BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
It is rather to be regretted that basswood is not more plentiful, being one of the main stays, where it grows, of the honey-producer, and one of the most valuable woods in man of literature. It will hardly do for outside exposure to the weather; but it is admirably adapted for packing-boxes, and is used in _times_ quantities for the manufacture of furniture, forming the bottoms and sides of drawers, the backs of bureaus, dressing-cases, etc., and it is also employed extensively in the manufacture of paper. It has often been charged that we are cutting off our own noses by using it for one-piece sections--that we are "killing the goes that lays the golden egg." Well, it is true that apriarian-supply makes use quite a little; but still, the amount _they_ use is very insignificant in comparison with that employed by furniture-manufacturers, various packing-box concerns, and wood-pulp and paper-makers.
After all, there is one redeening feature, the basswood is a very rapid grower. We thought at one time that we had used nearly all the basswood in this section, to say nothing of the enormous quantities shipped in from Miehigan and other States; yet somehow the farmers still bring in beautiful nice white basswood lumber; but where they get it in our vicinity is a puzzle. At least some of this lumber is from a second growth of trees that sprouted from the stumps of old trees--said trees having been cut for us ten years ago. _If_ basswood will replace itself in ten or even twenty years, so that it can be used again for lumber, there is yet hope that it will continue to bless the bekeeper.
Over against this is the stubborn fact that our basswoods are disappearing, and rapidly, too, over all the country. During 1899, when there was such a great advance in pine number, basswood was used very largely for house-building, with the consequence that millions of feet were used up.
Basswood, and perhaps most other forest-trees, require shade, especially when young. Much to our surprise, some that were planted directly under large white-oak trees have done better than any of the rest. Who has not noticed exceedingly thirty basswoods growing in the midst of a clump of briers and bushes of all sorts? We would plant the trees not more than 12 feet apart.
The best yield of honey we ever had from a single hive, in one day, was from basswood bloom, the amount being 43 lbs. in three days. The best we ever recorded from clover was 10 lbs. in one day. Honey from the basswood has a strong aromatic or nint flavor, and we can tell when the blossoms are out by the perfume about the hives. The taste of the honey also indicates to the apiarist the very day the bees commence work on it. The honey, if extracted before it is sealed over, when it is coming in rapidly, has the distinctive flavor so strong as to be very disagreeable to some persons. A lady likens it to the smell and taste of turpentine or emphor, and very much dislikes it when just gathered; but when sealed over and fully ripened in the hive, she thinks it delicious, as does almost every person.
## 6 Bee-Bread
A term in common use, applied to pollen when stored in the combs. In olden times, when bees were killed with sulphur to get at the honey, more or less pollen was usually found mixed with the honey; it has something of a "bready"taste, and hence, probably, came its name. Since the advent of the extractor and section boxes, it is very rare to find pollen in the honey designed for table use. See Pollen.
## 7 Bee-Dress
See Coib Honey, also Extracting.
We have given the warning so often, against leaving sweets of any kind about the apiary, and about being careful not to let the bees get to robbing each other, that it may seem a little queer to be directed how best to encourage and develop this very robbing propensity in these little friends of ours.
The only season in which we can trap bees is when they will rob briskly at home; for while honey is to be found in the flowers in plenty, they will hardly deign to notice our bait of even honey in the comb. Before starting out, it will be policy to inform yourself of all bees kept in the vicinity, for you might otherwise waste much time in following lines that lead into the hives of your neighbors. You should be at least a mile from any one who has a hive of bees when you commence operations, and it were safer to be two miles. We do not mean by this to say that there are no bee-trees near large apiaries, for a number have been found within half a mile of our own, and an experienced hand would have but little trouble in finding more, in all probability; but those who are just learning would, very likely, be much perplexed and bothered by domesticated bees mixing with the wild ones.
Perhaps the readiest means of getting a line started is to catch bees that will be found on the flowers. especially in the early part of the day. Get them to take a sip of the honey you have brought for the purpose, and they will, true to their instinctive love of gain. speed homeward with their load, soon to return for another. To find the tree, you have only to watch and see where they go. Very simple, is it not? It certainly is on paper, but usually involves much hard work when carried out in practice. You can get along with very simple implements; but if your time is valuable, it may pay to go out fully equipped. For instance, a small glass tumbler will answer to catch bees with; and after you have caught one, you can set the glass over a piece of honey-comb. Now cover it with your handkerehief to stop its buzzing against the glass, and it will soon discover the honey and load up. Keep your eye on it ; and as soon as it is really at work on the honey gently raise the glass and creep away, where you may get a good view of the proceedings. As soon as it takes wing it will circle about the honey, as a young bee does in front of the hive, that it may know where to return ; for a whole "chunk" of honey, during the dry autumn days, is quite a little gold-nine in its estimation. There may be a thousand or more hungry months to feel, away in the forest at its leafy home, for night we know.
