BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
It is necessary at times to feed bees, either to tide them over a dearth of honey in the summer, to supply winter stores in the late fall, or to replenish their rapidly disappearing food supply during the heavy brood rearing period in the early spring. The necessity for feeding should be avoided as much as possible, since it is a disagreeable and sticky operation, and, as it must be done generally during a dearth of honey, exceeding care must be exercised not to incite robbing. All feeding in the hives should be done quickly, and always toward evening of the warmest days, so that the bees can clean up the syrup during the night and be better prepared to defend their hives on the following day. An excellent practice is to, at all times, leave a sufficient supply of honey in the hives, not only for the winter, but to last into the spring months. Besides saving the trouble of having to feed, the extra supply insures strong colonies for the honey flows and better returns in honey crop.
It is by far the safest rule to feed sugar syrup instead of honey, especially honey from an unknown source, which may contain germs of contagious bee diseases that may be introduced to healthy colonies and cause their rapid destruction. On account of this danger such should never be used under any circumstances. Sugar syrup for feeding purposes is made of equal parts of sugar and water by simply pouring cold water over pure granulated sugar and stirring it until the sugar is all dissolved.
If only a few colonies need feeding, some of their empty combs may be filled by placing them in a slanting position in a large tub and pouring the syrup over them with a sprinkling can so that it will run into the open cells. If combs are laid flat, the syrup can not enter the cells as the air can not escape from them when the sgrup is poured over them. Several styles of feeders are made, of which some are placed inside of the hives, like the Doolittle division board feeder, which is hung in the place of a comb removed from the hive and filled with syrup from the top, after partly opening the hive to do so. Another kind, of which the Alexander feeder is the best, is placed beneath the hive and filled by simply removing a sliding cover block over the opening on the side of the hive. Feeding at the entrance should be avoided, as this often incites robbing by other bees being attracted to the colonies being fed.
Whenever it becomes neeessary to feed a large number of colonies in an apiary, a common tub filled with syrup may be placed some distance from the bees, throwing into it a lot of coarse weeks or grass to prevent drowning of bees. It is better to place the feeding tubs some distance from the apiary when out door feeding is practiced, to prevent an uproar and serious robbing. As it is often difficult to attract the bees to the feeding tubs, an empty comb, that has been inserted into the tub of syrup, is placed at the entrance of each of the colonies from which a goodly number of bees are allowed to gather on the comb. This is then taken, bees and all, to the tub and the bees will soon be started at the work of carrying home the syrup.
Feeding ought not to be done later than November, so as to allow the bees to arrange their winter brood nest in the best possible shape. Combs of sealed honey may be given safely at any time, by placing the combs within easy access of the bees, but care must be exercised not to disturb the cluster.
Sometimes, in delayed spring, the supply of pollen may become exhausted before new pollen can be obtained. Since the bees must have this, as well as honey, to rear brood, it may be supplied artificially in the form of flour, corn meal, bran or cotton seed meal, in shallow troughs placed in some sheltered place in the apiary. As it is often hard to induce the bees to begin taking it home, a little diluted sugar syrup sprinkled over the supply will aid this.
## UNITING BESES
It often becomes necessary to put two or more colonies together, either because they are too weak in bees to take care of the hive or because they are queenless. On account of a failing queen, or other eauses, colonies may become materially depleted in numbers, and, unless taken care of by the apiarist, perish. If this condition prevails during the spring or summer, the introduction of a new queen, if this is the cause of deterioration, will aid in building up to strong colonies again. If, however, they already have a good queen, the weak colony can be strengthened by furnishing them with a comb or two of hatching brood. In the late fall and very early spring this is not practicable, however, and two or more weak colonies should be united. Unless the apiarist desires to select the best queen, this selection may be left entirely to the united colonies. Frequently individual colonies may become queenless at a time when it is not practicable to give them a new queen and the best practice to follow under those conditions is to unite them with a normal colony as soon as discovered.
As each colony has a distinct odor by which the bees recognize their own members from those of other colonies, some precaution is necessary in uniting two or more. A common practice with many beekeepers is to give each colony, to be united, a somewhat thorough smoking, and then simply set one hive on top of the other and allow them to mix at once. Sometimes they may engage in fighting and a second smoking may be necessary. Another method is that known as ''the newspaper method'' of uniting. A newspaper, through which a two or three-inch hole has been torn in the center, is laid over the top of the colony having the queen. The other colony is then set on top of this, being careful not to leave any opening for the bees to get out except through the entrance of the hive below. The bees above will acquire the same scent as those in the lower hive and unite without any fighting. After a week or two, in either case, the bees may all be put into the lower hive, and the upper one (with its combs) removed, if it is necessary to do this at all.
