BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Q. What is the best way to get the bees from the sections when I remove the super? If one should take the super a distance from the hive and brush them off, would they go back to the hive, or would they get lost?
A. The Porter bee-escape is a nice thing to use if you have time to wait for it; and if you want more prompt work, there is, perhaps, nothing better than the Miller tent-escape, which latter you can make yourself. It is probable that you do not have enough honey to make it worth while to have an escape; yet I think if I had as many as live colonies I should make a Miller escape. Without having an escape there are several ways to pro ceed. The way you speak of will work, for if you brush the bees off close to the hive or several rods away, they will find their way home again, unless there be some bees on the section so young that they have never left the hive--a thing not likely to happen. Another way is to pile up several supers in a pile, bee-tight at the bottom, and over the top sprcad a sheet or other covering that is bee-tight, but will let the light through. From time to time lift off the sheet and let the bees that are above escape, and in the course of a few hours all ought to be out. Whatever way you do, it is well to smoke down a good part of the bees before removing the super; but don't be too lavish with your smoke or the honey will taste of it, and smoke doesn't improve honey as much as it does ham.
**Sections Unfinished.--Q**. What causes bees to leave a few sections of honey uncapped in the central part of a super all filled with honey; plenty of bees and warm weather?
A. There's a difference in nectar, some of it being ripened up more slowly than the majority. It is just possible that when the bees commenced work in the supers, the central sections were filled with nectar of this kind, or with honey that possibly for some other reason they were slow about sealing, and then the rest of the super was filled with honey of a character to be promptly sealed. Another possibility is that the central sections were in some way objectionable, possibly from having foundation or comb that had been used before and left too long in the care of the bees when not being filled, and so covered to some extent with propolisis. Still another possibility is that there was brood in the central sections; then, after the brood hatched out they were filled with honey which, of course, would be later in being sealed. Another possibility is that this was drone-comb and the bees left it without honey for a long time in the hope the queen would find it and lay eggs in it.
Q. If I use your plan of taking off honey, taking the filled and capped sections, are the unfinished ones returned to the same hive and in place of the oncs taken out new sections put in, or do you fill this super with other partly-filled sections taken from another hive?
A. The unfinished sections from different hives are assembled into one super, and then this super is put back, possibly on a hive from which none of the unfinished ones were taken, no attention being given to where the sections came from.
Q. What do you think of putting down into the brood-chamber say, perhaps two frameworks on each side?
A. The plan is not used so much as formerly, if indeed it is now used at all. If you leave the sections below to be finished, you are likely to have pollen in them, and also to have the cappings darkened. When sections have been put below it has generally been merely to get the bees started in them and then put them up. But it is not advisable to put them below at all.
Q. Will partly-filled sections do for fall feeding in place of sugar? Would they keep until next year if properly cared for?
A. They will do nicely for fall feeding, and will keep well for use the next year, or for five years later, after the bees have cleaned them out in the fall. But unless the honey is thus cleaned out in the fall, it is not likely you can keep them so as to be used the next year.
Q. I have a lot of sections that were on the hives last season, but owing to the drouth, which caused a sudden stop in the honey, they were not completed. Some of them contained some honey, which I allowed the bees to remove last fall, and merely started to be drawn. (They had had full sheets of foundation in the first place.) Shall I use these as they are this season or will there be too much mid-rib to make the best honey? I have often used the "go backs" for baits, using from one to four in a super, but I have 20 to 30 supers full now.
A. If you have unfinished sections that are fall-emptied and in good condition, use them and be exceedingly thankful for every one you have. Becs do not add to the mid-rib, no matter how long sections are left on the hive; but there is danger if they are left on too long in the fall that the bees will plaster them over with propolis, in which case there is nothing to do but to cut out and melt them up.
