BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
If we now experiment with be-poison, we find we can use it as a capiagonal varnish and mixing medium, a varnish at once antiseptic and complete, so that the cell may not after all be polished and varnished with the orthodox mixture of propolis any more than we ourselves need polish timber, fetching and carrying the materials when we have a varnish ready made. The worker's sting, then, may be a tool used for macerating wax by the aid of the secretions upon it, a moistening gum-like secretion being all the while pumped out through the openings in the rear of the barbs by each mus ocular movement of the darts, the palpi of the sing being used as a brush or spreader of the acid secretion--our bees, perhaps, diligently working when we have been crediting them with the idleness of wax-secretion.
I may, however, remark, transform came sugar into dextrose (glucose or grape sugar, and into levulose or fruit sugar; such a ferment is Mycoderna Aceti. Pollen, the nitrogenous fleshformer of bees, requires a different digestive secretion than necessary to convert nectar into grape sugar, but until it be changed it cannot, of course, be assimilated by the bee. If we ourselves have two distinct digestive secretions--the alkaline of the mouth and the gastric of the stomach--we are not going beyond the bounds of reason in ascribing a similar arrangement to the bee's salivary secreting organs nor in attributing to the sting, the barbs, the palpi, and the poison other and truer uses than those usually attributed to them in the grand scheme of economy, the great and glorious Harmony of Nature.
**Hard Luck -Questions Regarding Size of Bees, Etc.**
**Editor of the Bee-Keepers' Magazine**:
Enclosed find fifty cents for MAGAZINE for another year including this month, October. You ask how we are getting along. Well, if two yeasts of entire failure ought not to knock out a beginner who has read, in what he supposed was honest bee books and magazines, how men have made $200 and $300 out of a half a dozen sceps of bees in one season, then I don't know anything, besides having a big scare about foul brood. In short, I went into winter quarters with sixteen came out with eleven, had six swarms and three from dividing, and now will go in with twenty, some of which I am feeding, so as to give them enough for winter. My surplus honey was about twenty pounds, and I expended $25. In regard to foul brood the matter is a little strange, there was none here known, but last spring a year, a party who had a few bees, sent to your State for a queen, put her into a strange swarm, and by fall all were dead. I had one swarm separated from the rest of my bees, a good strong swarm, and on 4th of July divided them, and the brood then in, never came out, and by fall both were dead. This spring a neighbor found his three swarms were diseased and he destroyed them. His father lost four of his ; the gentleman from whom I bought my stock (living in town) lost his entire apiary. I lived a swarm in the hive in which I lost one of mine without cleansing it, and have a good swarm now, without sign of disease.
I had the luck to get an unimpregnated queen for a tested one from a neighboring apiary, where they made a specialty of raising queens and furnishing supplies, and before I knew it, I had a hive full of drones and very few workers left, but remedied it by changing the queen and getting a swarm from the woods which I put with the remainder. I intend to pack my bees on summer stands and try it again, give us in your next the style of hive you like best, that is not simply saying 2000 cubic inches, but highth, width, and length. Also I would like to know how many frames it is necessary for a strong swarm to breed on during the summer or honey season. Supposing I wish to use an extractor, how would I arrange my frames, or if I wished to put surplus boxes in brood chamber, how many of the ten racks must I leave in to breed on, etc? I read these things in your book but not as plain as I like them. I have two sized hives. My old bees are in simply square boxes 18x12x12, eight frames, with surplus boxes to set on top, holding one tier of one pound sections. I am changing them to hives 18x10x12 high 14x12 wide, ten frames, which is the most profitable? Hopping we may
## 11 The BEE-KeeperS MAGAZINE
All get enough honey to eat next year,
I am Respectfully yours,
W. D. Melick.
[We like a frame 10 inches high and
15 inches wide. In summer use 8 to
10 such frames in the brood nest. For
extracting use two stories, placing the empty frames below. If you put on
boxes for comb honey, either place
them in a rack over, say 5 or 6 brood
frames, or else on the sides, in box-
in borkages, or in wide frames.
We should think the 18x10y2x14y2 to be the best form. We echo your
hopes for next year. - Ed.
hopes above their centers and give them
hopes, or in wide frames.
