1870. 



NEW ENGLAl^D FARMER. 



565 



Sixth," by '-Red Koight," 890,— "Lady Sale 

 Third," by imported "Duke of Cambridge," 

 l,03t (5.941.) — "Lady Sale Second," by 

 "Earl cf Chatham," (10,176.)— "Lady Sale," 

 by "General Sale," (8 099,)— "Clara," by 

 "Napier," (1 238.)— "Maid of Orleans," by 

 "Mameluke," (2 258,)— "Heletfa," by "Wa- 

 terloo," (2,816 )— "Moss Rose," by "Bar- 

 on"' (58,) — "Angelina," by "Phenomenon," 

 (491) — "Anne Boleyn," by "Favorite," 

 (252,)— "Princess," by "Favorite," (252,) 

 — "Brighteyes," by "Favorite," (252.) — 

 "Beauty," by "Masterman's," (273,) — 

 "Tripes," by the Studley bull, (621.) 



VENTILATION- OP BEES IN WINTER. 



One of the principal causes of loss in the 

 culture cf bees is the want of a proper ven- 

 tilation of the hive in winter. In the first 

 place, bees are usually confined to a spice al- 

 together too small. That is, they do not need 

 much room for placing their combs and per- 

 forming their work ; but they do need wider 

 and more ample surroundings. In their nat- 

 ural condition in a hollow tree, the actual 

 space they occupy may not be larger than one 

 or two cublo feet, while the space above and 

 below the mmay be several feet. In this case, 

 the moisture escaping from the bees finds ample 

 room to pass off, without becoming condensed 

 and f ailing back upon them, as it often does 

 in most cf our artificial hives. When this 

 takes place, even in only a slight degree, it 

 becomes fatal to the family. The cold water 

 wets and chills them so that th'^y will not move 

 to feed ; mould soon ensues, and is extended 

 through the whole mass of bees, and they die. 

 Formerly we lost swarms every winter in this 

 way. 



An upward ventilation is objectionable, be- 

 cause it carries off the heat which is indispen- 

 sable to the bees, and a side ventilation is 

 found difficult to secure. What is needed is 

 to find some mode of retaining the heat, and 

 at the same time allow the moisture to escape 

 so as not to return in a condensed form upon 

 the bees. These points are pretty well se- 

 cured in the Torrey hive, but not perfectly. 



It is stated by Mr. J. H. Thomas, of Brook- 

 lyn, Ontario, N. Y., that these essentials may 

 be secured in the following manner : — 



"Cover all upward ventilating passa£?es or open- 

 ings, withsjme warm materiilthat wiil absorb the 

 moiature, bui retain heat. Thick Manuel or woolen 



cloth, an old bacr, or qailts made for the purpose, 

 will answer. Hence, if tbe top coverings of tbe 

 hive are removtd entirely, and a frame covered 

 with wire cloth or strong Imen put on iristead, and 

 over this some warm material, ttie UJoi^ture would 

 entirely escape, leaving the bees and combs dry, 

 while all the htat would be retained." 



This would be easily done, and it seems to 

 us would prove effectual, if the covering used 

 were coarse woollen, so that the escaping va- 

 por would readily pass through it into the open 

 air. If striking on a surface as firm and 

 smooth as stout linen, we should think it would 

 condense there and fall again. 



Another error is found in most hives. The 

 bottom board comes too near the combs. The 

 castings of the swarm accumulate there and 

 sometimes becoming moist, form^ mass of 

 filth which must be highly offensive to such 

 neat and orderly creatures as bees. The 

 space below the como should be two or three 

 feet instead of as many inches, as is ofcen the 

 case. 



PHEMIUMS FOR FOREST TREES. 



The Massachusetts Society for pr amoting Agri- 

 culture has awarded to Mpj >r Bn: Perky Po -re 

 of Indian Hill Farm, near Ne7,b;iryport, thepra- 

 niinm of one thousand dollars, which it off red in 

 185S for the best pl.intatioQ of f irest trees, planted 

 before 1S60 and growir^ in 1870. The ti.>t pre- 

 mium fur lorest trees cfl'ertd on this continent was 

 by the Mast-afhu-^etrs Soci -ty for Promoing Agri- 

 culture, in 1797 — a gold medal worth two hundred 

 dollars. It was aivarded to Col. Robert Do <ge, of 

 Hamilton, who was Mtij jr Poure'.s j^r.mcfdther, on 

 the mother's side, and tbis prompted the Maj ir to 

 compete fur the premium last offered by the same 

 society. — Dmly Paper. 



Remakks. — Egypt and some other countries 

 in the old world are treeless, and the climate and 

 the people suffer much in consequence thereof. 

 But we do not share the fears that have often been 

 expressed of danger that a like calamity will oc- 

 cur to New England. We have had to fi^ht the 

 encroachments of the forest on cukivated land ad- 

 j jining strips of wood, and on pastures and mow- 

 ing lots, too much to apprehend a failure of bushes 

 or trees in New England. We have also seen too 

 many of our hill farms abandoned to a thick, 

 spontaneous growth of soft and hard wood, to 

 think there is any great need of special encour- 

 agement of tree planting among us. We know of 

 one school district in which there were boys and 

 girls enough to fill an ordinary country school 

 house when we were young, in which at the pres- 

 ent time there is not a single family, — the whole 

 territory bdog devoted to pasturage and tho 

 growth of forest trees. 



— A farmer in Boon county. Mo., says his oat 

 ground ploughed in the fall produced one-lhird 

 more than that ploughed in the spring. 



