BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
As a general rule, when nectar is coming in freely, the bees of a hive will welcome additions to their strength, but in times of dearth they will eject or kill the intrudcrs,* [4] Agrassiz--Jos, Whelpton, F. Sinclair, J. C. MeRae, Thos. Hicks, Albert Greyl, Wm. Mackie, E. Lambert. Alberni--A. G. Service. Armstrong--A. W. Hunter (Box 275), -- Burnett, Alloyne Buckley, J. Simmington, R. Daniels. Arrow Park--Chas. L. Childe, A. Hemingway, Alf. Heffler. Baleomo--R. H. Agur, A. Doherty. Beaver Creek P. O.--Alex. Shaw, Donald McKenzie, R. W. Thompson. Burnaby Lake--H. Ledger, C. F. Sprott. Burton City--Mrs. Robson, Edw. Schram. Cedar Cottage P. O.--Edward P. Flynn, John Benson, Wm. John Brewer. Central Park--Mrs. M. J. Coburn (Park Avenue). Chilliwack--H. L. Johnson, J. Branniek, Mrs. M. S. Davies (P. O. Box 229), Isaac Kipp, Hy. Kipp. Coburn--Parker Williams. Colquitz--Ernest Etheridge, H. D. Van Decar. Comux--H. Bourne, -- Smith (Little River). Courtesy--Janas McKenzie, Richard Creech. Cranbrook--T. S. Gill, Wm. Hamilton (Box 93), Chas. Potvin, W. L. Whitney. Creston--Valter V. Jackson. Cumberland--Thomas Pierce. Denman Island--Jas. Ormiston. Dewdney--Alister Thompson, S. Smith, R. Gourlay, Fred. Newton. Duncan--Mrs. Hy. Smith, -- Duncan, -- Price. East Burnaby--Mrs. E. C. Morley, W. H. Lewis (Box 317). East Sooke--T. Oldershaw. Kiurne--Henry Kaecr. Enderby--James Emery. Epworth--Edward Flynn, W. G. Sutton. Esquimalt--Jos. Robinson (Fraser Street), -- Lea (Lampson Street),W. F. Corfield (Head Street). Ganges Harbour--J. T. Collins, H. Caldwell. Glen Valley--Geo. R. Arthur. Glenwood--G. Shelby-Hele. Gordon Head--Gray. Grantham--Alex. Salmond. Hall's Prairie--Wm. Brown, H. G. Lawrence, D. Brown & Sons. Harrison Mills--Anton Lambery. Hazelmere-F. J. Hardwick, P. O. Green, H. Hamel. Howser--H. R. Board, H. Hincks, Messrs. Matthews. Hatzic--J. H. Lawrence, E. McTaggart, A. McTaggart, Slack Bros., Hodson Bros., J. Edmons, T. Cattewood. Kamloops--Smith Bros. Kaslo--Archdeacon Beer, G. S. Ehle (Box 34). Keating-- -- Young, Xavier Rey. Kelown--W. S. Fuller (Box 155), H. B. D. Lyons, James Harvey, Geo. Thompson, Chas. Lodge. Keremeges--J. J. Armstrong. Ladner--R. C. Abbott, J. Reagh. Ladysmith--John Irvine. Langley--Alex. Holding, Frank Baxter, -- Briges. Langley Prairie--Mrs. John Wilson, Geo. Blair, Geo. Trigg, -- Savage. Lytton--Alex. Lochero, Alf. Ruddock. Malakwa--J. H. Johnson. Maywood P. O., Victoria--G. F. Dunn, R. R. Watson, J. H. Hughes. Mayne Island--James Bennett, -- Padden, Miss Padden. Metchosin--W. Fisher, J. Parker, J. D. Reid, C. Field, Stanley Clark, A. T. M. Inverarity (Box 407, Victoria). Millstream--G. M. Bernard. Milner--John Maxwell.
Mission City--J. A. Catherwood, J. Mitchell, T. R. Smith,
Mount Tolmie--Robert Russell, James Townsend.
Nanaimo--Charles G. Stevens, Joseph Deo-r, John Skinner, F. H. Jones,
Nelson--Charles Gansner (Box 187), D. La Bau, A. J. Laviolette.
New Denver--J. C. Harris.
Now Westminster--Wm. Anderson (Box 408), E. Stude, Frank Davies.
Qkanagan Centre--H. N, Caesar.
Okanagan Landing--Miss Peters, Mrs. Leslie.
Peachland--W. E. Morsch.
