BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
They have FOUR WINGS, two on each side of the corslet or second segment of the body. These wings fold over each other to enable them to enter within the cell where the brood is hatching. They have THEREE PAIRS OF LEGS, also fastened to the second segment of the body. On the last or rear pair of legs of the workers, a small cavity, called the pollen basket, enables them to carry home the pollen of flowers, which some people, who see them so loaded, imagine to be wax, but which is used to make the pap for the young. It is popularly called bee-bread and is the fertilizing dust of flowers.
The HONEY-SAC, or first stomach, is located in the abdomen or third segment of the body of the worker-bec. The ovaries, or egg quenches, which are very large in the queen, are almost absent in the workers, who are therefore incomplete females and unfit for mating, although they may occasionally be able to lay a few eggs which hatch as drones. On the other hand, the sting, which is curved in the queen and used only to fight other queens, is straight in the worker and accompanied by a much better developed poison sac, which deposits venom in the wound made.
Theworker may live as long as six months or more in the winter, when she is not flying a?out, but in summer her life is very short, averaging less than forty days. She literally wears herself out.
THE DRONES (Fig. 7c) are the largest inhabitants of the hive. They are reared in spring or summer and are usually killed as soon as the crop fails. When any of them are noticed in a hive after the honey crop is ended, it is an almost sure sign that the hive is queenless. They are the males, do not work at anything, feed on the roters within the hive and spend the pleasant hours of the day flying about for pleasure and in search of queens. The drone dies in the act of mating, and only one or two drones are needed to fertilize the young queens of each colony. But they are numerous, sometimes a thousand or more, so that the young queen may readily meet one in the field. The drones of one or two hives are ample for an apiary of hundreds of colonies, and it is always best to replace with worker combs as much as we can of the drone comb within the hives from which we do not wish to breed.
The EGGS, which are laid by the queen, hatch into grubs, or larvae, within three days. At that time any larva that would hatch into a worker may be changed to a queen by their enlarging the cell containing it, a worker-cell, into a queen-cell (Fig. 9), and feeding it plentifully of the best larval food prepared by the workers. That is why a hive which has been made queenless may rear another queen, provided it has eggs, or brood, in worker-cells, less than three days old. Dozens of queen-cells (Fig. 9) are often built by the bees in such an emergency, or in preparation for swarming.
and is slightly different in each case. Several supers may be piled on top of each other during a good honey harvest. The bees must have the free access of all at THAT time.
Root or COVER, which should fit on either the body or the different tiers of supers. For convenience, all parts should fit on any of the hives, so as to be interchangeable. Nothing is more inconvenient than to have two or more different sizes of hives in an apiary.
The BROOD-FRAMES (Fig. 15) are wooden frames or tracks, in which the
Figure 14: Main Parts of a Bee live,
take a hive
of bees entirely apart and examine every nook, to ascertain the conditions, hunt for the queen, take away or exchange brood or honey and do all the manipulations that may suit his method or his fancy. It must be borne in mind that modern hives are a progress because of the insight they give us into the bee-hive, which is no longer a closed book as it was centuries ago. The man who buys modern hives and does not avail himself of the manipulations they permit, may as well go back to the box hives of his grandfather.
The brood frames are placed from 1% to 1% inches apart from center to center. Eight and ten-frame hives are principally used in this country, and the most popular frame in use is the Langstroth. During the summer, the combs in the brood chamber or body are filled mainly with brood, pollen and a little honey, but as fall approaches less brood is reared and honey enough to winter the colony is usually stored by them in the upper part of the combs and in the rear. They never place their honey between the cluster or group and the entrance,
Figure 15: Period Frames.
Figure 16: Section Holder.
Figure 17: Sections or Honey Boots.
The SECTIONS, or honey boxes (Fig. 17) are little square frames placed in the super to be filled with honey during the harvest (Fig. 18, next page). The sections are from 1% to 2 inches from center to center, the ordinary size being 1%. They are usually made in one piece of smooth lumber, of pliable material like basswood, and folded. They are provided with a strip of very thin comb foundation by the apiarist. A guide is indispensable, for the combs must be built straight and in the center of the sections, otherwise they would be unmanageable and difficult to ship without breakage.
A DUMMY, or division-board (Fig. 19), is often used in the brood chamber or body, to narrow down the space, in weak
Figure 15: Division Board.
colonies, by removing a unoccupied frames for winter or early spring to keep the bees warm. In this way a large hive may be fitted to the needs of either a small or a populous colony.
