BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
The tomato, as you know, is a bisexual flowering plant, but in this case it is evident that the pollen from the some flower was that is called "self irrulent," If bees or some other cause had carried the pollen from one flower to another, or one plant to the other, there would have been a good crop. I have been doing something in cross-fertiling tomato this winter, and have been surprised at the ease with which they pressed, having used the potato-leaf, Dwarf Champion, Pondersa, Peach, and several of the common kinds, making in all about 40 crosses. I do not think I shall fall to get seed except in a few of them. I expect that from the seed I shall get a lot of "mongrels," as one writer in Gleanings calls such crosses; but I prefer to call them crossbreds, as "hybrid " has a different meaning.
Still again, Prof. V. II. Lowe, of the Geneva Experiment Station, New York, in 1899 covered a certain set of small peurtes, as it was not practicable to use large ones in a hood of sheeting. This hood was large enough to sit down over the whole tree, something in the form of a bag, and the lower end of it was tied around the trunk of the tree. The object of this was to keep ont insects, ants, bees, and any thing, in fact, that might assist in pollemizing the blossoms. On all of these trees so covered, there was a large number of buds, and all the conditions were favorable for a good crop, except that the flight of insects was entirely cut off. Now, then, for the results: Out of the whole lot of trees covered, there was just one fruit. On another set of trees of the same sort and size not covered, there were 145. In the other case, where it was not practicable to envelop the whole tree, one large limb, for instance, would be enclosed in the bag, the mouth of the bag being tied around the trunk of the limb. In one such instance there were 2483 buds on an apple-tree that were thus covered with the sheeting. Out of that number just one fruit matured. There was plenty of fruit on other portions of the tree where the limbs were not covered. In one case, where the sheeting broke open so that insects could get in, there were 13 perfect fruits from 818 buds. It was clearly shown that bees or other insects play a most important part in the pollemination of average fruit-trees.
Prof. Bailey, the very able horticultural of Cornell University, writes: "I bees are much more efficient agents of pollenation than wind, in our fruits, and their absence is always deleterious."
The Division of Vegetable Pathology, of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., has issued a most interesting bulletin on "Pollication of Pear-flowers," by Norman B. Waite. Mr. Waite says: "Inclemental mention has been made of insect-visitors. We should not proceed without laying some stress upon the importance of these visits. The common honey-bee is the most regular, important, and abundant visit or, and probably does more good than any other species."
At a joint meeting of the National Pomboological Society and the National Bee-keepers' Association, occuring on Sept. 12, 1901, at Buffalo, a number of valuable papers were read--all of them testifying to the invaluable office of the bee in pollenating fruit-blossoms. Space will permit us to give only two references. Prof. James Fletcher, of the Ottawa Experiment Station, among other things said :
It will be found that not only are flowers absolutely necessary to bees as the source of their food --neeture and pollen--but that bees and other insects are no less necessary to most flowers, so that their perpetuation may be secured.
This fact should be recognized by the fruit-grower above all others: for were it not for insects, and particularly for the honey-bee, his crop of fruits would be far less than they are every year, and even in some cases he would get no fruit at all.
Failure in the fruit crop is more often due, I think, to dull or damp weather at the time of blossoming, which prevents insects from working actively in the flowers, than to any other cause.
At the same joint meeting of bee and fruit men, II. W. Collinwood, already mentioned, editor of the _Rural Neo - Yorker_, said :
We can easily forgive the bee his short working days when we consider the good he does. There is no question about the debt fruit-growers over bim. People talk about the wind and other insects in fertilizing our flowers; but I am confident that any man who will really take the time and pains to investigate for himself will see that the bee is nearly the whole story. I have seen the certain results of his good work in a neighbor's orchard. Those bees broke the trees down just as truly as though they had climbed on the trees by the million and pulled on them. The appearance of those trees after a few years of bee-keeping would have convinced any fair-minded man that our little buzzing friends are true partners of the fruit-grower.
