BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
**Cellar wintering is, perhaps, more difficult in some respects than outdoor wintering, because there are so many points to be taken into consideration. However, after years of experience in wintering bees both in cellars and on the summer stands I have come to regard a good cellar as a safe place in which to winter bees, especially for colonies that are a little light in bees or stores. Our strong colonies are packed for wintering on the summer stands as already described, and those that are not quite up to standard as regards the amount of stores and size of cluster are taken into the cellar. Since adopting this plan our winter losses have been reduced to a minimum.**
**There are four things that are conducive to best results in cellar wintering; namely, a temperature above freezing, and not above 50; total darkness, perfect quietude, and last, but not least, sufficient stores of good quality. These conditions are also modified by moisture and ventilation. While a few still cling to the theory that little or no ventilation is needed, most bee-keepers have come to believe that pure atmosphere is essential to the health of bees during their long winter confinement.**
**Recent developments would seem to indicate that a temperature ranging between 42 and 50 deg., with abundance of ventilation, is a safe proposition. If such a cellar is inclined to be damp, no harm will follow. However, it would be advisable to remove the covers and cover the tops of hives with pieces of old carpet or burlap sacks. Bees will also winter well in a dry well-ventilated cellar with a temperature of 35 to 40 deg. if the tops of hives are covered with thick cloths such as burlap sacks, old pieces of carpet, etc. From this point of view it would seem that there is no iron-clad rule that will apply to all cellars, regardless of temperature and moisture conditions. Thus, a low temperature accompanied by much moisture is considered a dangerous combination.**
**The amount of ventilation required will largely depend upon the number of colonies. If not more than 100 are kept, an open window will be sufficient. However, if several hundred colonies are wintered in a cellar a regular system of sub-earth ventilation will be required in order to control the temperature. Mr. R. F. Holtermann, of Brantford, Ont., has a model cellar of this kind in which he is able to maintain a uniform temperature and pure air with 500 colonies in one cellar.**of hives until all have been removed before disturbing another, the bees will usually remain quiet until all have been removed.
## 8 Uniting Colonies.
The uniting of colonies is usually practiced in the fall when preparing for winter, or in spring when preparing for the harvest. It is very desirable to have a good-sized winter cluster to enable the bees to maintain a normal temperature during severe weather; therefore weak colonies should be united at the close of the season. The process is very simple. On a cool day when bees are not flying, bees may be successfully united by simply placing the weaker colony upon the other with as little disturbance as possible. In a few days the bees will have become acquainted, and the combs may be properly adjusted. If it is desirable to retain both queens, a queen-excluder is placed between the hives. No one should attempt to winter more than one queen in a hive, as a rule.
## 9 Spring Management.
As soon as the bees have settled down to business after being removed from the cellar, each colony should be carefully inspected, and supplied with sufficient stores to last until fruit-bloom at least, after which the hives may be protected by wrapping them with tarred felt paper as described under outdoor wintering. However, in my location I do not find that' the advantages gained by spring protection are sufficient to warrant the expense and labor, and my bees require little attention except to supply needed stores until fruit-bloom, when light colonies are united on the vacant side of the switch-board by placing one on top of the other with a queen-excluder between. These double deckers, each containing a good queen, will build up rapidly, and soon be in condition to begin work in the supers right at the beginning of harvest. This means a full crop of surplus honey unless the flowers fail to yield nectar. As a rule it is advisable to unite a light colony with a medium one rather than to unite two light ones.
## 10 Location, and Its Influence Upon Honey-Production.
The principles introduced by this book can not be materially influenced by location, since they are based upon the
**Bee-keeping by Twentieth Century Method.** **39**
instinct of bees that always remains the same. The methods of applying them, however, must be governed by location, time, and duration of the honey-flow.
It is clear that a location with no nectar-secreting flora would be a losing proposition under any system of management. On the other hand, by applying correct principles for the control of bees and attending to the most minute details, it is possible to produce paying crops of surplus honey under unfavorable conditions; but it is the part of wisdom to choose a good location first of all, and study it well. Learn the exact time and the probable duration of the blooming period of every nectar-secreting source within flying distance of your bees; and by bending every energy in an earnest effort to have them in the best possible condition, and by employing labor-saving methods, success is assured.
