BEES.

necessity, were all that were deemed essential. They were, perhaps, covered with dirt and full of flaws and cracks, to remedy which inconveniences would require the industry of the new colony some days, if not weeks. More enlightened views are now entertained on this subject, and much ingenuity has been exercised in constructing tenements for bees to render them comfortable-to secure them from the invasion of the bee moth, and to admit of the superabundant honey being removed without injuring or disturbing the bees. For a luminous view of this subject we would refer our readers to the excellent practical treatise on Bees by Dr. Thacher, published in Boston.

It is with pleasure that we introduce the following account from the North American Review, for June 1828, of a hive invented and successfully employed for a number of years, by Mrs. Mary Griffith, of New Brunswick, N. J., which is likely, according to that journal, soon to supersede every other now in use.

"The Charlieshope hive, is thirteen inches square at the top; but as the sides decrease in width to the bottom the base is narrower, being only seven inches on the flanks, and thirteen inches in front and at the back. The hive is in height about twenty-six inches in front, and twenty behind. Of course the floor is an inclined plane. It is fastened behind with hinges, and at the sides with hooks and staples. The roof or cover is, like the rest of the hive, made of common inch board, with cleats screwed on the top, to prevent it from warping; the top is screwed to the hive in two places; three holes are bored in this cover of one inch diameter, and about a quarter of an inch apart, on a line with each other and parallel with the front of the hive; three holes are found to be necessary, as the bees would otherwise build in such a manner as to close them and prevent their ascent to the upper box, when that becomes necessary.

"The under part of the top or cover is rough, as the propolis, or bee glue, does not at all times adhere sufficiently well to a smooth surface.

"Every other part of the hive is as smooth as possible, and the whole hive, box and all, is well made and joined. The upper box is thirteen inches square and the width of a board deep, from eight to ten inches. The box is likewise smoothly planed, excepting the inside of the top board, which is rough.

"The box sits snugly on the top of the hive; and the cleats are placed in such a manner on the upper surface of the cover as to fix the box firmly.

"When it is ascertained that the hive is full of honey, the plugs in the three holes are taken out. The bees may then ascend, and if the season be favorable, they will fill the box with comb and honey.

"About three or four inches from the top of the front and back of the hive, are two cleats which serve to sustain the hive in a moveable frame, made of narrow slats of wood, which enables any one to carry the hive from one place to another, as the hiving and other operations make it necessary. The hives are likewise suspended on permanent joists or scantlings of the apiary. Hives thus suspended, are out of the reach of mice, and they are also better on a variety of accounts. The opening and shutting of the floor allows of daily inspection.

BEES.

The floor can be cleaned often. The inclination of the sides and bottom allows the perspiration of the bees to flow off rapidly.

"This is a great point gained, as dysenteries are induced by the absorption of such acrid matter. The slope of the floor enables the bees to remove all extraneous matter, and to defend themselves from robbers and intruders. The entrance to the hive is about three inches wide, and half an inch high. A door of wire, the meshes of which are small enough to prevent the entrance of the miller, rests behind two door posts made of needles. These needles are driven into the floor, close to the entrance. The little doors are always put behind the needles, as soon as the bees are in for the night, and are removed at day light. About the middle of April, the doors are first used, and they are discontinued in about two months.

"After the middle of June, the floors are let down, and are suffered to hang until day light, when they are gently raised, and hooked up. The floor of the hive projects in front about three inches, thus forming an apron or platform, on which the bees alight, before they enter in at the little door."

BEE MOTH. This is the great foe of the honey bee one which neither the instinctive powers of self preservation with which the bee is endued, is able to resist, nor the ingenuity and skill of man are able effectually to provide against. And to the depredations of this single enemy is to be attributed the indifference which obviously prevails as to attempts, on an extended scale, to foster this industrious race.

We are among those who entertain the belief that no effectual remedy will soon be found for the evil here alluded to; at least, none which will admit of so universal and easy application as to induce any great numbers in our land to turn their attention to the cultivation of bees. something may be done.