In addition to all this we may state that there has been a demand of late on the part of a large number of extensive fruit-growers of Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania, asking bee-keepers to locate a few colonies in orchards near which there have been no bees. Indeed, the fruit-growers have offered to furnish the space and the buildings necessary to accommodate the bees and appliances, free of charge to the bee-keepers. It is needless to say that the latter have availed themselves of the opportunity, for honey from fruit-blossoms is some of the very finest ever produced, and the fruit-grower profits immensely in his turn.
In one of the leading fruit-journals of the country, _Better Fruit_, for July, 1909, appears a very strong article from the Oregon College Experiment Station, showing the almost indispensable service performed by bees in pollinating fruit-trees. It is shown conclusively that many varieties are sterile to their own pollen; that wind itself is not a very important factor in carrying it from one tree to another; that the bee is pructieally the _sole agent_ in doing this important work.
If any one desires to secure more facts relative to flower-fertilization, he may consult "Mueller's Fertilization of Flowers," an authority on the subject ; also see PolLEN, in this work. See also " Bees and Fruit," issued by the publishers.
and adjacent States, and is growing more benefitful, for it springs up wherever the forests have been ent off. Mr. J. J. Wilder, of Corbele, Gii., states that there are thousands of gallberry bee-locations wholly unoccupied at present, and that it seldom fails of an active local demand. Shakespeare asks," What's in a name?" but in our opinion "\(\,\)holly" would be a much better name than "\(\,\)gallberry," which rather suggests bittermess. "\(\,\)Holly honey" would sound romantic.
GLoves for Handling BES. Although a good many apiarists work with bare hands and bare wrists, there are a few who prefer to use gloves with long twists, and quite a large number who use them with fingers and thumbs cut off. If the bees are hybrids, and extracting is carried on during the robbing season, it is a great convenience to use something that protects the back of the hands and wrists, leaving the fingers bare, so that, for all practical purposes of manipulation, one can work as well with projectors as without. See Extraction.
Lady bee-keepers and men who are at all timid, and a very small number who seem to be seriously affected by even one sting, might use gloves to great advantage--especially the last-mentioned class, where two or three stings might prove to be -erious if not fatal.
As to the kind of gloves, some use buckskin or dogskin with loose flowing sleeves sewed on at the wrists, with a rubber cord gathered in the end to fit over the elbow. Then there is a kind of glove made of heavy drilling soaked in linseed oil or white-lead paint, made specially for the purpose, shown in the illustration. As sent out by the supply-dealers they are not coated, as some prefer to use them plain; but where the bees are especially cross, the fabric will need to be further reinforced with paint or linseed oil.
For further particulars regarding bees, see Veils.
* GLoves. This name is applied to the thick viscous liquid obtained by the concentration of a solution coming from the incomplete hydrolysis of starch. The word is misapplied by a great many, especially in the sugar-cane belt, for the reducing sugars present in the can. From a purely chemical side, glucose means the sugar dextrose, so with these various applications of the word some little confusion exists. In the commercial world, however, the first is the accepted meaning of the word. In the United states the source of glucose is corn starch, with a little made from potato starch, but in Germany all is made from potato starch.
It is manufacture consists in the heating of the freed starch with water, and a small percentage of hydroehlorie acid under pressure. The process is carefully conducted, and stopped at the proper point of hydrolysis. The liquid is neutralized with soda, and concentrated to the desired consistency, which is a liquid of about 15 to 20 per cent water. Formerly sulphuric acid was the acid used for conversion; but on account of its carrying unsenic its use was stopped. The solids of commercial glucose consist of about one-third dextrose and two-thirds dextine. The dextrins present in commercial glucose are of a different character from those present in floral honey or honey-dew, and on this property its presence in honey can be easily detected.
By increasing the amount of acid, and also lengthening the time of heating, products are made which contain more dextrose and less dextrin. These are known commercially as ''?0, ''?0, and ''?anhydrous '' starch sugar.'' They are, for the most part, solid. Their use in honey adultertion is very rare, and, if used, their detection is comparative-ly easy for a trained chemist.
