BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
The difficulty of taking the required number of grains for the amount of sugar to be used may be overcome by the contents of the packet (sufficient to mediate 145 lbs. of sugar) being put into a small long bottle along with the necessary spirit, then pasting a slip of paper on the side of the bottle as high as the top of the solution. It would then be a very simple matter to divide the paper proportionately to the amount of food to be predicated at a time. This any chemist would do when putting into the bottle the small amount of spirit needed.
_Naphthaline_ is used in conjunction with Naphthol Beta, though not in syrup. It is to be obtained in balls about the size of marbles, two being split and dropped to the bottom of the hive as a dose. The fumes circulate through the hive and destroy the bacilli. As a precaution against the introduction of the disease Naphthalene and Naphthol Beta should be used in every apiary.
**ENEMIES OF BES**.
Bees, like other creatures, have enemies to contend with. Among birds, the most persistent in carrying off bees is the blue-tit, which may be seen to fly down to the apiary and carry off bee after bee. It is surprising what a number of bees a single pair of these birds will take in a very short time. Means should, therefore, be resorted to in order to keep down these birds near the apiary.
_The wax moth_, which effects an entrance more particularly into weak lives, lays its eggs on the coinds or in the _debris_. From these eggs issue grubs, which burrow in the coubs and consume the wax until they build their ceooons, from which again issue moths. If allowed to gain headway the ravages of the grub will soon destroy a colony. By keeping stocks strong we are more likely to keep out the wax moth, because the bees on guard drive it away. On the quilts should be laid pieces of naphthalene, which will keep away moths and other insects. During the spring and autumn examinations, all _debris_ should be removed, and the coubs searched for grubs or ceooons.
_Wasps_ in some apiaries do much harm, but as they generally direct their attention to weak stocks, which they effectually clear out, the oft-repeated advice, "Keep all stocks strong," is applicable to this case. Narrow entrances will enable moderately strong colonies to more effectually guard their home from these persistent robbers. Now and again wasps may be seen to seize heavily-laden bees that fall short of the alighting board, and frequently they sever the abdomen from the thorax, and fly away with the former, which contains the honey-sac. " Prevention is better than care," and in order to limit the production of wasps, queens seen in the early spring should be killed, otherwise they will be the means of bringing into existence multitudes of wasps. They have undoubtedly their place in the economy of nature, but bee-keepers cannot afford to look on complacently while the enemies of the bees are multiplying at such a rate as to endanger the existence of all but the strongest stocks.
_Ants' nests_ are sometimes found near hives, and if they are the ants become a great nuisance. To prevent their getting into the hive, the legs should stand in small pans of water, or be daubed with something objectionable to the ants, and over which, therefore, they will not pass.
_Mice_ are partial to both wax and honey, and they may be found not only among old combs, but also in hives tenanted with bees. By keeping an entrance only a inch in depth, mice will be kept on the right side of the hive.
## Chapter 22. _Integrin_.
How to winter bees successfully is a problem apparently difficult to solve, when we consider the losses that are recorded in the spring, and the complaints made of slow progress made by so many colonies early in the year. That successful wintering depends upon the manner in which bees are prepared for their long season of inactivity, no one will deny. Still it is astounding that, having a desire for profit, beekeepers will be so negletful of their bees just at the very time when attention, with a view to ultimate success, is really needed.
By observing the progress of work around us we see most unmistakably that there cannot well be a period of real inactivity in any branch of industry. The farmer, for instance, immediately one harvest is over commences preparations for the next, and how frequently do we notice that he who is well ahead with his work achieves the greatest success! With bee-keeping, though the amount of work that must be bestowed upon the hobby is exceedingly small, yet it is of vast importance that what ought to be doneshould be done well and at the right time. In fact we may take it as a rule that at the close of one honeycomb, or the last of the season, preparations should be made for the following year.
The requirements for successful wintering are, briefly : a young queen, a large quantity of young worker bees, ample sealed stores to last the stock well into the spring, quilts, the upper ones of woollen material, and ventilation without draught.
It was years ago remarked by an able bee-master, the late W. Raitt, that the best packing for bees was bees, and of course this truism will be generally admitted. The stronger the stock is in bees, the better is the prospect of its wintering well, and making a good start the following spring. A well-stocked live will show a much larger amount of brood than one containing only a moderate quantity of bees, for, in the latter case, there is not a temperature sufficiently high to warrant any great extension of the brood-nest.
