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27. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years, and he died.

28. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and Į two years, and begat a son:

29. And he called his name Noah, saying, This (same) shall comfort us, concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

30. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah' five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

31. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years, and he died.

32.

Thousands. Hundreds Tens. Units. Arithmetical

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And Noah was five hundred years old, and

Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

From this account we may briefly extract the regular succession of the antediluvian patriarchs, from the creation of the world, down to the general deluge.

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Gen. vii. 2. The flood commenced in the six hundredth year of Noah; and he had begat the eldest of his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) one hundred years before that time, so that even the two younger sons could not be much less than one hundred years of age, when they entered the ark.

The creation of the world, according to the Chronology in the Index of the quarto English Bibles, was 4004 years before Christ; and

the time of the flood 2349 years before Christ; so that the time from the

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creation to the flood was 1655 years; which was exactly the time that the ante. diluvian patriarchs existed in their regular succession, from the creation of the world down to the general deluge, according to the approved chronology in our English Bibles. GRANVILLE SHARP.

February 3, 1812.

-For

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

I

SIR,

CAN join the respectable Philapis, brought forward by W. R. in the 32d vol. of the Monthly Magazine, page 448, in declaring, "that I am glad to perceive that bees are becoming more and more the objects of general attention, as affording a very rational amusement to the rich, and to the poor an easily-acquired profit. I also have had experience, have used Wildman's hives, those of Keys, White, Huber, Golding, Roberts, Butler, the father of the Eng. lish Apiarians, the Grecian hive of Mount Hymethus, and many others; and must acknowledge that they all have their uses, in proper situations and seasous, as well as the common hive, which, by Philapis, is preferred to all others. But what is this to the purpose? According to him, all the above writers have labored in vain; and our fathers, for centuries past, had arrived at the ne plus ultra in the art of managing bees; and their successors have elicited no new light, though on all other subjects the discoveries have been great, beyond any thing which could have been expected. How can this be accounted for? I think I have learned much from all the above writers, and still must ac knowledge myself too deficient, however I may have been thought by some to have been master of the subject. The more I have learnt (and I have had peculiar opportunities) the more diffident am I become; and yet I am persuaded I shall be able to shew, with clearness, that the plan of deprivation, so warmly recommended by Philapis, is injudicious, destructive to the bees upon the whole, and injurious to the community, whose benefit it becomes us always to have in view.

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Philapis ought to have known, that, when his common hive sends out swarm, there are left to the care of the remaining bees about 4000 young in the cells, that have never yet seen the light. These at least must be destroyed, since he places the flying bees in a new hive. And you ought to deem the lives of these of more value than those of 6000 older bees, whose wings have become so ragged by hard labor, that they cannot ascend the hive but a few times more, but must become the prey of birds and insects. This is a fact well known to every ob. serving apiarian. But some people attend not to what they might easily see, but only to the prey; nor do they consi

der that these 4000 young bees, with a few more added to them, would, in a favorable season, have become, had they been left in the hive, a second swarm, and gathered more honey than all the other bees, both old and young, driven into an empty hive, during all the remainder of the year, and been worth at Michaelmas from 12 to 20 shillings. In this view Philapis recommends a plan which is cruel to the 4000 bees that never were permitted to answer the end of their being, and unprofitable to the owner and the community.

But you will naturally expect that Philapis, who is so desirous of "preserving them all alive when the combs are taken," makes sure the saving the old bees driven into the new hive. I acknowledge that the plan has always appeared to me too injudicious to be practised on my own hees. But I have observed the result to others in different parts of the West, and can say, that, though they have been sometimes suc cessful, the bees driven have generally died in the following winter; so that those, on which I would have placed the greatest hope, were destroyed in embryo, and the others by a lingering famine. I am sure, Mr. Editor, you cannot deem such a practice humane towards these innocent and industrious insects. have left them to fill well the old hive, and to have applied the sulphurous match to them at Michaelmas, would have been more deserving of the epithet and more profitable to the owner, who in that case would probably have had thirty pounds of honey to sweeten the bread of his poor children; whereas the quantity taken from the old hive after the first swarm, at the time Philapis prescribes, cannot on an average exceed ten pounds, perhaps much less.

To

The only case, in which I can'admit that driving bees from all their old combs is at all beneficial, is hat of a stock which has not at all swarmed, but has been hanging out for weeks, till the hope of swarming is no more.. This may in deed afford you thirty pounds of honey about Lammas. When the bees are driven into the empty hive, the broodpart of the combs, which I suppose Phil. apis to be able instantly to distinguish from the honey-part, should be carefully separated and fastened with willow-rods in the crown of an empty hive, as nearly as possible in their natural position. This I have often done in some experiments, though not with the view of Philapis.

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Then

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Then, if possible before the combs are chilled, let the hive in which the bees have been placed be inverted, and that now containing the pieces of broodcombs be instantly placed upon it, edge to edge, and upon the stool or shelf where the stock before rested; and the bees, in the course of the night, will ascend, fasten the combs in a better manner, gladly cherish the brood by their heat, feed, from their own stomachs and the wasted honey, such as break their casements, and set cheerfully to work next morning, though they may use their stings on such as improperly approach their new habitation. In the evening let the under hive be taken off.

