BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
After the nuclei are united, the combs must be taken care of to prevent their being destroyed by the wax worm. If the combs are allowed to freeze a few times, they are free from that pest until spring, or if they can be kept in a cool place during the winter they are safe. Do not, however, store them in a warm place such as a basement or attie without first fumigating them. A good way to fumigate is to put them into a close room and burn sulphur. This must be done several times, as the sulphur does not seem to destroy the eggs of the moth. Bisulphide of carbon is more effective, but it is very explosive and is dangerous to use in a room. A good method to employ in using it is to stack the hive bodies up outside, putting a thin super cover on both the top and the bottom of the pile. The top hive body should be empty to make room for a dish of bisulphide of carbon. Pour half a pint into the dish and let it remain till it evaporates. This will kill all wax worms. To make doubly certain, another application should be made in two weeks, and then the combs will probably be safe. It is a good plan to examine the combs at times to be sure that no wax worms are present, for it is rather depressing to one's spirits to lift off a hive body in the spring and find everything a mass of webs and all combs destroyed.
Comb made from Alice foundation drawn above an exebd
**SUPPLEMENTARY TOPICS**.
CHAPTER XNX.
**Queen-Rearing for the Honey Producer.**
Although I have now described the method of queen-rearing as practised in a commercial way, the primary object of this book is to help the honey producer in rearing his own queens, for if a bekeeper expects to get the most out of his bees he must surely look after then.carefully. Let us now adapt parts of the queen-rearing methods just described to the special use of the honey producer and recommend such changes as will best suit his needs. Let us consider that you are a honey producer operating two hundred colonies and upward. How far will the methods just described apply?
In the first place, I feel certain that the use of the swarm box, dipped cells and the manner of having cells finished above the queen-excluder are the very best for the honey producer to adopt. While a little more patience and study are required for its mastery, it certainly pays handsome returns for your time and labor invested. Many successful honey producers all over the world are using similar methods with the best of success. Many who use the grafting method and rear their own queens have informed me that with them it had simply meant the difference between success and failure. However, after the cells are completed and are ripe, the honey producer may branch off from the methods of the commercial queen-hereder and adopt those best suited to his needs and circumstances.
**Queen-Rearing from Commercial Cell Cups.**
Mr. M. T. Pritehard, queen-hreeder for The \(\Lambda\). I. Root Company, Mellina, Ohio, has probably reared more queens than any other man in the world. He uses the Root wooden cell cups into which are pressed the wax cups. He prefers the wooden bases because, he says, they protect the wax cups before and after they are completed by the bees; because they facilitate handling of the cells with their occupants; and last but not least, because he can easily separate the cells when they are finished by the bees. They enable him also to pick out the choirest and best cells from the cell-starters and give them to the cell-finishers. These wooden cups are mounted on a bar by using a little pinch of wax. Mr. Pritehard prefers the queen-less, broodless method for starting the cells. He chooses larvae twelve hours old and endeavors to get the largest larvae of that age. He says, "the larger the letter." He determines the age by keeping a record of the time the comb is given to the colony having the breeding queen. \(\Lambda\)s soon as there are eggs in the comb it is an easy matter with him to determine the age of the larvae. He prefers larvae slightly curved but not coiled up.
Mr. Priteland says there are times when he finds the cell-protector a great convenience and the wooden cell cup fits the cell-protector better than the dipped cell. Mr. Priteland also believes it better to choose larvae near the center of the sonb, as he considers the ones near the bottom of the sonb not so well suited for grafting. The high quality of the queens turned out by Mr. Priteland is known the world over. \(\Lambda\) number of years ago the author visited Medina while queen-rearing was in full blast and learned a number of valuable features of queen-rearing from Mr. Priteland.
### Requeening.
Some have preferred to introduce the ripe cell to the colony, while some prefer to introduce the laying queen. For the purpose of improving the stock as well as to replace woman out queens I have requeened my entire apiary of several hundred colonies every year, and sometimes when I thought I had discovered a better breeder many were requeened two or three times in the year. I find the use of both methods of introduction, sometimes the cell and sometimes the laying queen, is very profitable. I believe it will pay all honey producers to have on hand a number of nuclei in order to have young queens to draw on when circumstances demand. In the main, however, since learning that it is a matter of _feed_ that causes the bees to accept the queen-cells, I am using the cell method more and more.
