BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Fig. 3 is a transverse section, sliced across the three parts, at about the dotted line D. A and B are the barbed spears; F and G, the hollows to give them lightness and strength; H, H, the barbs. It will be observed that the husk, D, incloses but little more than t of them. Now, the purpose of this husk is to hold the barbs in place, and to allow them to slide easily up and down, also to direct them while doing this work. To hold all together, there is a groove like a chopping-knife in both spears, with a corresponding projection in the husk, which fit each other as shown. This allows the barbs to project to do their work, and yet holds all together tolerably firm. We say tolerably firm, for these spears are very easily torn out of the husk; and after a sting is extracted they are often left in the wound, like the tiny splinters we have before mentioned. When torn out and laid on a slip of glass they are scarcely visible to the naked eye; but under the microscope they appear as in Fig. 2.
Stings do not all have the same number of barbs. We have seen as few as seven and as many as nine. The two spears are held against each other as shown in Fig. 3, and you will observe that the shape and the arrangement of the three parts leaves the hollow, E, in their center. The working of the spears also pumps down poison, and quite a good-sized drop collected on their points while we saw them working under the microscope. Friend Bledsoe found a valve that lets it out of the poison-bag into this wonderful little pump, but prevents it returning. We have not been able to see this, but have no doubt that it is there. The drop of poison, after lying on the glass a few minutes, dries down and seems to leave a gummy substance that crystallizes, as it were, into strange and beautiful forms. We have tried to show it to you in Fig. 4.
See Cane Sugar.
The term sugar is applied, by common consent, to the pure sugar commercially prepared from the sugar-cane and the sugar beet, or sucrose. There are, however, many more sugars of varying character. Common sugar is composed of the elements --carbon, 12 parts; hydrogen, 22 parts; oxygen, 11 parts. A white sugar or granulated sugar is a pure sucrose, while the varying-off colors ranging from light yellow to brown, are mostly mixtures of sucrose and varying quantities of molasses. These are prepared first in the process of manufacture, and are known as coffee, yellow prime, yellow clarified, and brown sugar. By washing with water, and also refining, they are made into white sugar.
The yellow sugars have somewhat of a molasses taste which is particularly agreeable to some people. See Cane Sugar.
(_Rhus glabv_). This is a sort of shrub, or small tree, readily known by its bunches of bright-red fruit, having an intensely sour taste. The acid property, however, seems to be only on the surface of the fruit, in the red dust that may be brushed off. We have had no experience with the honey, which the bees sometimes get in large quantities from the small greenish flowers, but give the following from page 96, Cleannigs for 1874 :
Junc 22, 1874.-- Contrary to expectations, we are now in the height of a wonderful flow of honey from sumac, which of late years has not yielded much. Every thing in the hives is filled full, and 1 am kept busy hiving swarms, as it has become too much of a job to keep them from swarming by removing frames of brood. G. F. Merriam, Topeka, Kan.
(_Helianthus species_). This plant embraces an extensive genus; but the principal ones for honey are the common sunflower and the Jerusalem artichoke. Some seasons and in localities we find bees very busy indeed on these plants all day long. The mammoth Russian sunflower bears flowers of enormous dimensions; and from the way bees crowd one another about the necteries, one would suppose they furnished much honey. The seed, which is yielded in large quantities, seems almost to pay the expense of cultivation. The following is taken from page 36, Vol. III., of Gleanings :
My boy had a small box of sunflower seeds which he kept as one of his playthings. Last spring he accidentally split them in the garden by the fence, and, old as they were, they came up profusely. They looked so thrifty 1 took it into my head to transplant them. I set them all around in the fence, out of the way, where nothing else would grow to advantage, and, if you will believe me, I had an enormous crop. When they blossomed the bees went at them in earnest; and after the bees got through with them there were several quarts of seed. I sold a dollar's worth to my drugist; the remainder 1 fed out to my hens, and, as writer of old has said, I found nothing so good and ausunflower seeds. Then I cut off the empty heads, place them near the bee-hive, fill them with sugar and water, and that suits the bees to a T. So you see I was at no expense, and they paid well. I write this that others may be benefited as well as myself. Dr. R. Hitchcock, South Norwalk, Conn., Feb. 2, 1875.
