BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
In the first place, it must be recollected that a large proportion --in some cases the great bulk--of the honey gathered by bees is obtained from trees, as, for instance, the linden in Europe, the basswood and maple in America, and in this country the forest trees, nearly all of which supply rich forage for the bee, and everywhere from fruit-trees in orchards. A large quantity is gathered from flowers and flowering shrubs reared in gardens; from clover and other plants grown for hay, and not for pasture; and even in the field there are many shrubs and flowering plants which yield honey, but which are never eaten by cattle. Pastures, therefore, form but a small part of the sources from which honey is obtained; and in dealing with this grazing question we have to confine our inquiries to clovers and other flowering plants grown in open pastures, and such as constitute the ordinary food of grazing-stock. In order to meet the question in the most direct manner, however, let us assume the extreme case of a large apiary being placed in a district where there is nothing else but such open pastures, and growing only such flowering plants as are generally eaten by stock. Now, the ordinary working-range of the bee may be taken at a mile and a half from the apiary on all sides, which gives an area of about 4,500 acres for the supply of the apiary; and if the latter consists of a hundred hives, producing an average of 100 lb. of honey, there would be a little more than 2 lb. of honey collected off each acre in the year; or, if we suppose so many as two hundred hives to be kept at one place, and to produce so much as 10 tons of honey in the season, the quantity collected from each acre would be 4 lb. to 5 lb.
upon an acre during the whole season; a matter so ridiculously trivial in itself, and so out of all proportion to the services rendered to the pasture by the bees, that it may be safely to be left out of consideration altogether.
BeBekeeping as a Branch of Farming.
There is still one point which may possibly be raised by the agricultural or landowner: " If the working of bees is so beneficial to my crops, and if such a large quantity of valuable matter may be taken, in addition to the ordinary crops, without impoverishing my land, why should I not take it instead of another person who has by right no interest in my crop or my land?" The answer to this is obvious. It is, of course, quite open to the agricultural to keep any number of bees he may think fit; only, he must consider well in how far it will pay him to add the care of an apiary to his other duties. No doubt every one farming land may with advantage keep a few stands of hives to supply his own wants in honey; the care of them will not take up too much of his time, or interfere much with his other labours; but if he starts a large apiary with the expectation that it shall pay for itself, he must either give up the greater portion of his own time to it or employ skilled labour for that special purpose; and he must recollect that the profits of beekeeping are not generally so large as to afford more than a fair remuneration for the capital, skill, and time required to be devoted to the pursuit. In any case, he cannot confine the bees to work exclusively on his own property, unless the latter is very extensive. When such is the case, he may find it greatly to his advantage to establish one or more apiaries to be worked under proper management, as a separate branch of his undertaking; but in every case, whether he may incur or share the risks of profit and loss in working an apiary or not, the thing itself can only be a source of unmixed advantage to his agricultural operations, and consequently if he does not occupy the ground in that way himself he should only be glad to see it done by any other person.
By Authority : John Mackay, Government Printer.--1905.
[10,000/5/1905 - 3789
PRACTICAL ADVICE.
Page
I. The Use of Comb-foundation.......... 1
II. The Ripening and Maturing of Honey........ 8
Amount of Moisture in Honey.......... 3
Testing Honey for Ripeness............ 4
Specific Gravity of Honey............ 4
Testa made.............. 4
Method of Testing.............. 5
Honey Vioegar............ 6
Ripening Honey inside and outside the Hive...... 6
Ripening and Maturing Tanks.......... 8
Size of Honey-tanks.......... 9
E. W. Alexander's Honey-tank........ 10
Heatiog the Honey-house at Night........ 10
11. Dealing with Thick Honey.......... 11
Flora from which Thick Honey is gathered...... 12
Making the Best of the Difficulty........ 12
Honey-press............ 12
IV. Diseases of Bees and their Treatment........ 14
Foul-brood............ 14
Pickle-brood............ 19
Chilled, Overheated, and Starved Brood........ 19
Palsy or Paralysis.......... 19
V. The Large Bee or Wax Moth.......... 20
"The Apiarles Act, 1907 ".......... 22
A Cheap Frame Hive............ 23
VI Spring Feeding of Bees............ 25
The Cause of Starvation.......... 25
When and how to feed.......... 26
Feeders............ 26
APICUURE IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.
