272 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
fe’f. 
in their business) that in favorable situations they ean 
produce as much butter and of as good quality as in 
Orange county. Yours, &.c. 
J. J. Hawley. 
Binghamton, July 24, 1848. 
N. B.—It will be seen on reference to the Transac¬ 
tions for 1847, page 45, that at Washington, it is dis¬ 
tinctly understood “ that no butter can stand the test 
of foreign climes, that is not made in Orange county,** 
and this is what the gentleman connected with the Na¬ 
val Bureau;, understands by Orange County Butter. 
Mr. Hawley’s explanation is what we understand by 
the designation of Orange butter-—that which is right¬ 
ly prepared so as to keep in any clime, and that it is 
not necessarily or in point of fact made solely in that 
county* 
MYIASEMEifT ©F 
I have read much written on the subject of Bees, 
their management, the Bee moth, &.C., with but little 
benefit. I think, (judging from my own experiments, as 
well as from trial of the recommendations of others,) 
that a different mode of operation, from what is gene¬ 
rally laid down, is necessary to guard against the ene¬ 
mies of bees. 
It will be unnecessary for me here to enumerate the 
many plans and inventions that have been sought out, to 
guard against the moth, but I would suggest a different 
plan; though I do not know as it will answer for any 
other place than the section in which I live. Other pla¬ 
ces may be far more troubled with them, but I would 
iustsay, if they are any worse in any other place than 
here, they must be bad enough; for few keep bees here 
but a short time before they are very much injured or 
entirely run out, if kept on the old plan. When I 
speak of the old way, I mean letting them swarm as 
often as they will, and putting swarms into hives by 
themselves, without any regard to their size or the 
time they come out. 
Most people seem to think the greater number of 
hives they can count, the better luck , as they term it. 
Now from the experience I have had in keeping bees, a 
different course should be pursued in order to succeed 
well; and my own conclusion is not a hasty one, for I 
have kept bees about twenty years; though during se¬ 
veral years of the former part of that time I did not 
succeed very well; for I used to manage upon the old 
plan, and at the same time tried many experiments 
with them, some of which did not succeed as well as I 
had anticipated; but during the last ten or twelve years 
I have realized my most sanguine expectations. 
My plan is not to count my army by the tents they 
occupy, but by the working men in them. I have all 
my hives strongly peopled, that they may not only re¬ 
pel an enemy, but drive them away. When a hive is 
strongly peopled, none of their common enemies will 
attack or injure them;—at any rate, it is only weak 
hives that are attacked by the bee moth, or robbers. I 
never knew an instance of a strong hive being injured, 
unless some accident had happened to the comb. 
I may be asked how I can have my hives all strongly 
peopled ? It can be easily done, but it requires some 
experience as well as skill, to do it successfully; but in 
this the main secret lies. Nearly all the first swarms, 
which come out before the twentieth of June, will be 
sufficiently strong, and will not only make honey enough 
to winter on, but in good seasons will make from two 
to four boxes (of twelve pounds each,) of surplus ho¬ 
ney, that can be removed without impoverishing the 
hives; bu ne r’y all seconl sw rrns need to be reinforced 
however, it frequently happens that a third swarm 
comes out so as to put one of them with a second 
swarm, which generally makes them large enough.* 
The size of a colony will be better understood by mea¬ 
surement in a hive than any other way. My hives are 
twelve inches inside and s xteen high in the clear, and 
when the swarm all settles in the hive, I want them 
* I sometimes put three and even four small swarms together. 
two-thirds full at least; and when they fall short of this 
standard, I reinforce them till they come up to it. No 
fears need be entertained of their being too many bees 
in a hive, for the more bees the more honey they will 
make in the boxes. I have frequently had two of the 
first swarms go together, which have filled the hive 
of bees; such hives generally do best, and make far the 
most surplus honey; and are much better to go into 
winter quarters. 
Hives frequently cast two and three swarms apiece, 
which reduces the stock in the old hive so low, that they 
are unfit for wintering; I let them cast their late and 
small swarms until all my swarms are sufficiently rein¬ 
forced, and then, what comes out afterwards, I manage 
in the following way. 
I take a small hive and set it on a table for hiving, 
put the bees in front of the hive, and start them in mo¬ 
derately, and with a goose quill separate them until I 
can find the queen, which I destroy. It is necessary to 
keep a close watch until they all go into the hive, for 
sometimes there are two or three, and even more queens, 
in second and third swarms, which, if not destroyed 
w r ill remain in the hive, and not return to the one from, 
which they came. If they do not go back by night, 
there is generally a queen left, and when that is the 
ease, just at dark I take the hive and strike it pretty 
smartly on the table, and jar them out, and examine for 
another queen. The next morning they generally re¬ 
turn to the parent hive. 
Hives that have overswarmed themselves, are the 
ones the bee moths or robbers attack. Now these old 
feeble hives must be reinforced, or there is danger of 
their being destroyed by their enemies; or if they escape 
these there is danger of their dying in the winter in 
consequence of the want of warmth, being so few in 
number. It frequently happens that some of these over 
swarmed hives are old, and unfit for wintering. I take 
the bees out of such hives, to reinforce weak ones with. 
This should be done soon after the swarming time is 
over. With the hives that I have to reinforce, (when I 
have not old hives to reinforce them with.) I go to 
some of my strongest hives that have boxes on the top 
full of honey and bees, and take one or two boxes just 
asjseems necessary, and put them on the weak ones, in 
order to make them sufficiently strong for wintering. 
The bees in the boxes hardly stir for a day or two. then 
they all agree and go on to work with renewed vigor. 
I might here state that I never destroy any bees. 
Weak hives seldom ever quarrel with their new com¬ 
panions. In swarming time, different swarms seldom 
disagree, unless the first swarm has been a considera¬ 
ble time in the hive, and the one put with them a much 
smaller ore. If they ever do quarrel, an easy way to 
stop them is to run a small wire in their hive, and just 
start the honey in their comb. The uniting swarms 
should always be done just in the dusk of evening, and 
by morning they will all be united, when the hive should 
be returned to its stand. Now I have but little hesita¬ 
tion in saying, that any one keeping bees, whose motto 
is, “ strong hives or none,” will have but little cause 
jfor complaint from the bee moth. Lotan Smith. 