Bees are thought by many to be in a state of hybernation during the winter. This is not exactly so, for, though bees should be inactive during the winter, and they do well if the temperature does not fall below 45deg, they are quickly roused to activity, and may leave the hive for a eleansing flight when the temperature rises to 50deg or over. While the bees are in a quiescent state there will be no wasting of energy ; hence the necessity for a style of hive with arrangements which to the greatest possible extent prevent the cluster being affected by outside changes of temperature. Of the quality of the queen enough has already been said to show the necessity for each stock being headed by one not more than two years of age.
The Sorees.
To prevent unnecessary activity during the winter, we must ensure that the food upon which the bees are to exist is not only of good quality but sealed. Stocks in skeps should weigh at least 25 lbs., or 20 lbs. if the combs are new ; but it is best not to limit a stock to the exact amount of food that will be required to carry it safely through the winter. Twelve to fifteen pounds, according to the strength of the colony, will suffice for this, but the latter would serve better as the minimum amount of stores.
As stores are drawn upon largely by a weak stock when a low temperature prevails, it is good policy to unite weak stocks in the autumn, and thus ensure a higher temperature being maintained, without a continual consumption of the stores. A colony properly prepared for winter will seldom consume on an average more than 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) oz. of food per day until breeding commences, when the amount is at once considerably increased.
Stocks in bar-frame hives should be much larger than those in skeps, and a larger amount of stores must be allowed. The minimum weight should be 20 lbs., and this may be calculated without difficulty by considering an evenly filled standard frame to contain 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) to 5 lbs. Four or five frames would thus supply all the food needed, but a good stock will well cover six to eight frames. Though it is advisable to allow not less than 20 lbs. of stores, they must be judiciously distributed. If full coubs are left on the outside, the food may candy when cold weather compels the bees to cluster in the middle of the hive. Another reason for carefully distributing the food is that empty cells are preferable to slabs of honey for the bees to cluster upon, provided that above the cluster food is within reach. The best arrangement is to allow the centre frames to be about half filled with sealed stores, while the remaining frames on either side contain in increasing proportion the remaining quantity of food allowed.
## Winter Passages.
When stocks are wintered in thin single-walled hives, it may occasionally be noticed, more particularly than in double-walled hives, that the spring examination brings to light seams of dead bees--bees that have perished from want, though in other frames ample stores still remain. The cause is not far to seek. Having consumed the food above them, the bees must travel round or under the frames to reach further supplies. This they cannot do during very severe weather, for as soon as they leave the cluster with this object, they are numbed by the cold and die. Consequently the whole cluster or clusters die. To prevent this loss passages over the tops of the frames must be provided.
A very simple contrivance, the " Hill Device," placed upon the frames raises the quilts and allows the bees to travel to all parts of the hive over the top bars of the frames. Three or four pieces of wood, \(\frac{1}{2}\) inch square, laid across the top bars, \(\frac{1}{2}\) inch apart, before putting on the quilts, will be equally effective in providing passages from comb to comb.
QULTs.
The first of the quilts or cloths that are placed above the frames should be of good stout calico, or, better still, ticking, which the bees will not quiekly bite through. The others should be of some woolly material, such as felt or carpet. The number required will depend upon the thickness and non-conductivity of the material. There should be sufficient covering to ensure the heat of the cluster being preserved. In the place of the upper quilts, trays filled with chaff, or chaff-cushions, may be given.
_Impervious_ quilts of American oilcloth, smooth side downwards, are used in many apiaries in place of the first quilt. They are clean, and prevent the escape of moisture from the brood-nest. No objection can be raised to their use on strong stocks, if other quilts or chaff-cushions are given above. During the spring such a quilt may be a distinct advantage, as a moist atmosphere is needed during the breeding season, and also when a dummy feeder, filled with Porto Rico sugar, is placed at the side of the brood-nest.
_Ventilation_ without draught is needed for successful wintering, and may be provided, after the quilts, &c., have been given, by allowing an entrance of about 6 inches in width, until breeding commences and
_Driving, Transferring, Uniting._
Ar the close of the season a plan very generally pursued by cottagers in taking their honey, is to select those stocks by weight which are to be " taken up." At the end of the day each marked hive is lifted off its stand and placed over a hole dug in the ground, in which a piece of sulphur is burning in a cleft stick. In a few minutes the busy workers are stifled, some falling to the bottom of the pit, others dying in the combs, where many remain during the whole process of slicing and draining and the making of mead. No wonder that the fluid, resulting from such a method of procedure, should fail to find ready purchasers. Happily, this distasteful system is giving way gradually to more satisfactory methods of taking the honey in its purest form, without destroying the bees, which latter prove of great service if properly disposed of. First, they may be united to weak stocks, and thus ensure their passing sately through the winter, as the greater the number of bees, the less the consumption of stores for the purpose of keeping up the normaltemperature of the hive ; or they may be united, two or three lots together, to start a new colony.
