178 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
weevils hibernate, seeking llie warmest cracks 
and corners tliey can find. 
Tliey are often so numerous in grain store- 
houses and sliips as to blaclien tlie walls and 
grain heaps, and of course detract greatly from 
the value of grain. Vessels so infested are used 
a few trips in the salt trade, or the weevils are 
otherwise starved out. In elevators and grana- 
ries, after thoroughly cleansing the buildings, 
quick lime, finely slacked to a dry powder, is 
scattered about everj-wliere, brushed into cracks 
and corners, etc., and so a riddance is often 
effected. In barns, the afflicted say, it is much 
more difiicult to clear them out. 
Our correspondents suggest three systems for 
getting rid of the weevil. First, Mftrvntion. — The 
barn of D. Steck, Lycoming Co., Pa., was 
exceedingly full of them. "Keeping all grain out 
of the barn for one year " effected a perfect 
cure G. L. Hale, Franklin Co., P.a., re- 
ports tliat persons in his neighborhood who 
were troubled, put up sheds, under which to 
stack their grain, a few hundred yards from 
their barns, and after keeping the grain out of 
the barns for two or three years " they would 
be pestered very little with them.". . . .Arte- 
mus J. Gridlej', Hartford Co., Conn.," l)eing 
greatly troubled, cleared his barn not only of 
grain but of every particle of straw, and put no 
grain nor straw in it for two years ; — the cure 
was complete. . . . A neighbor of Joseph Huston, 
Monroe Co., Iowa, rid his barn entirely of 
the weevils, which were very thick, by erecting 
scatTolds, four or five feet above the ground, in 
his barn, storing the grain upoa tliese and keep- 
ing his sheep beneath. 
The second plan advocated is the use of salt or 
lime, or both. J. G. Coles, Camden Co., N. 
J., writes, "my plan is simply to put hay 
(green enough to dissolve salt) in tlie barn first, 
and salt it well. It will kill or bani.'ih certain. 
I filled my mows nearly half full of hay and 
stored the grain on top." He suggests, also, 
stacking the grain one year and filling the barn 
with salted' hay....T. Cole, Fairfield Co., 
Oliio, says : " before mowing away your grain 
dust finely slaked lime throughout the barn, on 
the sides and bottoms of the mows, and sprin- 
kle a small quantity over evoiy layer of grain of 
a foot in thickness, as it is mowed aw.ay. At 
threshing time sprinkle lime about the granary 
in the same way, and, if thought best, sjirinkle 
a small quantity over the wheat pile as it fills 
up. A bushel of lime would be enough for 
granary and mows holding 500 bushels.".... 
Thomas C. Mount, Monmouth Co., N. J., 
says: "In July, 18G4, my V)arn being empty of 
grain, but occupied by millions of weevils, I 
took a bucketful of salt and sowed it in the barn 
broadcast, in every nook and corner which had 
■ had grain in it. Ever since threshing time last 
year I have had grain in the barn but not one 
weevil has been seen." . . . ..I. C. Rinehart, Car- 
roll Co., Md., leaves some chaff, etc., upon the 
floors until near haying time, then, on a rainy 
day, sweeps all out as clean as possible, turn- 
ing over loose boards, etc. Tlien, when lie gets 
his grain in, mixes two parts air slaked lime and 
one part fine salt, and sows one pint on each 
load of grain. Thus he gels rid of them. 
The tliird plan proposed was carried out by 
Austin Rowe, of Patchogue', L. I. His barn 
was infested willi the weevil, so he cleared it 
out and swept it ; then taking some bags he 
went to the woods and found some large ant 
hills. With these he filled his bags — five bush- 
els in all, sand, ants, etc., and taking them to 
his bam poured them out on the floor. The 
ants immediately set to work devouring the 
weevils, and in a week's time all were gone 
and he has seen none since. The grain in tlie 
sheaf was not removed from the barn. Other 
fanners have tried this plan with the same re- 
sult. The ants do no harm, but, after doing 
their work, depart into the earth. 
low, the accumulated strength of the stock is 
wasted. Here lies the only secret to successful 
bee keeping : Keep your bees at work during 
any periods of short forage. 