Are Bees Trespasers?.......... 27
Benefioial Influence of Bees on Agriculture........ 27
Can Bees harm the Soil or the Crops?........ 29
Saccharine Matter of Plants not derived from the Soil...... 29
Derived from the Atmosphere and Rain-water.......... 30
Nectar of Plants intended to attract Inecots........ 30
Sometimes thrown off as superfluous........ 81
Superfluous Nectar evaporated if not taken by Inecets...... 82
Question as to Grazing stock.......... 33
Quantity of Honey furnished by Pasture Land........ 33
Proportion possibly consumed by Stock........ 84
Beekreeping as a Branch of Farming.......... 35
## Preface to Second Edition.
The increasing demand for instruction in bee-culture consequent upon the rapid expansion of the industry throughout the Dominion has necessitated the issue of a second edition of this Bulletin.
The matter contained in the first edition has been revised and largely added to, and several other subjects of importance are dealt with in this edition.
Beekeepers will be interested in learning that since the Bulletin was in print I have received from Dr. E. F. Phillips, in charge of the Division of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, a report upon specimens of diseased combs collected from the extreme ends of New Zealand, and forwarded by myself to him. The results of the investigation go to prove that we have the milder or "American" form of foul-brood, and not the dreaded "black-brood" prevalent in Europe. Dr. Phillips says, "You are, then, able to say that "American foul-brood exists in New Zealand, and that it is caused by _Beeillas_ _large_."
It will \({}_{
m NC}\) well to note when reading section 9 of the Apiaries Act (page 23) that the Act came into force on the 14th September, 1907.
I. Hopkins.
another portion due to careless fixing of what was originally a perfect sheet of worker-comb foundation. These are very interesting reproductions from photographs taken specially for the purpose of this bulletin. To the right of Plate II can be seen where the bees took advantage of the accident to build drone-comb, and also where on the upper left centre the original worker-cells have stretched and been utilised for breeding drones. At the lower right-hand corner of Plate I a small portion of the original sheet of comb-foundation upon which the comb is built can be distinctly seen.
Securing control over breeding is not the 8nly advantage gained by a free use of comb-foundation. For instance, a fair swarm of, say, 5 lb. weight hived upon ten sheets of comb-foundation in a Langstroth live will have in twenty-four hours, in an average season, several of the sheets partially worked out and a goodly number of eggs deposited in the cells, -and in thirty-six hours the queen can henceforward lay to her full extent. In from a week to nine days (depending upon the weather) the whole ten sheets will be worked out into worker-combs, and a great deal occupied with brood and honey, and the hive will then be ready for the top or surplus honey super. In twenty-two or twenty-three days young worker-bees will begin to emerge, and from this on the colony will grow rapidly in strength from day to day.
Contrast this favourable condition of things with what takes place when only narrow strips of comb-foundation are furnished. It will take under the same conditions a similar swarm from four to five weeks to fill the hive with comb, and then there will be a large proportion drone-comb, which is the very thing to guard against. Consider what the difference in time alone will make in the profitable working of a hive, especially in a short season. Then, again, with regard to the difference in the initial expense between using full sheets and strips, which seems to influence many beekeepers in favour of the latter system : Even in that there is a gain in favour of the method I am advocating. For instance, the cost of filling the ten frames with sheets of best comb-foundation would be (including the expenses of getting them) about 4s., and with strips--say, two sheets--10d. : an apparent saving in the first instance of 3s. 2d. We must then consider the matter from another point of view.
The consensus of opinion among the most experienced beekeepers is that there is an expenditure of about 12 lb. of honey in making 1 lb. of wax--that is, the bees consume that quantity of honey before secreting 1 lb. of wax. The ten sheets of comb-foundation weigh 12 lb. and cost 4s. For this there would have to be an expenditure of 18 lb. of honey, which, at the average wholesale price of 4d. per lb., is 6s., so that there is a saving of 2s. in favour of the full sheets, to say nothing about all the other advantages gained.
