BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
I will begin with the bee-keeper himself, or rather with his clothing, as his comfort is largely dependent upon that. When there is much shaking or brushing of bees to be done, I prefer to wear light, calf skin boosts with the trousers tucked inside. If the grass is wet, I wear rubbers over the boots. When shoes are worn, the trousers may be tucked inside the stockings. One fundamental principle about clothing to be worn in the bee yard is that one garment laps _closely_ over the other, leaving no opening into which a bee can crawl, and the lower garment should lap _ozcer_ the upper one, as bees almost invariably crawl _nguards_, and the clothing should be so arranged that a bee can crawl from a man's foot to his head without being led into any opening. Mr, Arthur C. Miller suggests canvas shoes that lace well up around the ankle, such as are worn by tennis and base ball players and cyclists. Then he would have the trousers come just below the knee, with canvas lergings to cover up the lower part of the legs. His ideal coat is a close-fitting jacket of light-weight that buttons up to the throat. In the heat of the day, however, few bee-keepers, doing active work in the apiary, need either coat or vest. The hat that approaches the nearest to perfection, in Mr. Miller's opinion, is the helmet. It has visors front and back, and a ventilator all around the rim and the inner band. It is light and cool, and protects both the eyes and the back of the neck from the sun. Such suits as those described by Mr, Miller can be had in white or colored duck, and are light, cheap, washable and serviceable; and complete, or in part, are worn by cyclists and others. Light colored clothing is not only cooler, but saves the wearer from some stings, as the bees seem to have a decided aversion to dark or black objects. I know one bee-keeper who dresses in white duck from head to toe, and he is positive that it saves him from many attacks from the bees. In the heat of the working season I wear lienu trousers, a white cotton shirt and a straw hat. I have seen recommended the wearing of light wool clothing, but have never tried it. Ernest Root mentions the comfort that he has derived from the wearing of light underclothing, part wool. But he does not per-spire freely, and his underclothing retains the perspiration, keeping the skin moist. With me it is the reverse. I perspire so freely the clothing is soon soaked through and through, and frequent changes are necessary. Perhaps each will be obliged to decide the matter by personal experience.
I never wish a veil attached to the edge of the hat rim. It is only part of the time that a veil is needed, and when it isn't needed I wish it off out of the way. I prefer a veil with a string run into a hem around the top, then the upper edge can be puckered up untilit will just slip down nicely over the hat crown. And when it is necessary to wear a veil in hot weather, who has not wished that there was some way of holding it down, aside from that of tucking it inside the collar? When the neck is hot and sweaty, how uncomfortable it feels with a sort of muffler pressed close against it by the collar. Besides this, the veil is held suffocatingly close to the face--so close, too, that the bees often sting through it. All this may be avoided, and I'll tell you how. In a hem in the bottom of the veil run a string, leaving about a foot of the hem, right in front, unoccupied by the string. That is, let the string enter the hem at about six inches to the right of the center of the front, pass it around the back of the neck, bringing it out of the hem at a point about six inches to the left of the center of the front. The projecting ends of the string must be long enough to pass under thearms, cross at the back, and then be brought around and tied in front. The string holds the edge of the veil securely out upon the shoulders, while, if the right length of hem is left without a string in front, that part will be drawn snugly across the breast. To Mr. Porter, of bee-escape fame, belongs the honor of devising this unsurpassable way of holding down a bee veil.
Gloves I have never worn, and doubt if I could be led to believe them a comfort. To use them would seem too much like a cat with mittens on trying to catch mice. Perhaps a beginner might tolerate them until his timidity had worn off.
I know of no comfort in the apiary greater than a smooth surface (of earth) thickly covered with grass. A lawnower can scarcely be called a comfort--it is a necessity. Sprinkle salt around the hives to kill the grass a distance of six inches from each hive, then the lawnower can cut all of the grass that grows.
About the first thing needed upon beginning work in the apiary is a smoker; and oh, how much comfort or discomfort can come through this little implement. If any of my readers have suffered from smokers that spill fire, that become stopped up with soot, that go out, or from fuel that will not burn, let them get a Bingham smoker, of the size called the "Doctor," get a barrel of planet shavings from dry pine, to use as a fuel, and then take comfort. If you have never used shavings as a fuel, you may have trouble in getting the fire to going. Don't put in too many shavings at first. Leave off the coverand keep puffing until they have burned down to cinders before putting in more. A little kerosene oil, from an oil can, as has been mentioned, is a great help in starting the fire. When through using the smoker, don't throw out the fire, but stop up the nozzle with a wad of grass, thus smothering the fire, and the charred remains left in the bottom of the smoker will light very readily at the touch of a blaze from a match--much more so than with fresh fuel. Keep matches in a safe place near where the smoker is to be lighted. Never be pestered by having to run off somewhere after a match. Above all, don't keep the smoker fuel and matches in the honey house; the danger from fire is too great. Rig up a box, or a barrel, or an old bee hive, with a rain proof cover, and have it located some distance from the honey house. I kept the fuel in an old wash-boiler, and had it "burn out" once. As it was out of doors, no harm was done. Keep the cap of the "Doctor" filled with green weeds or grass, and there is no danger of blowing sparks into the hives.
