BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Pin clover, or alfalfa (_Erodium eicaturism_), is one of the leading honey and pollen yielders of California and Arizona. It is regarded as an excellent forage-plant by stockman, quite equal in feeding value to alfalfa, and probably more palatable, because much less woody in character An analysis by the chemist of the Arizona Experiment Station shows it is quite equal to any clover for feeding purposes. It is being rapidly spread by the cattle in the extreme Southwest, for it is easily disseminated, and requires no particular cultivation. In this respect it resembles sweet clover; but animals do not have to be educated to eating it; on the contrary, they are fond of it from the start. As a honey and pollen plant it ranks very high, both as regards quantity and quality.
For the consideration of alfalfa, also a clover, see ALFALFA.
**COLOR OF Honey.** See Honey, Coloe of.
**COMB FOUNDATION.** This is just what the term signifies-it base, midrib, or foundation, of the honey-comb. If we take a piece of comb and slice it down on both sides, nearly to the bottom of the cells, we get what is practically comb foundation.
The article originally consisted of nothing but the midrib, without any walls; but very soon after, there were added walls to stiffen and strengthen the sheet and to serve as the beginning of the cells.
Since the introduction of foundation, within the past few years, many dificult points have been solved completely : such as how to insure straight combs, how to insure all worker-comb or all drone-comb, as the case may be, and how to furnish the bees with the wax they need without being compelled to secrete it by the consumption of honey.
machines for making foundation.
There are two different and distinct classes of machines for doing this work.
One consists primarily of two that plates, or tides,* operated by a press. The other is made up of a pair of rolls having enbossed surfaces, and so adjusted, one alone the other, that the die faces will mesh together. Through these the thin sheets of wax are run like clothes through a wringer. The first foundation-machines put out were presses with that dies; but it was soon discovered that, in order to turn out foundation in a wholesale way, it would have to be by reduced. While it is probable that the flat dies will make a more perfect foundation, the cost of making by means of them is so enormously increased that nearly all the foundation produced in the world is made on rolls. The best press that has been so far made is the Given : but it is not now offered for sale, and rolls are used almost exclusively.
The making of foundation is almost a trade by itself. As full directions are prepared by the makers of foundation-machines I will not go into details here.
FORMATION AND ITS FORMING USING.
Comb foundation may be divided into two generalises: That designed for the broad-chamber and that for the surplus-argument. Each of these general classes is subdivided still further. For instance, we have what we call "thin super," running 10 to 11 square feet to the 'earth' extra thin," 12 to 13; " light brood," used only in the 'hood-nest, running 8 to 9 feet; " medium broad," 7 to 8 feet. Thin super is generally used for sections, and medium broad for the broad-frames.
The four illustrations shown above represent the different grades. The medium has what is called the round cell. This foundation is generally used for the broad-nest, because of its tendency to resist sag while the bees are drawing it out into comb; stronger, because there is more wax in the corners of the hexagons. It has been found that bees will utilize all this wax in the walls, and draw it out into cells. The more wax we can give them in the wall, the qui ker will they draw it out into comb. The light brood, running 8 to 9 feet to the 'bound', has what is called the regular hexagonal cell-wall. As will be seen by comparison of illustrations, there is less of wax in the wall, and less strength to the sheet. On this account it is not recommended that light brood foundation be put into brood-frames that are not wired. The thin super has lighter wall still than the light brood; and the extra-thin super lighterwalls still.
The ordinary thin super is generally preferred because the bees are less inclined to grow it down; and when they do begin work on it they draw it out more readily. The extra-thin is preferred by some because it is believed it makes less midrib, or what one or two have termed "'gob," in comb honey. When too heavy a foundation is used in the sections, especially when full sheets are used, the resulting comb honey, when eaten, is quite apt to show a midrib, or thickened center, and some go so far as to call it manufactured comb because they can not believe that it is as thin and friable as the comb honey they ate"on the old farm at father's." There is some truth in this, and for that reason only thin super or extra-thin should be used; and when one desires as little midribls as possible, and does not care how readily the bees may accept and work out the foundation, the extra-thin super is the one he should use.
Iecause of the tendency of foundation to cause midrib in comb honey, some have imagined that using a mere starter would remove the objectionable feature; because they argue that nearly all the comb would have to be natural, and it would, therefore, be delicate and friable like the old comb honey on the farm. But it has been shown in the majority of cases that the natural-built will be _store_ or _done_, the cells being larger so the bees can build them more readily. Some recent tests seem to show that natural - built _done_ comb has as much or more wax to the cubic inch than worker comb built from full sheets of thin worker foundation. If the bees, on the other hand, would make their natural comb _all worker_, then we should have a comb, the delicacy and friubeness of which would be all that one could desire.