Pender Island--A. H. Menzies.
Port Guichon--Felix Guichon.
Protor--William Harg-Snellie.
Renata--E. L. Redhead.
Reverlstoke--Rev. C. A. Procunier, Thos. W. Bradshaw (C. P. R.), Geo. G.
Staffner, H. E. R. Smith, H. Cameron, B. A. Lawson, Geo. Laforme, W. Haner, G.
Raleigh.
Rocky Point--Tom Parker.
Roseberry--S. Z. Broekmann.
Rossland--Edgar Charles (Box 114), James S. Gow (Box 74), Archie McMillan.
Rutland--Thos. Barber, -- McDonald.
Salmo--James F. Westby.
Saalwick--Rev. Thomas Menzies, Hugh Clark, W. H. Grieve, John Shopland, L.
Cliffe, T. Bridges, W. Duncan, S. J. Perry, Rev. Willmar.
Sardis--Jas. Higginson.
Seymour Arm--F. N. Daniels.
Sidney--Chas. Armstrong.
Sooke--John A. Murray, John A. French.
South Vancouver--Mr. Pacey (Wilson Road and Pacey Avenue).
Strawberry Yale--Rob. Clark.
Summerland--F. J. Nixon (P. O. Box 3), Miss V. Cartwright, R. Pollock, M. Tait,
B. H. Sherk, A. Fraser, W. H. Hayes, P. Thornber, A. Stewart, J. Gartell, Alf.
Aveson (Box 3s), F. W. Bentley (Box 108), B. H. Sharp, H. Briston, T. Niven, J.
Dunsdon, Dr. Sawyer, Rev. J. White, Geo. Sinclair.
Trail--Thos. Heath.
Union Bay--Geo, H. Roe.
Vancouver--J. B. Lee (2644 Manitoba Street), Norman N. Reid (1019 Davie Street),
Geo. Schofield (1641 8th Avenue), Wm. Jefferson (1553 Westminster Avenue), M. J.
Henry (3010 Westminster Road), Mrs. R. J. Fisher (1037 Denman Street), Wm. Rennie
Seel Co., Herman M. Alpine (1550 7th Avenue).
Vernon--Rev. R. J. Vaus, Arthur T. Kirkpatrick, E. Leonard Harris, C. M.
Watson (Box 447), John Freeman, Rev. G. Lunke, Lloyd Quick, R. E. Tennaut, John
Kidston, J. Webster, T. A. Norris, -- Watson.
Victoria--G. A. Borthwick (Drawer 664), -- Brinkman (Washington Avenue), E.
Fleming (Government Street), T. J. Evans (William Street, V. W.), D. J. Griffin (1121
Iangley Street), W. H. Nelson (Brunswick Hotel), E. F. Robinson (417 Young Street),
S. M. A. Savory (13 Broad Street), F. D. Todd (743 Market Street), J. R. Grice (48 Second Street), W. R. Palmer (Box 534), Miss E. C. Saunders (Victoria West), Arthur
C. C. Stratford, A. J. Woodward (Ross Bay), Thos. Shotbolt (Druggist), W. Hardy (Catherine Street, V. W.).
Wellington--A. Willey, Jos. Carr.
Yale--Mrs. J. M. McQuarrie.
Victoria, R. C.:
Printed by Richard Wolfersberg, I.S.O., V.D., Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
## How to Keep Bees
**A Handbook for the Use**
of Beginners
**Anna**Botsford**Cornstock, B. S.
_With Illustrations_
NEWYYORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1905Copyright, 1905, by
Doubleday, Page & Company
Published April, 1905
_All rights reserved, including that of translation--also right of translation into the Scandinavian languages_
This book has been prepared especially to meet the needs of the beginner in bee-keeping. It is not intended to be a complete treatise for the professional apiarist, but rather a handbook for those who would keep bees for happiness and honey, and incidentally for money. It is hoped, too, that it will serve as an introduction to the more extended manuals already in the field.
When we began bee-keeping we found the wide range of information and varying methods given in the manuals confusing; but a little experience taught us that bee-keeping is a simple and delightful business which can be carried on in a modest way without a great amount of special training. After a beginning has been made, skill in managing the bees is gained naturally and inevitably, and interest is then stimulated by the wider outlook which bewilders the novice.
For the sake of simplicity this volume is restricted to knowledge gained in practical experience in a small apiary; and the writer has sought to exclude from it those discussions which, however enlightening to the experienced, are after all but devo* [10]
## How to keep BefsAn obserration-hive holding only two frames, with the two side wholly of glass, so that any single bee can be continuously watched. (From V. L. Kellogg.)
