BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
There seems to be no agricultural pursuit free from the disorders common to life in general. While many localities are free from disease, the bekeeper may have reason to expect its appearance sooner or later. While in tropical regions of many countries there are many enemies of the bees which may destroy whole apiaries, the temperate regions of the United States are free from serious danger on this score. The wavmoth is widely distributed and among amateurs generally feared. While it may destroy the combs of weak colonies, the wavmoth will not injure strong colonies, nor is there any animal known to the writer whose presence may endanger the success of his business.
Mice frequently cause injury in winterwhere the entrances of the hives are left wide open. All entrances should be contracted to not exceed three-eighths of an inch in height during the winter months to prevent the entrance of mice. These little animals also often damage combs that are stored in outbuildings or other situations within their reach. All unused combs should be protected from both mice and moths.
Skunks occasionally become troublesome by scratching at the entrance of a hive and devouring the bees as they rush out. Since they return to the same hive night after night, it is not usually difficult to catch the offender with a steel trap.
Waxmotis are the source of great anxiety to most beginners. As soon as a colony is lost from any cause, the moths will enter the hive and deposit their eggs. The larvae burrow through the combs and soon destroy them. **If a colony becomes weakened the moths are quite likely to destroy the combs, and thus hasten the end. However, the presence of moths may be regarded as a sign that all is not right, at least with the colony affected. If disease is present in the apiary, the colonies that become weakened by its ravages will fall easy victims to the moths. Queensland colonies or those whose condition is not normal from any reason, are the ones to be affected. Strong colonies easily defend themselves against the pest, so that the bekeeper who keeps close watch and knows that his bees are in good condition, seldom has any anxiety on account of waxmoths.
**Diseases of Bees.--**There are several different diseases known to affect the honeybee. The diseases of the adult bees are not well understood as yet. It is not definitely known how many there are, or what the cause may be, but it is quite probable that there are several distinct diseases of the adult bees.
**Paralysis** is the name by which we most often hear of disease of the mature bees. Itusually appears in spring. The affected bees appear black and shiny and they may be seen in front of the hive apparently unable to fly. At times the abdomen is distended. Bees also sometimes suffer from dysentery, which is probably caused by poor stores or too long confinement to the hive.
Foulbrook, of which there are two kinds, is the most serious disease with which the bekeeper has to contend in America. However, both forms are now so well understood that the well-informed bekeeper no longer fears then as he once did.
Both American and European foulbrood are diseases of the larva, and although they have well-defined differences, the novice would seldom be able to distinguish between them. If the brood is found to be dead without some apparent cause, it will be well for the bekeeper to cut out a piece of the comb containing some of the dead larvae and send it to the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Departmentof Agriculture, at Washington, D. C. Such samples will be examined by an expert and the beekeeper informed as to the nature of his trouble without expense to him. It is important that the particular disease which may be present be early determined, as the kind of treatment necessary will depend upon which disease is present. In the case of American foulbrood it will be necessary to remove the bees to a clean hive and deprive them of all their brood and honey. The contamination seems to be spread in the honey with this disease. If the disease is European foulbrood it will be necessary to check brood rearing for a time, and to requeen with a resistant strain, preferably Italian.
Sackwood is a disease somewhat resembling those just described. It is milder in form and frequently disappears of itself during a honey flow. The author usually requeens colonies found to be affected with this disease and this is usually sufficient.
## Chapter 31 Winter preparation
The novice who plans to keep but a few bees will do well to buy some of the double-walled hives now on the market, and thus reduce his winter preparation to the minimum. The ordinary single-walled hive provides insufficient protection in any of the Northern States and it is quite probable that the bees would be better for some extra protection in most of the Southern States. With the double-walled hive it is but a matter of a few minutes at the time of the last summer examination, to put the chaff tray in place over the frames, contract the entrance with the entrance blocks, replace the cover, and the job is done. No further attention needs to be paid to then, except to see that the entrances do not get clogged with ice during winter storms, until time to make the spring examination. In cold climates additional protection should be given.
properly ripened honey, the long confinement is very hard on them and they often become affected with dysentery, soiling their combs and putting the hive in a flithy condition.
Large clusters of young bees are also essential to successful wintering by any method. If the hive is full of old bees that have gathered the fall harvest, they will die before spring and the colony will perish. If the honey flow continues late, plenty of young bees will emerge late in the season to put the colony in prime condition for wintering. Old and failing queens will often fail to continue laying during the late summer and the colony will become greatly weakened, if it does not die before spring. Colonies known to have young queens will usually be in good condition unless there is a dearth of nectar during the fall months. At such times it is often necessary to feed lightly for a few days to stimulate brood rear ing, preparing the colony to go into winter quarters in proper condition.