All animated nature seems to have some means of reproducing its kind, that the species may not become extinct; and, especially among the insect tribes, we find a great diversity of ways and means for accomplishing this object. In the microscopic world we find simple forms of animal life contracting themselves in the middle until they break in two, and then each separate part, after a time, breaks in two, and so on. With bees we have a somewhat similar phenomenon. Where a colony gets excessively strong, the imnates of the hive, by a sort of preconcerted mutual agreement divide themselves off into two parties, one remaining in the old hive, and the other starting out to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
We have carefully watched this proceeding, with a view of determining how the matter comes about, that is,whether it is because a part of the bees become dissatisfied with their old home and seek to better their condition, or because the queen leaves, for some reason of her own (because she has not room to lay her eggs, for instance), and the bees simply follow from a sort of natural instinct, since she is the mother of the colony and an absolute necessity to their prosperity. After seeing a number of swarms issue, and finding that the queen was among the last to leave the hive, we concluded that the bees take the lead, and that the queen simply followed as a matter of course in the general melee. Suppose, however, that the queen should not take a notion to join the new adventure. Swirans do sometimes start out without a queen accompanying them, but they usually go back to the hive after a time, to try it again next day. If she does not go then, nor at the next attempt, they often wait until they can rear a new queen, and then go off with her. After we were pretty well satisfied that this is the correct idea of their plan, a little circumstance seemed to upset it all. A neighbor, wanting to make an observatory hive, drummed perhaps a quart of bees from one of his old hives. As he had no queen, we gave him a black one taken from a colony purchased several miles away. We mention this to show that the queen had never been out of the hive, in the location which it then occupied. After a day or two, this neighbor informed us that we had played a fine trick on him, for our queen had gone home, and taken his quart of bees with her. We told him it was impossible, for she had never been out of the hive, except when we carried her over in the euge.
We went and looked in the hive she came from, and there she was, true enough, with the bees she had brought with her stung to death in front and on the bottom-board. It is possible that the bees swarmed out first; but even if they did, they certainly followed the queen in going back to her old home. We also know that bees sometimes follow a young queen when she goes out to take her wedding-flight.
It is our opinion that neither queen nor workers alone make the first start, but all hands join together and act in concert.
"wity bees swarm. If we attempt to contract the size of the hive when honey is coming in bountifully, the bees will be very apt to take measures toward swarming about as soon as the combs are full of brood, eggs, pollen, and honey. They will often wait several days after the hive is seemingly full; and while this course may not cause them to swarm at all, it is very likely to. \(\lambda\)s soon as it has been decided that the hive is too small, and that there is no feasible place for storing extra supplies of honey where it can be preconcerted in the winter, as needed, they generally commence queen-cells. Before doing this we have known them to go so far as to store their honey outside on the portico, or even underneath the hive, thus indicating most clearly their want of extra space for stores where they could protect them.
Waut of room is probably the most general cause of swarming, although it is not the only one; for bees often swarm incessantly wlieu they have a hive only partly filled with comb. First swarms usually come about from the cause we have mentioned; but \(\lambda\)fter-swairing (which see often gets to be a sort of mania with the bees, and they swarm, apparently, _veilthond_ a reason.
at what season bees-usually swarm. The old adage runs,--
Is worth a load of hay;
Is not worth a fly.
There is much truth in this, especially if managed on the old plan; but with modern improvements a swarm in July may be worth a silver spoon, or even a load of hay; possibly both together. See Aptei-swarming. A colony that was very populous in the fall, and has whitered finely, may east the first swarm in May, in this latitude; but such events were very unusual before the advent of Italians. The latter often swarm during fruit-bloom, and in some cases even earlier. In our locality swarms do not usually issue until the middle or last of June. If the season is a little late, sometimes the greater part of them will come in July, and we almost always have more or less swarming going on during our national holiday. At this time basswood is generally at its height, and we frequently have quite a yield from clover after basswood is gone. On this account, swarms that come out during the first week in July usually get enough to winter, and are therefore worth the price of a swarm of bees any way. The old adage doubtless referred principally to the amount of honey they would store; if the July swarms did not secure enough to winter over, and were allowed to starve, they would not be worth the trouble of hiving them, and so they might be rated as of less value than a fly. Swarms that come out in June would fill their hives, and perhaps make a surplus that, on an average, would bring at least a dollar, the old price of a silver spoon; while those that were so thriftly as to be able to start in May would have the whole season before them; and if they did not get back before white clover came out, would very likely make a surplus worth $5.00, the market price of a load of hay. In some localities bees seem to swarm in the latter part of July and August, and reports seem to show that they do so when little or no honey is to be had, and when the bees are disposed to rob; but such is certainly not the case here, for our bees give up all preparations for swarming some little time before the honey flow has ceased. In some localities buekwheat swarms are a very common thing. Where the aplarist has plenty of extra combs filled with stores, it is an easy matter to eare for and make valuable stocks of swarms that issue at any time.
