Q86 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
tire weight was 143 pound, showing an increase 
of 79 pounds in 54 days. The work of each day 
is minutely recorded. Beginning with the 5th 
day, the daily gain in weight during the month 
of Mat was as follows: 
5— 3* lb. gain. 14— 934 lbs. gain. 23— 3% lbs. gain. 
6— % lb. gain. 15— X lb. gain. 24— 2 % lbs. gain. 
7— 1>* lbs, gain. 16— % lb. gain. 25— 34 lb. loss. 
S— 2% lbs. gain. 17— 1 lb. gain. 26— 1 lb. gain. 
9—2 lbs. gam. 18—18)4 lbs. gain! 27— % lb. gain. 
10— 234 lbs. gain. 19— J4 lb. loss. 28— none. 
11 — lbs. gain. 20— 2 lbs. gain. 29— none. 
12— none. 21— 5% lbs. gain. 30— X lb. gain. 
13— 34 lb. gain. 22— 4% lbs. gain. 31— none. 
The loss during night, by consumption and evaporation, 
varied from nothing to H lbs., and amounted, during the 
month, to 10i lbs. 
In June the record stands thus: 
1— 134 lbs. gain. 11— 154 lbs. gain. 2J— 234 lbs. gain. 
2— % lb. gain. 12— 8 lbs. gain. 22— 4 lbs. gain. 
3— none. 13—334 lbs. gain. 23—134 lbs. gain. 
4— none. 14— 5% lbs gain. 24— % lb. gain. 
5— 34 lb. loss. 15— 134 lbs. gain. 25— 154 lbs. gain- 
6— 134 lbs. gain. 16— 734 lbs. gain. 26— 43* lbs. gain- 
7— none. 17— 4% lbs. gain. 27— \% lbs. gain- 
8— 34 lb. gain. 18— 3 % lbs. loss.* 28— X lb, loss. 
9— 2 lbs. gain. 19— 6% lbs. gain. 29— 34 lb. loss. 
10— % lb. gain. 20— 53* lbs. gain. 30— 3* lb. loss. 
* O' - "Ue 18th the first swarm, weighing 7 lbs., left, yet there 
was a loss of only 334 lbs., showing that 334 lbs, of honey was 
brought in on the day of swarming. 
From the 28th of June, to the 21st of July, no 
day showed an increase of weight except the 11th 
and 17th, wheni and £ of a pound were brought 
in ; and the remainder of the term added only 
3 pounds. 
In May the Rape was in bloom, and the trees, 
especially of the forest; and the 18th, the day of 
such a large increase, is described as a sultry day, 
the Rape being in full bloom. It.is remarkable 
that the following day, nothing was collected. 
From the middle of June the Esparcct was said to 
be in full flower. 
We see no reason to distrust the accuracy of 
this record, and we should like to have similar 
observations made in this country. The results 
are affected by many matters easily overlooked. 
The increase of weight, for example, is not from 
the accumulation of honey alone, but from the bee- 
bread, and from the growth of the brood ; and 
yet the latter item would be gradually operating, 
and would not explain the large increase of the 
most prosperous days. The accumulation of 
honey must be influenced also by the distance of 
the pasture ground from the hive, and the time 
required for the journey. And of course the con¬ 
sumption at night must be far greater in a liive 
where new coinb is to be made, than in one where 
there is a full supply of empty cells. This table 
also shows that if the owner had desired to de¬ 
stroy his bees by sulphur, he would have gained 
by taking up the swarm on the 28th of June, with¬ 
out waiting for it to consume the honey after the 
supplies failed in the fields. 
And while speaking of the consumption of honey, 
we may as well cite other facts. We have said 
above that the stock spoken of lost 22f pounds, 
(including an after swarm of five pounds) between 
June 27th and August 2. In the next two weeks 
of August, it lost iu weight 21- pounds. 
In Key’s Treatise we find other experiments. 
A stock that weighed on the 2nd of Nov. 29 
pounds 3 ounces, had lost, Feb. 26th, (115 days 
after) 5 pounds 2 ounces, or about 1 of an ounce 
daily. This is at the rate of a pound in three 
weeks during the Winter, when there is less ac¬ 
tivity and less of consumption than in warmer 
seasons of the year. Much, however, depends on 
the number of the bees and their protection from 
the cold. The consumption during the Winter 
and Spring may be so small as to leave too little 
room for brood, and to make it desirable to rob 
the hives in the Spring. This is one of the things 
where great judgment is demanded of the bee¬ 
keeper. 
GLASS HONEY 'H0XES. 
“ Patent Bee-Hives are all a humbug,” writes 
a new subscriber, who goes on to say that “ he 
has tried about every kind offered to the public 
during the past twenty odd years, and he .finds 
the ‘ latest improvement ’ no better than the first 
patent hive used by him in 1834-” 
We will not stop.nere to discuss the peculiar 
advantages of the various patent hives and bee- 
houses, but refer him to pages 6 and 7 of this 
volume, (Jan. No.), where will be found a descrip¬ 
tion of a plain, simple, cheap and effective bee¬ 
hive, without patent. A number of inquirers 
wish more particular directions -for making the 
glass cases to go upon the top of the box-hive, for 
holding the honey. We this Fall bought a box of 
Quinby’s honey, sent to the Washington Market 
in this City, and removing the honey, have made 
the following drawing of the box : 
This is 5 inches wide, 6 inches long, and 5J 
inches high, including the top and bottom pieces. 