If you are quick enough to keep track of the bee's eccentric circles and oscillations, you will see that these circles become larger and larger, and that each time the bee comes round it sways to one side ; that is, instead of making the honey the center of its circles, it makes it almost on one edge, so that the last few times the bee comes round it simply comes back after it has started home, and throws a loop, as it were, about the honey to make sure of it for the last time. Now you can be pretty sure which way its home lies almost the very first circuit it makes, for it has its home in mind all the time, and bears more and more toward it.
If you can keep your eye on it until it finally takes the "bee-line" for home, you do pretty well, for a new hand can seldom do this. After the bee is out of sight, you have only to wait until it comes back, which it surely will do, if honey is scarce. Of course, if its home is near by, it will get back soon ; and to determine how far it is, by the length of time the bee is gone, brings in another very important point. The honey that bees get from flowers is very thin ; in fact, it is never sweetened water than honey, and if you wish a bee to load up and fly at about a natural "gait," you should give it honey diluted with water to about this consistency. I'lless you do, it will not only take a great deal more time in leading up, but the thick honey is so much heavier the bee will very likely stagger under the load, and make a very _cooled_ bee-line of its homeward path. Besides, it will take much more time to unload. Sometimes, after circling about quite at time, the bee will stop to take breath before going home, which is apt to mislead the hunter unless he is experience!; all this is avoided by illiding your honey-comb with honey and water, instead of the honey alone.
Now, it takes quite a little time to get a bee caught and started at work ; and that we may get busy, we will have several bees, started at the same time. To do this expeditiously, we will use a bee-hunting box made as in the following cut.
This is simply a light box about 4\(\!\) inches square ; the bottom is left open, and the top closed with a sheet of glass that slides easily in saw-cuts made near the upper edge. About a half-inch below the glass is a small feeder quite similar to the one figured in Feeding and Feederes.
how to use the huntino-box.
Take with your box about a pint of diluted honey in a bottle. If you fill the bottle half full of thick honey, and then fill it up with wam water, you will have it about right. In the fall of the year you will be more likely to find bees on the flowers in the early part of the day. When you get on the ground, near some forest, where you suspect the presence of wild bees, pour a little of your honey into the feeder, and cautiously set the box over the first bee you find upon the flowers. As soon as the box is well over the flower, close the bottom with your hand, and the bee will buz up against the glass. Catch as many as you wish, in the same way, and they will soon be sipping the honey. Before any have filled themselves, ready to ally, place your box on some elevated point, such as the top of a stump in an open space in the field, and draw back the glass side. Stoop down now, and be ready to keep your eye on one bee whichever way it may turn. If you keep your head low, you will be more likely to have the sky as a background. If you fail in following one, you must try the next ; and as soon as you get a sure line on a bee as it bears finally for home, be sure to mark it by some object that you can remember. If you are curious to know how long they are gone, you can, with some
## Bee-Hunting.
white paint in a little vial, and a pencilbrush, mark one of them on the back.* This is quite a help where you have two or more lines working from the same halt. When a bee comes back, you will recognize it by the peculiar inquiring hum, like robbers in front of a hive where they have once had a taste of spoils. If the tree is near by, each one will bring others along in its wake, and soon your box will be humming with a thorng, so eager that a further filling of the feeder from the bottle will be needed. As soon as you are pretty well satisfied in which direction they are located, you can close the glass slide and move along on the line, nearer the woods. Open the box, and you will soon have them just as busy again; mark the line and move again, and you will very soon follow them to their home. To aid you in deciding just where they are, you can move off to one side and start a cross-line.+ Of course the tree will be found just where these lines meet; when you get where you think they should be, examine the trees carefully, especially all the knot-holes, or any place that might allow bees to enter and find a cavity. If you place yourself so that the bees will be between you and the sun, you can see them plainly, even if they are among the highest branches. Remember you are to make a careful and minute examination of every tree, little and big, body and limbs, even if it does make your neck ache. If you do not find them by carefully looking the trees over, go back and get your hunting-box, bring it up to the spot, and give them feed until you get a quart or more at work. You can then see pretty clearly where they enter. If you do not find them the first day, you can readily start them again almost any time, for they are very quick to start, when they have once been at work, even though it is several days afterward. Hees are some times started by burning what is called a "'sundage." Get some old bits of comb containing bee-broad as well as honey, and burn then on a small tin plate, by setting it over a little fire. The bees will be attracted by the odor of the burning honey and comb, and, if near, will sometimes come in great numbers.