Have a wheel barrow for carrying cases, hives of honey, and other heavy articles. In making a wheel barrow, some bee-keepers have used a wheel from some old, discarded bicycle, the pneumatic tire doing away with the jolts in carrying honey or hives of bees.
With such hives as I use, the cover can be turned up on edge and used as a seat; where such is not the case, a seat of some kind ought to be provided. A light box 17 x 12 x 9, gives a chance for having a seat with any one of these heights. It should be strong enough not to rack, and have hand holes in the side for carrying it.
A hammock in the shade of a tree, or in the work shop, is a great comfort. Ten minutes rest in a reclining position are of nearly twice the value of that taken in a standing or sitting posture.
For brushing bees off the combs I know of nothing more effectual or comfortable to both the operator and the bees, than the so-called Cogrshall brush, which is a sort of a whisk broom, with the strands thinned out, and longer than the ordinary whisk broom, so as to enable the operator to give a soft, pliable, easy sweep of the combs. In using this brush it is not intended that the combs be brushed with the _cends_ of the strands, as one would sweep a floor; in stead, the brush is laid thatwise against the comb, and given a quick, sharp, lateral sweep.
A close rival of the Cogrshall brush is the Ferry, double brush. With it _both_ sides of the comb may be brushed at the same time. The whole thing is so simple that the only wonder is that it was not thought of before this. First there is a long loop of spring-metal something like an ox-bow, or hair-pin. Upon the inner sides of the spring are fastened two opposing brushes of long bristles. A slight pressure upon the spring, as it is held in the hand, brings the brushes in contact with _both_ sides of a comb, when a downward sweep or two will free the comb of bees. Another thing must not be overlooked (and it is of much importance), and that is that it has a chain attached, and to the end of the chain is fastened an eyelet that may be slipped over a button, thus enabling the operator to always know where his brush is without having to hunt for it.
Let each bee-keeper look about his apiary and see if he is not doing some of his work in an awkward manner, one that might be avoided by the providing of a few comforts and conveniences.
nies are pulling and blowing like the runner of a foot-race. Why is this? Isn't it because the strong colony is suffering from the accumulation of its own heat--that generated by itself--that can not escape fast enough? If this is true, why isn't a chaff live the most insufferably hot place imaginable for a colony of bees in hot weather? Possibly the point is just here: the bees in the chaff live have to contend with their own heat only, while those in the single-wall hive have that from the sun in addition to the thrown. The thick walls act as a sort of absorbent of heat; taking it up during the day, and gradually giving it up during the cool of the night. Let this be as it may, a colony can be kept the coolest in a thin-wall hive in the shade. How do zv keep cool in hot weather? We wear thin clothing, and lie in the hammock in the shade. A colony of bees is a living, heat-producing body, and can be kept cool in the same manner that we keep our bodies cool, viz., let its clothing (live) be thin, with a free circulation of air upon all siles, above and below, and then protect it from the sun's rays.
The color of the hives has a great bearing upon the necessity for shade. Black, or a dark color, absorbs heat, while it is reflected or repelled by white. I have seen the combs melt down in an old, weather-beaten hive that stood in the sun, but I never saw them melt in hives painted white, even if standing in the sun.
There is still another point that has a bearing upon the question under discussion, and that is the circulation of air about the hives. I have read of combs melting down in hives standing in shade so dense that the sun never shone upon them. The trouble was that growing corn on one side, and dense brush upon the other, made it so close that no air circulated.
Shade is not needed in the spring, full, morning or evening. The only time that it is needed, if it _is_ needed, is the middle of our hottest days; and some temporary, quickly adjustable, easily removable shade is preferable to an attempt to furnish a permanent shade by growing evergreens, grape vines and the like. In fact, a permanent shade, like that furnished by an evergreen, is an injury in spring, robbing the bees of the benefit to be derived from the heat of the sun. In fact, I know of nothing better than a light board, 2 x 3 feet in size, laid upon the top of the hive. One of the longest edges of the board is placed parallel and even with the north edge of the top of the hive, the opposite edge of the board projecting beyond the hive. This shades the hive when shade is needed, and only when it is needed--in the middle of the day. In a windy situation it may be necessary to lay a brick or stone upon this board to keep it in place. Don't imagine that hooks or something of that kind will be prefer able for holding the shade-boards in place. A weight is the simplest, cheapest and most convenient. I make these shade-boards by...ailing the thick ends of shingles to a piece of inch board four inches wide and two feet long. They cost only five cents each, and, in the full, they can be tacked together, forming packing boxes in which to pack the bees for wintering.
