260 
THE CULTIVATOK. 
a cocoonery, where the silk business in all its variety 
will be illustrated. 
Our location is pleasant, healthy, and of easy access, 
being 9 miles west from Saratoga, and 5 miles northwest 
of Ballston Springs. Terms, $150 per annum, all char¬ 
ges included, payable quarterly in advance. 
For further particulars address the undersigned, (post 
paid) Ballston Spa, N. Y. Seth Whalen. 
BEES. 
Messrs. Editors — I see you frequently devote a col¬ 
umn in your valuable paper to bees. Some things have 
recently come under my observation which are new, and 
somewhat novel to me, relative to the swarming of bees. 
I supposed until lately, that when bees swarmed there 
was but one queen bee came out with the swarm. But 
recent experience and observation have convinced me 
otherwise. I find that not only two or three queens 
come out, but sometimes as many as five or six leave the 
hive at the same time. If you think the following facts 
are worthy an insertion in your paper, and would interest 
any of your numerous readers, and throw any light on 
the nature of bees; or elicit any remarks from some of 
your old and experienced correspondents who have long 
been acquainted with bees, you are at liberty to make 
them public. 
On the 25th of May, between 11 and 12 o’clock, I had 
a hive of bees which commenced swarming. They 
flew some 30 or 40 yards, and began to settle on the limb 
of a peach tree about ten feet from the ground. 
Before they had half settled, another hive, standing ten 
or twelve feet from the other, commenced swarming; 
and before these had ail come out, another hive standing 
three or four feet from the one last mentioned, com¬ 
menced swarming. They all followed in the same train 
of the first swarm. 
I got a hive and began to take down the first that had 
settled, with a basket that I use as a hiver. The other 
kept settling in the same place, and as I could make no 
distinction between swarms, I continued taking down, un¬ 
til I had taken them all down and put them into a large 
square hive. They remained quiet during the afternoon, 
but did not all incline to go into the hive; a quart or two 
remained outside. At night I carried them to the place 
where I intended they should stand. The next morning 
before sunrise I made them a visit, and found nearly all 
in the hive. A little distance from the mouth of the 
hive I found a dead queen. I raised the hive, and saw 
another dead queen on the bottom board. I took them 
both away. About two hours after, I found two more 
dead queens drawn out of the hive. A few bees were 
flying about, as I have frequently seen them when they 
have lost their queen, but the main body of the bees were 
quiet. About 12 o'clock there appeared to be a good 
deal of commotion among them. I went to my dinner; 
was gone about half an hour. On my return, I found the 
hi ve empty, except a few scattering bees. On the bottom 
board lay another dead queen which made five that I had 
found dead. I looked around to see if I could find any 
trace of the absconded bees. About 20 or 25 yards from 
the hive, I found a swan* of bees settled ona peachtree, 
which I supposed to be a part of those that had left the 
hive. There could not have been more than one third 
or one half at the farthest, of what I had put into the hive 
the day before. W hat had become of the others I could 
not tell. I went for a hive, but before I got one ready 
they all took their wings and went to the woods. I would 
here remark that the first hive that commenced swarm¬ 
ing the day before had swarmed three times this season 
before, and each time had returned to the old hive, of 
their own accord. The second time I knew a queen 
came out, for I found her in the grass, and lifted her up, 
and she arose into the air. Whether she got lost, or re¬ 
turned to the old hive with the bees I could not tell. On 
the next day (May 27,) the same hive that first commenced 
swarming on the 25th, swarmed again. I was present 
when they came out. Seeing a number of bees on the 
grass near the hive, I looked for the queen. I soon 
found one and took her prisoner, as I was determined to 
put the bees back into the old hive. The bees flew a 
short distance and settled on the limb of a tree about 12 
feet high. I got my hiver and took them down. I had 
the curiosity to examine them and see if there was an¬ 
other queen, and to my surprise I found three more, all 
of which I made prisoners. I then let the bees go back 
into the old hive. The next day (May 2S,) I was in¬ 
formed that a swarm of bees had come out and settled on 
a tree in the yard. I did not see them till they were all 
settled; of course I could not tell what hive they came 
out of. I got my hiver and took them down. I soon 
found one queen; cropped one wing to prevent her from 
flying away, and put her into a hive. On farther exam¬ 
ination I found another, which I took away and killed. I 
put the bees into the hive, and set it where I intended it 
should stand. During the afternoon I passed the hive 
several limes. Atone time I discovered a queen outside 
of the hive which had not her wing cropped. She had 
hid herself in the bees, and I had overlooked her. I 
took her prisoner. The next day the bees came out of 
the hive, and went directly to the woods. I then ascer¬ 
tained for a certainty that five queens had been killed, in¬ 
cluding what I had killed myself. And allowing one to 
go off with the swarm, there must have been at least six 
queens when they first swarmed. 
On the 30th, the hive where 1 put the bees back on the 
27th, (after destroying four queens,) swarmed again. I 
examined them, and found two queens. One I killed—I 
cropped one wing of the other and put her into a hive 
with the bees; I thought there was no use in putting 
them back again into the old hive, they appearing deter¬ 
mined on swarming, and would multiply queens as fast as 
they wanted them. Jacob Hitchcock. 
Dwight Mission, C. N., June 8, 1844. 
Several queens are often brought out in a hive near the 
same time, but as only one is necessary to a swarm, the 
others are either killed about the time they come out of 
their cells, or combats ensue between those queens at¬ 
tached to the new swarm, and are continued till only one 
remains alive. Such is the deadly hostility which is ma¬ 
nifested by the queens towards each other, that two can 
not long live in the same hive.— Eds. 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
Messrs. Editors —The rain, which has been pouring 
for three days, has afforded an opportunity to read your 
paper of the current month. On page 219 is the follow¬ 
ing wise conclusion, “ a nation’s imports should not ex¬ 
ceed its exports.”* 
Had this been the first time I had seen this sophism, I 
should have passed it in silence; but the foolish senti¬ 
ment has been so often printed by those who ought to 
know better, that I am unwilling that your Alabama cor¬ 
respondent should go unanswered. 
If a wagoner from Vermont should take a load of no¬ 
tions to Boston, and a load of groceries back, as the 
avails of his export load, which was not worth anymore 
on his return, than he gave for his load at starting, how 
long would it take him to get rich, or for the town in 
which he lived to become rich, by a thousand such trap, 
sactions? 
Any boy can understand that the man would lose his 
own time and use of his team, wear, tear and expenses. 
When ships are employed on similar errands to all 
parts of the globe, the magnitude of the affair, or some 
other cause, seems to involve it in a fog, and every little 
while some wiseacre is crying about the ruinous effects 
of a balance of trade. Some newspaper scribblers will 
* That the reader may understand the position assumed by 
our Alabama correspondent we annex the paragraph from 
which Dr. Bat> s makes this quotation. It is as follows: 
“I will not produce arguments to show that economy is a 
blessing and extravagance a curse. The experience of any man 
who has reached thirty years of age, and is possessed of an or¬ 
dinary understanding will respond in the affirmative. A far¬ 
mer, to be economical in the use of money, must by proper care 
prevent the necessity of paying out money in the way of expen¬ 
ses, or in other words, he must live within himself. In order 
to do this, it is not necessary that he should make all he needs. 
By no means. But it is essentially necessary that he should 
make his expenses conform to the amount of his annual income 
—just as a nation’s imports should not exceed its exports.” 