## Chapter 1 Why Keep Bees
Trre reasons for keeping bees are many and various; for it is an industry as many-sided as the cells of a honey-comb, one of its chief charms being that it appeals equally to "many men of many minds." To know all the reasons why one should keep bees one must be conversant with the history of man; he must be familiar with the Yedas of India and master of the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt; he must study the life of the common people in the Hebrew Scriptures and the classic literatures of Greece and Italy, and must be able to translate into terms of common human experiences the myths and legends of diverse peoples. For bees have been a part of the conscious life of man from the beginning. Not only have they sweetened his daily bread with beneferent honey, but they have had their place in his religious rites, and also in his family observances, as millions of happy lovers may attest who have experienced the "honey-moon." However, lacking the erudition necessary to enumerate all, the author of this book is quite content to mention a few of the more cogent reasons why anyone should, in this day and generation, undertake the keeping of bees.
One may keep bees for the sake of the honey, which is a most legitimate and fit reason. Honey is a wholesome and delicious addition to the family table. Though it is a luxury, yet it may be afforded by one living in moderate circumstances, if he be willing to give a modicum of time and care to the happy little creatures that gladly make it for him, free of all expense. But for the one possessed of great wealth, and able to corner the honey-market any day, there is sure delight, as well as education, in raising his own honey. Any person of experience well knows that the honey made by one's own bees has quality and flavour superior to that made by other people's bees. In fact, the only way to become a connoisseur of honey is to keep bees, for thus only may one learn to discriminate between honey made from basswood and that gathered from clover; or to distinguish, at first taste, the product of orchard in bloom from that drawn from vagrant blossoms, which, changing day by day, mark the season's processional. He who has once kept bees and become an artist in honey-flavours, would never again, willingly, become a part of the world at large, which, in its dense ignorance, dubs all white honey "basswood" or "clover" indiscriminately, and believes all dark honey is gathered from buckwheat.
Some, perhaps, might keep bees for the sake of making money. For him who would get rich keeping bees, this book manifestly is not written; its title explains that it is meant to show how to keep bees, and not how to make bees keep him. The person who would, from the first, make bee-keeping his chief work should receive his training in a large apiary. As a vacation it demands the entire time and energy of a shrewd and able person to insure success; of such, America already has a great number, with yearly incomes varying from $1,000 to $10,000. However, the desire to make the bees keep themselves and add more or less to the family income is a practical and sensible reason for keeping bees. Fifteen or twenty colonies may be managed with comparatively little time and attention and the work may be done largely by women or the younger members of the household. If proper care be given to such an apiary, it will prove of material benefit to the family purse; for, if the season be favourable, the product of one colony should net the owner from four to ten dollars. We know of boys who have thus earned their college expenses; and many women have bought immunity from the drudgery of the kitchen with money paid them for their crops of honey. It should be borne in mind that honey-money is not obtained without thought, energy, and some hard work. The bees would have been less beneferent to mankind had they bestowed honey without demanding a return in care and labour.
Many have kept bees as a recreation, and there is none better. It gives delightful and absorbing occupation in the open air and is not merely a rest from mental and sedentary labours, but is a stimulus to health and strength as well. In the various bee journals are recorded testimonials from thousandswho, when tired, ill, and nervously worn out, began bee-keeping, and through it regained vigour and found a new interest in life. Notwithstanding the fact that bees have honest stings, they can work the miracle of changing a dyspeptic pessimist into a cheerful optimist with a rapidity and completeness that merits our highest admiration.
A love for natural science is a very good reason for keeping bees. Nowhere are there more fascinating problems for the investigator than those still unsolved in the hive. Of all the lower animals, bees are, perhaps, the most highly developed in certain ways; and it is more probable that the mysteries of the eternal heavens and the distant stars be made plain than that we ever learn the truths that underlie the development of the "Spirit of the Hive."
Another reason for keeping bees is the insight to be gained therefrom into the conditions of perfect communism. The bees and their relatives are the most intelligent and consistent socialists that have yet been developed in this world; and, through studying their ways, one may discern with startling clearness how the perfect socialism grinds off all the projecting corners of the individual until it fits perfectly in its communal niche. In the hive individual traits, as exemplified in kindness, selfishness, love and hate, are moved up a notch in the scale and characterise the whole community, even though they are eliminated from its members. If one is a social philosopher, he may become very wise, indeed, by studying the results of the laws of socialism which have been executed inexorably through countless centuries in the bee commune.
