1801.1 • AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 77 
ported by footstalks, also of wax, though in some 
cases they are attached directly to each other, and 
to the log by their sides.* They arc hollow and 
have very thin walls, as will be seen in some of the 
upper cells 'which are 
broken, and they arc 
tilled with as pure 
and finely flavored 
honey as I have ever 
tasted. Only the new 
. product of our bees 
called “ virgin comb 
honey ” can be com¬ 
pared to it. There is, 
however, a tendency 
in this honey to crys¬ 
tallize within a few 
weeks after remov¬ 
ing it from the nat¬ 
ural cell, so that in a 
bottle which has 
stood for a longtime, 
one half the contents 
will be a hard mass 
of sugar. Whether 
this'can be obviated 
tion, and before her form becomes so much enlarged. 
I could not learn however, that these bees ever 
“swarm.” One man, who had only one colony 
which had hung in the same spot, yielding an an¬ 
by any process, I had Fig. 9— 
no opportunity of 
learning. The wax, too, is interior to ours for most 
purposes, as it is not so hard, nor is ic capable of be¬ 
ing bleached so white. It is used, nowev cr, for can¬ 
dles of an inferior quality. The people of Central 
America, being almost universally Catholics, use a 
large number of wax candles in the ceremonies, 
processions, etc., of that sect. The foreign oi 
white wax is therefore in great demand for this 
purpose, and brings the very high price ot one dol¬ 
lar per pound, so that in Guatemala, where I found 
the foreign bee successfully kept, the honey was of 
much less consequence than the wax, though from 
one hundred to one hundred and titty pounds of 
honey is there not an unusual annual yield by a sin¬ 
gle swarm of European bees. 
One curious fact given me by the largest apiarian 
of foreign bees, is that the “large bees” of that 
country, although not so large as the foreign insects, 
nor armed with stings, yet destroy the latter, so 
that the two can not be kept near each other. In 
their native country too, I could hear of no trouble 
to these bees from other insects, though stinging 
wasps and bees abound there. Some of these large 
egg-shaped cells are tilled with a moist, granular, 
dark yellow substance that seemed to be mostly 
composed of the pollen of flowers which no doubt 
is the food for the young. All the crevices by 
which the domicil would lie exposed, are filled by a 
cement composed mostly of sand, which becomes 
almost as hard as sand-stone. Sometimes this is 
found in very large quantities, considering the size 
and numbers of the insect. 
Figs. 4 and 5, represent, in different positions, the 
queen of the Jicote variety, anti fig. 6, one of the 
workers. Fig. 7, is the queen of a small yellow va¬ 
riety called “ Maria Seed," and fig. 8, is the worker 
of the same. The queens, it will- be seen, have the 
abdomen very much - enlarged, and the wings arc 
very small, and seem generally to be jagged and 
broken at their margins. It is with slow and awk¬ 
ward movement that she passes about the cells, and 
it is utterly impossible for her to fly, at least after 
she is in a condition to furnish the colony with eggs'. 
From this, the inference is clear, that if they ever 
swarm as do our bees, the old queen remains in the 
original home, and the young queen goes to seek a 
new one, either before or soon after her impregnu- 
CiSNTKAL AMERICAN AriAllY. 
nual supply of honey, for over thirty years, never 
had heard of such a process, nor had lie ever in¬ 
creased his stock. When an increase in. the num¬ 
ber of colonies is desired, a box or hollow log is 
hung near to the old one, and a few pieces of brood 
comb containing young bees are placed in it. The 
bees soon discover the unprotected orphans and 
depute a portion of their population to hursethem. 
In the course of a few weeks the new hive may be 
removed to any distance, having probably in this 
time been supplied with a new queen from the old 
hive. How they multiply in their wild or native 
state, I could not form a certain opinion. 
A Central American Apiary is a novel sight, and 
usually consists of from five to fifty logs hung up 
under the eaves of their thatched huts, as represent¬ 
ed in fig. 9. These logs are generally brought from 
the woods, with the bees already in them, and re¬ 
ceive no further attention from their owners than 
the taking away of the honey once or twice a year. 
This is done by removing the material, (wood or 
clay,) with which the ends of the log have been 
closed, and inserting the hand ; the honey cells are 
crushed, and the honey runs out of the end of the 
log into a vessel, and after being strained of any 
impurities, is bottled for use. In other cases, the 
log is so divided that it can be opened more thor¬ 
oughly, and these pretty honey cells removed un¬ 
broken and placed upon the table ; but this is, a re¬ 
finement not much practiced. The annual yield 
per hive or log is from 6 to 14 bottles of strained 
honey, each bottle containing about 2)<£ lbs., and is 
worth from 20 to 30 cents, at retail. 
