78 
[March, 
AMERICAN ♦AGRICULTURIST. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Starting an Apiary—How to Procure Bees. 
Xii starting' ail apiary it is of the utmost import¬ 
ance to commence right. To do this the follow¬ 
ing rules should be carefully observed. 
First— Select colonies if possible, in frame 
hives. I prefer Mr. Langstroth’s. 
Second — The best colonies to procure in Spring, 
are second swarms of the 'precedin'] year, provided 
the hives be full or nearly full of combs. They 
are the best, because if not queonloss, each lias 
a young queen. . Queen^ generally lose their fer- 
tility after the third or fourth year; the younger 
the queen, the more prolific she is, hence the 
more profitable the colony will prove to the 
owner. Again, the combs are not as liable as old¬ 
er colonies to be filled with a superabundance 
of bee-bread. In frame hives, this excess of 
bee-bread may readily be taken away, so that 
b} r their use this objection is partially removed. 
“ First ” swarms of the preceding year should 
generally be rejected by the inexperienced, 
whenever “ second ” swarms may be obtained, 
as the age of the queen can not always be ascer¬ 
tained — the first swarm from a hive being al¬ 
ways accompanied—save one exception — by an 
old queen — usually at least one year old. 
Old stocks should not be selected whenever 
cither of the above classes can be procured, as 
t!ie combs may be moldy, or filled with an ex¬ 
cess of bee-bread. However, stocks not over 
two years old, being free from disease or foul 
brood, which have cast swarms the preceding 
year, and whose combs are bright, make very 
good stock hives. You may have to pay more 
for “ second swarms ” than for either of the oth¬ 
er classes enumerated; they will, however, be 
found the cheapest in the end. 
Third —Make a thorough examination of the 
selected colonies. After a little experience this 
need not require over 10 or 15 minutes. Take 
a piece of cotton cloth about ten inches square, 
and spread over it a thin layer of tobacco— 
smoking or chewing — then commence on one 
side of the cloth and roll it together, and sew or 
tie it in a roll. Punk, or partially decayed maple- 
wood will answer as well. Set one end of the 
punk, or roll, on fire — do not let it blaze. Blow 
a little smoke first into the entrance of the hive— 
the bees will retreat among the combs and fill 
their sacs with honey, when they arc always 
peaceable. Remove the top cover, and blow a 
little more smoke into or through the slots, or 
holes, of the honey-board. The honey-board 
should now be removed and the frames of comb 
lifted out separately, and carefully inspected. 
The condition of a “good, healthy" colony 
should be as follows: 1st. At least eight frames 
of combs (there are ten frames in the Langstrotli 
hive which I use) should be for rearing work¬ 
ers, which may be known by the size of the 
cells— the small cells being for the workers, 
the large cells for the drones or male bees. Un¬ 
less the majority of the combs be suitable for 
rearing the workers, the colony is of but little 
value.—2nd. The combs should not be in the 
least moldy; on the contrary, they should pre¬ 
sent a bright appearance, especially such as ha ve 
not been bred in.— 3rd. The colony should be 
perfectly free from disease. This may be ascer¬ 
tained generally by removing the lids of sealed 
brood. If any brood be found in a putrid state, 
■which emits an offensive scent, the colony is 
usually diseased. Better not select even appa¬ 
rently healthy colonies from apiaries in which 
“foul brood” has made its appearance.— 4th. 
The hive should be well supplied with bees; 
also with brood combs in all stages of de¬ 
velopment, which, even though the queen be 
not seen during the operation—is a pretty sure 
indication of her presence. Thus examine all of 
the selected colonies, and if any be found that 
fail to meet the standard, reject them. A few 
good, healthy colonies to commence with, are 
fin - better than a largo number of poor, or dis¬ 
eased ones. 
If the colonies be in common “surplus box 
hives,” the hives should be inverted for exami¬ 
nation. The condition of the bottoms of the 
combs may thus be ascertained by driving the 
bees away from them by smoke, and if you are 
pretty good at guessing , you may possibly guess 
correctly respecting the condition of the combs 
further down, Do not select suoh hives simply 
because they have an abundance ofhonejo The 
less honey in box hives in the Spring, provided 
the bees have enough—say from 10 to 15 pounds— 
the better, The combs should be regular or 
straight, that they may be more suitable, should 
you wish to transfer them to frame hives; there 
should also be a majority of the “ worker” class. 
Mode of Transporting. — An elastic spring 
wagon is the best conveyance. The entrances 
of the movable frame hives may be closed to 
confine the bees, by tacking over each of them 
a narrow strip of wire cloth or gauze. The slots, 
or holes in the honey-board, should be uncover¬ 
ed, that the bees may have access to the honey 
chamber if necessary. The hives thus prepared 
may now be set into the wagon in their natural 
position. Box hives should be inverted while 
carrying them in the wagon. The bottoms may 
be covered by laying a sheet over each, which 
should be so secured that no bees can escape; 
provision for ventilation should be made. 
The vehicle should not be driven faster than a 
walk. M. M. Baldiudgh. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
How Iowa Boys Raised Corn. 