The principle or law of the bees that a well-fed colony will not destroy cells should have a far-reaching effect with the honey producers, for we can now give ripe cells directly to strong colonies _immediately upon removing the old queen with almost unfailing certainty that they will be accepted._ We must remember that it is lumpy bees that tear down cells: well-fed ones do not. When bees are humpy, they themselves tear down cells. When they are well felt they pass the task of cell destruction up to the queen. If she wants to swarm, she does not destroy them. If she does not wish to swarm, she attends to the destruction of the cells herself. True, the workers are doing most of the work: but if you catch the queen and remove her, the cell destruction causes like magic if the colony has plenty of food. Therefore, if the colony is well fed and if you remove the queen, the cells are allowed to produce species, and a strange cell will remain untouehed the same as one which the bees themselves rearel.
Therefore, if the honey producer raises a lot of nice large cells well supplied with royal jelly, he can requeen with very little labor and with small loss of cells. I strongly recommend that requeening be done after the honey flow is well along and the swarming season has passed or nearly passed. If colonies are given cells when they are preparing to swarm, they will swarm anyway. They likewise swarm if a laying queen is introduced. I have found that, if a laying queen is introduced to a colony _before_ it has any notion of swarming, it does not swarm that year; but, if preparing to swarm, it swarms with the new queen as readily as with the old one. The same thing occurs with a cell; if the cell is given before the colony has any notion of swarming, that colony is effectually prevented from doing so that season. However, except under unusual conditions, requesting with the cell method before swarming season is not advisable, for the absence of a laying queen at this time seriously affects the honey yield of the colony. In case one waits until the honey flow is well along, the colony may be re-queened with little loss in strength, for the bees that would have been reared at that time would be too late to help in that harvest.
The method of giving the cell, which I have found entirely satisfactory, is to request during a heavy honey flow by simply removing the old queen and putting in a ripe cell. The bees seldom tear this down. However, to do all requesting during such favorable times is not possible. Just as the honey flow closes and the supers are off, you can remove the old queen's in the evening and give the colony a heavy feed. Next morning give it a ripe cell, which the bees invariably accept. We must remember that in nature bees do not have cells except when they are receiving food in abundance, and we must duplicate these conditions if we hope to succeed.
After the cell is given, it is well, in a few days, to look to see if the queen has emerged. This may be determined by the appearance of the cell, 1f it has a small opening at the lower end, you may be sure the virgin is there. If the beekeeper has little time he can wait for ten days, and if eggs are present be may be sure the queen came from the cell given; but if there are other queen-cells started, it indicates that the cell given was destroyed. In such cases the frames should be removed and all bees shaken off in order that every one of these other cells that are started may be destroyed. Queens coming from such cells would usually be inferior. As the colony has been without a queen for some time, it would be better to introduce a laying queen, if you have some on hand, rather than give it another cell, for this would leave it queenless so long that it would become greatly depleted in bees. Furthermore, if the second cell given should be destroyed, the colony would probably run into laying workers and be mined. If you have no laying queen a cell should be given as previously described, feeding heavily as before. However, in this case it would be well to examine it one or two days after the virgin emerged from the cell, and in ease this cell is destroyed give another immediately. We should bear in mind that cells are destroyed in this manner very rarely; but, in order to avoid ruining a colony from queenlessness, it should be carefully watched. However, if the work is properly done few cells will be destroyed.
**Uniting Bees.**
In the previous pages frequent mention has been made of uniting colonies. By far the easiest and safest method is what is known as the "newspaper method." The inventor of this system was Dr. Miller, and it is one of the many splenid things that he has given to beekeepers.
To unite two colonies, place two thicknesses of common newspaper over one colony on the broad-frames, set the other colony that is to be united on top and put on the cover. In a day or two the bees will gnaw away the paper and become acquainted. As they come in contact with each other, a few bees at a time, there is no fighting whatever. The bees in the upper hive body seem to realize that they have been moved, for they mark their new location and do not return to the old one. In very hot weather it is sometimes advisable to punch a hole in the paper with a common lead pencil to prevent suffocation.
### Uniting Laying Worker Colonies.
If one has a colony containing laying workers to which he does not wish to introduce a queen, it can be united with any other colony by the newspaper method and the queen will not be injured in any way. The colonies should not be disturbed for a week or more, after which the workers will cease to lay. When this occurs, the hive body which originally contained the laying workers may be set on the bottom-board of the present stand and the queen left with them, while the other live body containing most of the brood may be moved to a new location and a queen introduced.