As bees ordinarily return to their old location when their hive is moved to a new place in the apiary, some precautionary steps must be taken to prevent this. Queensland bees will remain in a new place much more readily. Therefore, the simplest procedure when uniting bees is to de-queen the weak colonies that are to be moved a few days before they are to be united with colonies that have queens. While moving the queenless colonies, the bees should be shaken up and bumped about considerably by handling the hives roughly, as the excitement caused is an additional aid in keeping them where desired. In spring and fall, uniting should always be done in cool weather, if possible, when bees are not flying much or at all. If a few bees should return to the old location, they would be, usually, old bees that would not be worth very much on account of their age, and the loss would be immaterial.
## laying workers.
To avoid vexatious trouble with laying workers, which is the result of prolonged queenlessness, care should be exercised not to leave any colonies queenless too long. If a queen can not be supplied to a colony that may be found queenless, a comb with eggs, or very young larvae, should be given so that one may be reared and the colony saved. If queenlessness is discovered too late, however, the best remedy with laying workers is to unite the colony in which they are found to exist, with a normal colony. As it is impossible to introduce a queen to such a laying worker colony, and they are, as a rule, more or less weak in number of bees when discovered, the most practicable thing to do is to save the remaining bees and the combs. If increase is desired, at a time when such can be done, the united colony may be divided again, and a new queen introduced to the new colony. This method is the most practical way of dealing with this problem.
ROBBING.
The utmost eare and precaution should be exercised at all times to prevent what is termed "robbing," which, when once started, may end seriously if not taken in hand immediately. During a dearth, when nectar is scarce in the fields, the bees continue their search and will appropriate any honey they can find and obtain access to. Once they have an opportunity to get a taste of honey thus easily obtained, they continue to fly around a long time hunting for more. It is far easier to prevent robbing than to eure the trouble, and therefore no honey, or combs, or other sweets, however little, should be left where the bees can get at them. A hive should never be kept open too long and exposed to the attack of these prowing bees, who will pounee upon it if they can secure any honey, and will be joined by other bees from their own and other hives as soon as these learn of the find. While strong colonies may be able to defend themselves against such an attack, the loss of bees, during the pitched battle between the inmates and the robbers, is serious, and weak colonies, not strong enough to defend themselves, will be destroyed.
If it becomes necessary to work with the bees in the apiary when robbers are bad, it should be done under a tent made for the purpose. These are variously constructed. One kind much in use, is about five feet square and can be folded up when not in use.
It is very difficult to entirely stop robbing at once, if it has gotten fairly started. The first step that should be taken is to find the cause. When the bees have gained an entrance to stores in a building, it should be closed up immediately, and it is well to drive the bees away with smoke. **If** robbing is detected among the bees, the size of the entrance of every hive should be reduced till it is a very small one, so that the inmates may be better able to protect themselves. Ordinarily, a buneh \(\cdot\)of wet straw, or weeds, thrown over the entrance of a colony, in a bad case, will discourage attack, as the robbers do not like to enter any hive from which they can not escape easily, while the inmates of the hive willingly and readily pass through it. Sometimes the mischief is done by only one or two colonies in the apiary robbing out some of the weaker ones. In this case, exchanging places, putting the hives of the robbers on the stand of those being robbed, and these on the robbers' stand, will confuse them to such an extent that the trouble will end. If a colony is almost robbed out when discovered, it is best to leave it to the robbers to clean up entirely, after which they will quiet down, while if it is removed there is danger of them pouning on other colonies in their eagerness to get what was still left in the hive taken away. If, in a serious case, a colony attacked is not able to defend itself, it is best to take it into a dark, cool room, or cellar, until darkness puts a quietus on the robbing. When the colony is put back in its place in the apiary, the entrance to its hive should be contracted to just one bee space, so that only one bee can pass at a time; when they will be able to defend their hive properly. All operations should be done after nightfall whenever bees are very \(\cdot\)much inclined to rob.
## 10 Honey Production.
The beekeeper must decide upon the kind of honey to be produced and equip the apiary with necessary fixtures for this. It is produced in two forms, comb honey and extracted honey, and the apiarist must be guided by the demand he may have for either one or, the other. Comb honey production requires closer looking to details, and more frequent attention to the bees, than the production of extracted honey, but it requires a smaller investment, and there is a good demand, at a better price, for it, while extracted honey has a more stable demand. Producing both forms in the same apiary is practiced by most beekeepers, and is a safe course to follow by the beginner, who can later make such changes as his experience and the demand will teach.