This shows clearly enough the advantage of making the fullest use possible of comb-foundation.
## II. The Ripening and Maturing of Honey.
All honey should be thoroughly ripened and matured before being placed upon the market; otherwise it will rapidly deteriorate, to the injury of the producer and the industry generally. All beekeepers are fully aware of and admit this; nevertheless, occasionally unripe honey finds its way to the markets, eventually to be condemned through fermentation. In the absence, however, of any reliable method for deciding when honey is ripe, beekeepers are not wholly blamable for being mistaken on this point.
AMOUT OF MOISTURE IN HONEY.
In Thorpe's " Dictionary of Applied Chemistry," page 286, the maximum, minimum, and average amount of moisture in twenty-five samples of honey examined are given as follows : Maximum, 23'26 per cent.; minimum, 12'43 per cent.; and the average of the twenty-five, I9'3 per cent.
Honey containing an excess of moisture is unripe and bound sooner or later to ferment, but when such moisture is reduced below a certain percentage the honey is said to be ripe, and it will in that condition keep good for any length of time. There is in the Agricultural Museum at Wellington a sample over sixteen years old, in splendid condition. At what point the "excess " of moisture commences we have no definite knowledge. The different works available contain no guidance on the question.
.It is extraordinary that, considering the importance of the subject the ripening and maturing of honey has never been discussed in bee literature--at any rate, in the best that has appeared for over thirty years. We have had volumes of vague statements and assertions by correspondents in the various bee journals, but nothing of value.
**TESTING Honey for RIPENESS.**
**My former experience as a honey-merchant brought me into contact with all sorts and conditions of beekeepers, and all sorts and conditions of honey--in its qualities of ripeness and unripeness. I then realised the need there was that beekeepers should have some simple but reliable method of testing honey for its ripeness before putting it up for the market. It was frequently very difficult to decide whether honey was ripe or not while it was in liquid form; and to-day the same difficulty obtains, demanding every effort to remove it.**
**It is beyond the accomplishment of the average beekeeper to determine the exact amount of moisture a given sample of honey contains, neither is it necessary, as we shall be able to arrive in time at the knowledge we require by very simple means- -that is, through the density or specific gravity of the article. A very great number of tests must be carried out before anything approaching a reliable standard of the specific gravity for ripe honey of different varieties can be established.**
**SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF HONEY.**
**Previous to carrying out, recently, a series of tests of a number of samples of honey (which 1 shall explain directly) I consulted several works in hope of getting some assistance from them, but was disappointed. The** _British Bee Journal_ **for December, 1885, contained the only item on this matter in all my bee literature. The then editor, in reply to a correspondent, gave figures from different works representing the specific gravity of honey, ranging from 1**?**61 to 1**?**450, and then suggested taking the mean of these figures--viz., 1**?**55--'' as a conventional standard for ripe honey,'' admitting, at the same time, that '' clover honey in a dry season is found to be 1**?**70.'' This was a very haphazard way of deciding so important a question. Thorpe's work, already referred to, gives, on page 287, a range from 1**?**439 to 1**?**448 as the specific gravity of honey; another equally well-known work gives from 1**?**425 to 1**?**429 for '' virgin honey ''--whatever that may be--and from 1**?**415 to 1**?**422 for '' honey from old bees''(!); and the ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' gives 1**?**10. The foregoing figures, instead of affording any assistance, are, on the contrary, rather misleading with regard to the actual density of ripe honey.**
**TESTS MADE.**
**Some little time since I purchased from grocers in the ordinary way twenty tins of different varieties and grades of honey, and tested them very carefully for their specific gravity with a Twaddel's and a Fletcher's hydrometer. Before testing, the condition of each sample was noted, in order to compare the specific gravity with its appearance. Elevensamples!anged from 1:400 to 1:430, with an average of nearly 1:413, while the remaining nine ranged from 1:350 to 1:390. Those above 1:410 were very firm and dry before testing, and the whole twenty samples were granulated. Those from 1:400 to 1:410 appeared to be well ripened, but were not so firm as the others; there was a marked difference in those below 1:400, which were soft and moist. My opinion is that the first-mentioned were thoroughly ripe and would keep any length of time; the second lot, ranging from 1:400 to 1:410, were, as I said, well ripened and fit for the market; while all the samples registering below 1:400 were very doubtful regarding their keeping-qualities--one at I:385 had already begun to ferment. These figures will be valuable for comparison with those of future tests. I am keeping a portion of each sample sealed to test by time. It was very noticeable that the better the honey the higher was its specific gravity.
