BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Q. I am a beekeeper in a small way, having 64 colonies; but I am going to have a hard struggle, as people here spray when the bloom is on as well as when there is none. Spraying fruit trees is the thing, but not when the bloom is on. It doesn't do any good to talk to people. If we haven't any law in the state, why don't the beekeepers go together and get a bill before our legis33) } } DR. MILLER's
lature against this spraying when the bloom is on? That is all that will ever stop it.
A. You are quite right about the importance of a law against spraying, but I am sorry to say there is no law upon the subject in Illinois. A few years ago quite an effort was made in that direction, and a bill introduced in the legislature, but it was buried in committee. The trouble is that the chairman of the committee to which such bills are referred has always been a fruit-man rather than a bec-man. I wrote to the chairman of the committee at that time and he replied that fruit-men all knew that spraying fruit trees when in bloom was against their own interests, and so there was no law needed. Of course that looks reasonable; it would seem hardly necessary to have a law against a man building a bonfire under a live apple tree. All the same, there are ignorant orchardists, as in your neighborhood. I think that the real milk in the cocoanut is that those fruit-men, who are none too conscientious, although they know it to be against their interests to spray during bloom, want to spray as near that time as possible, and don't want the risk of butting up against the law if they should happen to spray at a wrong time.
**Spring Protection.-Q.** (a) I wish to give my hives spring protection. I have read of roofing-paper or felt being used, but would not this plan do? That is, just get a dry goods box (which can be done very cheaply), and both sides and bottoms being made of natched lumber, take the top off, and invert the dry goods box over the hive, a sufficient hole for entrance being cut into the dry goods box to open over the hive-entrance? I figured on no packing of any kind between the box and hive.
(b) Would not ordinary oat straw covering over the hives, leaving an entrance, be good spring protection? Or would a wct spring keep the hives too damp?
A. (a) Your plan may work, but the trouble is that when the sun shines out for a short time, or even for a long time, the bees don't get the benefit of it, the dry goods box keeping them cool; whereas, with the black felt they would be made warmer than with the naked hive.
(b) It will be all right if some covering to shed the rain is over the straw, or if the straw is so placed as to shed the rain.
**Splints.-Q.** What are your splints, for staying foundation? How are they used?
A. They are splints one-sixteenth of an inch square, of basswood or some other straight-grained wood, about one-quarter inch shorter than the distance from top to bottom-bar. It would be better to have them touch both top and bottom-bar, but it would be more difficult to put them in. They are put in something like two inches apart, the two outer ones within half an inch to an inch of the end-bars. The splints are put in a dish of hot wax and left there till all frothing and bubbling ceases, and then they are lifted, one by one, by a pair of pincers, laid upon the foundation, which must be properly supported upon a board, and an assistant presses each splint into the foundation by means of the edge of a little board kept constantly wet. If put in while too hot, there will not be a good coating of wax on the splints. The foundation enters the groove in the top-bar and goes down through the bottom-bar, which is in two parts, the lower edge of the foundation being squeezed between the two parts. The advantage is that the comb is built down to the bottom-bar. You may like better, however, a plain bottom-bar, all in one piece. If, however, such a frame of foundation be given at a time when they are gathering nothing, the bees will gnaw a passage over the bottom-bar.
Q. Where you use foundation splints and split bottom-bars, what kind of foundation do you use--medium or light brood?
A. Medium gives good results, but light brood might be just as good with two or three more splints to the sheet.
Q. (a) On page 393, of "Langstroth on the Honeybee," you advocate the use of wooden splints to support wide strips of foundation. Do you use these splints in extracting frames as well as in frames for chunk honey?
(b) Do you use splints opposite each other on the foundation, or do you use them on one side only?
A. (a) I would use splints in extracting combs, but on no account in chunk honey, unless the honey were afterward to be cut up on the lines of the splints and the splints taken out.
(b) On one side only.
**Stimulation.**Q. What is the safest and best plan to pursue to stimulate brood-rearing in weak colonies in the spring, and how long before the honey-flow should one commence? (Wisconsin.)
A. In your locality probably the safest and best thing is to see that the bees have abundance of provisions, and let them entirely alone, for more harm than good may be done by frequent feeding in catchy weather. But in localities where there is nice, warm weather for bees to fly, and nothing to get for a week or more, then it may be a good thing to feed a pound or so every other day.
Q. Would uncapping a little honey every day be as good for stimulative feeding as syrup made from granulated sugar? There is plenty of honey in the hive, and I want the bees to build up so that they will be booming when the honey-flow comes on.
A. Yes, and very likely you may save yourself much trouble. Every two or three days may do as well as every day. If the queen is laying all the eggs the bees can cover, it is hardly worth while to take even that trouble, for stimulating can hardly help, unless it be that it gets up extra heat in the hive.