Q. I would like to learn of a good plan to clean up sections that are unfinished in the fall of the year. I have thought of tiering up supers I2 or 15 high, and let the bees rob them out, but as my yard is close to the house and buildings, I do not like to do it, and I don't know which is the better way. I have at present 105 colonies, and expect to increase to I75 this season. I had about 2,000 of these sections, and am using them tor baits, and find them excellent in starting the bees to work in the supers.
A. I have had much experience in getting the bees to clean up sections in the fall, and have found no better way than to let the bees rob them out. If you pile them up, as you suggest, allow an entrance large enough for a single bee for each 5 or 6 supers.
fortilized eggs are found in drone-cells, and fertilized eggs in worker and queen-cells. The egg that produces the queen is practically the same as the one which produces a worker; only the cell is enlarged, and the bees feed it throughout its larval existence the richer food that is given to the worker larva during its first three days.
**Shade for Bees.-Q**. Can bees be given too much shade in early spring?
A. Yes; at that time it is better to have the sun shine on the hive at least part of the day.
Q. Is it very necessary that a colony have shade during the heat of the day?
A Different views are held as to the desirability of shade for bees, some even saying that they are better without it. No doubt there is in this respect a difference in localities. In my own locality I think they are better off with some shade.
Q. Is there any danger of losing swarms if the hives are in too hot a place? Is it necessary to keep bees in the shade all the time?
A. There is great danger that a newly-hived swarm will desert if the hive is too hot. After it becomes settled and has started brood, the danger disappears, and a colony may do well without any shade. Yet in most places it is better that a hive shall be shaded in the heat of the day. A nice thing is to have a hive under a tree which shades it in the middle of the day, but allows the sun to shine upon it in the morning and evening.
**Shake-Swarming.-Q**. What is meant by a shaken swarm?
A. When the bees are shaken or brushed from their combs, and all the combs, or all but one of them, are taken away, that is called shaking a swarm, and the bees left in the hive are called a shaken swarm.
Q. Last year I had a lot of trouble with runaway swarms. Can you tell me how to practice "shake swarming"?
A. Lift the combs out of the hive, one after another, and shake the bees back into the hive, filling up the hive with empty combs or empty frames and when you have done that you have shaken a swarm. Of course, you must be sure that the queen is left in the hive from which the brood has been taken. You can make any disposition you like of the frames of brood taken away. They may be used to strengthen weak colonies, or you can use them to make new colonies. If used in the latter way enough bees must be left with them so the brood will not be chilled, unless you live where it is so hot that there is no danger of chilling. The more bees, however, you can leave with the swarm, the better work it will do on surplus.
Q. I would like to practice the shake-swarm method. What would be best to shake the bees on, empty combs, starters, or full sheets of foundation?
A. Empty combs are probably best, and full sheets of foundation next.
Q. It is impractical for met to stay at home and watch for swarms, so I must resort to artificial swarming or dividing--probably the brush-swarm plan. At what stage of queen-cells should the swarm be shaken, when queen-cells are started without brood in them yet, after brood can be seen in them, or after they are capped over?
A. Swarms may be shaken without paying any attention to queen-cells as soon as the season of swarming comes, or as soon as colonies are sufficiently strong. Some prefer to wait until a number of cells are found containing eggs or larvae. It would hardly do to wait till sealed cells are present, for at that time a swarm is likely to ensue. The presence of queen-cell cups with neither eggs nor larva in them need not be considered, for these may be found at any time, even in winter.
Q. How far should a shaken swarm be set from the parent hive?
A. A shaken swarm is left on the old stand.
Q. In removing the old hive to a new location, and putting a new hive on the old stand, is it essential that the old queen should remain, or be shaken into the new hive on the old stand, or can she be put into the old hive on the new location?
A. The queen is to remain on the old stand with the shaken swarm. The point is that the brood is to be taken away.
Q. How did driving on capped-brood work with you in the control of swarming and securing honey?
A. So far as I could see, giving sealed brood to a driven swarm worked just as well as giving foundation, and of course made a stronger colony.
Q. I practiced the shaken-swarm method a little last summer, but some of them would swarm out again the next day. What was the cause of that?