Given the above described conditions, young queens, plenty of good stores, and a large cluster of young bees, a colony will stand a surprising amount of cold weather and come through in fine shape.
Protection for Winter.--As to whether outdoor or cellar wintering is best is not a matter of agreement among beekeepers. Both methods are generally practiced and there are those who feel very sure that one is best while others are equally sure the other will bring better results. Bees can be safely wintered by either method if proper attention is given to see that conditions are right. As stated at the beginning of the chapter, the writer would recommend double-walled hives, under ordinary conditions, to the person who has but a few colonies to care for. They would hardly be sufficient protection for the extreme north, but for most of the United States they will bring very good results if other conditions are right. Additional packing can be given where needed.
Cellar wintering has its advantages. The cellar should be dry and of a uniform temperature. A cellar that is warm during mild weather and cold when the thermometer drops, should never be used for the bees. The cellar should also be dark, as the bees will get restless in a cellar which is sufficiently warm, if the light enters during the day. For best results the temperature should not drop below forty degrees, and most of the time should stand about fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
The bees should be placed in the cellar as soon as settled cold weather begins, and left there until danger of severe weather is past in spring. It is better to take them in a little early and to remove them a little late than to err in the other direction.
Packing Outside.--Various plans of pro
## Chapter Xiv review of the season's work
**It** is difficult in a book of this kind which must be adapted to all parts of America to give a detailed chart for the operations necessary at different seasons of the year. The time of the principal honey flow varies so much in different localities that no time can be set for any operation. The whole year's work is planned with the one object in view of bringing the colony to the beginning of the main flow with as many bees as possible. The big colonies gather the big crops, and the bekeeper carries his work through the year so as to bring the colony to maximum strength at this time.
Whether the bekeeper lives in Maine or California, there are certain essentials which must be considered. One of these is to supply the bees with sufficient stores at the close ofthe season to carry them through the winter months and to furnish a reserve for building up the following spring. If the bees must depend upon stores gathered from the field at this uncertain season much of the productive possibility of the colony is likely to be lost. It is only in the presence of a liberal reserve of food within the hive that the queen is likely to lay to her capacity in the cool and catchy weather of early spring. Especially is this true when little nectar is coming from the iields Accordingly, when the bees are removed from winter quarters, the first thing necessary is to make sure that an abundance of stores are still present to enable the bees to build up rapidly. It takes a liberal supply of honey to rear the amount of brood necessary to make a strong colony, and one of the first essentials of good beekeeping lies in never allowing the colony to become short of stores.
At the first examination, the general condition of the colony should be noted. Not only should the bekeeper make sure that the supply of stores is sufficient, but he should ascertain whether or not a queen is present and in good condition. It sometimes happens that some colonies will be very weak at this season of the year, and, unless given some help, will be lost. Such weaklings may be helped by giving then a frame of sealed brood from a strong colony. It is unwise to give very weak colonies unsesaled brood, since they are unable to care for it properly. If the cluster is too small, it is often better to unite them with some other colony than to try to build them up. Very weak colonies can sometimes be saved by removing the cover from the hive containing a strong colony and in its place covering the hive with ordinary wire screen. The bottom of the hive containing the weak colony is then removed and the hive placed directly on top of the strong one. \(\Lambda\) hole to enable the bees to fly from the upper body should be made on the end opposite the entrance to the strong colony. The bees above will get the advantage of the heat ascending from the strong cluster below, while there is no chance for the bees to pass through the wire cloth and thus unite the two clusters. After the bees in the upper hive have recovered their strength sufficiently to enable them to care for their brood properly, they may be set off again on their regular stand.
**Robbing.--**In early spring when there is little to be had from the fields and some colonies are still weak, there is always danger of robbing. The bees from the strong colonies will fly around the openings of other lives until they find a suitable opportunity, and then come in such numbers as to overpower the rightful owners and carry off their honey. The best prevention is to contract the entrance to a very small space so that but few bees can pass at one time. All other cracks should be tightly closed. This will make it possible for the guards to protect from prying bees from other hives. If robbing once gets started it is likely to continue until the honey is all removed from the hive of the victims. Such a condition often leads to a general furore in the apiary, when one hive after another is robbed until many colonies are ruined. The beekeeper should always be on guard against robbing, as prevention is far better than cure.
If robbing has started it is easy to determine the colony which is doing the mischief by dropping flour on the bees as they leave the hives with their stolen plunder. At the beginning there is likely to be only one or two hives making mischief. When the trouble makers are located, to change places of the robbed colony with the one which is doing the robbing will often stop the trouble. Both entrances should be made smaller until only one bee is able to pass at a time.