**OVERSTOCKING.**
**This is a subject that has been discussed pro and con for more than a quarter of a century, and yet it is doubtful if the problem is nearer a correct solution than at the beginning. Owing to the fickle nature of the influences that govern the secretion of nectar it is a difficult matter to arrive at a definite conclusion as to the number of colonies that may be successfully kept in one place. A poor location may be overstocked with 25 colonies, while a good one might furnish ample pasturage for 200. This statement may be modified to suit different conditions in the same location; for example, a location overstocked by 25 colonies in a poor season might afford sufficient pasturage for 200 in a good season. From this point of view all our bees should not be in one place, but divided up into out-apiaries of perhaps 100 colonies.**
**IMPORTANCE OF GOOD STOCK.**
**Perhaps in no other branch of rural industry is the advantage of good stock more noticeable than in bee-keeping. Without entering into a lengthy discussion of the merits and demerits of the different races of bees that have been brought to this country with varying results, suffice it to say the Italians, as an all-around business bee, have few equals and no superiors. They are hardy, gentle, and industrious, not inclined to rob, yet good defenders of their home. They remain quietly upon the combs while being handled, and areeasily held under control with very little smoke. Other races do good work storing honey when it is plentiful and near by; but it is when nectar is scarce and difficult to find that the superiority of the Italians is manifest. They possess a steady, quiet, determined perseverance that overcomes difficulties, and will often show a steady gain while other races are actually at the point of starvation.
The queens are prolific during the breeding season until the last drop of honey is gone; but during the honey-flow breeding slackens, and all hands seem to turn their attention to the gathering of nectar. This is one point of superiority possessed by the Italians over most other races.
Uniformity of marking is an indication of well-bred stock in bees as well as in other domestic animals. Three-banded Italians are more uniform in marking, as well as less irritable than the goldens, the latter being inclined to run about and take wing while the combs are being handled. This would seem to indicate that, in breeding for beauty, other qualities of a highly desirable character have been sacrificed, even to the intermingling with other less desirable races. Both the golden and the three-banded Italians are said to be, to a great extent, immune to black brood, which is a strong point in their favor if true.
## 6 Hybrids.
It is a mistake to suppose that hybrids, as a rule, are equal to pure Italians. While occasionally a hybrid colony may even outstrip pure Italians in gathering nectar when it is plentiful and near by, as a rule there will be a noticeable lacking in uniformity of results when compared with pure Italians. Hybrids are inveterate robbers and wicked stingers, and it will pay any one to Italianize his apiary, if only for the sake of having gentle bees to handle. Since Italians in their purity are superior to most other races, nothing is gained but much is lost by crossing them with any other race of bees.
It is true that, by judicious breeding, hybrids have been brought to a high state of perfection; but the bad temper is difficult to eradicate; and it is evident that much more could have been accomplished in a given time by beginning with pure-bred stock. The possibilities along the line of improvement of stock by careful selection and judicious breeding are great, and it is equally true that more can be accomplished in perhaps, be advisable to employ a tcamster to do the hauling, and travel back and forth to out-apiaries by means of a motor cycle or an automobile. If the latter, light supplies as well as honey may be transported during the necessary visits. If he is situated so that he can establish a series of apiaries along a rural electric line, no other means of travel would be necessary, and the time spent upon the road would be reduced to a minimum.
Whether cc.mb or extracted honey is produced in out-apiaries should be governed by the location and market conditions. If the location is a good one it is, as a rule, advisable to produce both comb and extracted honey. Such a policy would have a tendency to equalize the market between the two principal products of the apiary, and prevent overproduction of any one product that is likely to follow the production of only one.
Under modern methods out-apiaries may be run for combinoney production, and the swarming impulse held under as perfect control as in the production of extracted, and with no more labor. If the harvest is uncertain and of short duration, as from basswood alone, it would be advisable to produce extracted honey exclusively. Some bee-keepers prefer to have a small building and an extractor at each apiary, as well as an underground cellar for wintering bees. Where one can secure a permanent location, such an arrangement has its advantages.
Others who keep a team of horses, and have good smooth roads to travel over, prefer to haul the honey home in the supers. These men usually have an extracting establishment equipped with power-propelled extractors, and all the modern conveniences for handling both comb and extracted honey from the hive to the market. Mr. Chalon Fowls, of Oberlin, Ohio, operates a series of out-apiaries on this plan, and produces an extra-fine quality of both comb and extracted honey, keeping his bees in permanently packed chaff hives that require little attention except during the busy season.
## 0.7 Migratory Bee-Keeping.
Since the honey-flow is largely governed by local weather conditions and rainfall, it is evident that there may be a wide difference between the extent of the honey-flow of locations only a few miles apart. A local shower coming at just the
danger period along this line varies with different locations. The few that are entirely exempt are highly favored.
The critical period in the North covers the interval between fruit and clover bloom, as this is the period of maximum brood-rearing, during which immense stores disappear as if by magic. Many colonies will be working in a hand-to-mouth way with but little in store for a rainy day. The situation is rendered more acute at this time by the liability of the weather to turn cold. When it does come on, there is trouble at once, since the bees, unable to leave the hives in search of nectar, are compelled to suck up the life-juices from the brood to sustain life within themselves. In spite of this, many colonies will perish outright, and many more will be so badly handicapped from loss of brood (at a time when every bee that hatches represents a unit in honey-production) as to render them practically unproductive.
