1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



185 



of Maine and other States, which I think he rich- 

 ly deserves. His "Maine State Bee Hives" are 

 getting very popular in this vicinity ; not one who 

 uses them out speaks in their praise, and are sat- 

 isfied that Torrey is the Bee Monarch, and beats 

 the world in the bee-hive business. 



If this article shall meet Torrey's eye, and he 

 will call on me this spring with some of his hives, 

 I will, with implicit faith in his ability, employ 

 him to divide more of my old colonies of bees. 

 He is master of his business. J. Allen. 



BethleJiem, Ct., April 27, 1864. 



RemL'IKKS. — From a considerable observation 

 of Mr. Torrey's skill in handling bees, clearing 

 out old hives, dividing swarms, &c., &c., and from 

 an exi>erience of several years' use of his hives, 

 we do not think the commendations of our cor- 

 respondent any too decided. Mr. Torrey has had 

 a life's experience in his business, having begun it 

 in his boyhood in the woods of his native State, 

 and continued until he has now passed the merid- 

 ian of life. He has introduced certain graces or 

 embellishments into his art which are exceedingly 

 attractive, such as inviting bees into curiously 

 shaped glasses, which they filled and finished up 

 with exquisite skill, — or writing their own inscrip- 

 tions on the glass inside of the hive, so that it be- 

 came perfectly visible to the beholder. The larg- 

 est, richest, and most beautiful collection of hives, 

 bee% and honey, we ever witnessed, was presented 

 by Mr. T. at the Maine State Fair at Augusta sev- 

 eral years since. Tons and tons of honey remain 

 uncollected every year, for want of a better knowl- 

 edge how to keep and tend bees, who are our in- 

 teresting and profitable co-workers. 



Some persons are detei'red from bee culture be- 

 cause they consider them dangerous. There is 

 some ground for this belief, but scarcely so much 

 as there is for declining to keep a horse, because 

 he might kick or run away and do much injury. 

 We have read accounts of serious occurrences, 

 and even loss of life, by attacks from bees, but 

 have never known of such a case in our own re- 

 gion. Like all other stock of the farm, they can- 

 not be profitably reared and controlled without 

 some knowledge of their habits and wants, and 

 when these are understood, they wijl suggest a 

 proper caution that will make all danger from 

 them of little importance. 



The art of bee-keeping is greatly injured by a 

 set of lazy empirics, who have little knowledge of 

 the habits of the bee, but who are full of preten- 

 sions, and roam over the country, visiting from 

 house to house and practicing their deceptions 

 upon the people. There has been so much of this 

 that hundreds, — living in regions where there is 

 excellent bee-pasturage, and where the annual in- 

 come from them might amount to a handsome 

 sum, — are disgusted with the whole thing, and 

 have eiven ud the culture entirely. 



But there are good books and good oral teach- 

 ers on the art. Huber and Langstroth's works, 

 to the real lover of nature, have a charm beyond 

 that of any novel, and their perusal will not only 

 tend to the profit of the purse, but to the head 

 and heart, for they purify and elevate the afl"ec- 

 tions, and lead us to appreciate, more than ever, 

 the wonderful things which are around us on the 

 farm. 



Perhaps one cause why so many losses have 

 been realized by bee-keepers, is that they have 

 employed too much art in the construction of their 

 hives. They are too complicated, both for the 

 worker and the owner. 'They have departed too 

 widely from nature, from the habits and wants of 

 the bee. The space above the box in which the 

 bees have deposited their young and stores is gen- 

 erally too small, so that the moisture from them 

 in cold weather does not pass freely off, but is 

 condensed and falls back upon them. We look 

 upon this as the source of more losses than all 

 those occasioned by millers or other causes. 



Honey is a wholesome article of food. It may 

 be placed in the class of luxuries by some. Sugar 

 used to be, but is now considered among the arti- 

 cles of necessity. Why not ? It is very nutri- 

 tious and palatable. For children and sedentary 

 persons we should prefer a dollar's worth of sugar 

 to a dollar's worth of beef. Honey may be made 

 to take the place of sugar, and even that of butter 

 in a great many instances, and in so doing we be- 

 lieve would promote the prosperity of the farm, 

 and the health and happiness of the family. 



Let us, then, give more attention to this de- 

 lightful art ; we mean a consistent, intelligent at- 

 tention, eschewing the dogmas and superstitions 

 that surround it. If novices in the art, let us 

 gather our first information from some good book, 

 or the practices of some good neighbor, and grad- 

 ually increase it by our own constant observation 

 and experience. Under such a course the bee- 

 house will embellish the homestead, yield an an- 

 nual profit and be a source of pleasure to the 

 family. 



A neighbor of ours — a mechanic — who has but 

 a small garden about his house, finds his amuse- 

 ment and great pleasure in the culture of his bees, 

 and, as a reward of his patient care of them, he 

 took from their well stored boxes last summer be- 

 tween two and three hundred pounds of the best 

 honey, and left them all they needed for their own 

 use. 



Gapes in Chickens. — A writer in the Rural 

 Neio Torker says that he has found by accident, 

 that dough raised with milk rising is a sure and 

 safe remedy for gapes in chickens, fed while fer- 

 menting, but while still sweet. He has tried it 

 for six years, but says that where he seasons the 

 feed of his chickens witlj salt, as for cooking, th^ 

 never have the gapes. 