Still,

Before proceeding to the few suggestions which we design to make, a brief description of the bee moth may be proper. It appears in the form of a small miller, of a greyish color, pale towards the head, of a glossy brown near the outer margin of the wings. It has four wings, but is little disposed to fly much. It begins to molest bees about the middle or last of April, and continues its persecutions till September, Its depredations are chiefly committed towards the close of the day, and during the night. Their eggs are deposited either in the hive itself, or in the crevices round about it. These eggs are hatched in a few weeks, and produce a grub or worm with a reddish head, which finds its way into the hive, where, having fortified itself by means of a web, it feeds upon the wax, comb, eggs, and young brood of bees, and continues to extend its ravages with a Goth and Vandal spirit, until the whole internal establishment becomes one wide spread desolation.

To prevent entirely the depredations of these enemies, is probably impossible. Their injurious effects, however, may, in a measure, be prevented, by destroying the millers, which may be effected in a degree by placing open shallow vessels near the hives, containing sweetened water and vinegar. By sipping this liquor, of which they are fond, they become intoxicated and drown. Some recommend to sprinkle spirits of turpentine around the hives; others recommend closing the entrance of the hive, after the ingress of the bees, and opening it early

LOCOMOTION.

This

in the morning. It has been suggested by a respectable writer, to place the hives on the naked ground, or which is thought still better, to cover the floor of the bee house with earth about two inches in depth. last method is recommended by way of experiment, by Dr. Thacher, in the work to which we have already alluded, and to which we would refer our readers for other important hints on this particular topic, as well as for numerous suggestions in reference to the general management of bees.

PART VII.

ARTS OF LOCOMOTION-OF HEATING, VENTILATION, &C.

LOCOMOTION.

MOTION OF ANIMALS. "The chief obstacles which oppose locomotion or change of place," says Dr. Bigelow,* are gravity and friction, the latter of which is in most cases, the consequence of the former. Friction is obviated by animals that walk, by substituting points of their bodies, instead of large surfaces, and upon these points they turn, as upon centres, for the length of each step raising themselves wholly, or partly from the ground in successive arcs, instead of drawing themselves along the surface. The line of arcs which the centre of gravity describes, is converted into an easy or undulating line, by the compound action of the different joints. As the feet move in separate lines, the body has also a lateral, vibratory motion. A man, in walking, puts down one foot before the other is raised, but not in running. Quadrupeds, in walking, have three feet upon the ground for most of the time; in trotting, only two. Animals which walk against gravity, as the common fly, the tree toad, &c., support themselves by suction, using cavities on the under side of their feet, which they enlarge at pleasure, till the pressure of the atmosphere causes them to adhere. In other respects, their locomotion is effected like that of other walking animals. Birds perform the motion of flying, by striking the air with the broad surface of the wings in a downward and backward direction, thus propelling the body upward and forward. After each stroke, the wings are contracted, or slightly turned, to lessen their resistance to the atmosphere, then raised and spread anew. the downward stroke, also, being more sudden than the upward, is more resisted by the atmosphere. The tail of birds serves as a rudder to direct the course upward or downward. When a bird sails in the air without moving the wings, it is done in some cases by the velocity previously acquired, and an oblique direction of the wings upward; in others, by a gradual descent, with the wings slightly turned in an oblique direction downward. Fishes in swimming forward, are propelled chiefly by stokes of the tail, the extremity

* Elements of Technology, p. 172.

LOCOMOTION.

of which being bent into an oblique position, propels the body forward and laterally at the same time. The lateral motion is corrected by the next stroke, in the opposite direction, while the forward course continues. The fins serve partly to assist in swimming, but chiefly to balance the body, or keep it upright; for the centre of gravity being nearest the back, a fish turns over, when it is dead or disabled.* Some other aquatic animals, as leeches, swim with a sinuous or undulating motion of the body, in which several parts at once are made to act obliquely against the water. Serpents in like manner, advance by means of the winding or serpentine direction which they give to their bodies, and by which a succession of oblique forces are brought to act against the ground. Sir Everard Home is of opinion that serpents use their ribs in the manner of legs, and propel the body forward by bringing the plates on the under surface of the body to act successively like feet against the ground.† Some worms and larvæ of slow motion, extend a part of their body forwards, and draw up the rest to overtake it, some performing this motion in a direct line, others in curves."