If it is decided to remove the bees from a condemned stock, that is, one marked for taking up, and utilise them in one or other of the ways mentioned above, we must proceed on a fine evening to the stock, drive a puff of smoke into the entrance, and then, in a minute or two, move the hive bodily to another part of the garden away from the hives, so that the operation may be conducted without disturbance from other bees. Before the hive is moved throw over it a piece of canvas, and on the stand place an empty sleep to keep the flying bees from entering adjoining stocks.
On returning to the full stock remove the canvas and drive down the bees among the combs by a slight puff of smoke, while an empty shep is placed above the full stock. Now tie round the junction of the two hives a cloth to prevent the escape of bees. This preparation is for what is termed close driving, and will be adopted by timid bee-keepers, or when a sight of the queens is not necessary, and there is a fear of robbing. The empty hive must be of the same size, with regard to its diameter, as the stock hive, in order to facilitate the escape of bees from the lower to the upper hive. The bees will at once commence to aseend if the combs below are jarred by gently heating the sides of the stock hive with a stick, or with the palms of the hands. In a few minutes all the bees will have left the stock, and will be found clustering in the shep above.
_Open driving_ is a more interesting operation, and should be practised, when the presence of the queen among the bees driven must be noted. When placing the empty skep above the stock hive, driving irons (Fig. 53) are used to fix it at an angle of 45\({}^{\circ}\) or more to the latter. The junction of the two hives should be at a point to which the combs run, so that the bees may leave their hive without the labour of climbing over the combs. The driving irons are fixed one on each side, and the ends are driven lower into the side of the stock hive, and the upper into the side of the empty hive, a skewer being used to hold the hives together at the junction.
When the hives are thus fixed the jarring of the combs will take place as for close driving ; but gently at first, or many bees will leave the combs, and, flying about, become a source of annoyance to the operator. A few bees flying about will do no harm, unless they are robbers from other stocks in search of exposed sweets. If there is a danger of robbing, the entrances to other stocks should be closed before driving operations commence, in such a manner that the bees are not harmed by the confinement.
After a few strokes on the side of the stock hive, the bees will commence to run along the combs towards the junction of the hives, and there enter the upper one. They may move in great numbers when once started, and, if so, must be prevented by cloths from congregating at the back of the hive. Moving the cluster with the finger, and giving a slight puff of smoke to those congregating at the junction of the hives, will hurry them up into the empty one. A sharp look-out must be kept for the queen, in order that she may be removed, if the bees are only required for uniting to other stocks. In case no queen of two or three lots is of particular merit, the bees may be allowed to settle the question as to which shall remain at the head of the united colony.
Open driving is adopted in the making of artificial swarms, a proceeding not recommended, unless increase of stocks is desired ; but even then it is a risky operation in the hands of the novice, who had better trust to natural swarming for increase of stocks. Artificial swarms never work with the same vigour as those that issue naturally.
In making an artificial swarm care must be taken to imitate nature as far as possible, and see that sufficient bees are left in the hive to attend to the brood-nest, and keep up a temperature that will prevent the brood being chilled. Unlike a natural swarm which may be placed in any new position, an artificial swarm must be placed on the stand occupied by the stock, which may be moved to another part of the garden.
Presuming that the operation is performed in the middle of the day, account must be taken of the flying bees, that is, those flying to and from the fields, in estimating the quantity to be driven out of the stock, for all those not in the hive will, of course, join the swarm on returning home.
_Bumping_ is an expeditious method of taking the combs from the skep while the bees are in, but it is a method that should only be resorted to when the hive contains old combs ; or, if the combs are new, the hive should only be bumped in cool weather, when the honey will be stiff and the combs rather brittle. Bumping should certainly never be attempted in warm weather, or when much thin or unsealed honey is in the combs. The bees are first intimidated by smoke, and directly afterwards the skep is turned mouth upwards. It is then taken hold of by the hands in such a manner that the combs run from hand to hand or side to side, and gradually turned away from the operator. If it is then set down or bumped sharply on the lower edge of the bottom of the skep, the shock will be sufficient to break the combs away from the hive sides, and cause them to fall, by their own weight, one upon the other on the far side of the hive. The combs are then taken out one at a time by letting them rest on the palm of the hand, and the bees are brushed back into the skep or into an empty hive standing close by. The whole operation should not last more than a minute, and then the hive containing the bees may be returned to its former position till the bees have cleared up the dripping honey. With care small supers may be bumped to empty them of their surplus after they have been cleared of bees.
