BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
A disadvantage is their nervous disposition and, once aroused, they can not be quelled by smoke like other bees. When handling them, very little smoke must be used and, as they resent sudden opening of their hives, or the least jarring, all manipulations must be made slowly and carefully. In spite of this, the operator must expect to receive any number of stings, depending upon the amount of handling necessary. For this reason, more than anything else, this most vindictive of all the races of bees has never become popular.
HOLY LAND, OR PALESTINE BEES.
Closely related and very much resembling the Cyprian bees is a race of bees from the Holy Land. They resemble the Cyprian in temperament, size and shape, but not in color, the Holy Land bees being somewhat darker and the color of their body hairs giving them a distinct bluish steel-gray tinge. This race of bees has some good qualities. They are prolific breeders, are not given much to swarming, are excellent comb bwilders, building the most beautiful and straightest combs of any bees, and are good honey-gatherers. Another point of distinction is the manner in which they cap their honey combs. Besides filling the cells entirely full, they lay very thin exppings, for which they use less wax than any other race, right on the honey. On this account the exppings are so slightly attached to the cell walls that they separate from these in perfect six-sided lids very easily when the comb is handled, which leaves the cells uncovered.
But to offset their good traits, they are, like the Cyprians, very nervous and easily irritated. All manipulation of them should be done with great care and with the use of very little smoke, else no amount of smoking will control their onslaughts and they will become unbearable to even the experienced. While some strains are more easily handled, these bees are, as a whole, not popular, except with a very few beekeepers.
CARNIONAL BEES.
One of the gentlest races of bees, known as the Carniolans, comes from the southern part of Austria. These bees are large in size, and when handled, remain on the combs so quietly and uncoenercally in their activities that the queens may be seen in many instances continuing laying on the combs as they are held up out of the hives. The queens are very prolific and the colonies build up rapidly in the early spring to strong colonies, and, on this account, larger hives than customarily used are necessary. The average hives employed are too small for them and this is, perhaps, the reason why the almost general objection to them as excessive swarmers obtains. With larger hives this may be overcome to a great extent. The Carniolans are excellent honey-gatherers and cap their combs with a most beautiful pearly whiteness.
They are a very dark race of bees, with a nearly black body covered with gray hairs and in well defined rings on the abdomen, which gives them a pretty ashy-gray color. The large queens vary from a dark brownish color to a bronze black, and the drones, which are larger than those of the other races, are of a grayish-black color.
## 10.2 Banat Bees.
This is a comparatively new race in this country. They are closely related and very similar to the Carniolan bees, and, like them, are prolific and breed early, which is an advantage where early honey flows prevail. Unlike the Carniolans, who begin to get the swarming fever about the time the best super work is expected, the Banats, according to reliable authority, are not excessive swarmers and can be controlled more easily, while they bear being crowded considerably.
The bees are gray, with a tendency toward a yellowish brown in color and, while most of the queens are dark, they vary from an almost black to an orange yellow. In temperament they are very quiet and so easily handled that protection to the face while handling them, in their purity, is hardly necessary. They are fine comb builders, capping the combs very white like the Germans and the Carniolans, hence excellent comb-honey builders.
## 11 Caucasians.
This race is of more recent importation and comes from the southern part of Russia. They are perhaps the gentlest bees of all the races brought to Texas and, on that account, promised to become the most popular; but, after being tested extensively by a large number of beekeepers over the State, did not find much favor, except with a very few. In size and color they resemble the common black bees so much that often even an expert can not distinguish them, but the marked difference in their temperament is a distinguishing point in such cases. While the Caucasians are prolific and early breeders, good honey-gatherers, and do not swarm very much, they, on the other hand, have a tendency toward rearing too many drones, to building bur and brace combs in excess and to plastering the interior of their hives considerably with bee-glue, or propolis. On the whole, they are not as good as the Italians. Careful breeding for a number of years by able, experienced apiarists may develop an improvement.
## Chapter 8 Which is the best bee?
This interrogatory is propounded more than any other, and it is somewhat difficult to answer all inquirers alike, since individual tastes vary too much. Taking everything into consideration, the Italian bees are better suited to meet the demands of the majority of beekeepers, and that is why they have come to be the most popular and continue to gain in favor. For best results the three-banded variety should be chosen. If beauty in color is preferred, the Goldens fill the demand. If these do not suit, some of the other races may be selected, and it is for this reason that a brief description of each is given. It is advised, however, to select the Italians, as these are the best all-purpose bees.