**Stingless Bees.--Q.** Is it true that stingless bees have been produced?
A. There are stingless bees in South America, as has been long known, but they are not of value commercially.
**Stings (See Beestings.)**
**Strawberries.--Q.** Do bees gather honey from strawberry blossoms?
A. I don't think bees get much honey from strawberries.
**Sugar.--Q.** I want to know if all sugar sold for granulated sugar is cane sugar or will answer for bee-feed. How can I tell cane sugar from beet sugar? How can I procure cane sugar in rural sections like the hill towns of New England?
A. I think that only a small part of the granulated sugar is made from cane sugar, and although I have tried very hard to learn some way in which cane sugar could be told from beet sugar, I am still in ignorance on that point. The British Bee Journal stoutly insists that beet sugar should not be fed to bees, but authorities on this side the water insist just as strongly that there is no possible difference between beet and cane sugar when it is made into granulated sugar. Certain it is that thousands of pounds of granulated sugar made from beets have been fed with good results.
**Sugar Candy.--Q.** How do you make queen candy?
A. Take a small amount of extracted honey warmed and work into it enough powdered sugar to make a stiff dough. Let it stand a day or longer, and if it becomes thin, work in more sugar.
Q. Do you think soft sugar is as good to stimulate brood rearing as syrup? Is it as good for winter stores? Is soft brown sugar all right for bees?
A. I should think there would be little difference between soft sugar and syrup. But neither of them is as good as honey for brood-rearing. Brown sugar is good for bees at any time when they are flying, if they will take it; but syrup of granulated sugar is better for winter.
**Sugar Syrup.--Q. How thin a sugar syrup may be fed to bees without danger of spoiling after taking into the hive?**
A. Early in the season, when the bees are flying daily, it will do no harm to feed them syrup just as thin as they will take it, say one part sugar to ten of water. And the same is true until fairly late in the season. As the weather begins to be cool toward fall, the syrup must be given thicker and thicker, lest the bees do not have time to evaporate it sufficiently, and as late as November it will not be well to feed a thinner syrup than two parts sugar to one of water, and two and one-half of sugar to one of water is still better.
Q. In making syrup two to one in boiling water, after it is thoroughly mixed, is it necessary to put it on the stove to let it come to a boil?
A. All that's needed is to dissolve the sugar, even if in cold water.
Q. How would you prepare sugar syrup to feed in cellar, when it is absolutely necessary to feed in mid-winter to preserve from starvation?
A. Just a plain syrup, two pints or pounds of water to five pints or pounds of sugar. Stir the sugar slowly into the hot water, and be very careful not to scorch it. But you might do better to make a plain candy and lay over the frames.
Q. I have half a barrel of common syrup that is of no use to me. Would you let the bees have it in the spring? If so, how, and what time?
A. Yes, there is generally a time in the spring when bees can fly every day but get little or no nectar. At such a time it will be well to feed such syrup. Either feed in the hive with a Miller or other feeder, or if you are situated where neighbor bees will not get the lion's share, you can feed in the open air in shallow dishes with cork chips on top, or some other arrangement to keep the bees from drowning. Open-air feeding may be a little the best for the bees--more like working in the field.
Q. Will you please inform me what kind of acid is used in syrup to keep it from granulating? And how much of the acid is used to a gallon of syrup?
A. An even teaspoonful of tartaric acid for every 20 pounds of sugar is stirred into the syrup about the time the sugar is dissolved. The acid is first dissolved in a little water.
**Sumac--Q. Does sumac yield honey? I removed some honey this season that had a greenish tinge. The comb fairly meltedin the mouth. It is capped white. Could this have been sumac? The bees worked on it steadily for a week.
A. Sumac is a fine honey-plant in some places. It is very light amber, usually. Your honey was probably sumac mixed with other honeys. Sweet clover honey has a greenish tinge.
**Sunflower.-Q.** Is there any honey in sunflowers, and, if so, could the common black bees get it?
A. Yes to both questions.
**Supers, Examining.-Q.** How often should supers be looked after, or rather, examined, as to how far they are filled?
A. Every ten days is not far out of the way, generally, only make sure that they are never crowded so as to lack storingroom.
**Supers, Exchanging.-Q.** If I take the supers from the parent colony and put them on the new swarm, will the bees that are in the field keep on working in the super?
A. Yes, there is danger of the queen going up if the supers are put on immediately after the swarm is hived, unless a queen-excluder is used. In the absence of an excluder, do not put the supers on for about two days, and in that time the queen will have made a start below and will not lie likely to go into the super.
**Supers, Failure to Work in.-Q.** I have five colonies of bees and they are doing well, as far as I can see, but they are not at work in the supers. What is the cause? What is the remedy, if any?