### Making Increase.
There are many methods of making increase. If a large increase is desired, one should begin early in the season. For this, a good way is to proceed in the same manner as described in the first part of this book for forming nuclei, but it is better to give the new colony two frames of brood and bees instead of one. If done early in the season and a honey flow follows, a two-frame nucleus should build up into a good, strong colony before winter. If no honey flow is on, they can be built up by feeding sugar syrup. The remainder of the hive is to be filled out with comb or full sheets of foundation. This method should be used only when a large number of colonies are to be made from a few. Where a limited increase is desired the method I have used for a number of years has given such perfect satisfaction that I recommend it in preference to any other.
It is as follows: Take the colony to be divided and set it temporarily to one side. On the stand it has occupied place an empty hive. Take out from the colony one frame of brood with the queen, and place it in the empty hive. Then move the colony from which the queen and frame were taken to a new stand and introduce a queen to it or give it a rip queen-cell, as previously explained. Fill out the hive that remains on the old stand with combs or foundation. The field bees from the colony just moved will return to their old location and build this colony up at a rapid rate. \(\Lambda\) queen is easily introduced to the moved colony, as the old bees that cause the trouble have gone back "home to mother's." Not enough bees will leave the moved colony, however, to injure the unequped brood. If only sheets of foundation are used in the new colony, it is better to give two frames of brood but, if drawn combs are used, one frame is sufficient.
### Mending Damaged Combs.
How often every beekeeper has dreamed of having perfect combs built clear to the bottom-bar, one hundred per cent worker-cells!.All who have such combs please rise. Well, I shall remain seated with the rest. Even when by carefully wired full sheets of foundation we get fairly good combs, in time they get rounded off at the corners and later are drawn out into drone comb. Then nice get in and make holes in the combs. Wax worms do their work, and, as years go by, our combs become more and more filled with drone-cells.
Now, if we take a little pains we can have our combs continually improving and the drone-cells gradually diminishing. It is known that nuclei or weak colonies build worker comb only. Therefore, when we discover a damaged comb, let us put it into a nucleus for repair. If it contains drone comb, cut out the drone-cells, and the bees in the nucleus will build worker comb in its stead.
Then, in order to get the combs built to the bottom-bar, draw the nails in that law so that it will be about \(
rac{3}{4}\) of an inch lower. The bees will build comb to within one-half inch of it, the nails may be driven back into place, thereby bringing the bottom-bar up snugly against the bottom of the comb, and you will have a perfect comb as the result.
If it is desired to nend combs when no honey is coming in, the bees will do excellent work at comb-mending by having their division-board feeder kept filled with sugar syrup or honey. Now it is unnecessary to have regular nucleus lives to nend combs, but any weak colony will do it if only two or three combs are given them at one time.
It is the usual rule, where combs are untilated or imperfect, to cut them out, melt them up and convert into wax. This, of course, involves work and expense for foundation and perhaps new frames. Where frames are good and combs, except for holes ( for all drone comb should be cut out), are otherwise good they can be required by the bees in the manner just described and save expense.
**REQUENING COLOINS ABOUT TO SWARM.**
## Chapter Xxxii.
What is said about giving a cell to a colony preparing to swarm holds good in introducing a laying queen; that is, if a queen is introduced to a colony that is in the swarming notion, it will swarm just the same, the newly introduced queen going out with the bees. It is generally conceded that a colony headed by a young queen, one reared the current year, will not swarm.
Now, many amateurs, and some experienced beekeepers, too, have sought to cure the swarming fever by introducing a young queen. Failure is usually the result. \(\Lambda\) beennan, more progressive than his neighbor beekeeper, in order to get ahead of him, bought a queen from a breeder some distance away. He was very proud of the queen and rubbed it in on his neighbor, telling him he could not buy this queen for \(\$10\). It so happened that he introduced her to a colony preparing to swarm. He stopped his beekeeping neighbor and led him out to the hive to show him his fine new yellow queen. Before they got there, they met a large swarm of bees going to parts unknown. When they looked into the hive, there were a lot of queen-cells and a few bees! A swarm and that new queen had taken to the woods. It was now his neighbor's turn. He said, "Say, I can now buy that queen for ten dollars, can't I?"
However, if a young laying queen is introduced to a colony before the colony has the swarming notion, my experience is that when the colony is run for comb honey it will very rarely swarm that season, and when run for extracted honey I have never had one swarm when requenced in this manner.
**Hive Body Used as Nucleus.**
A very popular method of requesting under certain circumstances is by using one of the brood-chambers where colonies are run two stories high. Certain localities have no early honey flow. The bees build up in the spring, go "over the peak of brood-rearing" and are on the down grade before the honey flow comes on. This is the ease in many alfalfa districts.