Mr. Jas. Bruce, Desmoines Co., Iowa, writes 
that last season the following premiums were 
offered by Charles Dunham, Esq., Editor of the 
“ Burlington Hawkeye,” viz : 
1st. For the greatest yield of corn raised on 
one acre by a boy not over 17 years old, a Medal 
worth $10. 
2d. A fine engraving-in gilt frame, or a $5 
daguerreotype, to the boy obtaining the second 
largest crop from an acre. 
3d. To all bona-fide competitors a copy of 
the Weekly “ Hawkeye ” gratis for one year. 
In each case all the work to be done by the boy. 
Lawrence II. C. Bruce, aged 10 years, was 
awarded the first premium, having raised 1171 
bushels; and David R. Bruce, aged 14, took one 
of the third premiums: he raised 110) bushels. 
The ground for the above Was broken up 14 
inches deep, May 10th and 11th; thoroughly har¬ 
rowed, and furrowed 3j feet, by 3 feet 0 inches; 
corn dropped by hand from 3 to 5 grains to the 
hill, and covered about 3 inches deep with a 
one-horse, double shovel plow with roller at- 
attached. In cultivating, L. II. C. Bruce plowed 
his plot five times: first and second times with 
a double-shovel plow, twice in a row; third 
time with a tri-shovel cultivator, fourth and fifth 
plowings with a double-shovel as at first; each 
time stirring the ground as deeply as possible. 
David R. Bruce plowed, planted, and culti¬ 
vated his in all respects as the other, only in¬ 
stead of using the double-shovel and cultivator, 
the single-shovel and a mole plow were used, 
finishing by ridging up to the corn. 
In producing the crop no manure or fertilizer 
of any kind was used. The land is level prairie, 
bordering on timber; has been in cultivation six 
years with corn and wheat alternately. 
Mr. B. saj r s the boj^s learned the theory of 
deep cultivation from the American Agricidlurist. 
■ - ■*->—->--=- 
The Wheat and Glieso Question. 
It may be well to repeat, for the benefit of 
30,000 to 40,000 new readers, that we last year 
offered a reward of $500 to any person who 
would demonstrate by a series of well conduct¬ 
ed experiments, that wheat will turn to chess. 
This offer has cal-led out a great number of let¬ 
ters on the subject, some giving notice that the 
writers will be prepared in due time to claim 
the premium; with many others detailing ex¬ 
perience in the past. We can not, of course, pub¬ 
lish these letters without giving up the whole 
paper to the subject. Here are a couple of ex¬ 
amples similar to- many others : John Plotter, 
of Green Ba}'-, Wis., writes that last year he 
cleared a forest au,d sowed it to oats, June 14. 
The oats grew finely, but were struck with rust 
before ripening. A subsequent rain washed off 
the rust, and he had a good yield of fodder. 
Sept. Gth he sowed wheat, which was some¬ 
what damaged by frost, but it recovered finely, 
owing to the splendid Spring weather. The crop 
grew so vigorously that it was a pleasure to 
look at the field. But to his surprise, at harvest, 
most of the expected wheat proved to be chess, 
especially along the border of the forest; on the 
higher ground away from the forest, the wheat 
was beautiful, yielding from 35 to 40 bushels 
per acre. Mr. P. is sure that his Avlieat seed 
was good and clean ; and no weeds came up on 
the field. 
Another subscriber writes from Louisville, 
Kentucky, that in 1858 he had a few acres ol 
very fine 'wheat, that, when nearly ripe, was al¬ 
most destroyed by a storm, so that it could not 
be harvested clean.' In the fall there was a 
growth of-wheat on the ground as thick as if 
four bushels of seed had been sown. The land 
being in good order, he let the volunteer crop 
grow, and expected a second good harvest. 
But when nearly ripe, he discovered that it was 
all chess / He thinks he could have threshed 10 
bushels per acre of chess, and there was not a 
single head of wheat on the field !—-Again, year 
before last, the swine broke into one of his Avlieat 
fields and spoiled a part of it, so that it -was not 
harvested. Last year a crop of chess appeared, 
and the plot of chess just covered the ground 
where the swine spoiled the wheat, and extend¬ 
ed no further. . 
The above are staggering"cases, and not hav¬ 
ing witnessed the fields or studied their previous 
culture and surroundings, we shall not attempt 
to explain the phenomena. But there must have 
been some cause for the appearance of the chess 
other than the transmutation of the wheat. If 
wheat can turn into or produce chess under any 
circumstances, then all scientific observations 
on the “ permanence of species ” must be sadly at 
fault. We are still positive that without mirac¬ 
ulous interposition, without an absolute varia¬ 
tion from fixed natural laws, it is not possible 
for a grain of wheat to produce a head of chess. 
We will only repeat, that wc mil very cheer¬ 
fully pay the $500 offered, if any one will ascer¬ 
tain by a succession of experiments, any process 
or combination of circumstances, by which such 
transmutation can be brought about. Of course 
if it can be done once, the experiment can be 
repeated. Let those who believe the transmit- 