For the comfort of the apiarist, it is well to have a few scattering trees in the apiary, but let their branches be trimmed to such a height that they will not be knocking off his hat, or gouging out his eyes.
Perhaps this whole matter of shade might be summed up something as follows: If the apiary is located where the cool breezes can fan the heating sides of the hives, wafting away: the heat ere it accumulates, and a broad, generous entrance is furnished each tidy, _while_ hive, I am persuaded that shade is not so _recy_ essential; but, if the hives are dark in color, or the apiary located where there is not a free circulation of air, I feel sure that shade is an absolute necessity to prevent the combs from melting, if for nothing else.
necessary if the colony is to be worked for comb honey. But when a colony completely fills its hive, and has its combs well-filled with brood, I doubt if much is gained by contracting the brood nest. So long as the combs are kept full of brood, the surplus will go into the supers. If any of the combs of brood are taken away, they must be cared for by other bees somewhere else, so nothing is gained.
It is at the time of hiving a swarm that I have found contraction of the brood nest advisable. Years ago some of the "big guns" in apiculture were given to lamenting the swarming of bees, because, they said, with the swarm went all hopes of surplus. As the business was then conducted, the "big guns" were correct in many instances. The swarm would be hived in a ten-frame hive, and no supers put on until the hive was filled. If they had been put on they would not have been occupied until the lower hive was filled; and by the time this was accomplished it often happened that the white honey harvest had passed. If the old colony did not swarm again (usually it did), some return might be expected from that, unless the season was nearly over. In most of our Northern States the crop of white honey is gathered within six weeks, often within a month. If a colony is in a condition to begin work in the supers at the opening of the white honey harvest, and continues faithfully at work without swarming, as I have already said, no contraction is needed; but, suppose the harvest is half over, the bees are working nicely in the supers, there may be one case of sections almost ready to come off, another two-thirds finished, and a third in which the work has only nicely commenced, now the colony swarms, what shall be done? By hiving the swarm in a contracted brood chamber upon the old stand, transferring the supers to the newly hived swarm, and practicing the Heddon method of preventing after-swarming, work will be resumed and continued in the supers without interruption, and the surplus will be nearly as great as though no swarming had taken place.
When the brood nest is only one tier of frames, the only way by which it can be contracted is by taking out some of the outside combs, and filling the space thus left, by using "dummies." A "dummy" is simply a brood frame with thin boards tacked upon each side. It hangs in the hive and occupies space the same as a comb, only it is a "dummy" just as its name indicates. A frame wider than a brood frame may be used, and this will make the "dummy" thicker. Don't have the "dummy" touch the sides of the hive, then the bees cannot glue it fast. How thick a "dummy" should be depends upon how many combs are to be removed. When using the Langstroth frame I prefer to contract to five frames.
With the Heddon hive, in which the brood chamber is horizontally divisible, simply using only one section of the brood nest contracts the brood nest to about the proper capacity. This method of contraction is preferable to using dummies. Not only is there less labor and complication, but the flatness of the brood nest, and the absence of any dummies under the outer sections, make the bees more inclined to work in the sections.
When the brood nest is very much contracted, it has a tendency to cause a newly hired swarm to "swarm out" and leave the hive. When there is trouble from this source, the brood nest may be used nearly or quite full-size for two or three days, until the swarming fever has abated, and the bees have settled down to steady work. If newly hired swarms begin "swarming out," when I am using the new Heddon hive, I use a full-size brood nest for three days, and then shake the bees from the lower section of the hive, and use this section for the _nphcr_ section of the next hive into which I put a swarm.
It has been urged against contraction that it results in small colonies at the end of the season. If it is carried to too great an extent, and too long continued, it certainly does. If a man wishes to turn bees into honey, so to speak, contraction of the brood nest will enable him to accomplish his object. If colonies are too weak in the fall as the result of severe contraction, they must be united; but the course pursued by nearly all who practice contraction, is to enlarge the brood nest again in time for the colony to build up sufficiently for a fall flow of honey, if there is one, or to become strong enough for winter. When bees are wintered in a repository of the proper temperature, I have never found that unusually populous colonies were any more desirable than smaller ones. This is one advantage of cellar-wintering, the population may be reduced to the minimum during the consumptive, non-productive part of the year.
before they are ready for eggs, and the bees fill the combs at once with honey, when, from some perversity of bee-nature, work, in many instances, comes almost to a stand still. Having filled the body of the hive, the bees seem disinclined to make a start in the sections. Where bees _commence_ storing their surplus, there they seem inclined to continue to store it; and let the bees once get the start of the queen by clogging the brood nest with honey, and that colony becomes practically worthless for the production of comb honey.