## symptoms of swarming.
Although we can sometimes tell when bees are going to swarm, we do not think it will be safe, by any means, to assume we can always do so. It has been said that all the bees which have been clustering on the outside will, the morning of the day they are intending to swarm, go inside the hive; but this can not always be so, for we have seen a swarm issue while the loxfers were hanging on the outside as usual; and at the sound of the swarming-note they took wing and joined in. Where a colony is intending to swarm, they will not be working like the rest, as a general thing; and, quite likely, on the day they are intending to swarm, very few bees comparatively will be seen going out and in at the hive. With movable combs we can generally give a very good guess of the disposition to swarm by opening the hive. Bees do not, as a rule, swarm until they have their hive pretty well filled up, and have multitudes of young bees hatching out daily. The presence of queen-cells is generally considered an indication of the swarming fever.
Many think that the clustering of the bees on the outside of the hives is an indication that they are going to swarm. To a certain extent this may be the case, but it is by no means an indication that they are going to swarm very soon. We knew a colony, belonging to a neighbor, that hung out in great masses nearly a month before the bees came out. His new hive was in readiness, and he stayed at home and watched day after day, until clover and basswood both were almost gone, when finally they cast a large fine swarm.
## 4 do bees choose a location before swarming?
While it is true that a swarm will issue without any previous preparation when a swarming craze is on in the yarl, the great majority of colonies, preparing to swarm, send out scouts, or prospectors. These bees hunt up cavities in hollow trees, or even seek out empty hives, and commence cleaning house. The number of scouts having located a home will increase until there appears to be quite a little swarm, and sometimes one is led to believe there is a case of robbling going on, especially if the scouts have entered an empty hive containing combs. They will continue to make their visitations day by day, and in the mean time they busy themselves by "cleaning house." When the day comes for the swarm to issue, the scouts appear to make it their business to lead the flying bees to this new location. Just how they do this can not be definitely shown; but that they do lead these swarms to particular abodes has been so clearly proven that there is no further question about it. This shows why a swarm will sometimes "light out" without even clustering. Following the lead of their scouts they will go directly to their new home which has been already prepared.
As a general rule a swarm clusters first. Whether this is for the purpose of getting the scouting party "\(\,\)o\(\,\)ganizeel "\(\,\) and into action, no one knows. If the scouts have not already found a location it is possible that the clustered swarm is sending out some scouts to prospect; and having found a hollow tree they will go back to the cluster, when all will "\(\,\)hike" for the new home.
While these may be fanciful suggestions it may account for the reason why a swarm will sometimes hang on a tree for several days, the inference being that the scouts have failed to locate any suitable home.
One of our swarms hung outside the hive during a great honey-harvest; and as it is no unusual thing for a colony to store 10 lbs, a day during the height of the season, they may have lost 100 lbs, of honey, for the swarm was an unusually fine and strong one. They might easily have secured this amount if they had worked, but it is by no means certain that they could have been made to go to work as they did after they swarmed and were put into a new hive. Within two or three weeks after they swarmed, if we remember, they filled their hive and gave about 25 lbs, of surplus. How shall we deal with such bees?
This clustering-out may be caused by the fact that the bees need room. In that case, means of Laige or Plural Entrances. This will leave an open space all around the hive, but that will do no harm. If the primary cause of the bees clustering out in the first place is lack of ventilation, or too great heat, this raising-up of the hive will cause the bees to go in, and possibly prevent swarming.
swarming modified by locality.
The commencement of the swarming season varies, of course, according to the locality, and it may be said that the swarming propensity itself is modified very materially also by the same cause. In places where the honey-flow is very heavy and continues so for some time, swarming seems to be checked, for the bees are all intent on gathering honey. Indeed, they have no time to waste on such foolishness. In such localities the swarming season comes on when the first or light honey-flow begins, and continues so long as it is light; but just as soon as the secretion of nectar gets heavy then just that soon swarming stops.
It sometimes happens that a bee-keeper residing in one of these localities wonders why his brethren in the craft make so much fuss in the bee journals about swarm control when he has.no trouble from that source at all. The other fellow, on the other hand, can not understand how the first-mentioned bee -eeper can perform certain manipulations with his bees, and not have excessive - swarming. In reading the following pages treating on this general subject one must bear in mind this question of locality. It should, therefore, be said that much of the matter that follows relates to conditions as we generally find them in the Northern States, and not as they are found in parts of Texas, California, and some portions of the tropics. In these localities there may or may not be swarming. On the other hand, the bee-keeper encourages it to a certain extent; and when he wishes it to cease by reason of the heavy honey-flow it stops naturally.