Comb honey can be more easily produced for home use than extracted honey, and, unless the beekeeper has more than just a few colonies to supply his own table, its production is advised. The investment with a few colonies for extracted honey production is greater, as it becomes necessary to procure a honey extractor and other appliances not needed for producing comb honey.
WHAT IS HONEY!
Honey is the nectar of flowers gathered by bees, transformed in some manner and stored in their combs by them. Sugar, or anything else fed to bees can never be changed to honey, as some persons suppose. Even if this were possible, it would not pay to feed sugar to bees in any manner, with the intention of ''having the bees make it into honey,'' on account of the high price of sugar. Although the bees would store the sugar syrup in their combs, if fed to them, it is still only sugar syrup and it does not have the flavor nor the aroma of real honey. Besides this it would be contrary to the Pure Food Laws, as it would be adulterated honey, and, as this is easily detected, the violator would likely be justly punished. In order to comply with the requirements of the National Pure Food Laws, honey must come up to the following standard of purity for honey adopted by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists of the United States:
HONEY.
1. Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudation of plants, gathered, modified, and stored in the combs by honey bees (Apis milli-flea and Apis dorsata) ; is laevorotary, contains not more than twenty five (25%) per cent of water, not more than twenty-five hundredths (0.25%) per cent of ash and not more than eight(8%) per cent of sucrose.
2. Comb honey is honey contained in the cells of comb.
3. Extracted honey is honey which has been s-parated from the uncrushed comb by centrifugal force or gravity.
4. Strained honey is honey removed from the crushed comb by straining or other means.
## no manufactured comb honey.
It has become necessary at various times to answer questions that have originated from the reading of sensational articles that have appeared from time to time, in various periodicals, to the effect that honey combs were manufactured, filled with very cheap syrup or glucose, and then sealed over with a hot iron and sold as comb honey. Nothing is further from the truth than these yarns. There need be no fear of the comb honey on the market being manufactured or adulterated.
There are two standing offers of $1000 each, as forfeits, for a single pound of manufactured comb honey, that would deceive the buyer, but no person has ever been able to claim either of the forfeits, although one of these, made by a reputable firm, has been standing for more than fifteen years. The other forfeit was made by the National Beekepers' Association, at its annual meeting in 1904. It certainly shows the impossibility of imitating the honey bees in their art of building their delicate honey comb. In addition to this, the well established fact that the beekeepers of this State, as a general rule, are reputed for honest production, should leave no fear on the part of the purchasers of their products as to the purity of the same.
This convincing proof is given for those who might have occasion to use it in answering like questions.
Supers ready for the honey harvest.
Preparing the supers.
Before the time of the honey flow arrives, the beekeeper must get his top boxes, or supers, in readiness to be placed on the hives as soon as needed, when the bees begin to bring in the honey. This consists, after the supers have all been previously nailed up and painted, in putting into each frame what is generally called a "starter" of comb foundation. While some beepers use only a strip, one inch or so wide, and others use a sheet only half the depth of the frames, it is advisable, and more profitable, to fill the frames with full sheets of foundation at all times. The extra saving, in time and labor, in comb-building to the bees, especially when much honey is coming in with a rush, and the bees can not build combs fast enough to hold the honey, insures enough more surplus honey to pay several times over for the foundation used. One of the main secrets of securing larger crops of honey, and ultimate success, may be attributed to the judicious use of comb foundation at all times.
There are various ways of fastening the foundation in the frames employed by different beekeepers. The most common method is that of fastening with melted beeswax. Usually a groove, for inserting the edge of the foundation, is provided. This is not necessary, however, and weakens the strength of the top bars of the frames.
With a frame rack, provided with slanting boards, that space the foundation sheets in the exact place in the frames when these are placed on the rack, each sheet may be securely fastened with a spoonful of hot wax that is allowed to run along the foundation and the top bar.
An old five-gallon honey can, with part of its top removed, may serve as a fire pot, in which charcoals are preferably used. A common ten cent stew pot, and tin spoons, costing ten cents a dozen, of which the handles are bent so they will hang over the edge of the wax pot, may be carried with the frame rack from one apiary to another. Instead of the spoons, with their lip end beaten together slightly to direct the flow of the wax better, some beekeepers use what is known as a wax-tube, a hollow metal tube with a wooden handle, which fills with melted wax as it is inserted in the pot, and which flows out at the pointed lower end when the tube is guided along the foundation.
Another way of fastening the foundation is by means of various presses used by some beekeepers, in which the edge of the foundation is fastened to the top bar of the frames by pressure. This method is not very popular. Besides, it is necessary to use about 3% of an inch of the width of the sheet of foundation used for each frame to fasten it with, which is practically that much loss of foundation, which is more expensive than melted beeswax, as scraps, or off grades, of wax are generally employed for the latter.