"When land animals swim in water, they are supported, because their whole weight, with their lungs expanded with air, is less than that of an equal bulk of water. The head, however, or a part of it, must be kept above water, to enable the animal to breathe, and to effect this, and also to make progress in the water, the limbs are exerted in successive impulses against the fluid. Quadrupeds and birds swim with less effort than man, because the weight of the head, which is carried above water, is, in them, a smaller proportional part of the whole, than it is in man.'

HUMAN STRENGTH, or power. Desaguillierst states that the power of a man, applied in various ways, will produce the following results: A man can raise by a good common pump, a hogshead-63 galls.—of water 10 feet high in a minute, for a whole day.

A man of ordinary strength can turn a winch with a force of 30 pounds, and with a velocity of 34 feet in a second, for ten hours a day. Two men, working at a windlass, with handles at right angles, can raise 70 pounds more easily than one can raise 30.

According to Mr. Buckman's comparison, the force exerted in turning a winch being made equal to the unit or standard,

Porters are commonly able to carry from 200 to 300 pounds at the rate of 3 miles an hour.

The swimming bladder, which exists in most fishes, though not in all, is supposed to have an agency in adapting the specific gravity of the fish to the particular depth in which it resides. The power of the animal to rise or sink, by altering the dimensions of this organ, has been, with some reason, disputed.

+ Lectures on Comparative Anatomy, vol. i. p. 116, &c. Sir E. Home deduces this fact from the anatomy of the animal, and from the movements which he perceived, in suffering a large coluber to crawl over his hand. The ribs appeared to be raised, spread, carried forward, depressed and pushed backward, successively.

+ Allen's Mechanics, p. 150.

AIDS TO LOCOMOTION.

By a careful adjustment of the weight low upon the hips, it is stated that porters are able to move forward under a weight of from 700 to 900 pounds.

Coulomb observes that the most advantageous weight, for a man of common strength to carry horizontally, is I11 pounds; or if he return unladen, 135 pounds. With wheel-barrows, men will do half as much more work as with hods, as in the mode previously mentioned.

Surprising accounts are given of the strength of men to sustain weights of above 2000 lbs. by means of a proper apparatus adjusted to the hips. The weights, however, in the cases stated, do not appear to have been sustained by muscular strength, but merely by placing the legs in the most favorable perpendicular position, whereby the bones receive the whole stress, with but little more muscular exertion than is required for maintaining them in an erect posture. The bones of the legs and the arch of the pelvis, although apparently so frail in form and texture, are constructed with such admirable science, that it is supposed by anatomists they might sustain a weight of nearly 4,000 pounds.

AIDS TO LOCOMOTION. Although the bodily strength of man, according to the preceding article, would enable him to accomplish much, without mechanical contrivance, yet it is easy to perceive that independent of that contrivance, but little comparatively could be effected, either as to moving himself, or conveying the more ponderous articles of commerce great distances, in any moderate space of time. The aids to locomotion, discovered by the ingenuity of man, are quite numerous. We shall find room to notice but a few, and those quite briefly: :

WHEELS. Wheels are designed to diminish friction, and also to surmount obstacles or inequalities of the road, with more advantage than bodies of any other form in their place could do. The friction being transferred from the surface of the ground to the centre of the wheel, is lessened in the proportion which the diameter of the axle-tree bears to the diameter of the wheel. The rubbing surfaces, also, being polished and oiled, are in the best possible condition to resist friction. The best composition for diminishing friction, is said to be common soap stone, or steatite, reduced to powder and mixed with oil. One part of black lead to three parts of lard, forms also a good anti-attrition compound.

The principle upon which a wheel easily surmounts the common obstacles found in the road, is obvious. It is converted into a lever, by means of which the load is lifted with greater ease, and its centre of gravity passes over in the direction of an easy arc, the obstacle furnishing the fulcrum on which the lever acts.

From this last remark, it might in truth be inferred that the ease with which wheels surmount stones and similar obstacles, is in proportion to their size. This arises from the well known principle, that the longer the arm of the lever is, on which a given force acts, the greater is the result. It may also be added in favor of large wheels, that they sink less in soft ground than small ones, and are less liable to wear out; since, in passing over a given space, they turn round a proportionably less number of times. A wheel which is three feet in diameter will turn round twice, while a wheel which is six feet in diameter, turns but once. Hence, the tire of the former must come in contact with the ground