STOCKS WITH TODNG BLACK QUEENS. 
Comparative Industry of Black and Italian 
Bees. 
There is one lesson to be learned in bee cul- 
ture that ought to be known to every one ; nei- 
ther the queen nor the majority govern, but 
every working bee acts under this law, "what- 
soever I find to do that do." Such is the con- 
dition of a prosperous colony that where there 
is honey to gather and a place to store it, they 
work incessantly until they expire — building 
comb at night to contain the honey gathered 
during the day. 
By weighing a new swarm morning and even- 
ing, for 30 days, we found they consumed at 
night about one-third of that collected during 
the day. . But, alas, how great is their mortali- 
ty. Late in the season, July 1, we selected ten 
similar empty frame hives and weighed each, 
and filled each with empty worker comb, and 
after again weighing gave each a new swarm of 
black bees, containing no drones. "We then re- 
moved five of the black queens and gave five 
other young straw colored Italian queens. "We 
also removed the five other old black queens, 
and substituted new ones. July 15 we examin- 
ed each, and found the Italians had filled all 
their nine combs with sealed blood, while the 
black queens had only five full combs each; 
from the 20tli to the S.'Sth, the young bees 
emerged in great numbers from the Italianized 
hives, the young Italians outnumbering the 
old black bees, and by the 10th of August, less 
than six weeks, scarcely one hundred black bees 
remained ; nearly all had become Italian save a 
few old ragged winged ones. During their con- 
version into Italian bees, the temper of the 
stocks gradually changed, becoming more mild, 
making smolie and a bee dress unnecessary in 
handling them. Careful handling does not dis- 
turb their labors. Even the queen continues 
laying, though removed on a comb and carried 
awa}'. (The queen is really the greatest laljor- 
er in the hive). As a general rule, black bees, 
particularly those containing young queens, if 
j'ou give them plenty of room, will not swarm ; 
but two of the Italian hives swarmed once, and 
one twice, the second swarm issuing thirteen 
days after the first; lience the stock must have 
been without a queen during that time. Indeed, 
Italians work as well without a queen as with. 
We removed the queens and brood from two 
new swarms, and they filled their hives with 
sixty-one pounds of honey in twenty-four days, 
losing more than one-half their number during 
that time. Until the middle of August the bees 
experienced no destructive cold winds nor sud' 
den sliowers, and flew less than one-half a mile, 
gathering buckwheat honey principally. Then 
the golden rod commenced blooming, which 
was occupied by black bees, gathering honey 
and building combs as yellow as gold ; while 
the Italians passed over and flew nearly a mile 
beyond, gathering thistle honey almost as col- 
orless as water. It will be observed, in the an- 
nexed tabular statement, that while the bees 
were engaged in raising brood they gained little 
or no honej' — merely the weight of the young 
bees. Most crops of flowers bloom in less time 
than brood matures, so, unless other flowers fol- 
G.VIN IN POUNDS TO 
_ . 
1ST, 
§»=■ 
ci 
&,=- 
1— ■ 
t.r: 
SIS 
OfHire 
Of Been 
■^"^ 
r 
^ 
•<j 
'< 
&a, 
No. 1. 
asv lbs. 
7}^ lbs. 
9X 
12 
^^'^ 
liV 
23 '4 
i-na 
No. 2. 
3ax n.3. 
85^ lbs. 
WV 
14J< 
42 
4fiW 
2B¥ 
14UK 
No. 3. 
.-iliX lbs. 
SJilbs. 
Sii 
IS 
21V 
29K 
9M 
■.sv 
No. 4. 
S\X lbs. 
6K lbs. 
11 
21 
.37 
20M 
W 
10,V 
No. 5. 
28 lbs. 
a lbs. 