In the spring or early summer, after severe a 1 weeks of incessant laying by the queen, when thousands of young bees hatch daily and the combs of the hive can no longer accommodate its teeming population, the bees prepare for swarming, which is the natural way of increase, by building a number of queen-cells (Fig. 20) to replace the old queen who will leave the hive with the swarm, usually after the first queen has hatched. In some circumstances, however, the swarm leaves shortly after the building of queen-cells. During the warm part of a summer day, the bees rush bell-mell out of the hive, and soon cluster upon a tree limb, a shrub, or some other object, in close proximity. Allowing them fully to settle upon the spot selected by them, the apariist gets a hive in readiness. If the limb upon which they hang is of no value, it may be gently cut down and the swarm may be carried quietly in front of the empty hive, which has been put in shape and slightly raised from its bottom board with wedges or blocks. The swarm is then shaken upon a sheet or cloth spread in front of the entrance. As they recognize the shelter offered, they enter it and call each other by the fanning of their wings, making a peculiar roar or hurn. If the queen is with them the entire swarm will soon be housed. If she is missing, they will again take wing. With a little careful attention, she may be easily noticed, when present, and directed towards the new hive, for she is very heavy and flies with difficulty. If the limb upon which the swarm has settled is too valuable to be cut, the swarm may be shaken into a light box, a swarm catcher (Fig. 22), and carried to the hive. A very light amount of smoke may be used sometimes. b u u t i should a l w a y s be used sparingly so as not to frighten away any of the bees. If the swarm be on a trunk of tree or some other inconvenient spot, it may be drawn away by presenting to the bees a comb of brood or even an empty comb borrowed from another hive temporarily for this purpose. As soon as a few bees enter the hive and call the others, the entire swarm follows. In hiving bees, nothing but the
## The PREVENTION OF SWARMING
is often a failure, but by following much swarming may be avoided: Keep your hives well shaded from the sun during the hot weather. If trees are absent, use some sort of roof over the cover. For a very small apiary, an open shed is good.
Give plenty of ventilation. Bees should never hang out in clusters (Fig. 23) on the outside of the hive in the busy season. Additional room for ventilation by raising the hive an inch or two from its bottom and additional super space will usually secure constant activity during the working day, and will help avoid the issue of many swarms.
Too many drones are also an inducement to swarm. These burly, noisy fellows are constantly in the way, during the honey crop. The removal of drone comb and replacing of it by worker comb in early spring will help keep down t heir numbers. If t h ch drone comb was removed without replacing it with worker comb, and the bees allowed to build in the same spot, they would probably build drone comb again, so it is important to REPLACE drone comb with worker comb or comb foundation.
Lastly, if we produce EXTRACTED honey instead of COMB honey, and use very large hives, we will usually succeed in avoiding natural swarming, which is often undesired when the apiarist is absent during most of the time or has not the disposition to watch his colonies to gather the swarms.
It should be borne in mind, however, that there is no infallible method of preventing natural swarming. A queen and drone TRAP or a GUARD may be used, but those implements are very much in the way of the bees and are not liked by the practical apiarist.
Figure 21: A Treatise Swarm on a Lines.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING or DIVIDING, when increase is wanted, may be resorted to in different ways, but the colonies must be very populous and this method of increase should be avoided by novices, as it is often overdone to the great detriment of the bees and the destruction of apiaries.
One colony may be built up from two others, which, for convenience, we will call A and B, and the new hive C. Open A and remove from it the queen and the comb of brood upon which you find her, placing these in the new hive or C, with a full supply of frames, provided with comb foundation or starters, ready for work. Now remove A from its stand and place C upon it. Remove B to a new spot and put A in its place. The field bees of A will come to C, and finding their queen there, will go to work as if nothing had happened, especially if the new hive is of the same color and shape. The bees in A are queenless and will at once proceed to raise a queen, unless you have prepared to supply them with one that you have either reared or purchased from a queen-breeder, in which case this queen should be in readiness and introduced at once. If they have to raise their own queen it is well to replace the comb that has been taken away with a comb secured from some other hive, as they would be sure to build drone comb. They always do this when they are queenless. Since they have the field bees of B, they are delayed but little. As to B, it has only lost its field bees, and within a week will be as good as ever.
During a good honey flow, bees from different colonies may be thus mixed without danger, as they will not fight each other. The harvesting of honey renders them peaceable. This is the safest method of making artificial swarms. Numerous other methods are given in the text books. In making divisions of this kind, we must bear in mind that the old bees always know their original location, and will return to it invariably unless we can compel them in some way to take full notice of the change or unless they have abandoned it voluntarily with a natural swarm.
## QUEEN REARING
is resorted to by the bees, whenever deprived of their queen by the apiarist or by accident. But they must have eggs or young brood less than three days old. Otherwise they are hopeless. A colony which is rendered queenless should be provided with such brood, always from the choicest colony in the apiary. ARTIFICIAL QUEEN REARING is carried on by specialists with selected colonies, but this question is outside of the limits of this pamphlet and the student should refer to books treating of this subject.