The beekeeper should never leave bits of honey in the open where the bees can find access to it, as this often starts robbing. When the bees find honey exposed at a time when no nectar is coming from the fields, it starts then seeking out every crevicet in the vicinity in search of a larger supply, and much trouble is likely to result.
Preparing for the Crop.--Aside from making sure that the bees are in good condition, have a suitable supply of honey and proper protection; there is not much to be done in early spring. Supplies should always be ready in advance so that when the crop season arrives there will be no delay.
Care should be used to see that room is added as fast as needed. When the brood chamber becomes crowded it is time to give super room. If, when the cover is removed, the live seems to be overflowing with bees and the combs are being whitened at the tops of the frames, it is safe to assume that more room is necessary. When the bees are found to be working in the supers, close watch should be kept to make sure that additional room is added as fast as the bees are ready to occupy it. Many beekeepers fail to get a satisfactory crop simply because they fail to provide the bees a place to put it in time. During a good honey flow they will often fill a super in a very few days and, under favorable conditions, will often fill two to five supers before the first one is ready to be removed from the hive. The honey should be left with the bees until it is well capped over. If removed from the hives before it is properly ripened, the quality is likely to be poor. Where the beekeeper waits till one super is filled and removed before giving another, he is likely to lose the larger part of his crop in a good season. A strong colony will have more bees than can work in such a small space, and it requires some skill to determine how much room is necessary to secure the maximum yield,without scattering the honey too much. This is especially true of comb-honey production.
Removing the Honey.--When the supers are filled it is an easy matter to place those which are to be removed on top and place a bee's escape board underneath, between the filled super and the ones below. In a few hours the bees will have gone below and not being able to return the super can be removed, free from annoyance.
Closing the Season.--When the honey flow is over, the surplus honey should be removed from the bees as soon as possible. The preparations for winter should be made early in the fall, so as not to disturb the bees any later than necessary after active operations are over. At this season it is important to replace any old and failing queens with vigorous young ones, to replace the queen in colonies where the stock is undesirable for any reason, and to make sure that an abundant supply of honey is present to carry the bees through till the following season opens. Many beekeepers make a practice of leaving a super of extracting combs on the hive for a reserve supply, in addition to the honey in the brood nest.
Where the bees are sintered outside, the necessary packing should be done early. It is better to pack late than not to pack at all, but there is a decided advantage in favor of finishing the winter preparations as soon as convenient after the nights begin to be frosty.
All of the beekeeper's activities center in the queens which head his colonies. Without good queens no matter how careful the management there can be no satisfactory degree of success. Given vigorous young queens, the other essentials are not many. Mr. George Demuth of the **U. S. Department of Agriculture sums up as follows: stores, room and protection.** Given plenty of stores, an abundance of room for colony activities at the proper time, and suitable protection, success is assured.
## Glossar
_The Large-worldworldworld_. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 19
**Egyptian Bees.**: Yellow bees native to the Nile Valley.
**Equalizing Brood.**: Taking brood from strong colonies to give to those which are weaker for the purpose of making all colonies equally strong.
**Excluder.**: A contrivance made of perforated zinc or wire which prevents the queen from passing into the supers. The workers, being smaller, readily go through the perforations.
**Extracted Honey.**: Honey removed from the combs by means of an extractor.
**Extracting Combs.**: Combs from which the honey is removed by means of an extractor.
**Extractor.**: A machine for removing the honey from the comb. It consists of wire baskets which revolve within a large can. After the combs are uncapped they are placed in the baskets and the centrifugal motion throws the honey against the side of the can. It is drawn off by a faucet at the bottom.
**Fanning Bees.**: In warn weather a number of bees may be seen at the entrance of the hive, fanning with their wings for the purpose of creating air currents to ventilate the hive.
**Fertile Workers.**: In quenceless colonies it often happens that some of the worker bees begin to lay. Their eggs are scattered about in a very irregular manner. Being incapable of mating only maleoffspringresults, and the colony is therefore doomed.
**Forage.**: The flowering plants from which the bees gather nectar.
**Foulbrood.**: Foulbrood is of two forms, American and European, named from the countries where first recognized. Both diseases attack the young bees in the larval stage and are very disastrous in neglected apiaries.
**Foundation.**: See Comb Foundation.
**Frames.**: The containers in which combs are built. The invention of the frame made bekeeping a commercial possibility. Rev. L. L. Langstroth of Ohio was the first to devise a successful frame for the beehive.