But, if any one be determined to deprive stocks that have swarmed, which I am confident has not been prudent in this part of the country since the year 1800, nor before during my abservation, in answer to your correspondent W. K. it appears to me that it must strike every one, as soon as it is mentioned, that the right and best way of doing it is, when the bees are driven out in the way recommended by Philapis, which is certainly a good one, or by drumming the hive, which will have greater effect in subduing the ferocity of the bees; to cut out the side-combs, and such parts of the centre-combs as may be taken without loosening them or touching the brood; to invert the hive into which the bees have been driven; and to place the other on it, edge to edge, and the bees will proceed directly to nourish their own brood. I doubt not W. K. will see that this recommendation is preferable to that of Philapis. In this case, there is no chasm in the succession, the importance of which every apiarian ought to know; nor will the queen, that same evening, be in want of cells to lay in. cording to the recommendation of Philapis, she must pass some days before she can have cells builded, and many hundreds of eggs must be lost; for she has not the power of withholding them and the loss of a thousand of her eggs is, to the community, much greater than that of double the number of old bees. This is the way in which some about me deprive common hives with general success, instructed only by what this pen has

written.

But, ac

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If the deprivation be late, Philapis himself seems to imply, that the bees will be in danger; and you and I will add, that, after swarming, however early it may be, they will be in danger, unless

we suffer the brood and some of the honey to remain in the hive. He does not seem to know, that, when the first swarm departs, there is but seldom any queen left in the hive except in embryo. Every novice will conclude, that, in such a case, every hope is lost. Of this, see "Transactions of the Apiarian Society," Nos. 6 and 7; to be had of Trewman, Exeter.

You and I and the country, Mr. Editor, feel obliged to Philapis for his letter, as it has occasioned discussion, and proceeded, without doubt, from mo tives of benevolence and humanity; and I am confident that the respectability of his character, as a gentleman, will secure to these hints a dispassionate perusal. If these strictures imply that he has something yet to learn (and so have we all!) in relation to these mysterious insects, I trust it will be allowed they are written with becoming modesty and candor. Should any of your readers wish to know the hives and mode of deprivation which I use myself, he may peruse "The General Apiarian," 2d edition, sold by Cadell and Davis, London; and also The Cottager's Manual on Bees," which, inclosed, you may, if you think proper, insert in your valuable Magazine. If you are sufficiently exact in the make and management of the hives recommended in this little Tract, you will in a moderate season preserve all the bees, both young and old, and be rewarded for your trouble by all the honey they can spare; and you should certainly

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The Cottager's Manual on Bees.

THE best hives are Roberts's Preserver, and Remunerators, or Rewarders, (see plate, No. 5,) because they may be deprived with more safety to the bees, than any other hives, and much less trouble to the owner, who, if not very careless or clumsy, will not be annoyed by a bee.

The Preserver (No. 1 in the plate) is nearly globular, made of straw and splits; is in diameter, in the clear, at the mouth, seven inches, eleven at the middle or bulge, and ten from the centre of the crown to the edge; and contains two gallons and a pint of corn. The floor (No. 4.) is nine inches in diameA bit, three inches long and one inch wide, ter, half an inch thick, and made of deal. is cut out of the edge. The inside of this gap is chamfered or sloped, that the bees, when placed on this floor, may walk out easily. The fore part of the hive must be

on the fore part of the floor, and reach over the gap, and prevented from sliding forward by two pegs. If a pane of glass be inserted in the back part of the Preserver, it will exhibit the combs as soon as they fill the hive. No part of these combs is ever to be taken out while the bees remain, as the whole is not more than enough for sustenance in winter.

The first Remunerator (No. 2,) is a flat hive of the same materials, four inches high in the clear, and thirteen inches broad, or in diameter; and in the back of it is a small pane of glass for inspection; in the flat top is -a hole about an inch square, and about four inches from the front of the hive; and, except this hole, the top is smoothly covered with a strong coat of good mortar to enable it to bear, without bending, the weight of the Preserver when filled.

On this is placed the Preserver, when the swarm is in it, so that the bees shall pass through the gap in its floor into the Remunerator, where they will make combs, if they do not swarm, after filling the Preserver.

The second Remunerator (No. 3,) is made like the first, only it has a circular hole, five inches in diameter in the centre of the flat top; on this the first Remunerator and Preserver must be placed, that the bees may work in the second, when the first is full. See No. 5.

Under the whole a smooth board or floor should be placed on a stool, firmly fixed in the ground, on the south side of the north walk in the garden. A strong cord should tie the whole fast to the stool, and a hackle or cap to carry off the rain, should be secured by a hoop and cord over the whole.

It will be right, also, once every month, to lift up the hives and change the floor, as there will be found upon it many hundreds of bees dead of old age, which the survivors cannot carry out as they do from other hives.

If this description, which I have endeavoured to make clear, be not understood, a set of these hives should be purchased for a pattern, by which to make others; this is the safest way of proceeding.