Last, but by no means least, one may keep bees because they belong to home life and should have place in every well-kept garden or orchard. There is no more beautiful domestic picture to be found in the world than a fine garden with a row of holly-hoeks hiding the boundary fence and affording a fitting background for a neat row of white hives. It is not alone the aesthetic beauty the bees bring to the garder which touches the deeper currents of feeling and is productive of profound satisfaction; it is something more fundamental; for since the thyme of Hymettus yielded nectar, the happy hum of the bee has yielded comfort to the human senses. The garden without bees seems ever to lack something; mayhap, the silent longing of the flowers for their friendly visitors, intangible but real, so permeates the place that we are dimly conscious of it. Be that as it may, the perfect garden can only be attained through the presence of happy and populous beethives.
## Chapter 2 How to begin Bee-keeping the various ways of beginning
There are so many ways of beginning this interesting work that no classic way obtains. Many people have received the stimulus from a swarm of bees, escaped from some apiary, which has alighted on a tree or bush on the premises, and which seemed too much like a gift of the gods to be ignored. In fact, no one with blood in him would do otherwise under such circumstances than to hunt up a soap-box or a nailkeg and, with an intrepidity amounting almost to heroin, place it under the cluster and shake the bees into it. Then, if the swarm feels content, the fact is accomplished; and the involuntary owner finds a new interest in life, and enthusiastically becomes a bee-keeper. This is an excellent and inexpensive way to begin, and for all who are thus favoured it is by far the best way. But one may wait many years before this happens, and after all there are other and more direct methods. The best way is to begin by wishing sincerely to keep bees, and then to adopt one of the following plans:
The cheapest way is to visit the nearest neighbourwho keeps bees, and buy of him a swarm, which will cost, perhaps, two or three dollars. If the neighbour be a good apiarist, this may be an excellent method, for he will give practical advice and be a most helpful friend in time of future difficulties and doubts; he will also explain appliances and make the labours and perplexities of the beginner much smoother. Besides these advantages, it is a help to neighbourhoods, for keeping bees is almost as close a bond between two neighbours as an interest in golf or automobiles, and has a much broader and more philosophical basis.
Of course, the bees may be bought at any time of the year convenient, but the early spring is the best season for beginning, for then one has the advantage of increase by swarms. If one is ingenious and inventive, one may easily construct other hives like the one bought; but there are other things needed which may be obtained cheaper and better from firms that sell apiarists' supplies. However, we are acquainted with several apiarists who furnish all of their own supplies except the sections for combinoney, the wax foundations, the smoker, the cartons and the honey-extractor.
The usual way of beginning is to send to some of the dealers in bee-keepers' supplies for a catalogue and to invest in a library of bee books. There is something most fascinating about these books written by bee-keepers, for no one makes a success of bee-keeping unless he loves the bees; and if he loves bees he writes of them so persuadingly, and his linesare so full of insidious allusions to the enchantments of the occupation, that whoever reads one of these volumes finds life arid without bees.
Then the catalogue of bee-keepers' supplies has its own attractions. Never were such breathlessly interesting pamphlets written; and I would add that, on the whole, they are the most honest and reliable of all advertising catalogues. They almost invariably give good and sensible advice to beginners, suggesting proper outfits at moderate prices. To the would-be bee-keeper these catalogues are so delightful that, if the purse is long enough, he feels inclined to order a specimen of everything listed. However, this is not the best way to do. A moderate number of things can be ordered at first, and other things may be ordered later as the growing sense of their need develops.
If one is minded to go into bee-keeping as a regular business, the best way to begin is to spend a year with a successful bee-keeper, working for him and with him and paying for the tuition, whatever may be charged. Thus one may gain his knowledge of the business and get his practical training under the guidance of experience. The very worst way to begin, and one that is sure to result in disaster, is to buy a large number of colonies at first. This is a too expensive way of learning the extent of one's own ignorance and limitations as a bee-keeper.
As we have begun keeping bees three times in the course of our lives, we feel more or less competent to give advice about this special phase of bee-keeping.
We first began when we were children and two swarms were bestowed upon us by an uncle who moved away from the neighbourhood. This was long before, the idea of supers and box comb-honey had been thought of. We were among the first to adopt the old glass-sided super when it was introduced. The second and third times we purchased our outfit of a dealer in apiarists' supplies, and both of these beginnings were good and successful; so perhaps the best way to tell others how to begin is to describe how we began. The following is the order which we sent to a dealer.
