AMEK1CAN AGRICULTURIST, 
7 
square and fourteen inches high, and the hive 
will contain a little over two thousand cubic 
inches. 
The size is important. There should be room 
for brood and for storing a winter supply of honey 
in one apartment. If too small, an insufficient 
supply of food will be stored ; if too large, more 
honey than is necessary will be stored in the 
hive, when it ought to hr in boxes above for 
profit. 
I stated that the size should be about two lliou- 
■sand cubic inches, but I would vary the size with 
the latitude. Say south of 40 degrees, where the 
winter is comparatively short, a less size will do, 
as a less quantity of honey for food will be re¬ 
quired. But here another point must be kept in 
view: there must be room for all the brood 
combs needed by the queen, otherwise the stocks 
will run down for want of new recruits. From 
several experiments to ascertain this point, 
eighteen hundred inches is indicated as all the 
room necessary for that purpose. Perhaps the 
last size would be the proper one for profit any 
where south of the latitude of 40 degrees, and in 
no case would less than one cubic foot (1728 
inches) be advisable. 
For the top, take a board fifteen inches square, 
which would allow it to project half an inch over 
each side of the hive. Plane only the upper side. 
Around the edges of the planed side, rabbet out 
the corners half an inch deep, and an inch inward, 
so that another box a little larger than the main 
hive can be set over it and fit into the rabbeted 
edge of the cover. Through the cover make two 
rows of holes, say about three inches each side ol 
a line drawn through its centre. These holes 
should be made uniformly distant, because it is 
necessary to have a rule to go by in making 
glass boxes to fit over them. A pattern to make 
the holes by is very convenient. The cover can 
now be nailed on. 
Make a small opening for the passage of the 
bees in the front side of the hive, either at the 
bottom, or part way up; or, w'hat is better, in 
both places. These will be sufficient for venti¬ 
lation, except in hot weather, when the front 
side of hives containing full stocks should be 
raised half an inch or so to admit air Put 
sticks across the inside to support the comb,* 
close the holes in the top, and this part of the 
hive is ready for the bees. 
The honey to be removed from the bees is stored 
by them in glass boxes set upon the top of the 
hive. There may be two or four of these, the 
number depending upon the size desired, and they 
can be 6 inches, and 6£ or 12^ inches long. The 
top and bottom is made of wood and the sides of 
glass. For the wood, take thin boards and plane 
down to one-fourth of an inch, cut of the proper 
length and width, and make holes in the bottom 
piece to correspond with the holes in the top of 
the hive. The posts or corner-pieces are five inch¬ 
es long, and say five-eighths of an inch square. In 
two adjacent sides of each piece make a narrow 
groove or channel, one-fourth of an inch deep, for 
glass to fit in. Fasten these upright pieces upon 
each corner of the bottom by nailing through into 
the end. The glass sides, previously cut of the 
proper size, are then slipped down into the grooves. 
Next stick fast to the top piece some pieces of 
new white comb, an inch square, as a beginning 
for the bees—one edge dipped in melted wax and 
applied before cooling will hold these bits of comb 
fast. Then put this top piece on, fastening it to 
the top of the upright posts of the corner with 
small nails. The boxes can be set away until 
* In the text, Mr. Quinby does not describe the manner 
of placing the sticks, but (rom his work on bees, we 
gather that he puts one horizontal stick, half an inch in 
diameter each way, through the centre of the hive.— Ed 
wanted for use. The glass sides may be cut from 
common window panes. From the size above in¬ 
dicated, that is 5 inches high, and 6 or 12 inches 
long, panes 10 by 12 inches cut up without waste. 
The small upright corner pieces may be worked 
out in long strips, and then cut up to the required 
length. A thin grooving plane, or a saw will cut 
the grooves for the glass readily. 
A covering over the glass boxes is necessary. 
This is to be made of boards, say 7 inches deep- 
and exactly 13 inches square on the inside, so as 
to fit down upon the rabbeted edge of the cover 
to the main hive, and shut out all light. Bees 
will work in such boxes without the rabbeting 
around the edge of the top, but unless there is a 
close joint to shut out light, the glass and combs 
do not appear so clean as when it is perfectly 
dark. 
I have thus given a full description of all that 
is really needfull in a bee-hive. But those who 
wish can have the outside planed and painted, and 
add moldings, dentals, and any amount of orna¬ 
ments ; as long as the principle is observed it will 
not interfere with the prosperity of the bees. 
Even an excess of ornament would be attended 
with less expense than most patent hives not half 
as good. There is not the least necessity of the 
simple hive costing over 25 cents, the cover to the 
boxes 12^ cents, stand 6 cents, roof 6 cents, or all 
complete for 50 cents The glass boxes would 
cost the same for any hive, and are not reckoned. 