### 8.1 BUYING BEES
The best time to buy bees is in the spring. If they can not be obtained in modern frame hives, which may cost from four to eight dollars, according to the kind of bees and the condition of the colony, bees in box hives will be the cheapest to secure, and transferring them from these into good hives will give enough experience to pay for the trouble. Common bees in such hives are only worth the value of the bees themselves, the honey and wax in the combs, and the firewood of the hives, or from one to two dollars per hive, depending upon local conditions, strength of the colonies, the condition of the combs and the ease with which these may be removed from the hives.
## Transferring.
The best time to transfer them into the new hive is during fruit bloom, when the bees are able to secure enough honey to build up on; otherwise they must be fed a little until they can take care of themselves. To transfer them from a box hive into a frame hive, the usual practice is to remove the colony (after smoking the bees well to cause them to fill themselves with honey) a little to one side of the stand, on which the new hive is set, facing in exactly the same direction as the old one was before. The top of the old hive is removed and over the opening a light box is set with its open side over that of the hive. By gently drumming on the side of the box hive, and also smoking lightly at the entrance below, the bees may be run up into the inverted box, and, when the most of them are in this, making sure that the queen is among them, they are poured in front of the new hive. Into this they will run and make it their new home. A watch may be kept for the queen as she runs in with the bees. A few bees are left in the old hive (more if the weather is cool) to take care of the brood in the combs, which, in twenty-one days will have hatched out and these bees may then, also, be shaken in front of the new hive the same as before.
The combs are now cut out of the box hive and all the straight combs fitted and tied into as many frames as the operator may have comb for, and placed in the new hive where the bees will mend them. Some beekeepers transfer the combs immediately after driving the bees the first time, thus finishing the work at once. This is often the best method when the transferring is done early in the season, so all the bees and brood can be kept together. Other beekeepers do not use the combs at all but melt them up into wax after the bees have hatched out of them in the twenty-one days, leaving the bees in the new hive to build their combs on full sheets of foundation previously fastened in the frames. The box hive is set to one side of the transferred bees in the frame hive and left in this position for ten days when it is set on the opposite side. This throws the flying bees, who miss their own hive, with those in the frame hive. The operation is again repeated in ten days, and then the combs and all remaining bees are removed from the box hive a few days thereafter. This strengthening of the old colony is of material benefit at this time, since the working force becomes depleted within a short time.
Another simple way of transferring is to lay the old hive, from which one of its sides has been previously removed, on its side and set the new hive, with the frames filled with full sheets of foundation, over it, and allow the bees to move up into it at leisure. As some colonies are very slow about doing this, it is advisable to first remove a large comb of honey and brood from the old hive and insert it into one of the frames, so that the bees will be enticed into the frame hive.
## Starting with nuclei.
A very extensive business of shipping one, two, or three combs of honey, brood and bees, in light crates by express, has long been established. Since such nuclei can generally be obtained more easily, and safely shipped a greater distance than full colonies, it is one of the best ways to start with bees. It is possible in this way to begin with pure stock. Such nuclei may be obtained from various queen raisers' whose business it is to furnish both queens and bees of pure strains. Upon arrival of the nuclei, the combs are simply placed in hives previously prepared for them. The remaining space in the hive is filled with frames containing full sheets of foundation, and the bees allowed to build up to full colonies. The nuclei should be purchased at a time in the spring when nectar can be obtained freely by the bees, or the nuclei will have to be assisted by feeding, to enable them to progress.
## Moving and shipping bees.
In addition to people simply moving a few ''bee gums'' home when the first bees are purehased, which is very easily acomplished by setting the box hives upside down in the wagon bed, after having tied coarsely woven burlap over the lower open end, and being sure that all cracks from which bees might escape and cause trouble are stopped up, hundreds of colonies of bees are annually shipped over the country for various purposes.
Full colonies of bees are usually moved from one place to another by wagon, by express shipments and sometimes by ordinary freight in entire carloads. One, two and three frame nuclei, or parts of colonies in light crates, as well as bees by the pound in specially prepared screen wire cages, are always shipped by express. In addition to this, queen bees, with their escorts, are sent through the mail to all parts of the world, by the thousands, in small cages made for the purpose.
## moving bees short distances.
During cool weather of the late fall, winter and spring months, when the bees are not flying very mueh, their colonies may be moved to any new place without mueh difficulty. After the bees have been confined for any length of time, they carefully locate the position and the surroundings of their hives when they fly out for the first time, so that they may return to them safely. Suddenly moving a colony even a short distance away, after they have thus marked their location, will result in many bees returning to the old location and perishing there. For this reason, all short distance moving should be done during the winter months, if possible. All that is necessary is to close the hives by quickly pushing a strip of wood, rags, grass or weeds, into the entrances, and then carrying, or hauling, the colonies to their new place. The entrances should be opened only slightly, leaving the obstructions partly in them, to cause the bees to notice the change and mark their new location when they first fly out. As the combs break easily in cold weather, the hives should be handled carefully, to avoid possible damage.
