BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
When they get ready to swarm they build shallow queen-cells, in a which the queen then lays a worker-egg. Although we never saw her lay an egg in a queen-cell, we are satisfied that she does it, from the way in which it is put in. Like the rest of the eggs, it is fastened to the center of the bottom of the cell by one of its ends, and we suppose, when first deposited, it is covered with a sort of glintous matter that makes it stick firmly where it first touches. We know that bees have the skill to remove both eggs and larvae, for we have several times known then to take eggs and brood to an old dry comb when no queen was present in the hive.
Occasionally a queen is found that will never lay at all; again, queens that laid eggs which never hatched into larvae have been several times reported. We have had several such, and they were in appearance fine nice-looking queens.
After having told you thus much of the faults and imperfections of queens, we would add, for their credit, that when once properly installed in a strong colony they are about as safe property as any thing, because, in the great majority of cases, they live and thrive for years. We have never heard of any disease among queens, and, while a worker lives only a few months, they often live 3 or 4 years. One that was imported from Italy by Dadant furnished us brood and eggs for queen-rearing for four summers. We then sold her for $2,00, and she died in being sent less than $4 miles. She was very large and heavy, and, probably, being so old could not ciling to the sides of the cage like a younger one. We have never heard of queens being troubled with any thing but a European parasite, which quickly disappeared when introduced into American apiaries. See Enemies of Bees.
## Loss of queen
It is a very important matter to be able to know at once when a queen is lost. During the months of May and June the loss of a queen from the hive a single day will make quite a marked difference in the honey crop. If we assume the number of eggs a queen may lay in a day to be 3000, by taking her away a single day we should, in the course of events, be just that number of bees short right during a yield of honey. To put it very moderately, a quart of bees might be taken out of the hive by simply caging the queen for a single day. Beginners should remember this, for their untimely, or, rather, inconsiderate tinkering, just before the flow of honey comes, often cuts short their income to a very considerable degree. Whatever you do, be very careful not to drop the queens off the combs when you handle them at this time of the year, and do not needlessly interrupt the queen in her work by changing the combs about so as to expose the brood or upset their little household matters in the hive. With a little practice you will be able to detect a queenless hive simply by the way the bees behave themselves on the outside. Where they stand around on the alighting-board in a listless sort of way, with no bees going in with pollen, when other colonies are thus engaged, it is well to open the hive and take a look at them. If you find eggs and worker-brood you may be sure a queen is there; but if you do not, proceed at once to see if there is not a queen of some kind in the hive, that does not lay. If you do not find one, proceed at once to give them a frame containing brood and eggs, and see if they start queen-cells. You ought to be able to find incipient ones in about twelve hours, if the bees have been some little time queenless. As soon as you see these, give them a queen if possible. If no queen is to be had, they may be allowed to raise one, if the colony has bees enough. If it has not, they had better be united with some other stock.
odor of a laying queen.
After bees have been some time queenless they usually become, if no fertile or laying workers make their appearance (see Laying Workers), very eager for the presence of a queen; and we can in no way describe this eager behavior, if we may so term it, so well as to describe another way of testing a colony you have reason to think is queenless. Take a cage or box containing a laying queen and hold either the cage or simply the cover of it over the bees, or hold it in such a way as to let one corner touch the frames. If queenless, the first that catch the scent of the piece of wood on which the queen has clustered will begin to move their wings in token of rejoicing, and soon you will have nearly the whole swarm hanging to the cage or cover. When they behave in this manner we have never had any trouble in letting the queen right out at once. Such cases are generally where a colony is found without brood in the spring.
There is something very peculiar about the scent of a laying queen. After having had a queen on the fingers, we have had bees follow and gather about the hand, even when we had gone some distance from the apiary. By this strange instinct they will often hover for hours about the spot where the queen has alighted for even an instant, and, sometimes, for a day or two afterward. Where clipped queens get down into the grass or weeds or crawl sometimes a considerable distance from the hive, we have often found them, by watching the bees that were crawling about along the path she had taken. When cages containing queens are being carried away bees will often come and alight on the cage making that peculiar shaking of the wings which indicates their joy at finding the queen. See Scent of Bees.
queens' stings.
There is something rather strange in the fact that a queen very rarely uses her sting, even under the greatest provocation possible, unless it is toward a rival queen. In fact, they may be pinched or pulled limb from limb, without even showing any symptoms of protruding the sting at all; yet as soon as you put them in a cage or under a tumbler with another queen, the fatal sting is almost sure to be used at once. There seems to be a most wise provision in this; for if the queen used her sting on every provocation as does the worker, the prosperity of the colony would be almost constantly endangered. It is true, that instances are on record where queens have stung the fingers of those handling them; but these cases are so very rare it is quite safe to say queens never sting. We are inclined to think the cases mentioned were of queens that were not fully developed; for we have often seen the dark half-queen and half-worker, mentioned a few pages back, show its sting when handled.
caution in regard to deciding a stock to be queenless.