Commercial glucose is sometimes known as corn syrup.
The ease with which commercial glucose can be detected when mixed with honey has led to its disuse except in mixtures so labeled. See Honey, adulteration of.
* GLODENROd. This is one of the most important sources of honey during the fall months in many localities in the United states--important, not for any great amount of honey, for there is never enough so that
**HARDLING BEES.** See Frames, and other states in that section of the conitio Manipulate; Anger of Bees; also being states, and Hives. See Moving Bees. See Moving Bees.
* [_Polygium persicicator_]. This is one of a large family of honey-bearing plants of which the common buckwheat is one. Heartsease, sometimes known as knotved or heartveed, and (perhaps incorrectly) smartweed, is scattered over certain portions of the West, particularly in Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska. In the last named it reaches a height of from three to five feet, and grows luxuirantly on all waste and stubble lands. The flowers in clusters are generally purple, and, in rare instances, white. It yields in Nebraska, a light to a dark amber; and the flavor,while not quite up to that of white honey, is very good. Heartsease comb honey, in point of color, is almost as white as the clover. The extracted granulates in very fine crystals, and looks very much like the analytical product of any white honey. Care should be taken in liquefying, as heartsease honey is injured more easily, and to a greater extent, by overheating, than any other kind.
**HIVE - MAKING.** Unless one is so situated that freights are high, and unless, also, he is a mechanic, or a natural genius in "making things," he had better let hive - making alone. Hives can be thought, usually, with freight added, for a great deal less than the average bee-keeper en make them himself, if we consider spoiled lumber, saved fingers, and the expense of buzz-saws ; and, besides, hives made in the large factories, where they are turned out by the thousands, by special machinery run by skilled workmen, are much more accurately cut, as a general thing.
The following letter from a practical planing-mill man, who ought and does know what he is talking about, sets forth the actual facets as they are:
**KIHASRAIERGER**
SASH, DOORS, BLINDS
Contractors' and Builders' Supplies,
including all kinds of Window Glass,
Cor. Exchange and Adams Sts.
Estimates Furnished on Application.
Freeport, Ill., June 11, 1967.
_The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio._
_Gentencei_:--I received five of your AE85-10 hives yesterday, and find that I can not make my own bilves and supplies as cheap as yours and use the same quality of lumber. You can see by the head of this letter that if any one can make lives elsewhere turn your prices or any of the so-called "trust hive" manufacturers, 1 ought to be able to do it; but, using the same quality of lumber, I can not.
(Signed) John H. Bamberger.
But there is lots of fun in making things, even if they are not so well made ; and there are some rainy or wintry days in the year, when, if one is a farmer, for instance, he can as well as not, and at little or no expense for time, make a few hives and other "fixing's." Again, if one lives in a foreign country he may not be able to get the hives that we shall recommend.
inequisites of a good hive.
While it is very important to have good well-made hives for the bees, we would by no means encourage the idea that the hive is going to insure a crop of honey. As the veteran Mr. Gallup used to say, "A good swarm of bees would store almost us much honey in a half - barrel or nail-leg as in the most elaborate and expensive hive made, other things being equal." This is suj.casing we had a good colony in the height of the honey-season. If the colony were small, it would do much better if put into a hive so small that the bees could nearly or quite fill it, thus economizing the animal heat, that they might keep up the temperature for brood - rearing, and the working of wax. Also, should the bees get their nail-leg full of honey, unless more room were given them at just the right moment a considerable loss of honey would be the result. The thin walls of the nail-leg would hardly be the best economy for a wintering hive, nor for a summer hive either, unless it were well shaded from the direct rays of the sun.