These three hives, when well made, will cost seven shillings; and if the summer be good, and the bees do not swarm, the honey contained in the Remunerators, will more than defray the expence; to obtain which honey, observe the following directions:

In the latter end of October, or beginning of November, force a wedge under each Remunerator in the front, so as to lift it a quarter of an inch, and push the Preserver, with its floor, two inches forward, so as to stop the square hole of the Remunerator; and if there be bees remaining in the under hives, which will but seldom happen at so late a season, they will come out in a few hours, and join their friends in the Preserver.

N. B. This should be done in the morning of some mild day.

In the evening, take the hives from the stool to the ground, and immediately take up the Preserver, with its floor, and place it on the stool, with the hackle on as before, and carry away the Remunerators, which will be without bees. In the first you will perhaps find honey for use, and probably in the second empty combs, which should not be touched, but returned in the following March, with the Remunerators, to their place under the bees.

If you do not succeed in obtaining honey, or swarms, (for I assure you these are swarming hives) you must not blame me, but the year or the want of exactness on your own part.

What I have written for the use of the cottager, is, I trust, concise and plain enough to answer the purposes of benevolence, though not of profit to me. It is the result of much reflection and real practice, and will be found of more use than many learned volumes. I am, the cottager's friend, J. ISAAC

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To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

THE

HE facts recently collected and published by Mr. PARKINSON, relative to the quantities, varieties, and systematic dispositions of the Fossil Remains of Animated and Vegetable Nature, which flourished in periods of obscure and remote Antiquity, have deeply affected every thinking person. The existence of such remains has never failed to excite wonder and speculation; but the embodying of all recorded observations on the subject, in the magnificent work of that Philosopher, has in a special manner excited our dormant interest.

As the passages given in your Supple. mentary Number, cannot fail to render further discussion of so curious a topic acceptable to your readers, I feel an ir resistible impulse to introduce to them some views of my own, on the same subject; and I shall be rewarded for the trouble of pourtraying them, should they serve as the basis of further discussion, and have the effect of drawing, from your wide-spread correspondents, other facts and observations.

I conceive it is rendered manifest, by the writings of Mr. Parkinson and others, as indeed it is evident to every eye that has compared the aspect of the sea-coast with the interior of a country, (1) that the surface of these Islands, perhaps of all Europe, and perhaps of all Land, has been exposed to the action of the sea, or has been covered by the sea; (2) that beneath the undulations of the soil, and the remains of the sea, are to be found whole strata of the remains of land-animals and vegetables; (3) that these layers of land and marine remains are in some instances placed alternately one above another; (see Monthly Magazine, pages 363-8, pub lished November 1, 1811.)--and (4) that these remains often consist in Europe of Animals and Vegetables, peculiar now to the Tropics, and often of species become extinct.

It appears also, that the processes employed in producing these changes, must severally have occupied, in the or dinary course of nature, many thousand years. Hence, the Globe itself must

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The Emperor Joseph II. in order to ascertain the period in which subterraneous wood petrifies, caused some of the piles of Trajan's bridge, built 1600 years before, to be taken up, when it was found that the stonifying process had penetrated the timbers

have existed for ages anterior to the common interpretations of the Mosaic Chronology! Hence, the difficulty of reconciling Facts with orthodoxy in religious. Faith! Hence it appears that Philosophy and Reason have been forced to bend before Spiritual interpretations, particular constructions, erroneous transcriptions, misconceptions, or mistrans lations of Scripture! And hence, too, all the mistakes and absurdities which have disgraced this branch of Philo sophical Investigation!

Waving therefore the effect of miracles, I shall endeavour to analise this subject by parity of reason, like the pious NEWTON, who, in analysing the Rainbow, proved that it is the natural conse quence of secondary causes, although the sacred Historian had ascribed it to miraculous interposition. Nor in this country shall I dread excommunication, for giving to the Earth an antiquity of twenty or fifty thousand years, notwithstanding Galileo suffered such severe penalties for asserting its rotundity and motion, contrary to the ecclesiastical dogmas of his time. If faith would, in all such matters, tolerate reason, both might in general be reconciled, without coming to blows. On the part of Philosophy, I venture to affirm, that Right Reason is never adverse to true faith; nor to any establishments which add to the virtue and happiness of mankind!

No person who views the fossil remains of destroyed countries, who considers the strata of remains upon strata, and who contemplates the combinations which must have united in distant epochs, can hesitate to admit, that, without a miracle for that special purpose, such phenomena could not have been produced in less than many thousand years; and, in collateral proof of this deduction from natural appearances, we may refer to the traditions of all antiquity, and to the existing records of Eastern nations.

Should I be able however to adduce a series of Natural Causes of great and never-failing causes of causes equal to the effects and of causes which must have acted, and must have produced all these effects, at intervals of ten thousand years, the concurrence of phenomena, of tradition, of effect, and of these. but an inch; and it was thence calculated that ten thousand years must elapse before such a solid petrifaction could be produced, very commonly found!

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