The picture is not overdrawn, for this condition existed with greater or less severity throughout the Northern States in the spring of 1910. Money invested in sugar that is judiciously fed to bees during this period will yield manifold returns in honey-production, and may make all the difference between success and failure in bee-keeping. It is at this crisis that the plan of emergency feeding to be described in this chapter should be quickly resorted to as a first aid.
If any colony is discovered in such a condition that the bees are unable to move, they should be taken into a warm room and warm thin syrup sprinkled upon the top of the combs quite freely. In this way many colonies may be saved that would otherwise perish. The successful honey-producer of the future will have a feeder under each hive ready for instant use. When not in use for feeding it should be kept supplied with water in which a little salt is sprinkled. This will be relished by the bees, and will be conducive to health and vigor in their brood. Many times bee-keepers are deterred from feeding at a critical time, on account of the fussy job of hunting up and adjusting clumsy, inefficient feeders. Improved methods of bee-keeping call for improved feeders. This demand is fully met in the handy feeder shown in the illustration. It consists of a rim 2\(
icefrac{
u}{2}\) inches deep without top or bottom, of the same outside dimension as the hive that is to rest upon it. In the center of the rim lengthwise slides a pan or drawer 8 inches wide by 2 inches deep, with a ring on one end. To operate, draw out the pan 3 inches; pour in the feed and push it back into position under the live. It is always in position, and is so arranged that bees can not drown in it, nor are they exposed when the pan is filled, and it is impossible for them to glue it fast. It may be carried into the cellar in lieu of the regular bottom-board; and if a colony is short of stores it can be fed in a warm celler better than out of doors. At other times a little water in the feeder will prevent the bees from becoming uneasy during their long confinement in winter quarters.
**The Handy Diawer Feeder, Showing It Drawn Out for Filling.**
This feeder is adapted for use either at the top or bottom of the hive, as well as between the hive and super. However, as a rule it is desirable to feed from the bottom. When preparing bees for outdoor wintering we have a space under the frames 2/2 inches deep. This is worth all the feeder costs, even for one winter, on account of the protection afforded to the winter cluster, because the pan covers the entrance, turning aside chilling blasts and shutting out rays of sunshine that often allure bees to destruction during bright days when snow is on the ground.
It is surprising with what a lavish hand some bee-keepers provide food for all their domestic animals, and expect their bees to work for nothing and board themselves, and blame them if they fail to yield a handsome profit under such discouraging conditions. I well remember the time when I had a sort of misgiving about investing good money in sugar to feed bees, simply because I had not yet arrived at that condition that begets perfect confidence in an occupation--a condition that is essential to success in any business undertaking. Luckily those days are long since past, and I would as soon fail to feed my horses or poultry as my bees.
## 11 Stimulative Feeding.
It is the purpose of this work to eliminate unnecessary manipulation with bees; and since we regard so-called stimulative feeding as unnecessary, unprofitable, and unworthy of a place in the ranks of modern methods of economical honey-production, we have little use for it. It is very humiliating, after spending valuable time in stimulating feeding, to discover that such colonies are, as a rule, outstripped in the end by those that are supplied with an abundance of stores and left entirely undisturbed during the breeding season. With proper attention to the queen end of bee-keeping there is little gained by spring tinkering with bees, much less with spring stimulative feeding.
## 12 Emergency Feeding.
It frequently happens that the bee-keeper for some reason neglects to provide sufficient stores in the fall to carry his bees through to settled warm weather in the spring, and many are the times that I have discovered that my bees were at the point of starvation at a time when it was too cold to feed bees in the ordinary way. In such cases I fill a common wash-boiler with warm syrup, half and half warm water and granulated sugar. I then lay an empty comb on its side, letting it float upon the syrup in the tub. I next take a four-quart pair with sloping sides and perforated bottom, and dip it into the syrup, lifting it up quickly and holding it over the comb two feet or more, meantime moving it back and forth so as to cover all parts of the comb. When one side is filled I flop the comb over with the left hand and repeat the operation. In this way combs may be rapidly and perfectly filled. As fast as filled they are placed in a wash-boiler to drain, in which they are carried to the apiary and given to the bees as needed, always placing them close up to the brood-nest. After practicing this method for many years I still regard it as the best one for emergency feeding that has yet come to my notice.