I. Elwood, of Starkville, N. Y., who owns over 1800 colonies, said in _Gleunings in Bee Culture_, April 15, 1891, "A good hive must fill two requirements reasonably well to be worthy of that name. 1. It must be a good home for the bees ; 2. It must in addition be so constructed as to be convenient to perform the various operations required by modern bee-keeping. The first of these requirements is filled very well by a good box or straw hive. Bees will store as much honey in these hives as in any, and in the North they will winter and spring as well in a straw hive as in any other. They do not, however, fill the second requirement ; and to meet this, the movable-frame hive was invented."
Under the subject of IIIVES, a little further on, will be shown styles and the special features that belong to each. But there is only one hive that is used largely throughout the United States, and that is the Langstroth-that is, it embodies the Langstroth dimensions. We start first with the frame, 17% long by 9% deep. This establishes the length and depth of the hive. As to width, that depends upon the number of frames used. Some bee-keepers prefer eight, perhaps the majority of them ; others ten, and still others twelve frames. Where one runs for extracted honey the ten-frame width should have the preference, especially in the South. If one produces only comb honey the eight-frame-hive width should be the one selected, particularly in the North, where the honey-flow is of short duration and is principally from clover and basswood. The selection of the frame, and the number to the hive, then, determines the dimensions of the hive itself.
## Hive-Maxin
We said the Langstroth is the standard, throughout the United States ; but of late there has been a tendency toward a frame of the same length, but two inches deeper. There is also a tendency to go to the other extreme in adopting a frame of Langstroth length, but two or three inches shallower, using two stories of such a live for a single brood-nest.
On account of the diverse notions of beekeepers, and the peculiarities of locality, it would hardly be worth while to give general directions for the manufacture of any one, ; and, besides, no printed directions will give as good an idea of the construction of a live as the very thing itself. For these and other reasons it would be far better for the one who intends to make hives to send to some manufacturer for a sample in the flat, all complets. With the several pieces for patterns he will then know exactly the shape and dimensions, how to make the rabets, and in general how the hive is constructed in every detail. If one does not find on the market just such a hive as suits his notion, of course he sees, or thinks he sees, " in his mind's eye " just what he wants to make ; but in that case we would advise him to make a sample or two before the makes very many of them ; for nine times out of ten \(-\) yes, ninety-nine times out of one hundred\(-\) he will discard the one of his " own get-up," and adopt some standard made by manufacturers generally.
## Hives
based on Langstroth dimensions are the standard. Some thirty years ago there were in use the American, Gallup, Langstroth, Adair, and Quinby frames. All of these required, of course, hives of different dimensions. Between the Adair, the Gallup, and the American there was but very little difference, comparatively, as they were square, and very nearly of a size. The Langstroth was long and shallow \(-\) the shallowest frame that had then been introduced ; and the Quinby, having about the same proportions, was the largest frame in general use. By consulting the diagram containing the different sizes of frames it will be seen that there are practically two classes--the square and the oblong. As there would be but very little difference, theoretically and practically, between the results secured with a Gallup, American, and Adair, we will consider the arguments for the square frame.
The Jumbo frame will be considered later on under the head of Laroe Hives.
square frames \(-\) arguments in their favor.
In nature, bees have a tendency to make a brood-nest in the form of a sphere ; patches of brood are more inclined to be circular than square or oblong. Theoretically, then, a circular frame would be the best ; but as that would not be practicable, owing to the difficulty in the construction of the frame and hive, obviously the square frame would come the nearest in conforming to nature and a perfect cube for the hive. The square frame, as a rule, called for a hive in the exact shape of a cube. If, for instance, the frame was 12 inches square, outside dimensions, then the hive, if the combs were spaced 1% inches apart, and 12% inches wide inside, should take in just nine \(\Delta\)merican frames. Such a hive, it was argued, would conserve the heat of the bees to the best advantage, would give the greatest cubical contents for a given amount of lumber--barring, of course, the perfect sphere. As it economized heat in winter, it would winter bees better than a hive having oblong frames.