'H 
17 
2UX 
27 
IBX 
97V 
Total gain "witu Black Qveex 
47 lbs. 
BLACK BEES WITH TOU>'G ITALIAN QUEENS. 
WHionT, July 
1st, 
GAIN IN POUNDS TO 
-.-=* 
5^ 
O/mve 
29Y lbs. 
Of Bern 
^^ 
-5 
■^" 
'5" 
ca, 
No. 1. 
6'4 lbs. 
11 
21 
40 X 
5RV 
40 
189W 
No. 2. 
30 lbs. 
7y lbs. 
105C 
WK 
4.1 S 
tnH 
30V 
187 
No. 3, 
20 lbs. 
5X lbs. 
4X 
12K 
3,-^( 
2r,H 
41i.< 
121 V 
No. 4. 
21 5C lbs. 
Sy lbs. 
GX 
10 
MV, 
32 i< 
:«!< 
147 
No. 5. 
31 M lbs. 
6 lbs. 
11 
ua 
3'J¥ 
24 
14 V 
1U3V 
SWATIMS THROWN OFF: 
No. (J. 335C Iks. 7X lbs. Aug. 10, from 5 
(1 
4SV 
23V 
WK 
No. 7, '.'1(4 lbs. 8 lbs. Auti. r..', from 4 
)4« 
535 
IS 86 
No. R. 14>4- It.s. (i lbs. Aus. 2.i. from 4 
3i'A 
21 V« 5SV 
No. 9. l-,« lbs. 6K lbs. Aug. 28, from 3 
.... 1 ...: 
35V 55V 
TOTAL GAIN WITU ITALIAN QUEENS 1025 lbs. 
As 5,376 black bees are calculated to weigh 
one pound, allowing six weeks as their length 
of life, it requires the lives of 278,476 black bees 
to gather 547 pounds of honey, or 509 bees to 
each pound gained. Taking the issues of the 
Italian queens, which were composed wholly of 
Italian bees, and allowing 5,123 bees to the 
pound and eight weeks as the length of their 
life, it requifes only 249 Italian bees to gather a 
pound of honey — less than one-half the number 
of the black bees. Bidwell Bros. 
Octobir 6, 1865. 
Broom Corn Culture. 
The culture of broom corn is usually con- 
ducted with profit, and attended by no greater 
difBcnlties, if so great, as that of maize. The 
remarks made in other articles in this number, 
witli reference to the preparation of the soil for 
Indian corn, manuring, etc., are equally applica- 
ble to this crop. With regard to seed, it is a 
question we cannot decide as to which is best, 
the tall or the dwarf variety. Tlie testimony 
indicates that when the very best dwarf seed 
can be obtained, the crop is superior to the tall, 
(easier to handle and the brush finer and quite 
as elastic and valuable.) Yet there are many 
persons who have been greatly disappointed 
in changing from the tall to the dwarf kind. 
Land which is very grassy should be avoided, 
for almost any weeds are preferable to grass, 
with this crop ; and localities visited early by 
the frosts of autumn are most undesirable, as the 
earliest varieties are not secure from injury by 
frost, even in favorable localities. After plow- 
ing, harrow and bush the ground smooth, or 
roll it. Plant with a seed drill in rows three 
feet apart, dropping the seeds on an average 
two inches apart, depositing some fertilizer in 
the drill with the seed. Superphosphate min- 
gled with an equal quantity of gj'psmn, at the 
rate of 300 pounds to the acre, has done well. 
A good drill will sow both seed and fertilizer. 
Ma\' 20l1i to the '1st of June is a good time 
to plant broom corn in this latitude, for it will 
not grow much until the weather is hot. Cover 
veiy lightly. Just after what is called " corn- 
planting time" is a safe rule, though in our 
practice we are inclined to delay tliis, so 
that it would be a little late for the broom corn. 
Cold, wet weather and frosts are more injuri- 
ous to broom corn than to maize. After it is 
up a liberal surface dressing of ashes upon the 
hills or rows is often an excellent application. 