For moving in the summer the entrances to all colonies should be closed with sereen wire cloth, so no bees can possibly squeeze out and cause trouble when least expected. The best entranee closer is a piece of wire cloth, two inches wide, and as long as the hive entranees are wide. This is bent into a V, trough shape, and pushed into the entrances by means of a flat instrument, and is easily removed by catching one end and pulling it out. Additional ventilation should be supplied by placing very thin pieces of wood, the thickness of a common match, under each corner of the cover. This should be done when the bees are not flying, preferably very early in the morning. Closing it in the evening may cause suffocation of the bees during a hot, saltry night.
Thus prepared, the colonies are allowed to remain on their old stands until about 9 a, m., when they are moved, during which process they are to be roughly handled and the bees shaken up considerably. The use of a wheel barrow is preferable if the distance the colonies are to be moved is short, and they should be taken to the new place in a round-about way to increase the excitement. Hauling with a wagon any long distance will stir them up suffiheiently to give the desired results. When all are located on their new stands, the entrances are opened only very slightly at first, blowing a little smoke over the bees of each colony just before doing so, and as they rush out they will mark their new location and very few will return to the old place. Sometimes many do so, only to soon return to the new place after not finding their hives at the former location. It is important, too, to promptly change the appearance of the old site as much as possible by removing everything that may help the bees to identify it should they return to it. If they do not give up their search, and the number of returning bees is large, a hive with a comb or two of honey, and some unsealed brood, should be placed so they will find it. The nucleus so formed can then be taken to the new place and united with another colony.
## transporting long distances.
Bees moved a mile and a half, or more, will not find their way back to their old location, and such moving may be done at any time of the year, with proper precautions.
For hauling bees long distances, especially during warm weather, more ventilation must be provided. This is done by removing the cover of the hive altogether and covering the entire top of the hive with screen wire cloth, tacked over a rim about two inches deep, to allow clustering room for the bees above the frames. Very strong colonies should be given an empty super covered with the screen wire on top of the hive for this purpose.
Frames that are not of the self-spacing kind must be securely fastened before moving, preferably by a stick of wood, notched to hold the frames in place, tacked at each end of the hives. The bottom, and all hive parts, and the rims, or supers, covered with screen wire, should be securely fastened together, either by nailing a thin eleat at each hive corner with shingle nails, or by means of long erate, or hive staples, which can be secured from supply dealers.
A spring wagon should be used in hanling bees, but an ordinary wagon with a lot of coarse hay in the bottom of it, upon which the hives are placed, will answer the purpose. Driving should be done carefully, especially over rough roads, to prevent breakage of the combs and possible disaster to the colonies. If many colonies are to be moved, long planks may be substituted for wagon beds. These will serve in place of springs. The hives are preferably loaded so the frames are crosswise of the length of the wagon, as the sidewise jars caused by the unevenness of the roads is worse than the up-and-down forward motions of the moving wagon.
There should be taken along a bee-veil, bee-smoker, hammer, nails, and other tools that may be needed, and the smoker should be kept lighted and going and ready for an emergency. If the bees get too warm and crowd against the screens, water should be sprinkled over them to prevent them from suffocating and the melting of the combs. It eols them and drives them away from the screens.
How to ship bees.
Small lots should always be shipped by express. They should not be shipped in extreme hot weather, unless absolutely necessary, as the risk of losing colonies by over-heating is great. The hives are prepared in the way already described, by screening the entrances and the entire top of the hives. To prevent damage to the screens over the hives, the covers are fastened over some cleats, tacked on each end on the upper sides of the screens, so an opening, an inch or more wide, and the entire length of the cover, is left between it and the screens, to allow proper ventilation.
While strong colonies will stand shipping with an empty super over the hive instead of the shallower rims of the usual screens used, additional ventilation is necessary in very warm weather. This is provided by replacing the bottoms of the hives with a similar screen-covered rim as on top, being sure to nail on two cleats securely, one under each end, to keep the hives at least an inch, or more, from the ground, or floor, to prevent cutting off ventilation. Very populous colonies should not be shipped in one hive at such times, as the great number of bees, crowding against the screens, is sure to prevent proper air circulation and cause smothering of the colonies.