The stands for the hives to rest upon, and the 
roofing, are yet to be described. The stand is 
made of inch boards, 15 inches wide by 2 feet 
long, the ends nailed on pieces of wood or 
joist from two to four inches square, and put di¬ 
rectly on the ground, with the hive on the back 
end. The advantages of this arrangement are 
sufficient to balance any little trouble of keeping 
down weeds, grass, &c. The roof is made by two 
boards, 18 by 24 inches, nailed together like a 
house-roof, and laid on the top loosely. One great 
advantage of separate stands is, there is no diffi¬ 
culty in allowing plenty of room between stocks, 
which is an important consideration. 
M. Quinby, Author ol 
“Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained.” 
St. Johnsville, N. Y. 
CUKE FOR E1STULA AND POLL EVIL, 
A subscriber in Dutchess county, who 
gives his name, but prefers we should sup¬ 
press it, as he is more anxious to benefit 
that noble animal, the horse, than to get 
into notoriety himself, says he paid three 
dollars for the following recipe, and is well 
satisfied with the investment, as it is, in his 
opinion, a sure cure for fistula and poll evil. 
As he does not know that any one has any 
peculiar right to sell the recipe, he offers it 
free to the readers of the American Agricul¬ 
turist. 
To Cure Fistula and Poll Evil. —Make two 
sticks smooth, about the size of a common 
pipe-stem ; let one be bluntly pointed, to be used 
as a probe. Break from a stick of nitrate of sil¬ 
ver (lunar caustic) a piece half an inch long; 
take a strip of writing paper, roll it twice round 
the caustic, letting it come far enough on to tie 
firmly with a bit of thread or silk, and projecting 
past one end of the caustic a little, to form a 
tube or socket. With the probe find the orifice, 
and probe it to the bottom ; enter the other stick 
into the paper tube, withdraw the probe, and fol¬ 
lowing the orifice, crowding the caustic to the 
bottom; this will need to be repeated three or 
four times, at intervals of about a week. The 
horse should not be used during the time ; and if 
he is fed something for the benefit of his blood, 
all the better. This may be relied on as a tho¬ 
rough and effectual remedy. A Subscriber. 
MANURE MARLS OF NEW-JERSEY. 
Every one acquainted with the progress ol 
farming in Eastern New-Jersey, especially 
in Monmouth County, during a few years 
past, is familiar with the immense advantage 
derived from the use of the green sand marl. 
Whether the peculiar value of these marls 
depends upon the organic remains, or other¬ 
wise, we do not propose to discuss here. 
One thing is certain, that by its liberal appli¬ 
cation, whole farms have been raised from an 
almost worthless condition to the production 
of large and highly remunerative crops. We 
recently visited a farm which ten years ago 
was purchased for some $6 an acre, but 
which is now valued at over $100 per acre, 
and even pays a higher per centage on the 
latter price. The change has been chiefly 
brought about through the application of 
green sand marl, dug from beneath its own 
surface. 
The geological survey of the State is de¬ 
veloping still further the extent and value of 
these extensive beds of natural fertilizers. 
The query arises : can not this green sand 
marl, which exists in such unlimited quanti¬ 
ties, be transported to neighboring sections 
of the country, at so low a rate as to be a 
cheap fertilizer 1 We learn that one com¬ 
pany has already been formed with this de¬ 
sign. Are there not a number of large beds 
n’ear landing places upon the coast, which 
could be profitably opened, and the marl fee 
carried in boats to the bays and inlets of 
Long-Island, as well as up the Hudson River 
and also to the whole of the north side of 
Long-Island Sound 1 
We think this subject worthy the attention 
not only of capitalists, but of farmers and 
others interested in the culture of the soil. 
We have no sufficient data for answering this 
question satisfactorily ; but if we may judge 
from the results already obtained by the use 
of this fertilizer at home, it is not entirely 
impossible that New-Jersey may yet con¬ 
tribute more valuable aid to the Agricultural 
resources of this part of the country, than 
has yet been derived from the far off islands 
of Peru.—E d. 
MINCE PIES WITHOUT APPLES. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Many will r-e deprived of their favorite 
mince-pies this season by reason of the seas 
city of apples. In order to find a substitute, 
I have had some pies made by substituting 
for the apples, crackers and tartaric acid, as 
in making the cracker pies, and find it to 
answer the purpose admirably, so that few 
can tell the difference, H. A. Sheldon. 
Middlebury, Vt., Dec. 15, 1856. 
When molasses is used in cooking, it is a 
very great improvement to boil and skim it 
before use. This takes out the unpleasant 
raw taste, and makes it almost as good a® 
sugar. When molasses is used much for 
cooking, it is well to prepare one or two 
gallons at a time 