In addition to these tests Mr. Robert Gibb, of Tuturau, Southland, honorary secretary of the Southland Beekeepers' Association, at my request collected samples of honey from different parts of Southland, and made seven tests, of which I have full particulars. Six of the samples ranged from 1:420 to 1:450 in their specific gravity by Twaddel's hydrometer, and are described generally as "'clover honey, granulated very hard, fine grain and flavour, thoroughly ripened.' The seventh sample is described as of "'poor quality compared with the others, and doubtful as to its keeping-qualities, granulated, but soft; specific gravity, 1:402."
I have no doubt that we shall find that honey from the same district and apiary varies considerably in its specific gravity according to the season, just as it does in quality.
METHOD OF TESTING.
Each sample was liquefied by slow heat in a closed vessel (to prevent the moisture evaporating) placed in a water bath. It was then reduced to a temperature of about 60\({}^{\circ}\) Fahr., poured into a test-glass and the hydrometer inserted (see Fig. 2). The hydrometer will gradually sink until it finally registers the specific gravity. In the case of honey being too dense to be treated in this manner weigh up, say, 8 oz. of honey, then add the same weight of warm water, and thoroughly mix; when reduced to 60\({}^{\circ}\) Fahr. it will be ready for testing. Supposing, for instance, the hydrometer then gives 1:190, by adding 190 it will give 1:380, which will be the specific gravity of the honey.
The cost of the appliances is a mere nothing compared with the importance of making tests, as every beekeeper should assist in arriving at a reliable standard for ripe honey. A Twaddel's hydrometer (Fig. 1), or two instruments with a range from 1:350 to 1:400 in one and 1:400 to 1:450 in the other, with a suitable test-glass and thermometer, cost about 7s. 6d. or 8s.
The instrument is made with various scales, according to the density of the liquid to test which it is required.
Each degree is equal to 5 degrees specific gravity ; for example, 80 degrees Twaddel is equal to 1-400 sp. g. as 80 \( imes\) 5 = 400+1000 = 1-400 sp. g.
TESTING STRENGTH OF LIQUID FOR MAKING HONEY VINEGAR.
The washings of cappings (when there are any), the skinmings and washings of the tanks, honey-extractors, &c., broken honey-combs, and other odds and ends of honey need not be wasted; all can be utilised in the making of vinegar or mead, or both. A hydroneter comes in very useful here again to test the strength of the liquid. For vinegar there should not be more than 11 1b. of honey to each gallon of water, the specific gravity of which is 1-040, so that when the honey cannot be weighed the hydrometer will at once show whether the strength is right, instead of depending on guesswork.
RIPENING HONEY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE HIVE.
This subject has caused no end of controversy in the bee journals, but chiefly by those bitterly opposed to any other method of ripening honey than within the hive. Although I have closely followed most of the writers on this side of the question, I have failed entirely to discover anything beyond mere assertions that their method is the right one, and all others wrong. No proof by tests or experience of both methods has been adduced to support their assertions, so that to a close observer they have been valueless. On the other hand, we have the experience and testimony of some very eminent beekeepers who have practised with great success and advantage the ripening of honey outside the hive.
Ripening Issue the Hive.
This can readily be done, and is, no doubt, the best plan for those who are not prepared to exercise great care--that is, who are somewhat careless. All that is needed is to leave the honey in the hive until all the cells are sealed or capped over before removing the comb for extracting. The capping of the honey-cells denotes that the contents are ripe--that is, that the surplus moisture has been evaporated, which in my opinion is all that takes place. The time required for this depends in a great measure on the state of the weather and the condition of the honey when stored; it may be several days before the honey is capped, or in dry warm weather only a few hours after the cells are filled. Even honey that is ripened in the hive should remain in a shallow tank after extracting, to mature before tinning it--but more of this later.