## Appendix A Live Bee-hat.
All quecns should be clipped, and lives made ready, extra combs placed in the honey-house where you can put your hand on them at any minute. We would also have some colonies marked where we could get a comb of unsealed larvae without very much trouble; that is, make up your mind what hive you are to go to, in case you should want such a comb in a hurry. Bees will often swarm on Sunday; and as we do not wish to work with our bees on the Sabbath more than is absolutely necessary, it behooves us to be at all times prepared to take care of a swarm with very little trouble. We can remember having swarms on Sunday, when it became necessary to hunt up a hive, decide on its location, hunt up some empty combs, and then look over colonies to find one with no surplus boxes on, that we might get at a brood-comb with as little trouble as possible to put in the new hive, to prevent them decoupling. All these things take time, and more than one swarm has departed while a hive was being made ready to receive them. If you keep the wings of your queens clipped as we have advised, you will need some queen-cages where you can lay your hands on them at a minute's notice, for there are times when you need to step about as lively as you would at a house on fire, so you do not want to be bothered by hunting for things.
## Appendix B Miller queen-catcher.
The best queen-catcher, or, rather, cage for confining the queen during the swarming season, is the Miller introducing-cage, a cut of which will be found under Inthoducing. We will suppose that a swarm has just issued, and that your clipped queen is hopping around the entrance of the hive. Your wife or attendant, feeling some hesitancy about picking up so delicate an object by her sixteen wings, can take a cage of this kind and place the mouth directly over her. In a moment, finding herself confined, she will ascend into the cage. The little wooden plug is now inserted, when your captive queen can be placed among the flying bees, and the swarm hived as next described. The cage is also used for introducing. See Introducing.
How to hive a swarm with clipped queen; the plan we prefer.
Under the general head of Queens, subband Clipfino, we have already given intimation how swarming can be controlled to a certain extent by clipping. Where the plan of forcing the swarm ahead of time by brushing or shaking* is not practiced, clipping has come to be almost universal among comb-honey producers; for where queens' wings are clipped, or they are prevented from leaving the hive by the use of Alley traps or entrance-guards (see Dhones), a great amount of labor will be saved.
Footnote *: This plan is daerified under Prevention of Swarming a few pages further on.
We shall assume that all queens in the air-ary have their wings clipped. A swarm comes forth. Go to the hive from which it is issuing; and, while they are coming out, find the queen, which will be found, in all probability, hopping around in the grass
near the entrance, vainly endeavoring to fly with the rest of the bees. Cuge her, and then slip the cage into a pocket or some cool place, temporarily. Remove the super or supers in which the bees have already started work, and set them on the ground near the hive. The brood-chamber should now be removed just as it is, to an entirely new location. Put in its place on the old stand a hive containing frames of foundation or empty comb, and on top of this a queen-excluding honey-board. Some prefer having only starters of foundation. Next put the supers, placed on the ground temporarily, on the new hive containing these frames of foundation or comb. Now lay the caged queen in front of the entrance.
All this may be done while the bees are in the air, and it will not be long before they discover that the queen is not with them, and return pellmell to their old location,and rush into the new hive. After they are well started going in, the queen may be released, when she will go with them.
The work already begun in the supers will be pushed on and completed with more vin and energy than before, because a new swarm always works with new energy. If only frames containing starters have been given them, what honey does come in is forced right into the supers, for the bees have absolutely no place to store it, at least until foundation below has been drawn out; but as soon as this takes place it is occupied immediately by the queen.
The old hive containing frames of brood and queen-cells now in another location may cast a second or third swarm; but if queen-cells are cut out, even second swarming may, to a very great extent, be checked.
This method of handling swarms where natural swarming is allowed commends itself especially to the women-folks, who are generally at home. All they have to do is to hunt up the clipped queen, cage her, and then put an empty hive containing frames of foundation in place of the old one. As it might not be practical for the women to carry the old hive to another location, they can simply drag it over to one side, and change the entrance so that it will face to the rear. When the "man of the house" returns, he can lift the supers off from the old stand on to the new one, then take the old brood-nest over to another location. This may be done any time within a day; or, when preferred, the old stand can be left alongside the new one, providing the entrance is reversed.
If two or more swarms come out at the same time, and one of them has a virgin queen, all the bees will be likely to unite with the one having the queen; then, of course, this plan of bees returning will come to naught. But in a well-regulated apiary there will be few such occurrences, and from our experience we should deem it preferable to clip the queen's wings rather than to cause the bees the inconvenience of crawling, during the continuance of the honey-flow, through narrow perforations of zinc, simply to hold back the queen should a swarm issue.
While we recommend clipping in place of using perforated zinc, yet in the case of very strong colonies in the height of the honey-flow, especially when such colonies are in more than one attempt to swarm in this manner, because, after a second failure of the queen to follow she will likely be killed. The bees may, however, cluster without the queen, and remain clustered a short time.