1«47 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
17 
will be recollected that the beginning of April last, was 
very warm and pleasant, and from the putting forth of 
early blossoms, such as those of the willow, alder, red, 
or soft maple, the bees commenced their labor with 
great activity, bringing in pollen and honey in such 
quantities, that their cells and the brood comb, were 
soon filled. About the 20th, or 25th of April, it was 
severely cold, lasting several days. This drove the bees 
up from the brood comb, and the young died in the cells. 
In my experience of thirty-three years in keeping bees, 
the last spring was the first time that the young died 
in the cells before swarming time. Out of eleven stocks 
which I had last spring, I lost five. My observation in 
regard to bees teaches that a full colony will secure 
themselves from cold, or from the moth, which is a good 
reason for putting back second and third swarms. In 
wintering bees, I have tried burying in a sand-hill ; 
sometimes have put them in the cellar, the garret of 
the house, &c. I have had them do well in all these 
places, and have experienced great losses in all of them. 
In reflecting upon the subject, I have been led to the 
construction of the proper house for the wintering and 
summering of bees. I built one about two years ago, 
10 by 24 feet, which will accommodate twenty-four 
swarms in the summer season, and double that number 
can be wintered in it. I had but two swarms in this 
building last April; but by closing my bee-house a few 
da)^s in the cold spell of weather the last of the month, 
those two have done as well as bees do in most seasons, 
swarming and making honey ; whereas those that were 
out, died, as before stated, and many people in this 
vicinity lost all their bees. In the October number of 
the Cultivator for last volume, page 305, mention was 
made of my bee-house, stating that a further explana¬ 
tion was expected. I have not now time to give this 
explanation, and perhaps it is less necessary, as I am 
compiling a manual on the management of bees, in 
which I shall show the advantages of my house by dia¬ 
grams exhibiting all its parts. Hives of any construc¬ 
tion can be kept in it. There are many patent bee¬ 
hives 5 that of Colton’s, of which an engraving was 
given in the December number of the Cultivator, I 
think well adapted to the economy of the bee, and as it 
is double on every side, or nearly so, is well calculated 
to shield the bees from the cold as well as heat. I shall 
try it the coming season, when I shall be better pre¬ 
pared to speak of its utility. Nathan Howard. 
Stephentovm , N. Y. Jan. 1, 1847. 
WEEDS INJURIOUS TO THE WHEAT CROP. 
Messrs. Editors —I send you the following, for pub¬ 
lication in “The Cultivator,” about the Lithospermum 
arvense, which, in different sections of the United States, 
has the names of Pigeon Weed, Red Root, Stone Weed, 
Corn Grom well, &c. 
Description.— Stem, 12 to 18 inches high, much 
branched, and whole plant hispid, with short oppressed 
hairs. Leaves, lance-linear, acute, with a midrib. 
Lower leaves often obtuse. Flowers, solitary, sub- 
sessile and axillary. Corolla, white, or yellowish 
white. Calyx, segments acute, hispid celiate. Nuts, 
rugose, ovoid, with the acuminate beak rather oblique. 
Root, annual. 
In the artificial or Linnean System it belongs to the 
Class Pentandria, order Monogynia, and according to 
the Natural System, it is placed with the Boraginas, 
or Borage tribe of plants. It is a great pest to the 
wheat crop, by outgrowing and smothering the young- 
wheat in the spring ; generally arriving at maturity in 
Western New York, in the month of June, two or three 
weeks before the wheat harvest. Its seeds yield a 
small quantity of oil, being worth at the oil mills from 
31 to 37 cents per bushel. But this is a poor compen¬ 
sation for the damage done to the farmer. 
It is a native of Europe, where it is frequent in cul¬ 
tivated fields and pastures ; yet it does not seem to 
prevail to such an extent as to do much damage to the 
wheat crop, since little notice appears to be taken of it. 
by their agricultural writers. Loudon, an English 
author, in his Encyclopedia of Plants, merely states that 
the bark abounds with a deep red dye, which stains 
paper, linen, &c., and which is easily communicated to 
oily substances, resembling in this respect the Alkanet 
root—hence it is often called in England the bastard 
Alkanet. The country girls in the north of Sweden, 
stain their faces with this root on days of festivity. 
Besides the arvense, there are nine other species enu¬ 
merated as growing in Great Britain, and in Decan- 
dolle’s Prodomus, we find sixty-five species described, 
most of which are natives of the old world. The 
“ Red Root,” is widely diffused, growing in nearly 
every part of Europe ; it is a native of Northern Africa, 
according to Desfontanes, and was found in Southern 
Africa by Burch. It grows near the river Euphrates, 
in Asia, where it was collected by Chesney, and also 
in Asia Minor, according to Aucher. It has probably 
been greatly spread by the migration of birds, since 
many species of birds void their food when they find 
something that suits them better. Thus it is supposed 
to have been often spread in this country, and hence one 
of its names, “ Pigeon Weed.” & 
It has been introduced into America, and is already 
spread through a large portion of the wheat growing 
states. It grows in the vicinity of Charleston, South 
Carolina, according to Elliott, and from our Botanical 
Catalogues, we find that it abounds in Kentucky, Ohio, 
and the Western States, in Maryland and Virginia, and 
in Vermont and Massachusetts, and every farmer knows 
that it is found, more or less, throughout the Middle 
States. There are five or six additional species grow¬ 
ing in the United States, a new species having lately 
been discovered by Dr. Chapman in Florida. In Yates 
Co., there are two species, the arvense and latifolium. 
To return to the arvense—when it has once obtained 
possession of a field, it is eradicated with difficulty, as its 
seeds will lie in the ground many years without germi¬ 
nating, especially when they are covered to a depth 
which prevents them from receiving a due proportion of 
air, Warmth and moisture. 
It is only by studying its nature that we can arrive at 
any sure method of exterminating it. Seeds of every 
description rarely fail to germinate immediately after 
becoming ripe, if they are covered at a slight depth with 
moist, warm soil, before they get dry and hard. The 
Pigeon Weed, or Red Root, ripens some weeks before 
wheat, and if the season be dry, the seeds, by being depri¬ 
ved of their natural moisture, will not germinate unless 
they are placed under very favorable circumstances, viz, 
be slightly covered with a moist, warm soil. Its seeds 
are very hard, hence its botanical name, which is de¬ 
rived from two Greek words, signifying stone and 
seed, so that they are under all circumstances most 
difficult of germinaton. Hence, after the wheat har¬ 
vest, they generally lie upon the surface of the ground, 