A. There may be several reasons why bees do not work in supers. There may not be a sufficient flow to supply more than their daily needs. The colony may not be strong enough, and your must wait until it builds up stronger. The brood-chamber may not yet be filled, and the first care of the bees is to fill all vacant room below before storing in the super. Sometimes, however, the bees are slow about making a start in the supers, when they seem strong enough, with a good flow, and the brood-chamber filled. In that case you must put a bait in the super to bait the bees into it. Just how you will do that depends upon the character of your supers. If extracting-supers, then you can likely put into the super a frame of brood for a few days, or until the bees begin work in the adjoining frames. If you have sections in supers, then put in the center of the super a section that is partly built out, either empty or containing some honey. If you can do no better, you can cut out of one of the brood-combs a piece of brood or honey and put it in a central section. If that will not start them to work you may know that they are not strong enough to store in the super, or that there is not enough for them to store. Perhaps the ventilation is not good, and the supers are uncomfortable.
**Supers, Kind to Use.-Q**. Which section super do you prefer, and would you advise plain or beeway sections, and which kind of separator?
A. After a great deal of experience with different supers, I prefer the "T" super. A considerable experience with different kinds of sections makes me prefer the beeway, 4%x4%x1%. In handling the plain sections, one must be more careful test the fingers be thrust in them, and more careful test they tumble over. A loose, plain wood separator serves well, is inexpensive and easy to clean.
Q. What objections, if any, do you have to the fence and Ideal super?
A. Without mentioning any other objection, the fences are more troublesome to clean, and so are the plain sections that go with them, for it is easier to mar the honey in a plain section, and it topples over more easily when standing.
Q. Which is the better for extracting, the full depth or the shallow super?
A. Except for the inconvenience that they cannot be used interchangeably in the brood-chamber, the shallow frames are considered better for extracting. The queen is less likely to go up into them, and their shallowness makes them easier to clean.
**Supers, Number for Each Hive.-Q**. Would two supers be enough to get for each hive?
A. You can get along, after a fashion, with only one super, but it is very poor economy to scrimp in the matter of supers. I: you mean extracting-supers of the same size as the brood-chamber, three would be better than two. For sections, I would not like to start in the season with less than six supers of 24 sections each for each colony.
**Supers, Putting On.-Q**. Is there any danger of giving a super too soon?
A. Yes, if you should give a super a month before the harvest it would be making the bees keep up the heat unnecessarily in just so much more room.
Q. If I put on the supers before the bees swarm, will that keep them from swarming?A. Sometimes it will; generally it will not. Giving plenty of room is one of the things that help to prevent swarming, but it is only a help, and not a reliable preventive.
Q. When is the best time to put supers on hives? Do bees necessarily accumulate on the outside of the hive before swarming?
A. The best time to put on supers depends a little upon what you may desire. If you are anxious for increase through natural swarming, it may be best to delay putting on supers till after the harvest is under way, for crowding the brood-chamber with honey will have the effect of starting the bees into the notion of swarming. Indeed, it would make a more sure thing of the swarming if no super should be given until after the bees have actually swarmed. Generally, however, the desire is for honey rather than swarms. In that case the super should be given before there is any danger of crowding the brood-chamber with honey. A little too soon is better than a little too late. One way is to watch the flowers from which the harvest is expected, and put on supers as soon as they appear in quantity. In your region white clover is probably the thing for you to watch. Another way is to watch the condition of the brood-chamber, and put on supers when the brood-combs begin to be crowded with honey. The old rule was to give supers when white wax begins to be plastered on the upper parts of the comb; a good rule in most cases, but for those who prefer not to have any swarming (even though it may be a rare thing for the bees to respect their wishes) it is better to have supers on before the bees get so far as to secrete this extra wax.
Q. When a super is nearly full of honey, is it best to put another super on top and let the bees get well to working before "undcr-supering?"
A. When a super is something like half filled and the prospect is good for a continuous yield, put a new super under. You may at the same time put an empty super on top, ready to be put next to the hive at the next shift.
Q. In the early part of the honey-flow, in putting on extra supers, do you put them underneath those already on top?
A. The second super is put under the first, and at the same time another empty is put on top. This last serves as a safety valve in case the bees should need more room. There is another important advantage. With the best care it will sometimes hap * 29
pen that the upper starter will not be fastened securely its entire length, although this would not be noticed in ordinary handling. If such a section be put next the hive under another super, the bees will cluster upon it and drag it down. If it be put on top the bees will very gradually occupy that super, and will fasten the starter securely before any special weight be put upon it. In most cases the top super will not have much done in it, but will be ready to be put down as the lowest one, and a fresh empty super will be put on top. When the flow is on the wanesome care must be taken not to have too many unfinished sections, and then the empty super is not put below, but if the bees need more room they can work up into the super on top.