After the frames are filled with foundation, the supers containing them are stacked up near the apiary where needed, on flat platforms, and each stack covered at the top so that bees, or mice, can not gain an entrance. Otherwise, the foundation may be destroyed in a whole-sale way, especially by the bees during a dearth of honey, as they will tear down the foundation and carry home the wax.
When to put on supers.
The beekeeper should devote much time to the study of his locality, the source of the honey flows, and when these are to be expected. This must be known, so that the supers may be put on the hive at the proper time. To put them on long before they are needed, gives too much room for the best welfare of the colonies; besides, the bees destroy the foundation in them by gnawing it down. But, to leave the supers off until they are actually needed, often results in the colonies becoming crowded and this tends to bring on the desire to swarm.
According to the old rule, the proper time to give supers was when the bees were adding bits of white wax to the upper part of the comb along the top bars, but this is too late, unless swarms are desired, as this indicates a crowded condition in the brood chamber. It is better to put them on a little before the real honey flow begins, than even a day later, as this might mean a serious loss in honey, both from the lack of needed room at the right time, or by inducing swarming at the expense of honey gathering.
## Why Bees Don't work in supers?
This is another question that is often asked. The inexperienced beekeeper expects that at a certain time all colonies, no matter what the circumstances or conditions may be, will begin to store honey in the supers. A colony may be so weak in numbers that it has all it can do to take care of the necessary work in the brood chamber; hence, can not go into the supers to work, or a colony may be strong enough, but there may be room in the brood chamber that will be filled before storing elsewhere, as the bees prefer to work as near the brood nest as possible. Many colonies, however, hesitate to enter the supers, even during the honey flow, and with the brood chamber filled full, and it then becomes necessary to entice them into the supers by giving them partly built combs of honey in these. After they have once begun work in them, other conditions being favorable, they will continue to do so as long as the honey flow lasts.
The most practical way of getting such colonies started in the super work is to exchange their super for one from a colony that has already begun work nicely. It is not necessary to free these supers entirely of bees, but it must be certain that the queens are not in them when taken to another colony.. It is quite safe, however, to drive most of the bees out of the supers with smoke when the covers are lifted off, and the queens will leave the supers in seeking refuge in the brood chambers below. Then the supers, combs, bees and all are simply exchanged and set on the colonies that refused to work in them before. The bees brought with the supers, in which the bees were already at work, will be an additional aid in continuing the work in them.
Often the reason why the bees do not enter the supers is because there is no honey for the bees to store, even if there is an abundance of bloom, as there may not be any nectar in it.
## COMB Building and Beeswarx.
The combs are built by the bees out of pure wax, and for two purposes, to rear their young, and for storing their food--honey and pollen. The wax is secreted by the bees from certain glands that lead to the scale-like rings, or ''wax pockets,'' on the lower side of the abdomen, and is not brought from the flowers in little round pellets on the hind legs of the bees, as many suppose. This is pollen and not wax.
When the bees are secreting wax they hang together in festoon-like fashion, and, consuming much honey, undergo a certain sweating process, during which the liquid wax passes through the glands and forms into little scales as it comes in contact with the air in the wax pockets. These are removed by the bees' legs, and moulded into shape where eomb is being built. In this way thousands of these little scales are formed and added where needed. Requiring the consumption of much honey and time to produce a pound of wax, it is an expensive product and this is why honey with the comb costs more than that which has been extracted from the comb.
In the center of the perpendicular combs, as they hang in the hive, is a ''septum'' or ''mid rib,'' from which the walls of the six-sided cells extend. The smaller sized cells in the comb are the worker cells, and occupy the largest part of the main comb surface, while the larger drone cells are generally situated nearer the lower edges. The worker cells measure five to the linear inch. There are nearly 29 worker cells to the square inch on each side of the comb, making almost 58 cells to the square inch of comb. There are four drone cells to the linear inch; about 18 to the square inch on one side and 36 cells to the square inch of comb. The two sizes are easily distinguished.
As few drone cells as possible should be allowed, as the more drones reared by a colony the more valueless consumers there are to use up surplus honey. Enough of them will be reared to fertilize the queens in spite of this precaution. To suppress them, as much as possible of the drone comb should be cut out and replaced with worker comb, which can be easily patehed in. The use of full sheets of comb foundation at all times and under all conditions, will prevent the bees from building drone cells.
Newly built combs are pure white, but become darker with age, from the continuous travel over them by the bees and the constant addition of discolored bits of wax mixed with propolis and other foreign matter. When brood is reared in them, the accumulation of eocoons left by eaeh hatching bee hastens the darkening of the combs, and very old brood combs finally become almost black in color.