The advantage of full sheets of foundation over starters, or _vice versa_, was+ not so apparent, and, until the close of the season, an equal number of swarms were lived alternately upon full sheets of foundation and upon starters. Enough was proved the first season to show that, so far as surplus was concerned, nothing was gained by using foundation in the brood nest, except for starters, when hiving swarms. I have since continued to experiment, year after year, by hiving swarms alternately upon foundation and upon starters only, in the brood nest, weighing both surplus and brood nests at the end of the season, and the evidence has been in favor of empty frames _every time_. Occasionally I have hived a swarm*upon drawn combs, but the loss has _always_ been so great, that it seems like folly to repeat it.
When full sheets of foundation are used in the brood nest, and the brood nest is so contracted that some of the bees must enter the sections; and the sections are filled with drawn comb, or partly drawn comb, the honey must, from necessity, be stored in the supers until the foundation in the brood frames can be drawn out; and even then, having _commenced_ work in the sections, the bees will not desert them. But there is only one queen furnishing eggs while hundreds of busy, eager workers are pulling away, with might and main, drawing the foundation out into comb; and the time eventually comes when there are thousands of empty cells in the brood nest. Now, Nature has no greater abhorrence of a vacuum than has a bee of an empty cell during a flow of honey; so, while the general orders are "up stairs with the honey," no cells in the brood nest are left empty very long. Especially is this true with a deep brood nestand yellow Italians.
If a swarm is hired upon starters only, the first step is, necessarily, the building of comb. If a super filled with drawn, or partly drawn comb (_not_ foundation) is placed over the hive, the bees will begin storing honey in the combs in the super at the same time that comb building is begun below. A queen-excluder must be used to keep the queen out of the supers, then she will be ready with her eggs the moment a few cells are partly finished in the brood nest; and, if the latter has been properly contracted, she will easily keep pace with the comb building. The result is that nearly all of the honey goes into the supers, where it is stored in the most marketable shape, while the combs in the brood nest are filled almost entirely with brood. When bees are hired upon empty frames, a small brood nest is imperatively necessary, otherwise large quantities of honey will be stored therein; and when bees build comb to store honey, particularly if the yield is good, they usually build drone comb. So long as the queen keeps pace with the comb builders, worker comb is usually built, but if the brood nest is so large that the bees begin hatching from its center before the bees have filled it with comb, and the queen returns to re-fill the cells being vacated by the hatching bees, the comb builders are quite likely to change from worker to drone comb.
No fairer question could be asked than: What are the advantages of this system? In the first place, the cost of the foundation is saved; but, although this is a great saving, it comes about incidentally, as the non-use of foundation is only a means to an end, and that is the profitable securing of the greatest possible amount of honey in the most marketable shape; leaving the brood nest so free from honey that no extracting is needed when the time comes for feeding sugar for winter stores. Those who for any reason do not wish to use sugar, may still take advantage of this system by putting the unfinished sections back on the hives in time for the honey to be carried down and stored in the brood nest for winter. Or a case of brood combs may be put on over the sections as the harvest draws to a close, instead of putting on another case of sections. This will do away with nearly all unfinished sections, and the case of filled brood combs can be given the colony at the end of the season in place of _its_ empty combs. By either plan, the number of _finished_ sections is increased.
The greatest objection to this plan is that it cannot be depended upon to produce all perfect brood combs. I think I am safe in saying that I have had thousands of combs built under this management, and I think that at least eighty per cent, of them were as perfect as it would be possible to secure by the use of full sheets of foundation. A much larger percentage was perfect when I was using mostly the Langstroth frame, and contracted the brood nest to only five frames. This made the top of the brood nest, where the bees commence their combs, so small that the swarm completely covered it. All of the combs were thus commenced at the same time. As a rule, they were nearly as perfect as possible, at least so far as straightness was concerned. When I came to using the Heddon hive more extensively, I discovered that the greater surface at the top allowed room for the starting of more combs, that the outside combs would not always be started so soon as the center ones, and this sometimes resulted in the bulging of some of the combs.
Sometimes drone comb will be built in spite of contracted brood nests. Usually this is the result of old queens. But then, we can't always have young quencts, hence I can only repeat that this method gives excellent results in the way of surplus, but cannot be depended upon to always furnish perfect brood combs. Some keep watch of the brood combs while they are being built, cutting out crooked, bulged or drone comb, and using it in the sections, I can not think favorably of such work. When I hive a swarm, I wish that to be the end of the matter. No opening of brood nests, and puttering with imperfect combs, during the hurly burst of swarming-time, would be desirable for me. But I do think favorably of contracting the brood nests when hiving swarms, then uniting colonies at the end of the season, culling out the imperfect combs and rendering them into wax. I think all such combs are built at a profit.
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