## Open-Air Feeding.
What I have said of stimulative feeding will apply with equal force to open-air feeding as usually practiced. The loss of vitality of the bees resulting from struggling, pulling, and hauling, to get at the feed, far outweighs any advantages that may be gained by outdoor feeding. If bees are known to be short of stores in mid-winter I have been successful in feeding them by the following plan: Take the colony into a warm room and place the hive upon a handy feeder, resting flat on the floor or other flat surface so that no bee can escape. Give them two quarts of feed and stir them up by thumping upon the hive. You will be surprised to see how quickly the feed will disappear. Repeat the operation until enough has been given to carry them through to settled warm weather. The syrup should be two parts granulated sugar and one part water, with 10 per cent of extracted honey added and fed warm. After feeding, the room is allowed to cool gradually, after which the bees may be packed on the summer stand, or carried into the cellar. Such a colony will often rank among the best in the apiary the following season. A very economical way of feeding colonies to prepare them for winter, or at other times when bees are out of stores, is to take a 12-lb. lard-pail with a perforated cover, fill it with sugar syrup or diluted honey, and invert it upon the tops of the frames, using an empty super to cover it. If the weather is cold, cover the pail and frames with a burlap quilt. From an economical point of view this method will be found very convenient.
## FEEDING BACK.
**Feeding back** is a science that none but experienced beeepers should attempt; however, by employing correct methods partly filled sections may be finished at a profit. Feeding back to finish partly filled sections should begin immediately at the close of the harvest before comb-building has ceased.
Place a handy feeder upon a double-switch-board bottom beside a strong colony. Upon the feeder place a single division of a sectional hive (a shallow extracting-super will do as well) containing brood, some bees, and a prolific queen. Upon this,
Physics of the Universe," _Phys. Rev. D_**59for his product, and find a ready market at his own door. For him the market problem has no terrors, simply because he is at the top of the ladder, where the largest apples are to be found.
It is always the common grades of honey that are the first to feel the effects of hard times and overproduction, either of which the comb-honey producer has little cause to fear. Methods of controlling bees described in these pages have swept the last obstruction from the pathway that leads to successful comb-honey production; and the bee-keeper who has been wise enough to turn a deaf car to the oft-repeated exhortations of misguided promoters of a narrow specialization to "keep more bees" and produce extracted honey may now reap a rich reward.
## 11 SHIPPING COMB HONEY.
Section honey, while unquestionably the most fancy, is generally regarded as the most fragile commodity of the apiary, and therefore is more liable to injury during transportation. However, by exercising care in packing, and by carefully observing the recognized rules for shipping comb honey, there will seldom be any complaint regarding breakage.
When preparing section honey for market, the utmost care should be exercised in removing all traces of propolis from the wood, after which it should be carefully graded according to recognized rules for grading comb honey, each grade being packed in separate cases having corrugated paper in the bottom, and marked for just what it is. There are two points right here that will bear emphasizing. One is the importance of exercising judgment by the use of corrugated paper in the bottom and on top of every case in which honey is placed. Who would be so foolish as to send a case of eggs to market without cushioning the bottom? And yet that is just what hundreds of thoughtless bee-keepers are doing every day, and then they have the cheek to blame the freight-handlers for losses that are manifestly due to their own slipshod methods. It is a wonder, under existing circumstances, that freight-handlers do not lay an embargo on the shipment of comb honey.
## 11 HONEST GRADING.
No one can make a greater mistake than to attempt to palm off No. 1 for "fancy" honey. Such a practice can only result in disaster and loss to the packer whose private brand should be the guarantee of honest goods by an honest man who does not hesitate to stand back of that brand with a reputation for square dealing. Let the word go out that a certain brand is noted for crooked grading methods, and the fate of that brand of goods is sealed, and the packer will be compelled to seek a new market every year. On the other hand, let the word go out that a certain brand is a guarantee of honest goods and honest grading, and it will be sought for far and wide.
No. 1 and "fancy" grades should be encased in neat paper cartons tastily labelled, thus affording protection against the accumulation of dirt and dust, and to permit of handling the same as other food preparations without injury to the capping. Comb honey intended for shipment by freight (which is, as a rule, safer than by express) should be packed in crates or carriers holding from 100 to 200 lbs. with six inches of straw in the bottom well tramped down, and a false bottom on top of the straw, to provide a plain surface for the bottom of the cases to rest upon. The crate should be provided with convenient handles to prevent it from being dumped; also conspicuous caution labels, briefly describing the nature of the contents and emphasizing the necessity of careful handling. The shipping-cases themselves should be wrapped with paper before placing them in the crate, otherwise they will present an unsightly appearance from the accumulation of coal dust when they arrive at their destination. This detracts from their appearance as well as from their market value. The bee-keeper who will adhere strictly to the above rules will receive little complaint about breakage during transportation, and will find a rapidly increasing demand for his product at good prices. He who would command the highest price must be able to guarantee safe delivery by freight, as there are few buyers who will take the risk of careless packing. I have shipped tons of fancy comb honey to distant markets packed as above described, and have yet to receive the first complaint about breakage in transit.
## Bulk Comb Honey.