We can also think the 18x10y2x14y2 to be the best form. We echo your
boxes for comb honey, either place
them in a rack over, say 5 or 6 brood
hopes for comb honey, either place
hopes for next year. - Ed.
[We like a frame 10 inches high and
hopes for each of the or cuttings and plant in low land. This will bring the earliest pollen, which is the most useful. The bark will crack late in the fall and furnish a harvest of honey after frost has killed all flowers. Also plant a few soft and hard mangles and tap lightly in two or three places early in the spring. These trees should be near the house, as many bees are chilled and lost in rambling for early sweets.
Be sure and spare all the bass wood on your farm and plant a few more in old pastures for shade. Plant catnip, the more the better, near the apiary. This is fine for young bees. Spare all the golden rod, when moving the fence corners, also all asters. The bees will tell you what they are when in bloom if you do not recognize your friends. Sow a patch of buckwheat. Last, but not least, procure a supply of Simpson's honey plant seed from some reliable apiarist or seedscan. It can be sown in hot-beds and transplanted the same as cabbage; or sow in open ground. It will grow anywhere, in fence corners or waste ground, in shade or in cultivated fields if planted 2% feet apart.
The honey plant can be sown in the woods pasture and is a certain grower, whether cultivated or not. This is by far the best honey plant of all, giving a steady flow of good honey from the middle of July until killed by frost. The honey accumulates in the cup-shaped flowers, and if all removed will almost immediately fill up again, thus affording an inexhaustible supply faster than the busy workers can remove and store it. I have noticed no disease in my apiary since I have raised this plant. * It is not a noxious weed, but is easily exterminated.
Brother apiarist, I can imagine no lovelier scroll than through mv woods in August and September. The honey plants are in full bloom and the beautiful Italians make the woods musical from daylight until dark. I will not speak of the merits of the different varieties of clover, as they will of necessity be sown and help to round out a full season for the most industrious of God's creatures. --_Ex._
Regular Price with Prec. Magazines.
The Poultry Keeper, $.50 $.85
The Practical Farmer, $.20 $.75
Agricultural, $.10 $.25
Prairie Farmer, $.150 $.65
American Agricultural, $.150 $.65
Scientific American, $.30 $.05
Century Magazines, $.40 $.00
The Independent, $.30 $.00
American Horticultural, $.10 $.25
Culture, $.50 $.80
Orchard and Garden, $.50 $.85
Ben-Keepers,".100 $.25
subscribers) $.125 $.45
The Western Rural $.50 $.75
Harpers' Monthly $.40 $.75
" Weekly $.40 $.3.90
" Hazard $.40 $.30
" Young People $.20 $.25
St. Nicholas, $.325
(weekly) $.30 $.85
(monthly), $.20 $.00
Planet's Guide, without
premium $.50 $.75
A man who has practiced medicine for 40 years, ought to know salt from sugar; read what he says :
Toledo, O., Jan. 10, 1887.
Messrs, F. J., Cheney & Co.- Gentlemen :
I have been in the general practice of medicine for most 40 years, and would say that in all my practice and experience, have never seen a preparation that 1 could prescribe with as much confidence of success as I can Hall's Catarrle, manufactured by you. Have prescribed it a great many times and its effect is wonderful, and would say in conclusion that I have yet to find a case of Catarrle that it would not cure, if they would take it according to directions.
L. I., Gorsuch, M. D. Office, 215 Summit St.
We will give $.900 for any case of Catarrh that can not be cured with Hall's Catarrle. Taken internally.
F. J. Cheney & Co., Props, Toledo, O. $.20 $.
The Homey Market.
who are learners. I give it highly. Many thanks.
We are most closed out of old stock, and have not named price on new goods at this time of year, the market is not settled. When
new stock comes in will give you quotations.
Thuberer, Wiyland & Co.
CHICAGO,
Our honey market is quite active and best
grades of white comb brings 18 cts., and goes
off quickly. Sections weighing over one
Farm and Firesaid; ", "p. g." Farmers" Magazine,
pound sell at 16 to 17 cents. Extracted, 7 to
Poutry Keeper, vol. a." Farm and
9 cts. Our supply is light and the receptions do
not increase. R. A. Burnet,
161 S. Water St., Chicago.
Sept. r, '88.