Flat-bottom foundation.
Flat-bottom foundation has been made, which some think is the best surplus foundation. It is nothing but a sheet of wax, embossed with hexagonal cells enclosing a that base. While it makes very nice comb honey, yet the testimony of many of those who have tried it is to the effect that it is not readily accepted by the bees, and consequently valuable time is lost. We do know this much, that they remodel and rebuild the cells before drawing them out.
fastening foundation in broad-fnames.
Some bee-keepers secure the foundation to the top-bar without using any stays or wires to hold the sheet in place; but the great majority seem to prefer to have all their frames wired--that is to say, strands of No. 50 wire stretched vertically or horizontally across the frame; these are then imbedded into a sheet of foundation which fills the frame. The resulting combs, therefore, are firmly
auehored in place to stand the rough usage of the extractor, for shipment of colonies on them by express or freight, or hauling over rough roads to out-yards.
Most bee-keepers say that the expense of the wiring is so very slight in comparison with the great benefits secured that they
proof-frame horizontally wired.
could not think of dispensing with it; and, what is of considerable importance, during the process of drawing out the foundation the wires tend to reduce materially the stretching of the wax; and such stretching, unless restrained by stays of some sort, results in elongated cells in which the queen will lay drone eggs. This one item alone, many aver, pays for the expense of wiring. The usual method is to pierce the end-bars about two inches apart, threading the wires through these holes back and forth as shown in the accompanying illustrations. The sheet of wax is then laid on wires, and imbedded with a spur tracing-wheel as shown in the opposite column.
While this is the usual method, some prefer _perpendicular_ wiring, arguing that the horizontal strands are liable to sag to some extent, allowing a slight stretching of the wax. If the top-bars are thin the wires are threaded through the top and bottom bars, when the process of fastening the foundation is the same as before illustrated.
It is true that the vertical wiring permits of a thinner and therefore a cheaper grade of foundation; for when the horizontal strands are used, nothing lighter than those known as light broad should be used, running from 9 to 10 sheets, Langstroth size, to the pound.
But the difficulty in wiring perpendicularly is the thickness of the top-bars, which, according to modern practice, are from \(i\) to \(i\) thick. The only practical way to wire such frames is to use staples driven on a medial line on the under side of the top-bar; but as these interfere with the double-wedge-and-groove plan, to secure the foundation to the top-bar (described further on), the plan has not come to be very popular.
imbedding the wire.
Various methods of imbedding the wire have been used; but one of the simplest is the tracing-wheel to which allusion has already been made.
It is true that the vertical wiring permits of a thinner and therefore a cheaper grade of foundation; for when the horizontal strands are liable, hiding lighter than those known as light broad should be used, running from 9 to 10 sheets, Langstroth size, to the pound.
A much better tool, because it has a much larger are of contact, is the Easterday.
imbedding with hot wax.
Mr, E. F. Atwater, of Meridian, Idaho, always waaves over the wire when it is imbedded with a tracing wheel. Since too much " wax would be deposited along the wire if he used a spoon or regular wax-tube, and since a brush will not hold enough wax at a time to do fast work, he combines a brush and comb Foundation.
home-made spoon as shown in the following illustration.
embedding wire by electricity.
The following plan will give altogether the best results providing one is ingenious enough to handle an electric current, either from batteries or from electric-light wiring.
The scheme of a vertical support has been partially solved by the use of wooden sylints, or strands of wood. Dr. Miller has used these very extensively according to the following directions which we take from his book, " Forty Years Among the Iees":
If a wire is too small to carry a given current of electricity, it will heat; and if the current is too great, the wire will melt. Taking advantage of this principle we can, with a proper amount of current, cause the wires to heat to a temperature of, say, 130 degrees Filtr., at which point they will, when properly applied, sink into the foundation; then when the current is cut off, of course the wire cools immediately, and lies imbedded in the center of the sheet of wax. With the ordinary batteries it is not practicable to heat all four of the wires at a time. Accordingly, the average person will have to heat one wire at a time, and this is done as shown in the accompanying illustration.
Fig. 4 is a wooden handle, at each end of which are mounted two stiff wires. G
the extreme ends of one strand of wire, while the free hand presses the sheet on top of the wire until it melts its way half way through. The current is now broken by lifting up the handle II.
The other four wires are in turn treated in the same way.
Where one has access to an electric-light current, by putting in sufficient resistance be can heat all four wires at a time, thus accomplishing the imbedding at one and the same operation.
The splints should be about 1-16 inch square and about 1\({}_{3}\) inch shorter than the inside depth of the frame. A bunch of them should be thrown into a square shallow tin pan that contains hot beswax.