A. Possibly it was hot in the empty hive, and they swarmed out just as a natural swarm often does under the same circumstances. A frame of brood may hold them.
**Shipping Bees.-Q**. Will shipping bees cause quecus (i) be drone-layers?
A. When quecus are shipped by mail in cages, it is not a very uncommon thing that they are somewhat affected as to their laying, but I don't remember that I ever heard of a queen being made a drone-layer by it, and I don't think I ever heard of a queen being seriously affected when shipped in a full colony.
Q. Do I have to have my bees inspected before I can ship them? They are free from foilbrood.
A. It depends upon the laws of the state into which you ship. Some states require inspection, and others do not. Whether they have foilbrood or not has nothing to do with the case; if the law requires inspection, all bees shipped into the state must be inspected. Better have them inspected as a safeguard.
Q. When is the best time to ship bees in the spring?
A. In freezing weather the combs are somewhat brittle, and likely to break easily, and the bees do not stand a journey as well as when more active. When combs are filled with honey they are likely to break in transit, and if too warm there is more danger that the bees may suffocate. So the best time in spring is while the combs are mostly empty, any time after it is warm enough for the bees to fly nearly all day.
Q. I am considering shipping bees in the fall, say 100 miles or more, and then giving them a good flight before putting them in the collar. Do you think it injurious to their wintering well to ship them in the fall?
A. If they have a good flight before being taken in the collar, I should not expect any harm from the journey. The excitement of the journey, however, would make them eat a little more, so you would have to be a little more careful to see that they had stores enough.
Q. How would you advise packing a colony of bees which is to be shipped by freight to New York from Texas in early spring?
A. There must be good ventilation, and everything as firm as possible. You can make sure of the first by having a cover entirely of wire-cloth. Under this it may be well to have a simple filled with water. If the frames are loose-hanging they must be made secure, either by nails driven down through the ends of the top-bars or by spacing with sticks. Put on written instructions for the hive to ride so the frames shall be parallel with the rails, a hand or an arrow to point toward the engine.
Q. I want to take a few swarms with me to Minnesota about July 30. The car will likely be on the road about a week. How shall I prepare the bees for shipment? (Illinois.)
A. The frames in your hives must be fastened so they cannot move about, although that is not necessary if you have frames with fixed distance, as you probably have. If the entrances to your hives are two inches deep, closing them with wire-cloth may give all the needed ventilation. Otherwise better have the entire top covered with wire-cloth by means of a frame an inch or two deep. With only a few hives, you can have each one on the floor, kept in place by cleats nailed onto the floor. If the weather is very hot, sprinkle the bees with water every little while.
Q. How about fixing bees in the hives to be shipped 1,500 miles by rail? How shall I go about it to do a good job, so there will be no bees getting out, and how should they sit in the car--lengthwise?
A. To make a good job of it is something of an undertaking, In brief, you will nse wire-cloth for ventilation, having the entrance closed with it, and having a frame the size of the top of the hive covered with wire-cloth, which frame you will fasten upon the top of the hive with four wood-screws. You will put the hives in the car with the frames running in the same direction as the rails of the railroad, nailing strips on the bottom of the car so the lower tier of hives cannot shake about. You must not set the upper tiers of hives piled up directly upon one another, for that would stop ventilation; but over the lower tiers you will pnt 2x2 or 2x4 scantling, running across the car, on which to rest the upper tiers, thus leaving a space for ventilation. You will probably use a cattle-car, which favors ventilation; and you will see to it that you can get at all the hives to spray the bees with water when they become excited and heated.
**Shipping-Cases,--Q.** Do you get shipping-cases returned?
A. No.
**Shipping Comb Honey,--Q.** I write for a little information in regard to shipping honey to Chicago, or other large cities. Is it necessary to enclose the shipping cases in extra strong boxes, or will they stand the rough handling without extra casing?