Demand good for extracted honey, which
brings 5 to 8c. on arrival, according to quality.
Prices of comb honey are nominal and demand
very slow. We are asking 12 to 15e. in the
jobbing way. There is a good demand for
Diversew which brings 20 to 22c. per lb. for
good to best yellow on arrival.
Wanted to Exchange.--
Vouth?s
_Cenfaxion_, 1854, 1 vol. _Pasw_, 1853, 32 Nos.
_Library Magazine_, and 7 Nos.
_Eur_, for one setting 1) Pex West egas. Write first.
BURR FARM, Angelica, Alleganey Co., N. Y.
We have felt called upon to make but few
alterations in the new edition as we considered
it well up with the times, and by all odds the
cheapest, comprehensive work on bee-keeping
in the market. It is no advertising scheme,
'but it is just what its name implies, a _true Text Book_, one to which the apistist may turn for
sound advice at all times, with the telling that
somebody's waves are not being pushed under
his nose. Mr. Frank A. Eaton, of Boston,
Ohio, a queen raised of experience, write as
follows, regarding it :
I have care'ully perused the contents of Bee-Keep-
ers' Text Book, and find it _jump/all_ of course. My
'criticism as to rise was simply the first glance
impression as compared with other bee books, but I
but I find it contains more value than many others.
It is well to remember that Mr. Eaton of first
condemed the book owing to its size, as it is
made to fit into the pocket of an ordinary sack
coat, but we wrote him to read it and then re-
port, which he did as above. What strange
testimony could there be of its true value. We
could write a book as big as a dictionary with
out giving more solid facts than are contained
in the Text Book. What bee-keepers need is
_twheat_ not _cabf_.
Rev. E. S. Grover, an experienced apiarist,
bought a copy a copy and wrote us the following unsolicited tensionomial,
PREMOND, S. C., Feb. 14, 1888.
Sth--I have received the " Bee-Keepers' Text Book" and am well pleased with it. Indeed it is a
Every farmer and bee-keeper should have ir, jsh,
1,000 just out. Wholly revised and much enlarged. It
is both practical and scientific, and contains the very latest.
A. J. Cook, Agricultural College, Mich.
**Meation this Megatino when answering advertisman.***
# Bee-keeping
. By..
**By J. E. HAND**
_Birmingham, Ohio_
PUBLISHED BY
THE A. I. ROOT CO.
MEDINA, OHIO
In view of the many excellent works covering the rudimentary principles of apiculture, it would seem that one should offer an apology for introducing another; and were it not for the fact that this work opens up an unexploited field of American agricultural methods and appliances it would not have been written. I assume that the reader possesses a fair knowledge, either theoretical or practical, of the first principles of beekeeping. As its title implies, this work is a radical departure from the stereotyped style of former works upon subjects pertaining to bee-keeping. It seeks to lift bee-keepers out of the old ruts and place their feet on smooth ground by introducing principles that eliminate all unnecessary manipulation with bees. It reduces the complex methods of honey-production to a very simple science with few manipulations, enabling the bee-keeper to care for twice as many colonies as formerly with a given amount of labor, and at the same time makes it possible for him to enjoy the blessing of perfect control of bees.
From the dollar-and-cent side of bee-keeping, this work will be of inestimable value to the specialist who numbers his colonies by the hundred, and who recognizes the importance of a sure method of controlling bees by short-cut labor-saving methods. It is equally valuable to those who wish to keep bees in connection with some other occupation, and do not have the time to care for them by the laborious methods of the past. It especially appeals to the beginner with a few colonies whose success will, in a great measure, depend upon the methods he adopts at the beginning; for a good start is a long leap toward winning the race.
A careful reading of this book, it is hoped, will enable any one of average intelligence, with a fair knowledge of the rudimentary principles of bee-keeping, to produce paying crops of honey from the start, and have his bees under perfect control all the time. It will tell the industrious farmer how to utilize the nectar that is going to waste upon his fertile soil, and turn it to his own account in securing paying crops of honey without materially interfering with his more arduousd duties of legitimate farming, and without the loss of swarms that may mean the loss of the honey crop.
