BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
As a rule, a man already has some bees when he decides to become a bee-keeper. Perhaps he never formally makes any such decision. He captures a stray swarm, or cuts a bee tree and saves the bees, and the stock increases with such wonderful rapidity that the owner becomes a bee-keeper ere he scarcely realizes it. This wonderful rapidity with which bees increase is one strong argument in favor of a man securing a few colonies and building them up into an apiary, instead of buying a large number of colonies at the beginning. By rearing queens with which to furnish the newly made colonies, and furnishing them with full sheets of comb foundation, the extent to which bees can be increased in a favorable season is something almost beyond belief. Just how, or where, the first colonies shall be secured may well be considered. As a rule, the man who has steady work, at good wages, better buy bees in such movable comb hives as he intends to use. If he can get them near home, of some reliable bee-keeper, so much the better. Of course, there are instances in which a man has more time than money, or there may be a trace of the sportsman in his make-up, and, in either case, the hunting of bees, or the putting out of decoy hives to catch stray swarms, will make to him a strong appeal. In those parts of the country where many bees are kept, yet there is not much timber, as in Colorado or California, there is no difficulty in catching swarms in decoy hives; in fact, there is difficulty in keeping swarms out of chimneys, and the walls of buildings. While outriding one day with Mr, Gill, of Colorado, he pointed out one house in the walls of which five colonies had their homes. In California Mr, Mendelson set away three empty hives in his wagon shed, and when I was, there swarmshad taken possession of two of the hives. Even in well-timbered localities, stray swarms are frequently caught in decoy hives. Mr. George A. Fenton, of Pine Island, Minnesota, reported in the Review, in 1900, that he had, the previous year, caught more than 50 swarms in decoy hives. He used ordinary boxes instead of hives, and put them pretty high up in tall trees, as a good hive, easily accessible, is quite likely to be stolen. A piece of old, black comb is fastened inside the hive, or box, and the latter firmly fastened to the tree so as not to be easily blown down, a position being chosen where the hive will be in the shade. A tree on the edge of the woods is chosen, as, when a swarm reaches the woods it at once begins a search for a suitable hollow in which to make its home. The hives are examined as often as once a week, ofener if there is time, and when one is found occupied the tree is ascended by the use of climbers, the box lowered by means of a rope, and another box fastened up in its place. Mr. Fenton attributed his success to the fact that the farmers near him who had a few bees did not watch them, but let the swarms go to the woods, and, further, there was no _large_ timber for many miles around.
In all probability, more of my readers would be able to secure bees by finding and cutting beetles, than by putting out decoy hives, and, as the subject will not be touched upon elsewhere, I will here describe how beetles are found. In principle, it is simply that of putting out honey, in times of scarcity, when bees will "rob." watching the loaded bees as they fly home, and following the "line" of bees to the tree, but there are many details the observance of which greatly aids the hunter in his search. Those who hunt bees to any great extent use what is called a "bee-box." This is a small
## Appendix A Advanced Bee Culture
box made in two parts, the lower half being used to hold a piece of comb filled with honey, while the upper part, or cover, is used principally for catching the bees and getting them at work upon the "bait." The top of the upper part is covered with a glass, and a short distance below the glass is a horizontal, sliding partition; while still lower, just at the lower edge of one of the sides, is a small opening covered on the inner side with glass. Equipped with his box and a bottle of diluted honey, the bee hunter begins operations in some field or cleared spot near the forest in which he expects beetles may be found. The honey is diluted with an equal amount of water, as it enables the bees to load and unload quicker, to fly faster, and in a more direct line. Sometimes pieces of old comb are burned, the odor from the "smudge" attracting bees from a long distance. If, by careful search, a bee is found industriously at work upon some weed, the cover to the box is taken off, the slide drawn nearly out, and the open or lower side of the cover held near the bee. A hand-kerchief is then held upon the opposite side of the bee, and, as the cover and the hand-kerchief are brought quickly together, the bee is caught in the former. Seeing the light, the bee at once buzes up against the glass top of the cover, when the slide is shoved in, thus making the bee a prisoner. The cover is now replaced upon the box, the box set upon a stump or upon a stake stuck in the ground, the slide drawn nearly out, and the hand-kerchief spread over the glass top. The bee now sees only one opening, the small one in the side of the cover near its lower edge, and in attempting to escape by the lower opening, the bee comes in contact with the comb of honey in the lower part of the box.