Footnote *: Since this was written, an A B C scholar says: "I faces vary in their flight. But I have found that on an average they will fly a mile in five minutes, and spend about two minutes in the hive or tree. Of course, they will spend more time in a tree when they have to crawl a long distance to get the broad-nest, hence we may deduce the rule : Sun travel two from the number of minutes absent, and divide by leu. The quotient is the number of miles from the stand to the tree. (See glassings, iss. page 31). This applies to a partially wood country. Perhaps in a clearing they could make better time, on a very wind day it takes them longer to make trips."
A spy-glass is very convenient in finding where the bees go in, especially if the tree is very tall; even the toy spy-glasses sold for 50 cents or a dollar are sometimes quite a help. The most serviceable, however, are the achromatic opera-glasses that cost from $3,00 to $5,00. With these we can use both eyes, and the field is so broad that no time is lost in getting the glass instantly on the spot. We can, in fact, see bees with them in the tops of the tallest trees almost as clearly as we can see them going into hives placed on the ground.
After you have found the tree, probably you will be in a hurry to get the bees that you know are there, and the honey that _may_ be there. Do not fix your expectations too high, for you may not get a single pound of the latter. Of two trees that we took a few years ago, one contained just about as much honey as we had fed them, and the other contained not one visible cell full! The former were fair hybrids, and the latter well-marked Italians. If the tree is not a valuable one, and stands where timber is cheap and plentiful, perhaps the easiest way is to cut it down. This may result in a smashed heap of ruins, with combs, honey, and bees all mixed up with dirt and rubbish, or it may fall so us to strike on the limbs or small trees, and thus ease its fall in such a way as to do very little injury to the tree or forest. The chances are rather in favor of the former, and on many accounts it is safer to climb the tree and let the bees' part down with a rope. If the hollow is in the body of the tree, or so situated that it can not be cut off above and below, the combs may be taken out afd let down in a pail or basket ; for the brood-combs, and such as contain but little honey, the basket will be rather preferable. The first thing, however, will be to climb the tree ; and as we should be very sorry to give any advice in this book that might in any way lead to loss of life, we will, at the outset, ask you not to attempt climbing unless you are, or can be, a very careful person. An old gentleman who has been out withus remarked that he once knew a very expert climber who took all the bees out of the trees for miles around, but was finally killed instantly by letting his hands slip,as he was getting above a large knot in the tree. We do not wish to run any risks where human life is at stake.
## 5. Climbels for bee-hunters
For climbing trees 12 or 18 inches in diameter, a pair of climbers should be used, such as can be obtained at any telephone office.
If the tree is large, the climber provides himself with a withe or whip, of some tough green bough, and hends this so it will go around the trunk, while an end is held in each hand. As he climbs upward, this is hitched up the tree. If he keeps a sure and firm hold on this whip, and strikes his feet into the trunk firmly, he can go up the most forbidding trees rapidly and safely. Some light cord, a clothes-line for instance, should be tied around his waist, so he can draw up such tools as he may need. Those needed are a sharp ax, hatehet, saw, and an auger to bore in to see just how far the hollow extends. If the bees are to be saved, the limb or tree should be cut off above the hollow, and allowed to fall. A stout rope can be then tied about the log hive, passed over some limb above, the end brought down and wrapped about a tree until the hive is ent off ready to lower. After it is down, let it stand in hour or two, or until sundown, when all the bees will have found und entered the hive; then cover the entrance with wire cloth, and take it home.
There are some trees, indeed, so large that it would be impossible to climb them with the implements already given. A very ingenious plan, however, has been put into execution by Mr, Green Derrington, of Popular Huff, Mo. We give his description, together with an engraving made from a photograph which he sent.
Another staple. In this manner I can make my ascent with perfect security.
The tree stands close to the Black River, in a gravycard, and from it I obtained 50 lbs of honey, I regular climbers are excellent for small trees, say from two to three feet in diameter; but the tree illustrated has such a rough and uneven bark, and is so large that it would be difficult to climb it without the aid of spikes and the staples I bay mem
inspiration, zeal, and enthusiasm, the servant problem would solve itself; but this ideal way of doing housework can be carried on only when the spirit is freed from the sense of eternal drudgery. I am not a wizard to bring about this change; but I know one step toward it, and that is the establishment of some permanent interest for woman that will pull her out of the ruts and give her body and mind a complete change and rest. Embroidery, lacemaking, weaving, painting, and several other like occupations, may serve this purpose in a measure; and, perhaps, if carried on in the right way, may achieve more in this line than they do at present. But these are all indoor occupations; and what a woman needs is something to take her out of doors where she can have ne.i air. Excess of perspiration induced by the cook-stove is weakening; but honest sweat called forth in the open air by an application of generous sunshine is a source of health and strength.