As a rule, we may say that absence of brood or eggs is a pretty sure indication of queenlessness; but it should be borne in mind that all hives, as a rule, are without eggs and brood in the fall and early winter months, or, in fact, at any time when there is a considerable dearth of pastnrage. At such seasons, beginners are more apt to think their hives are queenless, because the queens are much smaller than when they are laying profusely. In weak colonies queens often cease laying during the whole of the winter months. See Introducing.
For particulars on how to find queens, see Flamings, to Manipulate.
**R.**
**RASPEERRY** (_Rubus striposus_ and _Rubus idcus_). Where this fruit is raised largely for the market it is quite an important honey-plant; but it would hardly be advisable to think of raising it for honey alone. Bees work on it closely in our locality, and its honey is of the very inset. If bee-keepers and growers of small fruits could locate near each other it would probably be a benefit to both. Langstroth says of the raspberry honey : "In flavor it is superior to that from white clover, while its delicate comb almost melts in the mouth. When it is in blossom, bees hold even white clover in light esteem. Its drooping blossoms protect the honey from moisture, and bees work upon it when the weather is so wet they can obtain nothing from the upright blossoms of the white clover."
In our locality it comes in bloom just after fruit blossoms and just before clover, so that large fields of it are a great acquisition indeed. The red varieties (especially the Cuthbert) are said to furnish most honey.
wild raspberry of northern michigan.
This deserves special mention here for the reason that large quantities of raspberry honey are produced in Northern Michigan where forests of pine timber formerly grew. The fact that such land is very cheap, and almost useless for any thing but timber-growing, which, under present conditions, can not get a start, makes the business of honey-producing profitable and reasonably sure, for it is probable that the plant will continue to flourish, as there is nothing else that is adapted to take its place. The blossoms commence yielding honey in June, and continue to bloom more or less from then till frost.
As Langstroth says of it above, the honey is of the finest quality, and will rank in almost any market with the best clover. Indeed, connoisseurs pronounce it superior to any other table honey in the world, for it partakes somewhat of the beautiful flavor of the berry itself, with all the added qualities that are so much prized in clover.
The Michigan fruit ripens in July, and continues available for picking till frost.
The drawback about this wild raspberry is that the fruit will not keep for shipping, and it must, therefore, be used almost the same day it is picked.
**RATS.** **Iats may and can do a great deal of damage in a honey-house. There are some old fellows that are ante enough to avoid traps and poison. The only thing to do with such is to shoot them by watching when they congregate about five o'clock in the afternoon in and about the out-buildings. A 32-caliber Flobert rifle with shot cartridges, or, better, a taxidernist's 44-caliber shotgun, will do very good execution.**
**One of the best traps that was ever made is the old-fashioned rubild-trap with grain spread on the bottom of the box. The trigger to close the trap should extend down to the grain. The rats in eating will bump against the trigger and set it off, when they are imprisoned alive, after which they may be drowned.**
**Poison can be given in the form of dough made of one-fifth part of barium carbonate, or barytes, and four-fifths meal. This poison has no odor nor taste; and it is better than strychnine because its action is slower, giving the rats a chance to get off the premises before they die.**
**Record-KEEPING OF HIVES.**\(\lambda\)**-most every apliarist has a plan of his own, whereby he can record the condition of the five at the time of its examination, so that, in future, without depending on memory, he may tell at a glance what its condition was when last examined.**
**Many of the large honey-producers, Dr. Miller among them, have what they call a "record-book." This book has a page for each colony, the number of the page corresponding with the number of the colony. The book should be small and compact, just about right to carry in the hip-pocket, and securely bound. It should always be carried when at work among the bees. On each page is supposed to be a record of each colony's doings within a year--when it became queenless, when it had cells or brood, when it swarmed, and, toward winter, the strength und quantity of stores it had when last examined.**
**There is an advantage in the book method--and that is, the book can be consulted in the house, and the work mapped out beforehand for the day. If the record-book be for an out-apliar, the work can be planned while riding to the yard; and, upon arrival, the plans formulated can be executed. We will know in advance just where we are going to get cells to give to queenless colonies; just which colonies will be likely to have laying queens; which ones may cast swarms, and which ones will be likely to need more room in the way of sections or surplus combs. There is one objection to the record-book, however. It is liable to be lost, or to be left out in the rain; and if the book is lost, the whole knowledge of the quiary, except so far as the quiarist can remember, is gone. Another thing, only one can use the book at a time.**
**record -keeping with slate tablets.**
**The plan we prefer is to attach the record right on the hive itself, or, what is better, on a slate* belonging to the hive. These are made expressly for the purpose, and cost only $1.25 per 100. They are large enough, if the records are abbreviated, to give the history of the colony for a year. Still further, the position that these slates occupy on the cover or on the side of the hive indicates at a distance the general condition of the colony, without so much as even reading the record on the slate. These slates are \(2^{n}_{7}\) by 14 inches, and they have a hole -unched near one end, so as to admit of their being hung on the side of the hive. The accompanying cut shows one of these little slates. For making the records, a slate-pencil, a common lead-pencil, or a red lead-pencil, may be used. The slate-pencil marks wash out a little too easily in the rain, so we prefer, as a general thing, a lead-pencil, which does not erase except when the slate is rubbed with moistened fingers. By tilting it a little to the light, the m ahimself and workmen. It takes too much time to write the whole history of the affair, so it is better to use a system of abbreviations; and, besides, it saves room.