## Appendix A Beginner's order
One colony of bees, in an eight-frame, dovetailed, chaff hive with a deep telescope cover, and with a tested Italian queen.
Two complete supers ready for use, with 41 x 41 x 11 plain sections.
One super cover.
Three extra 11-story chaff hives uniform with the above, and with super covers.
One standard Corneil smoker.
One bee-veil.
One pair bee-gloves.
Two hundred and fifty sections, plain, no bee-way, 41 x 41 x 112.
One pound medium brood foundation.
Two pounds thin super foundation.
One Daisy foundation-fastener.
One Van Deusen wax-tube fastener.
One \(\dagger\)-pound spool No. 30, tinned wire.
One Porter bee-escape, with board.
One Manum's swarm-catcher.
One Dixie bee-brush.
One Doolittle division-board feeder.
One Alley's queen and drone trap.
NOTES ON A BEGINNER'S ORDER
the bees
The selection of the bees is the first and most important consideration, since race and heredity determine to so great an extent the bee's efficiency and disposition.
The consensus of opinion to-day is in favour of the Italian bees; this is so much so that the other races, except the German, are hardly on the general market in America. Taking all points into consideration, the Italian has a higher average of satisfactory qualities than has any of the other races.
Our earliest experiences were with the ordinary black German bees, and it was through them that we first learned to love bees, although their nervousness and their unhappy habit of considering us intruders when we neared their domain were always somewhat embarrassing, and made us feel like James Whitcomb Riley's visiting base-ball team, that "we weren't so welcome as we aimed to be." Therefore, when we decided to buy bees, we un hesitatingly ordered Italians. These are much more gentle and friendly than the others, and it is one of our greatest pleasures to be on good terms with our bee-folk. Under all ordinary circumstances the Italian bees are not only tolerant of human interference, but are sweet tempered and optimistic, believing that we mean well by them; and one cannot work with them without learning to love them.
If one begins bee-keeping in the spring, some moaey can be saved by buying a nucleus and tested queen, instead of a full colony of bees. A nucleus in bee-keeping parlance is a small colony with only one, two, or three frames. The colony should be large enough to build combs with sufficient rapidity to keep the queen fairly busy, so as not to encourage in her the habit of loafing, and so that too much time shall not be required to build up a full colony. Two frames with about a quart of bees will accomplish this well.
Such a nucleus as this in a hive, with a division board on either side of the two adjacent frames, can be soon built up into a full colony if there is'plenty of nectar and pollen to be had. A division board is a solid board of the shape of the frame, but a little larger so that it is close-fitting in the hive. The frame should be watched closely, and as soon as the comb is filled with brood, and there are enough bees to cover the brood well, another frame filled with brood foundation should be added; this should be continued until the hive is filled with [frames.
As the queen is the mother of the whole colony, her powers for transmitting a kind disposition and superior honey-making qualities are of the greatest importance. It is essential, therefore, to know that the queen, which is to serve as a foundation for the apiary, has mated with a drone of the desired race. A tested queen is one that has been kept until some of her offspring have been reared. The colour of these will indicate whether the queen has mated with a drone of her own race.
Next to choosing the bees comes the selection of the hive, for there are several kinds of hives in general use, and all of them are apparently good. We chose the Langstroth bive because its merits are attested by the fact that it is more largely used than all others taken together. We chose the eight-frame in preference to the ten-frame form because we wished to produce comb-honey, and it is easier to induce bees to store surplus in the sections when the brood-chamber is small. If one wishes to produce extracted honey, the ten-frame hive is the better one. We ordered the more expensive chaff hives, as we wished to save the trouble of moving the bees into winter quarters; and we think this would be the case with anyone with whom bee-keeping is an avocation instead of a vocation. In fact many pe
ple who make bee-keeping their principal business prefer chaff hives, for they not only keep out the cold in winter, but also protect the bees from the heat in summer. The objections to them are that they are heavy to handle and are expensive, though the expense can be reduced considerably if one has the ability to make them. Another thing we like about the chaff hives is that they are fine and dignified in appearance, and we find that their majestic proportions, white and beautiful, set against the background of our larches, add much to our conscious pleasure every time we look upon our apiary. We ordered a deep telescope cover, as we wished room for two, supers on the hive at once.
The hive-stand we ourselves made from 'lumber taken from dry-goods boxes. It is simply a smooth platform, six inches wider than the hive on three sides and extending about a foot out in front of the hive, thus serving as an alighting-board.
## two complete supers