Q. When there is a good honey-flow, and two supers full of honey, would it be best to take the two supers off and put on the third on top of the two, so as to give the honey a better chance to ripen?
A. With a good flow on, it will probably never happen that it will be good practice to take off the two supers that are on, and leave the colony with one empty super. For the bees should always have at least plenty, if not abundance, of room, and so a third super should always be given before the first two are ready to be taken off. In my own apiary, a good flow being on, a super is not often taken off before three or four supers are on, and in a few cases there may be as many as seven or eight on. When the first two are pretty well filled, a third super is given below them, and likely enough another on top. All this referring to a beekeeper running for section honey. With extracted honey all may be left on until the close of each particular flow, if not to the close ot the entire season, or the honey may be extracted whenever it is ripe. The third super is generally given below, a queen-ex-cluder being used. But E. D. Townsend, a very successful beekeeper, gives the empty super above, dispensing with the excluder. He says the combs filled with honey act as an excluder to keep the queen from going up into the empty super.
Q. How high do you tier up? I am using the Townsend way by putting an extracted comb on each side, and sections in the center, and on some hives I use shallow extracting-frames filled with comb. I find these were one-half to three-fourths filled with honey by June 16, and have put supers filled with sections under the partly-filled ones.
A. In a very poor season there will be no tiering up. In a good season, after the season has fairly advanced, there will be three or four supers on each hive, and from that up to seven or eight. But in the latter case the top and the bottom super will likely be empty, or nearly so.
Q. With a full depth extracting-super, would it be any advantage to put the colony with the queen above the super with a honey-board between? Would the bees store honey in it at all? I thought perhaps the bees, having to pass through the super to get to the brood-chamber, they might store some honey earlier than otherwise.
A. Bees prefer to store honey above their brood, and with room above, you could hardly expect them to store below. Yet in a strong flow I have had them store in a story below. But they will not store below so soon as they will above.
**Supers, Removing.-Q.** The super is now nearly full. Is it advisable to take it off?
A. It is well to take away sections as often as a complete superful is ready, although it is hardly best to wait until the corner sections are all sealed, for if you do so the central sections will have their cappings darkened. The unfinished sections may be assembled from different supers into one super and returned to the bees to be finished.
Q. I run my bees for extracted honey. How can I free the supers of bees without having to brush every comb? I do not care to use the Porter bee-escape board if there is any other way.
A. You could use some other escape, as the Miller tent-escape. It consists of a robber-cloth with a cone of wire-cloth centrally located. The La Reese escape is favored by some. The Miller escape is put on top of a pile of supers after they are taken from the hives.
Q. Is it proper to take off the supers in the fall of the year? (Arkansas.)
A. In your latitude (36 degrees) it will probably do no harm to leave extracting-supers on the hive over winter. But it will not do to leave section-supers on the hive over winter in any climate, because the comb in the sections will be spoiled. Neither should the sections be left on until fall, unless the honey-flow continues until then. Just as soon as the bees stop storing in the sections they should be taken off.
**Supers, Space Below.-Q.** How much space should there be between the brood-frames and supers, or board, if left on?
A. About one-fourth inch; less rather than more.
**Supers, "T."-Q.** What is a "T" super? Looking up the catalogs I find nothing except "T" tins in this line.
A. A "T" super is a plain box without top or bottom, one-quarter inch deeper than the height of the sections it is to contain. On the bottom, at each end, is a plain strip of tin to support one end of the sections in the end rows, and at the proper places staples are driven into the bottom and then bent so as to support the "T" tins inside. On page 19 of "Forty "ears Anong the Becs" is a picture of a "T" super, which is reproduced here.
I'm sorry to say it doesn't show as plainly as it might what a "T" super is. The three "T" tins are shown loose, and you will see at the bottom of the super the supports for them, which are here squares of sheet-iron nailed on. The bent staples are later, and perhaps a little better.
It seems a very strange inconsistency that allows "T" tins to be listed in a catalogue and not the "T" super, for without the "T" super one will have no use for a "T" tin. For some reason, no manufacturer pushes "T" supers, and yet there are not a few who produce section-honey on a large scale who will have no others. As for myself, I have tried about all the surplus arrangements for section-honey that have been put on the market, some of them on a pretty large scale, and as yet have found nothing else to equal the "T" super. I have seen it condemned, but when I learned how it was used, without taking advantage of its best
Figure 34: A T-Super.
features, I don't wonder at its being condemned. I have no personal interest in the affair; it is no invention of mine, but it is my deliberate conviction that at present there is no better super in existence that the "T" super.
Q. Just how long ought the "T" super to be made inside?
A. Mine are 17% long inside. I don't know whether any other length would do better.
Q. I read that you use the "T" supers. I have a few regular supers on hand, but figuring how much furniture it takes, and the trouble to keep them clean, I thought perhaps this was your reason for using the super you do.