A. If section honey is sent in shipping-cases without any outside protection there is danger that it may not go safely. No need to put the cases in heavy boxes that are close. Crates, or carriers, as they are called, should be used, which are more or less open, only close enough so they will hold the cases, the object being not so much to cover the cases as to prevent rough handling. If cases are shipped without being in carriers, railroad hands are likely to throw them as so many bricks, putting them in the car in any sort of position. Years ago I shipped some cases loose in a car, to go a pretty long distance, and when they were transferred to another car some of the cases were on their sides, and, of course, badly smashed sections of honey was the result. A car-ricr is generally made to contain eight 24-section cases, or sixteen 12-section cases, and provided with handles. Being so heavy, they are necessarily handled with less roughness than would be the loose cases. Load in car so sections run parallel with the rails. If sections are sent in cases, unprotected, they take a higher freight rate than if packed properly with a layer of straw on the bottom.
**Shook Swarming.-Q**. What do you call "shooks swarming?"
A. "Shook swarming" is bad English that has, I am sorry to say, grown into quite common use in place of "shaken swarms," or "shake-swarming." Perhaps a more appropriate name would be one used in Germany, "anticipatory swarming." (See Shakeswarming.)
**Smartweed.-Q**. Will honey gathered from smartweed be strong in taste like pepper? Last year the honey gathered in the fall was so strong after being swallowed that it would burn the throat for two or three hours. Smartweed was plentiful.
A. The general run of what is called smartweed honey will not smart your mouth at all. But the plant from which it is gathered hardly ought to be called smartweed, for if you chew the leaves it will not smart your mouth any more than to chew so much lettuce. It also goes by the name of heartsease--the better name, the botanical name being Persicaria. Persicaria punctatum is the real smartweed, and if you chew a leaf of that you'll wish you had let it alone. I don't know about the honey from this, whether it is acrid or not, but it is possible.
**Smoke.-Q**. When is the best time to blow smoke in at the entrance when opening a hive, on a cloudy day, or sunshiny day, or both?
A. The time to blow smoke into the entrance is just before you take off the cover, no matter what kind of a day.
Q. How long can you keep the hive open when handling bees without smoke? When they come to the top of the frames do you smoke them back?A. Maybc one smoking will do for all day; maybe two minutes. So long as the bees remain peaceable they need no more smoke. No matter if they do come to the top of the frames, so long as they remain good-natured, but when they begin to fly at you, give them enough smoke to make them behave.
Q. How much smoke should I give a cross colony of bees?
A. As in other cases, use as little as possible, but enough to subdue them. That isn't very definite, is it? Perhaps I might say keep on smoking so long as the bees keep darting out at you, and stop as soon as they beat a retreat. With most bees a very little smoke is necessary, and if you keep on smoking they will boil out and run over the sides of the hive at the top. That's too much. Some have reported bees of such disposition that smoke seemed to have little or no effect on them, if, indeed, it did not make them fiercer, and the only thing to do was to manipulate very carefully. Yours are hardly of that kind.
**Smokers-Q**. What size smoker is the best to use?
A. I never saw a smoker too large, although with only one or two colonies you can get along with a small one. Sometimes you want a bigger volume of smoke than a small smoker will give, and you can use just as little smoke as you like with a large smoker. The large smoker holds fire better than the small one, and you can more easily have fuel to fit the large one.
Q. At what time do you consider it necessary to use the smoker? Do you think too much strong smoke is injurious to brood and queen? I prefer using brush and veil as much as possible. I am stocking up with selected Italians. Are not these the most gentle bees we have?
A. If I were keeping bees merely for the fun of it, I might handle them without any smoker at all, and with very gentle ones it may never be absolutely necessary. Aside from quieting the bees, no good can certainly come from blowing smoke into a hive, and no more should be used than necessary. But as a matter of actual practice I generally give a puff at the entrance before opening each hive, and a little over the top as the cover is removed. I can hardly afford the time to go slowly enough without any smoke. Bees are like folks--they differ in disposition. Italian bees are very gentle in general, but there are exceptions. As a whole, they probably do not excel the Carniolans in gentleness.
