apertures which are most always to be 

 found in bee-hives against the invasion of the miller 

 one of the most formidable enemies to bee culture, 

 and where the hives stand out, as they often do, it 

 prevents the storm from beating through openinirs, 

 which if no preventives be employed, are always 

 increasing in size. Any sweet wood is undoubtedly 

 good for hi'es, but economy and durability should 

 be consulted in their manufacture as well as every 

 thing else. Hence the cheapest material that can 

 be used, v/ith the approbation (we can do nothing 

 without this) of those who are to inhabit them, 

 should be. Basswood is cheap and sweet, and we 

 know not why a basswood hive, kept sheltered, 

 would not last for ages. To secure its durability 

 it may planed on the outside and painted, and we 

 know not why the industrious bees would not enjoy 

 a neat white house, and are not as worthy of such 

 a one as many biped drones who inhabit I hem. We 

 think the practice of placing boxes on the hives' 

 for obtaining lioney a good one, especially when 

 the swarm is thrifty. After the proper season of 

 swarming time is passed, the box may be placed 

 on the hive and prevent future swarms from coming 

 out, and in this way the increase of bees may be 

 saved in the old hive, where there will be honey 

 enough for them, and new swarms come off earlier 

 the next season, while as much honey may be ob- 

 tained from the box as the late swarm would collect, 

 without the sacrifice of their lives. The honey 

 thus obtained is of the purest quality. The aper- 

 ture in the top of the hive through whicli they pass 