In order to economize time in running up to a slate to see what it says, it is desirable to indicate, so far as possible, the last record on the slate by its position on the cover.
The accompanying diagram shows a few of the positions that may be used ; and this number may be extended indefinitely by putting the slate cornerwise, endwise, etc., in the different positions shown. But it is desirable not to have too many, else you or your help will be confused.
The code below is one we have used in our apary, and it is one that can be used in most yards. To make it really valuable, it will be necessary to memorize the meaning of each position. In the diagram given, 10 positions are shown ; and these have been proven by actual practice to answer our requirements. To aid the memory we will make use of a simple analogy. We have heard about cross-grained people--people who are always out of sorts, and with whom something is always wrong. For convenience we will call a colony not in its normal condition, " cross-grained." A colony that is queenless is apt to be crossover than one having a queen. Such a colony, as a rule, never does as well as one that has a queen. It is true, also, but to a lesser extent, that a colony with a virgin queen is not doing as well as one having a laying queen. Well, now we start with No. 1, in the diagram as above. The slate is put _across_ the _grain_ in the center of the hive. This means that it is queenless. No. 2, the slate is still across the grain, but near the _edge_ of the hive ; but this one has a cell. No. 3, the cell has hatched, and has a virgin queen ; but is the colony has not yet reached its normal condition, the slate is still had across the grain at the _end_ of the cover. In eight or ten days, if all goes well the virgin will be laying, and then we turn the slate _parallel_ with the grain, as shown at 4. If the virgin queen should be lost, the slate is put back as shown in No. 1--across the grain. Let us suppose that our queen is laying, and in a month's time she proves a purely mated Italian. The condition of the colony has much im!-roved, as regards the value of the queen, so the slate is moved to the center of the hive, parallel with the grain.
So far the first five positions would cover the time of queen-rearring. But suppose we wish to introduce a queen--how shall we indicate it? The colony with a caged queen is neither queenless nor is it possessed of a queen, because they may take a notion to kill her as soon as she is released. To carry out the figure, the colony is about half way between the normal and abnormal condition. So we turn the slate to a diagonal. Position 6 means that the colony has just received a caged queen. No. 7 means that, a day or two afterward, she was found to be out. A few days later, if she is laying, the slate is put in position 4. But, suppose she is missing. Then the slate is turned in the position of 8. In general, position 8 signifies that there is something radically wrong with the colony. It may mean that it has a fertile worker, or that it is very short of stores and requires to be fed at once.
We have so far covered the history of a colony as touching the rearing and introducing of queens. When honey is coming in, it is desirable to know by the slates which ones will be likely to need supers soon. In 9, again, the slate is parallel with the cover. This means that it is overflowing with bees and honey, and will need, in a day or two, if not immediately, more room in the shape of sections or surplus combs. No. 10, without any slate on the hive, means that the hive in question is empty, having only frames of foundation or empty comb, and is, therefore, ready to receive a swarm. No. 1 might mean that the hive needs attention or is about to cast a swarm; No. 2 might stand for a parent hive, and No. 3 might indicate a second swarm, and so on we could vary the system.
and can be used just as well one side up as the other. The frames are spaced apart by " spacing-ears," and these very ears offer some distinctive advantages in the way of handling the frame.
This frame was used very largely by the one-time most extensive bee-keeper in the world, the late Capt. J. E. Hetherington; also by his brother in Michigan. Outside of its reversing feature it offers one very decided advantage; namely, the facility with which it can be handled like the leaves of a book. By taking out one or two frames the rest can be thumbed over without lifting them out of the hive.
