THE HONEY-BEE. 
147 
restrict its action through any other than the sim¬ 
plest contrivances will be found sadly at fault in 
the long run. 
I have heard many wonderful stories of the 
doings of bees, and the success attending their 
management at times; hut never a continuation of 
the story for a long series of years by a particularly 
artificial or complicated process. Some of them do 
pay very well for a time, but in the end generally 
blow up—bees, hives, honey and all—or rather, 
the hives get robbed of the honey, and the bees 
themselves either die, or join in robbing their own 
stores, or take to the woods, or some other more 
congenial home, where they can pursue their labors 
undisturbed by the ingenuity of man. Such, after 
twenty years of pretty sharp practice,” as the 
lawyers say, has been my experience in bees. I 
have kept them in all ways, and after all methods— 
have been the willing victim, in a small way, of 
two or three remarkably clever hive-patentees— 
have had my hives two or three times depopulated 
—have started anew with fresh courage on another 
plan, and after exhausting all the books—for I have 
read a moderate wheel-barrow load of them—tossed 
all my gimcracks out of the window, or into the 
fire ; and when f went back into the original plain 
box-plan of a single room, several years ago, I 
succeeded to admiration, and have since continued 
with more or less “ good luck ”—for I find bees are 
a wonderful creature of luck with the multitude— 
until the present time. 
But I did not intend writing an essay on bees 
when I commenced this article. I leave that for 
Mr. Miner to do, who I find knows what he is about 
as well as his bees; and I presume before he 
gets through will tell us the entire story to any 
reasonable satisfaction. I only wish to say to him 
that he talks exactly right, as the facts will bear 
him out, and he has got hold of the true bee-philo¬ 
sophy. I simply want to ask him a question or 
two to get the benefit of his experience, after de¬ 
tailing my own mode of management. Now I keep 
say a dozen swarms—I never kill my bees to get 
their honey. It is cruel and unnecessary, besides 
being unprofitable. My rule is, the more hives, 
the more bees; the more bees the more honey. 
All within rule, understand, the size of hives, 
range of pasturage, &c. &c., as Mr. Miner directs. 
I have some of the chamber-hives as described in 
his second article, August No. of Agriculturist, 
but more of the simple box-plan of twelve inches 
square, as described in his July number. These 
last all have' holes in the tops for capping on to 
each other, in which the bees store their surplus 
honey. The chamber-hives are occupied by boxes 
for the same purpose. I have rather preferred the 
simple box-plan, for a reason which I will presently 
give. I generally put the new or empty box under 
the full or working hive, and immediately stop the 
entrance to the latter, driving them through the 
empty one, which, if the other be full, and the 
season propitious, they at once proceed to fill. 
When this latter hive is filled, I take off the top or old 
one altogether, set it in a dark place—a dark cellar 
with a small light in it, through which bees that 
are in it escape to the other habitation, is best— 
and it is soon relieved of their presence. I some¬ 
times put the empty hive on the top of the inhabited 
one, particularly if this latter be a young one, and 
thus succeed equally well in securing the honey. 
I last year obtained from one hive, through two 
applications of the empty box, over 80 ( pounds 
of the whitest and purest honey; from another 
about 70, and still another, about 60 pounds; and 
50, 40, 30, &c., from others, without detriment to 
their winter stores. The season, however, was 
favorable. Some years the flowers are so scanty in 
honey as to yield the bees not enough even for 
their summer support, to say nothing of their 
winter-forage, and thus I have lost many swarms, 
and closed the season with a less number than I 
had in the spring. 
Now the reason why I have preferred the simple 
box-plan is this; it is said that the bees, after the 
liberation of the young from the cell, do not throw 
out the case in which it was enclosed, but simply 
tramp, or press it down to the bottom, which, in 
process of time, partially fills the cell so that the 
young bee is restricted in its size and becomes 
small and feeble, and of course an imperfect bee, 
unable to perform its allotted task, and of conse¬ 
quence the young swarms ultimately die, and the 
hive becomes depopulated. Whereas by having a 
fresh and roomy comb for each, or perhaps every 
second year’s breeding, the young are large, vigor¬ 
ous, and amply fitted to laborand direct their opera¬ 
tions in the most vigorous manner. This fact 
seems to be pretty well settled among all thorough 
bee-masters; and some, to obviate the use of the 
old comb for breeding cells, in the month of March 
annually turn up their hives and cut all the comb 
which is accessible, for the purpose of having new 
breeding cells supplied. Another proof of the su¬ 
periority of new comb for breeding is, that old 
hives frequently “ run out,” as the term is, and die 
off, apparently of old age. 
Now, if the chamber-plan be pursued, and the 
surplus honey for a series of years be taken 
through the partition above in the boxes, is there 
not danger of the evil occurring which I have men¬ 
tioned ? And if it be so, is not the open-box plan 
the best? I merely suggest these queries to Mr. 
Miner in the anticipation that he will be able to 
answer them from his own experience or observa¬ 
tion, as intelligently as he has already discussed 
the subject, so far as he has progressed, ancf in 
every position of which I agree with him fully. 
I really hope Mr. M. will pursue this interesting 
subject till he has exhausted it; for there is not a 
more agreeable or amusing object attached to rural 
life than the cultivation of bees; nor is ther§ a 
more delicious, useful, or economical sweet than 
their honey. All can enjoy them with a proper 
knowledge of their wants and habits; and there is 
certainly no appendage to the cares of country life 
which is the subject of so much error and mis¬ 
management, if not of arrant humbug* as the honey¬ 
bee. L. F. Allen. 
~ Black Rock , N. Y. } Aprils 1847, 
Look out for caterpillars and other vermine this 
month. Make a free use of the mop or garden- 
engine for destroying them. 