Ripening Outside THE Hive.
If there were no disadvantages in the foregoing process, or no other method of reaching the same end without disadvantages attached to it, we should, as a matter of course, have to follow it; but I maintain we can ripen our honey equally as well outside as within the hive, and by so doing effect an enormous saving of time, labour, and material, and secure a larger crop of honey. Nothing has yet been brought forward to refute the theory that the ripening of honey, as previously stated, is simply a mechanical process--evaporating the surplus moisture by means of heat, whether inside or outside the hive.
In the season of 1883-84, after much thought, I determined to give the process a trial, and had shallow tanks made, such as I recommend now. The crop was ten tons of clover honey, none of which was more than partially capped on the upper parts of the combs, and plenty was not capped at all when extracted. It was duly ripened and matured in my tanks, and finer honey I never had. It was sent to England and all over the colony, and gave no cause for complaint. I followed the same process with the same success all the time I was raising honey, including that raised at the Exhibition Apiary, 1907.
It gave me much pleasure some seven months after the publication of the first edition of this bulletin, wherein I had suggested the adoption of this process, to find that the well-known E. W. Alexander, one of the most extensive and experienced beekeepers in the world, was working on the same method. His articles on the subject in _Gleanings_, early in 1906, created quite a sensation among beekeepers in America, some of whom rather fiercely criticized him and his method, and in reply he wrote, "But I do say that the man who has had experience, and has the necessary storage-tanks, can ripen his honey after the bees commence to cap it so that it will be just as good as if left with the bees all summer. In this way we not only get twice the amount, but we save our bees much labour and waste of honey in capping it over, and ourselves at least half the work in extracting." I may add that by ripening honey outside the hive swarming can be better kept under control. During a heavy flow of honey when it is left in the hive to ripen it is necessary to keep adding top boxes to take advantage of the flow, as the honey will be stored faster than it'can be ripened. This means the providing of a large quantity of extra material and eombs, at considerable cost. Each top box would be worth at least 2s. 6d., and the nine frames of comb at 1s. 3d. each, 11s. 3d., making a total of 13s. 9d.; and two of these extra boxes may sometimes be needed for each hive if full advantage is to be taken of the conditions mentioned.
RIPENING AND MATURING TANKS. The most effective method of ripening and maturing honey is to expose a large surface of comparatively shallow mass to a warm, dry atmosphere. Many of the "'tanks " in use at the present time consist of cylinders similar to those of a honey-extractor, about 18 in. or 20 in. in diameter, by 36 in. deep. These, besides being small, are wrong in principle--they are too deep, and the surface is too small. Even when the honey is allowed to ripen within the hive it is necessary to have shallow tanks to mature or clarify it, for, no matter how small in the mesh the strainer may be or how carefully the honey is strained, it is impossible to prevent very fine particles of wax and pollen-grains running from the extractor into the tank with the honey. If the body of the honey is deep these particles cannot rise to the surface as they do in a shallow tank, forming a scum, which, when skimmed off, leaves the honey in the very best form for market. Air-bubbles, which in themselves may contain moisture (and it is absolutely certain that honey.containing air-bubbles quickly deteriorates), cannot rise or escape through a deep mass of honey. With regard to the scum just mentioned, it is by no means uncommon to find an unpleasant-looking film, or layer, anywhere between $ in. and $ in. deep on the top of honey in tins sent into the market. This is the result of intning it before it has been matured and skimmed,probably in most cases through not having a suitable tank for the purpose. Honey, like other commodities, must be put upon the market in its most attractive form if we wish to encourage the demand for it.
SIZE OF HONEY-TANKS.
I prefer tanks not deeper than 20 in., and they should not, even when working on a large scale, exceed 24 in., but with regard to superficial area the only limit need be the convenience or requirements of the user. Mr. E. W. Alexander (whom it is a pleasure to quote) is using deeper tanks, but he finds them too deep, and recommends shallower ones.