To find the honey is to at once begin "loading up." Occasionally removing the hand-kerchief shows when the bee has found the honey, and as soon as it is seen filling its sac, the hunter carefully removes the cover, and places his eye near the ground. This position is assumed to secure the sky as a background in watching the bee take its homeward flight. Under such conditions a bee can be kept in sight for a long distance. A minute or two suffices for the bee to fill its honey sac, when it slowly rises in gradually widening circles. Each time around it sways more and more to one side--toward the spot where it lives; finally, having taken its "bearings," it strikes a "bee-line" for home. In a short time it returns with perhaps three or four companions in its wake--eager to learn from whence came that fine load of honey. The result is that a strong "line" of bees is finally at work between their home and the hunter's box. He now puts the cover on the box, shutting in the bees, and moves along on the "line" towards their home. After going some distance the bees are released, when they at once leave for home, only to return and re-establish the "line," when the hunter again closes the box and moves forward. When the bees turn and fly back on the line, it shows that the tree has been passed and must be near at hand. At this point in the game it may be advisable to resort to what is known as "cross-lining," that is, the box is moved off several rods to one side, and another, or "cross-line," established. The tree must certainly be near the point where these two lines intersect. The trunks and branches of all large trees in the vicinity are now carefully examined, particular attention being paid to any knot holes or openings. Getting the tree between the sun and the observer greatly aids in discovering any bees that may be flitting about. An opera glass is also a great aid in this part of the work.
Bee-trees are also found by walking through the woods in the first warm days in the spring, before the snow is off the ground, listening to their humming and noticing the dead bees that have been brought out and dropped upon the snow.
After the bees have been found, then comes the task of getting them out of the tree and into a hive. Sometimes it is possible, if they are located in a large limb, to cut off the limb beyond the portion occupied by the bees, and then cut off the portion in which they are located, and lower it by means of a rope. Again, it is sometimes possible to rig up a temporary scaffold, and cut out a piece of the tree over the bees' home, remove the combs and lower them in a basket. Such proceedings are attended with more or less danger, even when carried out by the most careful of men, and I would rather put up with the more or less broken condition of the combs that usually result from cutting down the tree, than with broken legs or arms. Many times a tree can be sougiuded that it will strike upon smaller trees that will break the fall. The saving of the bees and combs, after they have been reached, is very similar to an ordinary job of transferring from an old box hive to a movable comb hive. Pieces of comb containing brood must be fastened into frames, and hung in the hive, and as many as possible of the bees guided into the entrance. If the hive is left on the spot for several hours, perhaps over night, nearly all of the live bees will gather into the hive.
As I said at the beginning, if a man has steady work at good wages, he will, as a rule, find it more satisfactory to buy bees in good, movable comb hives; but, if he has the time and inclination to get a start by hunting bees, or by putting up decoy hives, what I have written will show him how to do it.
with but little labor, and, some believe, little brains, after they have once "caught on" to a few secrets. (?) To choose any business simply because it is profitable, is the height of folly. A business that is unusually profitable does not long remain such. It soon becomes overcrowded, and loses its bonanza character. A man should choose a business because he and his surroundings are best adapted to the pursuit.
Many fallinto the error of judging entirely by _results_, regardless of causes. As that excellent bee-keeper, R. L. Taylor, of Michigan, once said: "The greatest actual results do not prove the method of management by which they were produced to be the best. Time, and labor, and thought, and care, and material, and capital, are all money, so the greatest results numerically, may be obtained at a loss, while the least apparent results may yield a profit."
In much this same manner do many bee-keepers make the mistake of computing their income at so many pounds per colony, and at so much per round. The greatest yield per colony might not be so profitable as a less yield per colony from more colonies, or even a lessened yield from the same number of colonies. If a great yield per colony is the result of a great deal of work, it may be that the work was done at a loss. Bee-keeping should be viewed in a broader light. It may sometimes be profitable to put a great deal of work on each colony, but each bee-keeper should ask himself, how, _all_ things considered, can I make the most profit? That is the question, and all other propositions not relating directly thereto are mistakes.
And this leads to the mention of another mistake, the keeping of too few bees. Instead of keeping only a few colonies, and striving to secure the largest yield per colony, it is usually more profitable to keep more bees--enough to gather all the honey in a given area, and then when that area is overstocked, it is probably a mistake not to start out-appliers. There is much to be gained in having as few _kinds_ of things to do as possible, and as _much_ of them as can be managed. The proportional cost of doing business is greatly lessened by increasing the volume.