_Transferring_ is an operation usually understood to refer to the removal of bees and combs from a straw skep to a movable-comb hive ; but to use a common expression, it is " a game not worth the candle." As a rule the skep will contain few combs of a size to fit into the frame from top to bottom, and if not, piecesas regular as possible must be cut out of the best combs and arranged to fit the frames. It will seldom occur that more than two, or at the most three, frames can be filled by the cutting up and fitting of the combs in the skep. Again, one lot of bees in a straw skep to start a bar-frame hive is ridiculous. Two or three lots making a weight of 4 or 5 lbs. would produce a lot likely with proper attention to be converted into a good colony for the spring, particularly if new combs or full sheets of foundation are given. It is much more satisfactory to proceed in the manner indicated, and do away with the old combs, cutting out all worker comb containing brood. These pieces of comb, joined together by a skewer or two, a space of half an inch being left between them, should be placed over the feed-hole of any hive, and securely covered first with a small wooden box, and above that with quilts. The bees will hatch out the brood, and thus no great loss of bees will acerue.
_Uniting_ has been referred to as a means of strengthening stocks in the autumn, and thus ensuring more satisfactory wintering ; or, in the spring, to ensure rapid progress and hence more surplus. This will, of course, also be the natural result of uniting in the autumn, for the increased strength of the colony will, by assisting to winter a colony successfully, also be a means towards obtaining a good working population at the commencement of the honey-flow.
Bees of different colonies, having an odour peculiar to their respective lots, have a natural antipathy one to the other, and though a comb taken out of a stock without disturbing the bees during the honey-flow,may without detriment be placed directly into the midst of another colony, no uniting of bees on combs or bees alone with other bees on combs should take place without steps being taken to deprive the bees of the inclination to fight. By sprinkling both lots with thin syrup seated with peppermit, their peculiar stent is destroyed and they unite peaceably. Uniting usually takes place at a time of the year when bees are prone to rob, and the least use of syrup is almost certain to cause bees that are on the alert to start robbing.
It is often said that there is nothing new under the sun, and when, a few years ago, uniting by the aid of flour was advised, it was quickly stated to be an old method revived. It is, nevertheless, though only recently brought into favour, a more satisfactory means of uniting than is sprinkling the bees with scented syrup, as no inducement to robbing is made. By gently sprinkling both lots with flour from a dredger, uniting becomes easy, and no one who has tried this method will ever think of again resorting to the use of scented syrup. Flour being a substitute for natural pollen, there is a danger of overloading the combs, hence the necessity for a thin but at the same time effective sprinkling.
## Chapter Xvii
"What is the use of keeping bees if we cannot sell our honey?" is a remark made only by those who lack that amount of energy and business ability necessary to achieve success in any undertaking. Honey, though one of the most delicious of foods, and of great nutritive value, is rarely found in the houses of those who can well afford to purchase what to many is a real luxury. Honey should not be considered a luxury, but a necessary food, and as such it should appear on the table of every householder in the land. It is the work of the bee-keeper to create a demand for that which it is his especial aim to produce.
Low prices are complained of by some bee-keepers, but to a very great extent they have only themselves to blame. The bulk of the honey, being produced nearly at the same time throughout the country, is no sooner obtained than it is put upon the market. No wonder, considering this glut, that the price falls. The great importation of foreign and colonial honey does to some extent affect the price of home produce. Still, as none, unless it is that which comes from New Zealandland, can compare with English clover honey, beekeepers have only to adopt the most improved methods of production to increase the amount of surplus per hive. And, if of excellent quality, it must realise a sum per colony which will leave no doubt as to the profitableness of bee-keeping.
From one class of bee-keepers, and they are the most successful in a large as well as a small way, complaints are seldom heard, and the reason is not far to seek. They work up a good local retail trade, and thus dispose of the bulk of their surplus near home, at very remunerative prices. A more general complaint from such bee-keepers is of their inability to supply the demand when their produce has become known and appreciated.
If bee-keepers cannot, or do not feel disposed to, create their own retail trade, they had better offer their surplus first to other bee-keepers who have this means of disposing of their produce, and failing a sale in that direction, they might apply to wholesale dealers, but from them only a moderate price can be expected except for honeys of the finest brand. Very much depends upon the time of putting the surplus upon the market, the first gathered honey being the most likely to realise the best price. And, it may be, an equally good price will be forthcoming for that which has been properly stored to meet a demand when the supply is scarce.
Bee-keepers' Associations are recognising slowly, led by the example of the Berkshire Association, the necessity for extending a helping hand to their members in the sale of their produce. Years ago I advocated this course, but without effect, and it is gratifying to find that the only Association which has really made strenuous efforts to assist members in the sale of their produce has been remarkably successful. In Ireland the Irish Bee-keepers' Association has, on a larger scale, and by means of central depots, disposed annually of a very large amount of honey sent in by its members.