The will from up because of the moisture frying out of them. When the frothing ceases, and the splints are saturated with wax, they are ready for
## Comb Foundation.
The idea is to rub the edge of the wax into the wood of the section. The motion of the machine spreads the wax down, and has it into the wood, as it were. It is a very simple machine, and is used quitelargely; in fact, many thousands of them principles just shown; but in this case the have been sold. It does very nice work; but where thousands of starters are to be built in, it becomes a little tiresome on the hands, and besides it not as economical of foundation as the Daisy or Root foundation-fastener.
The principle of the machine is this: \(\Lambda\) metal plate or tongue is kept heated by means of a lamp beneath. This plate, by a slight pressure of the fluids while holding the foundation, is made to pass directly under and come in contact with the bottom edge of the starter. Instantly the edge of the foundation melts; the pressure of the hands being released allows the tongue or plate to withdraw, and the starter is allowed to drop on to the section, when it instantly cools and is held firm. This method of
fastening foundation is used very largely. Another method that seems to meet with a great deal of favor is a modification of the term appliances it is possible to secure, in a fair season, an average of forty or sixty pounds of section honey; and occasional reports have shown that from 300 to 400 pounds have been obtained.
By the masses, a good article of comb honey is more highly prized than an equally good article of extracted honey (see Extracted Honey). While the latter can be, and in the hands of the expert producer is, equal in body, color, and flavor to the best comb honey; yet, as extracted ordinarily runs, comb honey is a little superior in the qualities we have mentioned.
Comb honey can not be counterfeited, and, consequently, consumers are less suspicious of it. For these and other reasons, nature's sweet, in its original form, is in greater demand, and hence commands a higher price. To offset this, it also costs more to produce it, and requires, likewise, more skill and more complicated surplus arrangements to get a gilt-edged article. Years ago, all comb honey was produced in glass boxes. These were about five inches square, fifteen or sixteen inches long, glassed on both ends. They were not altogether an attractive package, and were never put upon the market without being more or less soiled with burr-combs and propolisals. As they held from ten to fifteen pounds of honey each, they contained a larger quantity than most families cared to purchase at once. To obviate these and other dificulties, what is popularly known as the "section honey-box " was invented.
It was what was wanted--a small package for comb honey. Thus was accomplished. not only the introduction of a smaller package for comb honey, but one attractive and readily marketable. The retailer was at once able to supply his customer with a small quantity of comb honey without daubling, or fussing with plates. The good housewife, in turn, had only to lay the package upon a plate, pass a common table knife around the comb, to separate the honey from the section proper, and the honey was ready for the table, without drip.
wide frames and five-supers.
The next thing was something to hold the sections while on the hive and being filled. There was a score of different sorts of racks, frames, trays, boxes, clamps, all of which possessed some special features. It would be impracticable to show all of these different devices : but for the sake of illustrating some principles it may be well to mention some of those that are used most largely.
What was known as the double-tier wide frame was perhaps the first device for holding sections in the hive. This consisted of a frame of the same depth and length as the ordinary brood-frame, but of the same width as the section, as shown in the illustration preceding. This was used very largely at one time ; but in the course of time it was discovered that it had several objectionable features. First, a whole birefull of them gave the bees too much capacity to start on ; and, as a consequence, this discouraged them from beginning work. Second, they did not permit of tiering up to any degree of advantange. Third, it was not convenient to get them out of the hive, and more inconvenient still to get the sections out of the wide frames. For these reasons wide frames, or crates holding only _one tier_ of sections, were adopted.
The 'loolithic surplus arrangement consists of a series of single-tier wide frames having no projections to the top-bars, although shallow wide frames have been made with such projections.
Both the single-tier and double-tier shown had tiu separators nailed on one side of each wide frame ; but in the arrangement shown below there is no provision for a separator.
As the engraving shows, this is simply a shallow tray of the same depth as the section, plus a bee-space, and is divided off by transverse partition as--these very partitions preventing, of course, the use of separators; but those who did use this style of entire, and use it still, claim they can get along without separators ; that they have no difficulty in crating for market all their honey. But the event majority of be-kepers decidedly object to loose pieces, and prefer the super object to a non-separator crate, because, while the one crate dispense with the separators, he has to be very careful in handling the honey in putting it into the crate for market, or else there will be brussed and damaged faces to the honey. And then it is true that comb honey produced without separators is never as even and nice as separator honey. Commission men, for this reason, do not like:
it, and on this account the T super and other forms of separator-cases have the decided preference. If one should use a very narrow section, not wider than 1%-inch beeway or less, he could dispense with separators. But such sections are as yet hardly on the market. It might be a little risky to produce any considerable crop in them at the present, and consumers might not take to them.
It super.