Another mistake is that of choosing hives, implements and methods that are complicated and require much time for their manipulation. A most common error in this direction is that of trying to adapt hives to _bces_, to such an extent as to almost entirely ignore the adaptability of the hive to the bee-keeper. I remember once hearing a bee-keeper arguing for a hive that it was "so handy for the bees." "Why," said he, "if you were building a house, would you have it so arranged that your wife would be compelled to go up and down stairs between the kitchen and the pantry?" It must be re membered that we build lives for our bees, and houses for our wives, with altogether different objects in view. Wedon't keep bees, nor arrange their lives, so much with a view to saving them labor, as that we may get the most honey with the least labor to _ourscles_. Drone-traps, queen-traps, self-hivers, queen-excluders, separators, and many other contrivances, are probably not considered "handy" by the bees, but their use is an advantage to us.
It is in line with this method of reasoning that causes some beekeepers to make the mistake of condemning any practice that is not "according to nature." The whole system of modern bee culture is largely a transgression of nature's laws, or of managing differently than the bees would manage if left to their own way of doing things. In some things it is advisable to allow nature to have her own way, in others it is not, and our success is just in proportion as we learn when and where we can, advantageously, to a certain extent, cross nature's methods with those of man's intelligence.
Mistakes have been made, and erroneous conclusions arrived at, by experimenting upon too small a scale. There are some kinds of experiments which will demonstrate truths just as well upon a small as upon a large scale, while there are others requiring experiments upon a large scale, and a repetition of experiments, before definite conclusions can be arrived at.
Many beginners make the mistake of thinking that they can improve some of the standard hives and implements; and that before they have fairly learned the business. A beginner with a few brains, boards, and buzz saw, is the man of all others who feels called upon to invent a bee hive.
Others make the mistake of adopting new hives, implements, methods, or varieties of bees, upon too large a scale before they are certain that the change will be desirable. When a new thing with one advantage is held up before our eyes, we are too much given to forgetting the many advantages possessed by the article that we are asked to lay aside for the new comer. As a rule, the rank and file can afford to wait until at least good reports are given in regard to a novelty. Then it will be in order to experiment upon no larger scale than that upon which failure can be met and borne.
Speaking of the "rank and file" waiting for the leaders or others to try novelties, reminds me that it is a mistake to have _unduce_ confidence in the leaders, or in any one, for that matter. It is possible that they may be in error, or some unknown circumstances may cause different results at different times in other localities. It is a mistake to pin one's faith blindly to another. Read how other men have succeeded, consider their advice, but do your own thinking just the same, and try things for yourself until you are sure you are right, then go ahead.
One expensive mistake, yet one that is easily avoided, is made year after year by many bee-keepers, and that is not securing hives,sections, foundation and other supplies in season. They _incent_ to buy them soon enough, but wait until the last moment. So many others do the same thing that dealers and manufacturers are overrun with orders, and expensive and vexations delays occur. A delay of a few days, at just the right time, sometimes means the loss of a crop of honey.
It is a mistake to attempt the production of honey, commercially, in a locality not suited for the business. The same may be said of queen rearing. It is a mistake to attempt it as a business in the Northern States--the seasons are too short. I followed it several years, and, while the experience may be valuable to me in my position, I am now well satisfied that I would have made vastly more money had I turned my whole time and attention to the production of honey.
It is a mistake to suppose that a poor location can be changed to a good one by planting for honey. Those who thus imagine do not realize the vast area of bloom that is needed to produce a surplus crop of honey. The bees of in quiary, going 2\({}^{12}\) miles in every direction, scour a territory of about 12,000 acres. There is this to be said, however, if the soil, climate, and other conditions, are such that it is profitable for farmers to raise such crops as yield honey, then they will be raised, and the average will be such that the yield of honey from them will be of benefit to an quiary in that locality. Note the backwheent regions of New York and the alfalfa fields of Colorado as examples.
as a rule, early in the summer. It may be very abundant, but is seldom of long duration; for this reason those varieties of bees are preferable that rear brood very abundantly early in the season, and then slacken breeding as soon as the main harvest begins. In some parts of the West the honey harvest is much longer than in the East. There are no such rapid flows as we have here sometimes from basswood, but there is a steady flow that may last for months; the conditions being ideal for the production of comb honey, as there is abundant time in which to build combs for the storage of the honey, fill them and seal them over.