All of this seemed to be very pretty in theory ; and there are some users of square frames who insist that the theory is borne out by actual experience. But the great majority of bee-keepers, after having tried the square and the oblong frame, finally decided in favor of the Langstroth for the following reasons :
THELangstroth Frame and Hive, and why they became the standards.
1. A shallow frame permits the use of a low flat hive that can easily be tiered up one, two, three, and four stories high. This is a great advantage when one is running for extracted honey, as all he has to do when the bees require more room is to add upper stories as fast as the bees require them, and then at the end of the season extract at his leisure. Square or deep hives can not be tiered up very high without becoming top-heavy and out of convenient reach of the operator, 2. The long shallow frame is more easily unequed because the blade of the unequping-knife can reach clear across it. 3. The shape of the Langstroth frame favors an extractor of good proportion. 4. A deep frame is not as easily lifted out of a hive ; is more liable to kill bees in the process of renoug and inserting frames. 5. The shallow frame is better adapted for box honey. It is well known that bees, after forming a brood-circle, are inclined to put sealed honey just over the brood. In a frame as shallow as the Langstroth, there will be less honey in the brood-nest and more in the boxes ; for bees, in order to complete their brood-circle in the Langstroth, will, with a prolific queen, push the brood-line almost up to the top - bar, and, consequently, when honey comes in, will put it into the supers or boxes just where it is wanted. 6. When bees form their winter cluster they are pretty apt to place it very near the top of the hive or cover. This is on account of the greater warmth at that point, for heated air has a tendency to rise. It sometimes happens, in case of the square frame, that the bees will eat all of the honey or stores away from near the top of the hive ; and as the cold weather continues, the bees simply starve, not being able to move the cluster down into the colder part of the hive where the stores are. In the case of the Langstroth, the cluster may be either at the front or rear. As the stores are consumed it will move toward the stores, and still keep within the warmest part of the hive.
But in actual experience bees seem to winter just as well on one frame as another; and as the shallow frame is better adapted to box honey, bee-keepers naturally turned toward the shallower frame, with the result that now probably three-fourths of all the frames in the United States are of Langstroth dimensions ; and whatever advantage there may be in favor of the square shape, the bee-keeper is able to buy standard goods so much cheaper that he adopts the standard Langstroth frame.
FIAMES SALLOWER'AND DEEPER THAN THE Langstroth.
Of late there has been a tendency toward a frame still shallower than the Langstroth, and what is called the Hedion ; but as eight or ten of these frames, or one section, make too small a brood-nest, two sets of such frames are used to accommodate a whole colony. Of the Hedion hive we shall have more to say later on.
There is another class of bee-keepers who feel that the Langstroth is not quite deep enough, and who, therefore, prefer the Quinn by. They argue that ten such frames, or frames Langstroth length, and two inches deeper, are none too large for a prolific queen, and that these big colonies swarm less, get more honey, and winter better. Of these latter, we shall have more to say under the subject of "Large vs. Small IIIVES."side of their hives, a far simpler form of hive was devised. The Simplicity, first brought out by \(\Lambda\). I. Root, having Langstroth dimensions, was the result. Instead of having telescoping covers the contiguous edges of the hive were beed so as to shed water and give in effect a telescoping cover. The cover and bottom of this hive were exactly alike, the entrance being formed by shoving the hive forward on the bottom, thus making an entrance as wide or narrow as seemed most desirable. The upper story was exactly the same as the lower one or brood-nest--so, taking it all in all, the hive was simplicity itself. But it had one serious defect, and that was the beveled edge. It was found to be practically impossible at times, on account of the bee-glue, to separate the upper story from the lower one without breaking or splitting the bevel. Finally there was introduced a hive very much the same, having straight square edges, and along with it came the feature of dovetailing or locking the corners, as shown in the hive below.
This hive was introduced in 1889, and seemed to meet with the general approbation of bee-keepers. 'It embodied in the eight frames. The original Dovetailed hive had a flat cover, and a bottom-board made the same as the cover, except that there were side-eleats to raise the hive off the bottom-board.