When queen bees are purchased, ITALIAN BEES should be given the preference, as they are uniformly liked for their higher qualities and gentleness. Other races have been tried, and among them the CARNIOLAN, but this bee is very similar to the common bee in appearance, not possessing the THREE YELLOW RINGS which are characteristics of the Italian. Purcly bred bees are to be preferred, other conditions being equal.
## THE PRODUCTION OF COMB-HONEY
in the one-pound sections is carried on by the great
majority of apiarists in the United States. The super containing sections to be filled, should not be placed upon the hive until the body is fairly well occupied by bees and brood, just at the opening of the honey flow, in early June usually, when white clover gets into full bloom. Partly built sections remaining from the previous year may be used as bait to draw the bees up into the super, provided those sections are clean.
When colonies swarm, this usually puts an end to the production of honey in their super. In that case, and if you wish to get as large a result as possible, you may follow this method: Remove your swarmed colony to a new spot, at the time when you gather the swarm and place the hive containing the swarm on the old stand. This will secure all the field bees to the swarm and within two days you may give this swarm the supers of the parent colony. This deprives the parent colony of so many bees that it may suffer if the weather be cool, so judgment must be exercised in this matter. Instead of placing it in a new spot, you may exchange it with another colony which has no supers to fill, so that it will secure its field workers.
In a very good honey crop, additional supers may be placed on a colony that is filling the sections rapidly, but this must not be overdone, as you run the risk of getting a large lot of unfinished sections, should the weather prove unfavorable and the crop of short duration. You cannot always predict a crop from the number of blossoms in the fields, and we have often seen a failure of honey production, due probably to atmospheric causes, when the pastures were white with clover bloom. The causes of honey production have so far remained unexplained. Two crops of honey, in June and August-September, are usually harvested in the Mississippi valley and the Lake region. After each of these crops it is
less apt to swarm than the one that is run for section honey and has to build all its combs. The supers for extracting are put upon the hives at the same time as for comb honey, but in greater number. The removal of them when full is not so urgent after the crop, because the appearance of the sealed honey has no importance in this case.
Extracting should not be done until the honey is well ripened; fresh honey contains a large per cent. of water, and often runs like water when handled. It would spoil readily if taken too soon. The bees ripen it and evaporate it while in the combs by active ventilation.
Extracting should be done within the honey-house away from the bees. If there is no honey in the fields, it is well to wait until evening to return the combs to the bees, for the smell of the honey induces ROBBING. When in possession of them, the bees at once repair the combs to refill them at the first opportunity.
ROBBINGis one of the stumbling blocks of the business of bee-keeping. The morals of the honey-bees are sadly at fault, for as soon as they take flight in the spring and whenever there is a dearth of honey, the strong and wealthy colonies attempt to rob the weak ones or those whose stores are exposed in handling by the aparisist. Watch your weak colonies, especially those that have to be fed. A QUEENLESS colony, after winter, is in great risk of being robbed by the stronger ones, and it is usually best to unite it, some evening, to another colony, by carrying its bees, with the combs they cover, to the other hive, in which space has been prepared. If this is done in cool weather and a little smoke used until all are thoroughly frightened, they will be prevented from fighting and will unite peaceably.
Robbers are easily recognized by their sneaking, hurrying actions, and their shiny looks, due to their hasty slipping through cracks and crevices, in search of forbidden sweets. Healthy colonies are readily protected against their actions by narrowing down the entrance of the hive with a block of wood or a tin slide. But, in this matter, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sometimes a robbed colony which is worth saving may be protected by exchanging its location or stand with that of the colony which robs it. The robbing colony may easily be detected by sprinkling the robber bees with flour. It is then interesting to note the astonishment of the robber bees when they find their own home where they expected to find plunder.
To avoid robbing, do not keep honey or sweets exposed out of doors in times of scarcity. When the honey crop is on, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY ROBBERS, for all bees prefer the fresh nectar of flowers to the best honey. When you see bees sneaking about the hives, examining the cracks, you may be certain that there is not much honey in the fields.
TO WINTERyour bees successfully, first make sure that they have enough stores, An experienced bee-keeper can usually judge of the amount of stores by lifting the hive. In that case, account must be taken of the age of the combs. Very old combs may add to the usual weight of a hive ten pounds or more, without containing honey. Twenty-five pounds of honey, at least, is necessary to winter bees out of doors. They may be wintered with less in the cellar, but in that case additional feed will be necessary in spring to rear brood. INDOR wintering should be the rule north of the 4ad degree, in the Mississippi valley and Lake region. OUTDOOR wintering should be the rule south of the 4oth degree. Between these two latitudes, much depends upon more or less favorable conditions of shelter.
INDOOR WINTERINGis best in a dry cellar or in a well-made silo. The requisites are ventilation, a regular temperature of about 40 to 45 degrees and quietude. Dark quarters are much the best, though not indispensable. Put the bees in immediately during the first brisk cold in November, Take them out on a warm day of March, when the first soft map blossoms are out. (Fig. 28, next page.)