In the white clover and basswood regions, swarming and the main honey-harvest come at the same time; in some parts of the Southwest, swarming comes on with the flow from the early, minor honey plants, and is almost entirely abandoned with the advent of the heavy honey-flow that comes on later.
The question of large versus small hives, over which there have been so many spirited discussions, is largely one of locality. In the cooler regions, where the harvest is early and short, small hives find favor, especially in comb honey production, while the large hive is a favorite in the warmer regions that are blessed with a long honey.
Which the bee-keeper shall produce, comb, or extracted honey, is also largely a question of locality. Where the main honey-flow is short, as it often is from basswood, sometimes lasting only a few days, there is not time for the bees to build combs in the sections, fill them, and cap them over, before the harvest is over and past. With full sets of drawn combs in the extracting-supers, a good crop of extracted honey may be secured within a week. Such conditions as these exist in many parts of Wisconsin. Where honey must be shipped long distances to market, as is the case in Cuba and California, one very important reason for producing extracted honey is that there is so much less danger of damage in shipment. Dark honey is, as a rule, much more salable in the extracted form. When the flow is light but constant, and of long duration, as in Colorado, and the honey is white, comb honey production has its advantages, as honey is worth more when stored in sections than when taken in the extracted form.
California furnishes the most immense crops of honey that are any where produced, but they are entirely dependent upon the rainfall that comes in the winter. If the rains fail to come, the bee-keeper knows to a certainty that, not only will there be no surplus, but, unless the proper management is given, his colonies will perish from starvation.
## Appendix A Advanced Bee Culture
In the buckwheat regions of New York, not much dependence is placed upon the early honey-flows for securing a surplus. They enable the bees to breed up, and, as a rule, finish their swarming, before the buckwheat opens, when the main crop of the season is gathered. A colony so weak in the spring that it would be nearly useless in a flow from clover or basswood, has abundant time in which to build up for the buckwheat honey-harvest.
Then, again, there are localities near swamps, where the main flow comes very late, from fall-flowers, asters, and the like. The yield is often very abundant, but the quality is undesirable when used for winter-stores. If the cold confines the bees for several months upon such stores, they are almost certain to perish. The only remedy is to extract the honey and feed sugar syrup; unless it might be that of brimstoning the bees in the fall, and buying more in the spring from some other locality, a course which has been followed successfully, as the long season for preparation allows of the building up of one colony into several.
It would be an easy matter to use pages in giving illustrations of the differences in localities, but it is unnecessary; the thing for the bee-keeper to remember is that if he changes his locality he must leave behind him many of his old notions and methods, and seek the advice of his new neighbors who have been successful. The veteran bee-keeper from the verdant hills of old Vermont would make a flat failure were he to bring his apiary to Colorado, and manage it the same as he has been accustomed to doing. A bee-keeper can not know his locality too thoroughly. Some men succeed in localities where the majority fail, and one reason is because their more thorough knowledge of the locality enables them to adopt methods more perfectly adapted to the peculiarities of that location. Above all things, _know your locality_.
gathering and storing of honey. It might be safely said that the Italians are the standard variety of this country. They are very gentle in disposition, remaining quietly on the combs when being handled, while there seems to be about them a peculiarly quiet, steady, energetic determination possessed by no other variety. Almost any variety of bees will do fair work gathering honey when it is plentiful and near by, but when the flowers yield sparingly, and must be sought for far and wide, then it is that the Italians carry off the palm. For the production of extracted honey, the Italians are probably unexcelled, but in producing comb honey the blacks show two points of superiority. They are more willing to store their honey in the supers at some distance from the brood, and, in capping their honey, they leave a small space between the honeyand the capping, which gives to the comb an almost snowy whiteness. The blacks are also more easily driven out of the supers with smoke, and more readily shaken from the combs. They are very irritable while being handled, many taking wing, and others running about upon the combs, gathering in bunches and dropping off upon the ground. For the production of comb honey there is probably no better bee than a cross between the Italians and the blacks, at least, so far as results are concerned. They are energetic workers, willing and ready to store their honey in the supers, but, unfortunately, they are possessed of a very uneven temper. Either variety, black or Italian, in its purity, is easier to handle than is a cross between them.