This, at one time, was one of the most popular forms of section-erates that was ever devised, and a very large number prefer it to any thing else. It is so named for the T this that support the sections. The tins are folded in the form of a letter T object to loose pieces, and prefer the super with stationary tins, the tins being nailed to the bottom inside edges of the super.
It will be noticed also that he prefers having compression--a feature which he accomplishes by means of wooden thunnscrews and a follower. There is no denying the fact that in any form of surplus arrangement the sections and separators should be squeezed together to reduce propolis accumulations. If there are open cracks or spaces between the sections the bees are sure to fill them with bee-clue.
With either form of T super one can use wooden separators, tin separators, or the fences described further along. The projection of the T is just high enough to support the separators at the proper point.
But the T super, perfect as it is, has its objections. If the sections are inclined to be a little out of square, or diamond-shaped, when folded, they will not be squared up in the T super unless an extra set of T tins or strips of wood are used to fill up the gaps between the rows on top. And, again, it is not practicable to alternate the several rows of sections. Sometimes, in a poor honey-flow, it is desirable to move the center row of sections to the outside, and the outside to the center. And still again, four-beeway sections, or plain sections, are not as advantageously used in these supers as in some other form which I shall presently describe.
THE J. E. hand form of super
This is the one preferred by Mr. J. E. Bland, of Birmingham, Ohio, who uses plain sections and section-holders. A portion of one side of the super is removable. This is secured in position by means of the Van Deusen hive-clamps, that also bring about compression on the sections.
The objection to this form of super is that it is somewhat more expensive, is not as strong, and therefore not as durable. For further particulars concerning the J. E.
## 11. Comb Honey.
Hand system, see lives and also swarming.
dov'd super with section-holder.
This is the form of super that has been, perhaps, used more largely than any other. It is a sort of compromise between the cause some sections will not be entirely filled; but it suits the farmer who has no time to do the sorting, scraping, and getting ready for market; and in some local markets this case does very well.
### The Fence and Plain-Section System.
The sections and section - supers shown heretofore have all been of the beeway type.
Broad-frames, when in hives, must be placed are open at the top. Each holder is supported at the end by a strip of tin nailed on the inner edge of the ends of the super, as shown in the accompanying illustration.
Four sections in each section-holder are held snugly and squarely in position with no spaces between the rows of sections as in the case of the T super. When beeway sections are used the bottom-bars of the sections are scored out to correspond with the beeways. Between each row of sections is dropped a wooden separator, as shown at D. After they are all in place, a follower-board, F, is shoved up against them, and the tightening-strip G, that is thicker one way than the other, is slipped in the narrow way between the follower and the super side, and given a quarter twist. This crowds the follower against the sections, causing compression.
This case is very popular with farmers. Four of them containing 24 sections without separators are placed on the hive. When they are filled they are taken off without removing the sections from the case, and are put on the market just as they left the hive. This is a sort of shiftless way, because some sections will not be entirely filled; but it suits the farmer who has no time to do the sorting, scraping, and getting ready for market; and in some local markets this case does very well.
Broad-frames, when in hives, must be placed a bee-space apart; so also must the sections. Almost the first honey-boxes that were introduced had the bee-space cut out of the top and bottom of the sections themselves, so that they could be placed directly in contact with each other or the separator. This kind of section continued almost up to the present, but in 1897 there was introduced a section without beeways, having plain straight edges all around. This had been used some ten or twelve years previously by various bee-keepers who found them to be in every way satisfactory. But plain sections (even width all around, without beeways) necessitate some scheme for holding them a beew
But one would lose many of the advantages of plain sections if he were to adopt the open-corner boxes. They would not look, with even filling, as pretty as plain sections.
## 7.1. Some of the questions
In the main, these differ very little from the section-holder super already shown and described for the old-style sections. The section - holders themselves are the same width as the sections.
Between each row of speech, help to conserve the heat so they can draw out the comb and complete the sections on the outside as well as in the center. Both theory and practice sustain the proposition.
In the modern supers, and especially in those designed for plain sections, there are used, instead of wedges and thumbscrews, steel springs that bear against the center of the fence as well as against the two ends, as shown at B in the figure given on next page.
The wedges, tightening -strips, or thumb:
sections in a section-holder is placed a fence, the end-ends of the fence resting up in the strip of tin mailed on the bottom inside edge of the end. There is a fence on the outside of each outside row of sections, because it was demonstrated by S. T. Pettit that a perforated divider, or what is exactly the same thing in principle, the fence, when placed between the outside rows and the super sides will result in having those outside rows of sections filled, in many instances, as well as
these in the center. The reason of this is, that it places a wall of bees on each side of the fence, between the comb honey and the super side; and these walls of bees, so to speak, help to conserve the heat so they can draw out the comb and complete the sections on the outside as well as in the center. Both theory and practice sustain the proposition.