Perhaps a word here as to how I came to work out this system may be in order. In 1882 I came into possession of a copy of "Quinby's Bee-Keeping Explained," and it was from this book that he received information that opened his eyes to the wonderful possibilities along the line of controlling bees by shifting them from one hive to another through their un-erring instinct to return to the exact spot of their former home. This trait has been of inestimable value to him throughout his bee-keeping experience, for, indeed, it forms the basic principle of his latest invention for controlling bees.
In other words, Moses Quinby, more than half a century ago, laid the foundation upon which, the author believes, must be built every system for the perfect control of bees with a minimum of labor. It is true the information was somewhat meager and the method crude, for Quinby's book was published in 1853, and it required some invention, as well as a thorough knowledge of the habits and instinct of bees, to develop the principle in such a way as to minimize labor in the perfect control of bees.
For a number of years I have practiced the Quinby system of shifting bees from one hive to another by removing a colony and putting a new hive in its place, thus compelling the bees, through their instinct, to hive themselves. Later on the author developed a system of swarm control in the production of comb honey with sectional hives. During the development of this system, however, which was described and illustrated in Gleanings in Bee Culture in 1907, he came into possession of a colony of bees in a Mitchell hive in 1895. This hive being 15 inches wide by 24 long, the colony was limited to about two-thirds of the space by a division-board running crosswise of the hive. The colony being on the verge of swarming I conceived and executed a plan by which the event was forestalled by shifting bees over into the vacant side by means of a pivoted switch lever underneath the division-board. The space into which they were shifted being contracted, forced the bees into the sections at once.
Contraction and expansion being the fad at that time, and having not yet arrived at the ripe experience that would enable me to recognize the wonderful possibilities of such a system when fully developed, it was unwisely laid upon the shelf in favor of the sectional-hive system. I soon discovered, how ever, that, while my present system was a partial success, it involved an almost endless manipulation of hives and brood chambers, as well as constant watchfulness, rendering the system prohibitive in out-apiaries. No sooner had I arrived at a full realization of the shortcomings of the old system than I began to cast about to discover some new principle that would control bees, and at the same time minimize labor, and my mind naturally reverted to the Quinby suggestion.
The new old idea struck me with wondrous force; for now, by years of experience and observation, I saw at a glance its wonderful possibilities along the line of controlling bees and minimizing labor, having now become fully qualified to develop the new system, which I did in 1909-10. Whatever of value may be found in the principles it introduces is the result of a close study of the habits of bees as well as of a faithful observance of the laws by which they may be so easily controlled, coupled with a careful digest of much that has been written by my predecessors along the line of solving the intricate problems of successful apiculture.
J. E. HAND.
June, 1911.
## Higher prices for money vs. economical methods of production; a common-sense view of the matter.
During the present high prices of food products it has been a source of conjecture among bee-keepers as to why the price of honey has not advanced in proportion to that of other like commodities, and considerable space in the columns of be-journals has been devoted to the discussion of ways and means to put up the price of honey a cent or two per pound. Vain hopes, fruitless endeavors are these, since honey is a luxury that people can do without; and if the price is high they will do without it. If we raise the price we decrease its consumption, and are brought face to face with its attendant evil--overproduction. Let us begin at the right end of the problem to solve it. It is not higher prices for honey that is needed so much as more modern methods of production--methods that, by their power to economize labor, will cut the cost of production in two. The truth is, bee-keeping as a pursuit has not kept pace with other lines of industry, and we are compelled to acknowledge the humiliating fact that we are still practicing primitive and laborious methods that, during the past quarter-century, have consumed the lion's share of the bee-keeper's time without rendering its equivalent in hard cash. The word "manipulation" that is so often used in connection with bee-keeping methods is but another name for labor. It is safe to assume that three-fourths of the time spent in manipulation by the average bee-keeper could be put to better use by keeping more bees and adopting short-cut labor-saving methods.