On my recent return to New-York, from that 
country, I brought with me two of these varieties, 
with a faint hope that they might withstand the 
climate of at least the southern portion of the 
United States. After a few weeks exhibition in the 
office of the American Agriculturist, they were 
placed in the hands of the Agricultural department 
of the U. S. Patent Office, and by them turned over 
to the care of Mr, Samuel B. Parsons, of Flushing, 
L. I., who immediately removed them'from the 
original logs in which they were brought, placing 
them in what, to human eyes at least, seemed more 
comfortable quarters. The report, however, is, 
that on the first approach of cold weather, the bees 
were all found to be dead. That under dilferent 
circumstances, or with a more extensive experi¬ 
ment, (I brought only two colonies,) any better re¬ 
sult would be reached, I can not very strongly 
hope; but if any one has an opportunity and a wish 
to import these bees, I would advise that they be 
sent to Florida, or some of the most Southern 
States, and kept with as little disturbance as possi¬ 
ble in their native logs. If they survive for a year, 
they cun then be propagated by division, as above 
described, or if thought best removed to an observ¬ 
ing hive. i found 'that they may be transported 
with almost perfect security by flic ordinary meth¬ 
ods of conveyance. Mine were first brought fifty 
miles on the back of an Indian, then placed on a 
springless ox-cart, then by steamer, exposed on 
deck to sun and rain, and by railroad over the 
Isthmus, and again by steamer to New-York, where 
they immediately recommenced work, flying out 
boldly over the roofs, and returning safely to their 
new location. This is certainly in favorable con¬ 
trast with the numerous attempts that have been 
made to bring from Europe the Italian variety of 
our honey-bee. 
Are Movable Frame Hives Best? 
I lie Bees will, in a fed’ weeks, lie on the move 
for new quarters, and hives of the most commo¬ 
dious kinds should be in readiness for t heir re¬ 
ception. It is not proposed to inquire now 
whose patent contrivance is best suited for the 
bees and their keepers, but to notice simply the 
advantages claimed for movable frames, as these 
devices constitute the radical difference between 
a large class of recently invented hives, and the 
old fashioned plain box. 
H. M. Baldridge, Niagara Co., N. Y., an ex¬ 
perienced apiarian, states the case substantially 
thus: The movable frame hives may be made 
so as to cost but about twenty cents more each, 
than the common kind. Bees can be hived in 
them as readily as in the others; and, supposing 
they are io be taken up. in the usual manner 
in. the Fall, by destroying them with sulphur, 
the frames in no way interfere with the process. 
When this is done, it usually occurs that some 
of the combs last used for breeding purposes, 
(commonly the central ones,) contain but little 
honey, sometimes considerable bee-bread. In 
general, the amount of such comb will equal at 
least what two ordinary sized movable frames 
will contain. This comb, melted down for the 
wax it contains, is worth but a trifle. But when 
preserved in proper shape for use another year, 
as it may be by employing the frame, its value 
can not be less .than twenty cents, the extra cost 
of adding the frames to the hive. Thus, then, 
the frame hives are at least worth as much as 
the others, and any further advantages must be 
in favor of the former. When the bees are de¬ 
stroyed, the frames containing the combs can be 
removed without breaking the mass, and mak¬ 
ing a general “ muss,” with more or less of 
waste, as occurs in removing combs from tlie 
ordinary hive. The above would be sufficient, 
in Mr. B.’s judgment, to determine the desirafole- 
ness of the improved hive, for even those whose 
knowledge and care of bees is of 1 lie most lim¬ 
ited extent, simply letting them alone after hiv¬ 
ing, and destroying them in the Fall, for the 
honey. The more skillful apiarian, it is claimed, 
will find many more advantages not necessary 
to enumerate here. 
To Destroy Potato Bugs. 
In answer to a request in the last No. of the 
American Agriculturist, for practical information 
how to get rid of this insect, Mr. James M. Al¬ 
len, Green Co., Ill., writes: Place a layer of 
dry straw beside the patch, or, if the plot be 
large, lay straw between every sixth and seventh 
rows. Pass over the field, and with a branch, 
or other suitable instrument, drive the bugs 
into the straw. Now take a large bundle of 
straw, set one end of it on fire, and pass the 
blaze rapidly along the row of straw: the bugs 
will be destroyed. Repeat the process as often 
as they become troublesome. [This may an¬ 
swer, pxqvided, the bugs can bh driven into the 
straw. The experiment is easily tried.—E d.] 