A splendid method under such circumstances is the following: We shall suppose the colonies are in two-story brood-chambers. As the hives are getting well filled with bees and brood, remove one story, place it on a bottom-baard, give it a cover, and put it close beside the hive body from which it was taken. To the queenless party, give a rip queen-cell. This will in time build up to a strong colony. When the honey flow begins, kill the old queen and unit- these two colonies by the newspaper method described further on. In this manner the colony has been requenced, and, as there is a young queen in the hive, there is little danger of swarming.
By this system, the colony has the brood reared from two queens, and becomes a stronger colony than was possible to get from one queen. This same method can be used to advantage in the eastern states where there are a clover flow and a fall flow. In that case, the upper hive body is raised up and supers added between the two hive bodies during the clover flow. When most of the brood in the upper hive have emerged, it is set on a new stand at the side of the parent colony with enough bees to make a small colony. \(\Lambda\) cell is given in the regular way. This colony is allowed to build up until the fall flow opens, when it is united with the original colony after killing the old queen. By this method of requesting, the colony has been materially strengthened instead of weakened. In other words, it has had _two laying queues_ for some time instead of _no queen at all_ as is the case where the old queen is removed and a cell given.
In case the double brood-chamber is used, one can be employed as a nucleus at a little outlay. All that is necessary is some extra bottom-boards and covers. When one makes a practice of introducing the queen-cell directly to the colony, I believe even then it is a splendid idea to have on hand a small number of nuclei. Laying queens can be kept in these to be used when needed. In working with the bees you occasionally run across a colony that needs a better queen, and, if you have some laying queens in reserve in the nuclei, they can be drawn on when needed. Should a cell that you have given to a colony fail to provide a queen for it, a laying queen can be given, thus preventing the weakening of the colony from lack of one over too great a period.
**REQUENING TO CURE EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD.**
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
It is now generally acknowledged that European foul brood is a disease of weak colonies and inferior or black hees. Many extensive honey producers testify to the fact that, if all colonies are headed by vigorous, young, Italian queens and the colony kept strong, so far as European foul brood as a menaee is concerned, they can forget it. During the winter of 1918-19 I was employed by the Government to do extension work in the Apieulture Department, my territory being California. During this time I had a rare opportunity to study bee disease, especially European foul brood. The conditions in California are favorable for the development of this disease. I found the statement made above concerning the eure of European foul brood to be correct. In many cases this disease threatened to put the heckeeper out of business until he began to rear queens from good Italian stock and requeen the entire yard. Then, in addition, the colonies were given a large broad-nest, usually two nine-frame hive bodies and an abundance of stores. In such cases European foul brood ceased to be a menaee. To be sure, it kept the bekeeper on the alert to see that no colony became weakened or had a poor queen. Now, as we well know, strong colonies are the profitable ones, so it is evident that European foul brood makes a better bekeeper out of the one that has it. For this reason it is commonly known as a blessing in disguise. We admit that, when this disease first strikes an apiary and causes haveo before the beekeeper can form his defense, the inegnito of the blessing is complete!
The method of rearing queens to eradicate this disease is the same as already given, but it is better to introduce the ripe cell to the colony affected. Under no other circumstance do the bees "clean house" as well as when they have a virgin queen. They clean and polish the cells to make ready for her to deposit eggs. Being without a laying queen they have very little brood to attend to, so they seem to devote all their energies to eleaning out the disease.
The important point in the eure of European foul brood seems to be to have a large number of bees in proportion to the brood. In any eure now being used, this condition should be present. When we give a cell as stated, we reduce the amount of brood that the colony has, by removing the laying queen, thus making the cleaning out easier. When the queen is aged, the same condition is brought about. In some cases eures are effected by putting the brood in an upper story and confining the queen to the lower story with a queen-exelader. The same condition exists, for many of the bees leave the queen so thatis the same condition as in the others, a large number of bees in proportion to the brood.
It is noticed that the first brood reared in the colony in the spring is not diseased. This same condition, plenty of bees to clean out the disease, is present. \(\Lambda\) little later in the season the disease is at its worst. This is due to the fact that the bees are rearing the maximum amount of brood in proportion to the bees, as the colony is rearing brood to the fullest capacity, and the old bees are rapidly dying off. If the colony survives and is built up strong, the disease disappears. This is due to the fact that the queen has reached her capacity in egg-production, so the number of bees in proportion to the brood is greatly increased. However, if the colony is very weak, it is not a good plan to try to build it up. Better unite it with another colony. If European foul brood is very prevalent in an apiary, I would request the entire yard every year until the disease is stamped out. Then every colony that is not strong should be requested, and if disease shows in any colony it should be requenced.
### American Foul Brood.