The inclination of bee-keeping toward specialization calls for labor-saving methods. The idea that we can materially increase our profits by bestowing a great amount of labor upon a few colonies is an exploded theory, since manipulation in excess of what is necessary in order to keep a colony in a normal condition is a waste of time, and in many respects an actual hindrance to the bees. The experienced apiarist can diagnose correctly the condition of a colony by a glance at the entrance; and merely raising the cover will verify his suspicions without removing a frame.
## 6 Bee-keeping by Twentieth Century Methods.
### Swarming.
It is not within the province of this work to enter into a lengthy discussion of the complex causes that lead to swarming. Suffice it to say that swarming is the fulfillment of a natural impulse of bees resulting from a condition of numerical strength and general prosperity of a colony. Swarming, although it is nature's plan for the perpetuation of the existence of bees, is nevertheless the greatest obstacle in the pathway of successful comb honey on a large scale in out-apiaries. Natural swarming, with its disappointing results and vexatious losses, can no longer be tolerated by the up-to-date bee-keeper. The day is past when we can afford to watch and wait day after day for the issuing of swarms, not to mention the difficulties of living them, often dislodging them from almost inaccessible positions, perhaps in the tallest tree in the yard; and if, perchance, two or three swarms are out at the same time, as frequently happens in a large apiary, there is sure to be a mixup, and the bee-keeper has lost control of his bees. Clipping the wings of the queen, while it prevents the absconding of the swarm, is often productive of disappointing results, since the swarm failing to find its queen in the air becomes panic stricken, and it often requires the utmost skill of the bee-keeper to prevent them drifting into other hives to which they may be attracted by an unusual commotion, as of a recently hived swarm. Nor are these anxieties abated by the use of queen-traps, since their advent introduces complications along new lines; therefore, how to control the swarming impulse of bees with a minimum of labor is the desideratum of modern bee-keeping methods. It is a fact well known that the conditions that are favorable for successful comb-honey production are likewise productive of swarming; the result is, that, while there is an almost unlimited demand for fancy comb honey at a fancy price, the inclination of bee-keepers to seek the line of least resistance, encouraged by the oft-repeated exhortation to keep more bees and produce extracted honey, has caused a general stampede toward the ranks of extracted-honey producers, thereby glutting the market with that product to the neglect of the betterproduct, comb honey, the future of which never looked brighter than now. The bee-keeper who is wise enough to stay in the ranks of comb-honey producers will find a ready market for his product at his own price and at his own door. Modern methods of controlling bees enable the bee-keeper to produce comb honey cheaper than extracted. Add to this the fact that three consumers will prefer comb honey out of every five, and it should not be a difficult matter to arrive at a correct solution of the market problem.
While in times past the inability of bee-keepers to control the swarming impulse of bees with economy of labor was a
barrier to the production of comb honey on a large scale in out-apiaries, that barrier no longer exists; and it is now the privilege of all to produce comb honey in out-apiaries with no more trouble from swarming, and with much less expense for equipment, than in the production of extracted honey. From this point of view it is easy to see that the wise bee-keeper will produce both comb and extracted honey. Such a policy will have a tendency to equalize the market between the two
## 8 Bee-keeping by Twentieth Century Methods.
principal products of the apiary, and relieve the strain of over-production on extracted that has already begun to loom up.
SWARM CONTROL VS. PERFECT CONTROL OF BEES: A DEFINITION OF TERMS.
In order to have a correct impression concerning a method or system that is being described, it is very important that we have a correct understanding of the terms that are used to designate them. The terms "swarm prevention," "swarm control," and "the perfect control of bees," while having separate and distinct meanings are nevertheless so closely related as to be scarcely distinguishable by the average bee-keeper.
SWARM PREVENTION.
While many have laid claim to successful swarm prevention, such claims have not been sustained. I do not wish to go on record as saying that swarming can not be prevented. The idea that I wish to convey is that, in order to accomplish it, the colony is usually thrown so far from a normal condition as to render it practically unproductive during an ordinary honey-flow. Therefore it is evident that it is neither practical nor profitable, as a rule, to attempt to prevent swarming.
SWARM CONTROL.