**Smoker Fuel.--Q**. What is the proper fuel for the smoker?A. It is largely a matter of convenience. Any old thing that will burn is likely to answer all right, provided it is easily obtainable. Probably nothing is better than dry hardwood chips. A favorite with some is a greasy cotton waste that is thrown away after being used in machine shops or on automobiles or locomotives. Then there is bark, planer chips, cowdung, etc.
Q. So far as using a bee-smoker is concerned, I am a novice in the business, and with poor success so far. I have tried newspaper, excelsior, and cobs broken up, but by the time I have the cover off and begin to raise the inside cover over the hive, or sections, the fire is out. What is best to use to make smoke? How should I use the smoker to keep the fire from going out?
A. Try old rags of any kind of cotton cloth. First put a little loosely in the smoker; light it and let it blaze up; put a little more on and keep blowing till it gets a good start; then fill up and it will not be likely to go out till it burns out. When the smoker is not in use it will burn better to stand upright. Almost anything is better than newspapers.
Q. Explain how you prepare saltpeter rags for smoker-fuel.
A. I take a 2-gallon stone crock, perhaps half full of water, put in it half a pound or less of saltpeter, fill up with cotton rags, lift the rags out and let the water drain back into the crock through a colander or leaky pan; spread the rags out on the grass for the sun, to dry, and they're ready to use. I use them only to start the fire, filling up the smoker with hardwood chips or some other fuel.
**Snow,-Q.** Can I put snow over the entrances of the beehives when the coldest, windy days come?
A. It will be all right if the snow is dry. If the snow is wet and packs together it may smother the bees.
Q. Is it necessary to keep snow and ice swept away from the entrance of hive?
A. As long as it remains dry and hard, a little snow at the entrance is not likely to do any harm. But if it becomes wet and soft, filling the entrance and then freezing, it may do harm, so it should be cleared away before it has a chance to freeze. Not that there is special harm from the freezing, only that it allows the entrance to remain closed.
Q. My colonies are buried under the snow. Will they smother? I have planer shavings on top to let the air through.
A. Enough air works in through the snow so there's no dan ger of smothering. But look out not to let the entrance become filled with damp snow and then freeze solid.
**Spider-plant--Q**. I notice in reading that there is a plant called spider-plant. Will it grow here? What time in the year should it be planted? (N. Carolina.)
A. The spider-plant will probably grow with you if sown in the spring, but you will hardly find it worth the trouble.
**Spiders.--Q**. Do spiders ever injure bees?
A. Not to any great extent. If their webs are allowed at the entrance of a hive, a few bees will be caught and killed.
**Spraying.--Q**. A man living a mile from me is going to spray his apple trees with Paris green this spring. Will my bees bring it home to their hives?
A. If fruit trees are abundant, your bees may not go so far. If scarce, they will be likely to visit those trees when in bloom, and if he should spray during bloom it would mean death to the bees. But if he is an up-to-date fruit-grower he will spray only before and after bloom. The experiment stations have clearly settled that spraying during bloom is a damage to the fruit crop, and in several states it is against the law to spray during bloom.
Q. Have you ever had any serious loss from poison being used to spray apple trees? (Illinois.)
A. I think not; but I have some trouble with spraying in time of cherry bloom. The owner of a large cherry orchard is one of the best and straightest men in the community; but somehow he can't get it through his head that he is hurting himself by spraying when trees are in bloom, and he says if he doesn't begin spraying a little before the bloom falls, that he can't get through the whole in time. When as good a man as he is cannot see any wrong in subjecting me to serious loss for the sake of a little inconvenience to himself, it shows that no effort should be spared to have Illinois come to the front like some other states, with a strict spraying law. If I understand the matter rightly, a man lays himself liable to penalty if he puts out poison purposely to kill my bees, but if he poisons them accidentally while spraying fruit bloom he goes scot-free.