Two other very excellent reversible frames are the Danzenbaker and the Heddon (see Hivbs; also Frames, Self-gracing, and Frames, to Manipulate), either one of which can be used as well one side up as the other; in fact, any closed-end standing frame can be used as a reversible frame. Where one can get the advantage of reversing without cost it is certainly advisable to reverse the frames at least once in order to get the combs completely filled out. For further consideration of this subject see booklet, "' Facts about Iees," by E. R. Root, published by The A. I. Root Co.
**ROBBING.** Paul says, "The _love of_ money is the root of all evil." We should be inclined to state it in this way: The disposition to get money without rendering an equivalent is the root of all evil. Well, the root of a great many evils in bee-keeping is the disposition of the bees to gain honey without rendering any equivalent. Some one of our A B C class has said that he found bees making visits to over 100 clover-heads before they obtained a load sufficient to carry to their hives. We think it very likely that during a great part of the season a bee will be absent a full hour, or, it may be, during unfavorable spells, as much as two hours, in obtaining a single load. Is it at all strange that a bee, after having labored thus hard during the fore part of the day, should, in the afternoon, take a notion to see if it could not make a living in some easier way? Would it be very much worse than many types of humanity? Well, as it passes around to other hives it catches the perfume of the clover honey they have gathered in a like manner, and, by some sort of an operation in its little head, it figures out that, if it could abstract some of this, unperceived, and get it safely into its own hive, it would be so much the richer. We presume it has no sort of care whether these other folks die of starvation or not. That is none of its concern.
With all their wonderful instincts, we have never been able to gather that the bees of one hive ever have any spark of solicitude as to the welfare of their neighbors. If, by loss of a queen, the population of any hive becomes weak, and the bees too old to defend their stores, the very moment the fact is discovered by other colonies they rush in and knock down the sentinels, with the most perfect indifference, plunder the ruined home of its last bit of provision, and then rejoice in their own home, it may be but a yard away, while their defrauded neighbors are so weak from starvation as to have fallen to the bottom of the hive, being only just able to attempt feobly to crawl out at the entrance. Had it been some of their own flock, the case would have been very different indeed; for the first bee of a starving colony will carry food around to its comrades, as soon as it has imbibed enough of the food furnished to have the strength to stagger to them.
Well, suppose the bee mentioned above, in proving around in the afternoon or some other time, should find a colony so weak or so careless that it could slip in unobserved, and get a load from some of the unsealed cells, and get out again. After it has passed the sentinels outside it usually runs little danger from the inmates, for they seem to take it for granted that every bee inside is one of their number. There is danger, though; for should it betray too great haste in repairing to the combs of honey they often suspect something; so it assumes an indifference it is fur from feeling, and loiters about very much as if it were at home, and finally, with a very well-assumed air of one who thinks he will take a lunch, it goes to the cells and commences to fill up. Very often, when it gets pretty well"-padded out " with its load, some bee approaches, apparently to see if all is right. When the robber once gets its head into a cell, however, it seems to have lost all sense or reason; and if it is discovered at this stage to be a stranger and a thief, it is often pounced upon and stung with very little ceremony. How do they know a stranger from one of their own number, where there are so many? It is said they tell by the sense of smell; this may be the principal means, perhaps, but apparently they depend greatly on the actions and behavior of a bee, much as we do when judging of the responsibility of a man who asks to be trusted. We can give a very good guess, simply by his air or manner, or even by the sort of letter he writes. If a robber is suspected, and a bee approaches for the purpose of satisfying itself, it is a very critical moment, and one becomes intensely interested in watching the performance. The robber will stand its ground, if it is an old hand, and permit itself to be looked over with wonderful indifference; but one who has watched such scenes closely will detect a certain uneasiness, and a disposition to move slowly toward the entrance, that it may be the better able to get out quickly, when it discovers things to be too hot for it inside. If the bee that first suspects it concludes it is an interloper, it begins to bite it, and grab hold of its wings to hold on until others can come to help. The thief has now two chances to escape, and sometimes it seems meditating which to adopt; one is, to brave it out until they shall perhaps let it alone, and then slip out unobserved. The other is, to break away and trust to its heels and wings. The latter plan is the one generally adopted, unless it is a very old and " hardened sinner" in the business. One that has been many times in such sernges will usually get away, by the latter plan, by an adroit series of twists, turns, and tumbles, even though three or four bees have hold of it at once. Some of these fellows, by a sudden and unexpected dash, will liberate themselves in a manner that is also wonderful, and then, as if to show their audacity, will wheel about and come back close to the hoses of their retainers of a minute before.