Iee-keeping is one of the best of these life-saving, nerve-healing avocations; it takes the mind from household cares as completely as would a trip to Europe, for one can not work with bees and think of any thing else. Some of the attributes make bee-keeping an interesting avocation I will mention: First of all, bees are such wonderful creatures, and so far beyond our comprehension, that they have for us always the fascination of an unsolved problem. I never pass our hive without mentally asking, " Well, you fear little rascals, what will you do next?" Bees are of particular interest to woman for several reasons: if she likes good housekeeping, then the bee is a model: if she likes a woman of business, again is the bee a shining light; if she is interested in the care of the young, then is the bee-nurse an example of perfection; if she believes in the political rights of woman, she will find the highest feminine political wisdom in the constitution of the bee commune. In fact, it is only as a wife that the bee is a little too casual to pose as ideal, although as a widow she is certainly remarkable and perhaps even notorious.
Another phase which makes bee-keeping a pleasing avocation for women is that much of the work is interesting and attractive. I never sit down to the "job" of folding sections and putting in starters without experiencing joy at the prettiness of the work. And if there is any higher artistic happiness than comes from cleaning up a section holding a bound of well-eapped uniber honey and putting the same in a dainty carton for market, then I have never experienced it; and the making of pictures has been one of my regular avocations. By the way, woman has never used her artistic talent rightly in this matter of cartons. Each woman bekeeper ought to make her own colored design for the carton, thus securing something so individual and attractive as to catch at once the eye of the consumer.
As a means of cultivating calmness, patience, and self-control the bee is a well-recognized factor. Bees can be, and often are, profoundly exupersting; and yet how worse than futile it is to evince that exasperation by word or movement: No creature reacts more quickly against irritation than the bee. She can not be kicked nor spanked; and if we smoke her too much, we ourselves are the losers. There is only one way to manage exasperation with bees--that is, to control it; and this makes the apiary a means of grace.
The money-making side of bee-keeping is a very important phase in arousing and continuing the woman's interest in her work. I think woman is by birth and training a natural gambler, and the uncertainties of the nectar supply and of the honey market add to rather than detract from her interest in her ajuary. I know of several women who have made comfortable incones and supported their families by bee-keeping; but, as yet, I think such instances are few. However, I believe there are a large number of women who have added a goodly sum yearly to their amount of spending money, and have found the work a joy instead of drudgery. Personally, I have had very little experience with the commercial side of bee-keeping. Once when our mudeningly successful apiry grew to forty hives when we did not want more than a dozen at most, and the neighborhood was writeed with our bounty, we were "just naturally" obliged to sell honey. We enjoyed greatly getting the product ready for market, and were somehow surprised that so much fun could be turned into ready eash. As a matter of fact, both my husband and myself have absorbing vocations and avocations in plenty, so that our sole reason for keeping bees is because we love the little creatures, and find them so interesting that we would not feel that home was really home without them; the sight of our busy little co-workers adds daily to our psychic income. We are so very busy that we have very little time to spend with them, and have finally formulated our
your surplus combs for winter you place them two inches or more apart, you will seldom have any trouble, even should you leave them undisturied until the next July. There is no danger from worms, in any case, in the full, winter, or spring, for the worms can not develop unless they have a summer temperature, although they will live a long time in a dormant state if not killed by severe freezing weather. We have kept combs in our barn two years or more ; but they were not removed from the hives until fall and were kept during the summer months in a close box where no moth could possibly get at them. We have several times had worms get among them when we were so careless as to leave them exposed during warm weather; and one season we found nearly a thousand combs so badly infested that they would have become almost worthless in less than a week. The combs were all hung up in the honey-house, and about a pound of brimstone was thrown on a shovel of coals in an old kettle. This was placed in the room, and all doors and windows carefully closed. Next morning we found most of the worms dead; but a few encased in heavy webs still lived. After another and more severe fumigation, not a live one was to be found, and our combs were saved. We have several times since fumigated honey in hoses in the same way. The following extract from Burt's _Materia Medica_ contains some hints valuable to apiarists as well as to doctors:
In the form of _sulphurous-acid frames_, or gas, sulphur is the most powerful of all known agents as a disinfectant anddoor. To disinfect a room and clothing from infectious diseases, as smallbox, etc., first close up the chimney and paste up all exercises of the windows and doors to prevent the escape of gas. Now raise all carpets, and hung up the cloths so that the frames of gas may have complete access to them. When this is done, set a tub in the center of the room with six inches of water in it. In the center of this water place a stone that comes just above the water. On this stone set an iron vessel with two pounds of sulphur broken up into quite fine pieces or lumps; on this pour a few ounces of alcohol, to make the sulphur burn readily; set the alcohol on fire, and leave the room, closing the door behind you. It is well to repeat this fumigation three or four times.