**Gallup Hive.**: A hive with square frames \(111^{\prime}_{4}\) inches each way. It is no longer generally used.
**German Bees.**: The common bees of Europe, also called Black Bees. They were the first race introduced into America and for many years were the only race known here.
**Grading Rules.**: Rules by which honey is graded for market.
**Goldens.**: Bright yellow Italian bees of a strain which have been selected for their bright color.
**Hybrids.**: The term hybrid is used to indicate a cross between two races of bees. The worker bees which are the offspring of a mismatched queen are called hybrids.
**Italian Bees.**: Yellow bees native to Italy.
**Italianizing.**: Replacing ordinary queens with queens of the Italian race.
**Inspector.**: A public official whose duty it is to examine bees for leubrood and to make sure that proper treatment is given.
**Langstroth Hive.**: The standard hive in America. The frames are \(17^{\%}_{3}\,\mathrm{x}\;9^{\%}_{8}\) inches in size.
**Larvae.**: The young bees after hatching from the egg and before entering the pupai stage.
**Laying Workers.**: Worker bees which lay eggs. See Fertile Workers.
**Locality.**: The environment of the apiary. The term is used with particular reference to the available pasturage and the conditions that may be peculiar to a particular neighborhood.
**Long Idea Hive.**: A hive used by the late O. O. Poppleton, which used no supers but contained a sufficient number of frames to permit of removing surplus honey from the hivebody.
**Mating Hive.**: A small hive in which a small colony is kept for the purpose of getting queens mated. It is used by queen breeders who wish to secure as many queens as possible for the market. One large colony can be broken up into several parts, and thus serve to enable the breeder to increase the number of queens. See Baby Nucleus.
**Mandibles.**: The jaws of an insect which work sidewise.
**May Disease.**: A disease attacking adult bees in the spring of the year.
**Midrib.**: The septum of the honeycomb.
**Miller Cage.**: A queen cage invented by Dr. C. C. Miller.
**Mismated Queen.**: An impurely mated queen. A queen of one race that has mated with a drone of another race.
**Moth-Miller.**: The waxmoth. See Bermoth.
**Mother-Bee.**: The queen.
**Movable Frame.**: A loose frame which enables the bekeeper to examine any part of the interior of the hive at his pleasure. This term is used to distinguish such a hive from the box or skep
**Nectar.**: The sweet liquid secreted by flowers which the bees elaborate into honey.
**Nectaries.**: The glands which secrete nectar.
**Neuter.**: A term sometimes applied to worker bees and also to ants which are not developed sexually.
**Nucleus.**: (Plural nuclei.) In breaking up a strong colony into several parts, one, two or three frames of brood with adhering bees are taken away and placed in a separate hive. Each division is given a queen or ripe cell. These are spoken of as one-frame nuclei, two-frame nuclei or three-frame nuclei, as the case may be.
**Nurse Bees.**: The worker bees which feed the larvae. The newly emerged bees usually render this service, while older ones go to the fields.
**Observation Hive.**: A hive with glass walls which permit the beekeeper to observe the actions of the bees.
**Ocelli.**: The simple eyes of the bee, three in number and situated between the prominent compound eyes.
**Outapiary.**: An apiary situated at a distance from the beeper's home. Commercial beekeeping is usually carried on by means of a series of outapiaries two or more miles apart.
**Outyard.**: The same as outapiary.
**Overtocking.**: The stocking of a locality with more bees than the forage present will support profitably.
**Package Bees.**: Bees shipped in packages without combs.
**Parent Colony.**: A colony from which a swarm has issued.
**Parthenogenesis.**: The production of offspring by an unfertilized or unmated female. In the caseof the bee, unmated queens and sometimes workers, lay eggs which produce drones. See Dizerzon Theory.
**Pickled Brood.**: A mild disease attacking the larvae. Sactwood.
**Piping Queen.**: The notes made by a young queen usually very soon after emerging from the cell and often in response to similar notes made by one not yet out of the cell. The sound made within the cell is called quahking.
**Pollen.**: The fertilizing dust grains of plants. This is used by the bees as food for the larvae. A reserve supply is stored in the cells within the hive.
**Pollen Basket.**: The cavity on the hind leg of the worker bee where she deposits pollen to be carried from the field to the hive.
**Pound Packages.**: Packages in which bees are shipped without combs. These are of various sizes from one pound capacity upward.
**Prime Swarm.**: The first swarm to issue from ac Colony. See Afterswarm.
**Propolis.**: A gummy substance or glue which the bees gather to close up crevices within the hive.
**Punic Bees.**: See Tunisian Beces.
Author: Biggle, Jacob
Title: Biggle bee book
Place of Publication: Philadelphia
Copyright Date: 1909
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