All heavy combs of honey should be replaced by empty, or only partly filled ones, or the honey removed by extracting, as the danger of breakage and the loss of the colonies by the leaking of honey is great. It is only necessary to leave enough honey to last the colonies for the journey, and, as express rates are high, the lighter the packages are, the better.
One, two and three frame nuclei are shipped in very light crates, made expressly for the purpose. These are screened both at top and bottom, and have a light cover board nailed to cleats, an inch, or more, higher than the top of the errate. This board is convenient to handle them by, besides protecting the screens, and is also used for the address and the proper precautionary notice of contents and request for careful handling of the bees in transit.
The hives should be loaded in the car with the frames running parallel with the rails, as they can stand the bumping shakes endwise, better than sidewise if the frames ran across the length of the car. It should be remembered that this is just the reverse of the way of loading on a wagon. A space of several inches should be left between the tiers of hives, as they are piled up in rows, leaving an aisle between the rows for a passageway. The whole should be braced well, securing the hives in each row, and bracing from one row to another, by means of cross ties.
LOCATING BESS IN THE APIARY.
Apiary is the proper name of the place where the bees are kept, be there few, or many, colonies. In selecting the site for an apiary the convenience of the apiarist and the welfare of the bees must be considered. A slightly elevated, dry and sheltered location, somewhat protected on the north from the cold winter winds and storms, and open to the south or southeast, with the ground sloping gradually in this direction to allow proper drainage, and a sufficient number of deciduous trees for shade is an ideal place to establish an apiary.
The hives should have the morning and evening sun, but should be protected during the hottest part of the day. Shade trees are most desirable for this purpose, as they not only furnish shade to the hives, but the beekeeper, as well, while he is at work with the bees. Those that give a partial shade in the summer and lose their foliage in the winter are the best, while the live oaks and other evergreens, or any too dense shade, should be avoided, as bees do not do well in it. If natural shade can not be had, artificial shade must be provided. Sheds are expensive in first cost, have their disadvantages, and are harborers of insects, spiders and other pests. It is, therefore, better to provide cheap shade boards for each hive. These are easily made of light boards, a few sugar barrel staves held together by a short board nailed across the under side, being the cheapest.
The hives should be set close to the ground so the bees can crawl into them if they fail to reach the entrance on returning from the fields heavy! laden; preferably on four common broken bricks, to keep the bottoms from decaying, which can readily be obtained without charge, or at small cost. It is a mistake to place hives upon trestles, like so many are found on the farms. All weeds and grass should be kept down in front of the hive entrances to prevent obstructing the flight of the bees. These impediments and the elevated hive entrances, not only delay them considerably in their work, but many will fall to the ground exhausted, and, both they and the fruits of their. labors, be lost. The apiary should be kept clean and neat and the bees aided in every way, as they will amply repay their owner for all care given them.
Common coarse salt thrown in front of the hives will aid in keeping down speeds and grass.
The hives should never be set in long rows with equal distance between them, as it results in much confusion of the bees and frequently causes them to return to the wrong hive, on account of looking alike in the rows. The greatest trouble arises from the queens returning to the wrong hives, where they are killed, and their own hives are then left queenless. If the hives must be in rows they should be arranged in pairs or not more than three placed together, and then the bees will be able to locate their own hive by its position in relation to its next neighbor. The most practical and economical arrangement is to arrange them in groups of five hives in the shade of a tree, so that three hives will face southeast in front of the tree, and, a little distance behind these, one that will face to the left and one that will face to the right, with all the entrances away from the tree. This gives a passageway behind the hives, in the main shade of the tree and out of the way of the flight of the bees, making it convenient for the apiarist to work in the shade from the rear of the hives, and use the trunk of the tree to set the hive covers against, within easy reach. It is an ideal arrangement that permits placing more hives properly in a given space than any other; also fewer trees are needed to shade a given number of colonies. Furthermore, it is easier to manage apiaries in groups of five hives in a systematic manner, and the apiarist becomes used to performing many operations on five hives at a time, and saves much valuable time thereby.
## Chapter 4 Textas Department of Agriculture
### 4.1 Water for Bees
It is most important to have water in easy access of the apiary ; first, because bees need a great deal of water, especially during the brood rearing season, and, second, it is advisable to keep them from watering at neighboring troughs, springs or wells, where people are not aceustomed to their presence, and may, therefore, be annoyed by them. They prefer natural watering places, and a stream, lake or pasture tank, are good places near which to locate an apiary. Where such a situation is not available, water must be provided for them in the apiary by means of a trough, in which a float, to prevent drowning of bees, is placed ; or water can be provided in some other way.
## 5 Locating out-apiaries