OUTDOOR WINTERINGis most successful with well sheltered locations, sufficient ventilation at the bottom, and moisture absorbents over the brood combs, such as old woolen carpets, bags full of chaff, forest leaves, etc. Snow is not injurious if it does not thaw and freeze at the entrance and intercept ventilation. A hive buried in snow in zero weather is well sheltered. Should a warm day come, the snow must be removed from the front. A very good winter shelter consists in building paper or tarded paper wrapped about the hive. (Fig. 29.)
The rules given above for wintering are not infallible, for winters are very irregular in this climate; but if the colonies are strong, the honey of good quality, being neither honey-dew nor fruit juices, which are sometimes gathered from decaying fruit in bad seasons, the bees will stand a very long cold spell.
## 5 FEEDING
should be resorted to only when the bores have an insufficient amount of winter stores, or in spring when the blossoms are delayed, or during the interval between the fruit bloom and the white clover crop, as they breed heavily at that time and consume a great deal. Bees may me found starving even when there are blossoms in the fields, if the weather is not favorable to the secretion of honey. Allowing them to starve at such time is worse than killing the hen that lays the golden eggs.
Feeders of all kinds are to be had. The best are those which place the food nearest to the brood and the farthest from the entrance. Do not feed any unknown honey, no matter how good it may appear, for it may contain germs of bee diseases which are harmless to human beings, but death to the bee-larvae. Feed honey from your own bees or from some other known source, or feed sugar syrup made by diluting two pounds of the best granulated sugar in one pound of water: sugar candy made like the popular "fudge" and placed over the combs, is also good winter food. For spring, the liquid food is best, especially if warm.
In feeding your bees and in all the other manipulations of the apiary in times of scarcity, avoid attracting robbers, especially if the colony is weak. If the robber, who flies about the hive in a quick, sneaking, nervous way, can gain admittance, it will carry away the stores and bring others from its own hive until the colony is overpowered. A short method to protect a hive from robbing when it is threatened and has been fed or handled, is to throw a bunch of fine grass over the entrance. In this grass the guards of the hive can readily seize and frighten the robbers. If feeding is done in the evening, the bees are less apt to be annoyed by robbers and have time to put the food away in the cells, where it gives less smell and is safer. Syrup attracts robbers less than honey. Combs of honey from rich colonies exchanged for dry comb of destitute colonies are very useful for feeding.
Diseases of Bees are few. Those of the adult insect consist first in DIARRHEA, which is caused by thin or unhealthy honey consumed in very cold, long winters. It is rare, but has been known to destroy entire colonies. The best way to prevent it is to have none but good, ripe honey in the combs for winter.
Another disease of the adult bee is the MAY DISEASE, also called PARALYSIS and CONSTIPATION. The bee crawls about in misery with loaded and fetid bowels, and sooner or later dies. This usually disappears at the opening of the crop. It is uncommon and rarely destroys entire colonies.
The worst of all bee diseases attacks th brood and is called FOULBROOD. (Fig. 3.1). The true, malignant, contagious foulbroch is readily recognized, when sufficiently advanced, by three positive signs: the ROPINESS of the decayed matter: when you insert a small stick into it, it stretches into ropy or rubber-like filaments: the COFFEE COLOR, the larva is at first whitish, then yellow, and afterwards of a dark brown color: the GLUE POT SMELL, this is usually noticeable only when the disease is far advanced. Fouldwood is due to a fast reproducing microbe called "backills larvae" (by some "bacillus alvei"), whose spores are readily transported from hive to hive by the bees or by the apiarist, most especially in the honey. Luckily, it is infrequent, the writer having kept bees for forty years before he saw a single case. But owing to its rapidity in reproducing, it should be fought with the utmost vigor, as colonies attacked by this disease soon die out. Modern bee-keeping tends to increase its spread, owing to the frequent shipping of honey, bees, aucens, etc., from one part of the country to another.
**TO CURE FOULBROOD**, open the hive in the evening, preferably at the beginning of the honey harvest, when there are no robbers about, remove all the bees by shaking them on a sheet of paper or oil-cloth, in front of a clean, empty hive with only foundation starters in the frames and located on their own stand. Leave them three days without combs or food, so they may use up the honey within their stomachs. At the end of that time transfer them again into a hive containing sheets of foundation. The combs of the old hive should be melted into wax and the wax and honey heated thoroughly and kept about the boiling point of water for an hour. The brood should be burnt up. It is best to singe the inside surface of the old hive, body, bottom, cover and frames, by coating them slightly with oil and allowing them to be filled with oil and allowing them to be filled with oil and allowing them to be filled with oil and allowing them to be filled with oil.
Figure 31: American Font Bound
before it has had time to spread. If there is no honey in the fields, the bees, of course, should be fed.