The top and bottom are made of thin, | inch 
boards. At the four corners are upright pieces, 
say one-half to three-fourths of an inch square. 
Nails driven through the boards into each end of 
these corner pieces hold the frame-work together. 
The four sides are of common window-glass, 
cut into the required size, which can be done 
without any waste. Formerly the glass was 
slipped down in small saw grooves made in the 
corner pieces. This was done before nailing on 
the cover. In the boxes sent here this year, we 
notice a different arrangement, which is perhaps 
an improvement. Instead of putting the glass 
into grooves it is simply placed against the out¬ 
side of the corner pieces, and held there by bits of 
tin as shown in the engraving. These are made 
by cutting out pieces of tin, say inches long and 
I inch wide. They are then slit with shears end¬ 
wise, about half way through. The slit end is 
then thrust from the inside to the outside corner 
of the upright piece, so as to come out between 
the two edges of glass meeting at the outer cor¬ 
ner of the box. One portion of the slit end is 
then turned to the right, and the other to the left, 
thus holding both pieces of glass. Made in this 
way the glass boxes are not so strong as in the 
other, but there is this advantage, that by simply 
bending out the tin, a side of the box can be re¬ 
moved without disturbing the covers or the honey 
within. 
The box in our cut is placed upside down, to 
show the hole in the bottom piece for the entrance 
of the bees. As formerly described, these boxes 
are set over holes in the top of a hive, and cov¬ 
ered over with a box-cap to shut out light, storms, 
&c. A pane of glass 10x12 inches will furnish 
the four sides, and the whole cost of the boxes 
will not exceed four to six cents each. 
Who Exhibited 1 —At the recent fair of the 
American Institute at the Crystal Palace, there 
were 1540 entries of articles exhibited. Of these 
New-York State contributed 1388, of which N. Y 
City, furnished 1133. Massachusetts, contributed 
88 articles, a greater number than.any other state 
beside New-York. Connecticut is next, and eon 
tributed -49 articles. New-Jersey is the next 
highest, and contributed 48. Pennsylvania next, 
had 29. Ohio had 5, Rliode-Island 5, Vermont 
also 5, Illinois 3, Missouri 3, Iowa 2, New-Hamp- 
shire 2, Maine 2, Maryland 2, Virginia 2 ; the 
District of Columbia, North and South Carolina, 
Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Delaware and 
Alabama, one each. 
TIM BUNKEIl ON EAKM K0ADS, 
Mr. Editor : I couldn’t help thinking when I 
was off on my journey, riding on the rails, what 
an awful waste of horse and ox power there was 
on our farms. On a railway they get rid of all 
the obstacles, make the path solid, and have the 
running gear as perfect as possible. The power 
has very little friction to overcome, and is all 
spent in drawing the load. On a plank road, they 
do a good deal to remove obstacles, and make a 
solid road bed, but plank-roads and railroads on 
our farms are out of the question for doing ordi¬ 
nary farm work. The next best thing is the com¬ 
mon high-way, in which there is some attention 
paid to the removal of rocks, to drainage, and to the 
making of a smooth firm road-bed. This kind ol 
road is within the reach of all our farmers, and I 
think will pay a great deal better than the misera¬ 
ble cart paths that most of us are contented with. 
A farmer is just as well able to build what roads 
he needs to haul his wood, muck, manure, and 
crops, as a town is to build what roads they want 
for the mill, the market, the meeting, and the' 
common convenience. Roads leading to the fields, 
and to the wood lot, that are a good deal used, 
ought to be worked every year as much as a com¬ 
mon highway. 
Only to think of the waste of time, of ox flesh, 
and of cart-tire, in hauling loads over such a road 
as uncle Jotham Sparrowgrass has upon his place! 
It leads down to what he calls his Lower Place, 
about a half mile from his house. Though it has 
been used for fifty years or more, he has never 
spent a day’s work in mending it. There are 
rocks in the rut a foot high or more, and holes 
where the wheel goes in up to the hub, in all wet 
weather. I suppose his team has been driven 
over this road two hundred limes in a year at 
least, with an average load of not more than three- 
fourths of what they would have drawn upon a good 
graveled path. In other words, if the cost of cart¬ 
ing a load over this road is fifty conts, he has paid 
fifty dollars a year for the privilege of a rough 
road, to say nothing of the worrying of the teams, 
and the breaking down of the carts, and the 
swearing at the mud-holes. If any of the Hook- 
ertown people think that the swearing reflects at 
all upon uncle Jotham, they can suppose that the 
hired man drives the team sometimes, though I 
don’t say who drives. You see, when the team¬ 
ster finds himself with a load of green hickory 
stuck fast in three feet of mud, it is rather a try 
ing position for the temper. 
A few days’ labor spent in digging stones, and 
hauling gravel, would make this road equal to a 
turnpike, and then it would not cost five dollars a 
year to keep it in repair. The teams would draw 
a full load instead of three-fourths, and the labor 
saved here could be devoted to other profitable 
work upon the farm. Now there are thousands 
of miles of just such miserable roads upon our 
farms, that ought to receive immediate attention. 
If there is any economy in having a good strong 
team, there is still more in having a good smooth 
road to.work on. 
Yours to command, 
Timothy Bunker, Esq 
Hookertown, Ct., Nov. 13, 1857. 
