BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Honey--A sweet substance produced by plant lice, certain scale insects, and plants.
Honey extractor--A device for throwing honey from combs.
Honey knife--A double-edged steel knife used in uncapping honey comb.
Hybrid--A bee crossed with the common black bee.
Italian bee--A honey bee which originated in the Italian region of Switzerland.
Italianizing--The method of changing a race of honey bees to an Italian variety, by means of introducing an Italian queen.
Langstroth frame--Dimensions, 17% inches long by 9% inches deep.
Langstroth hive--Any hive having frames hanging by shoulders with a bee space all around them.
Movable frame--A loose frame which can be taken from the hive.
Natural swarm--A swarm of bees with queen which leaves the old hive and seeks new quarters.
Nuelens--A small hive of bees consisting usually of three or four brood sections.
Nurse bee--A bee under 14 days old.
Observatory hive--A hive with glass sides which permits the observer to watch the bees at work.
Pickled brood--A contagious disease of bees which affects the brood.
Propolis--A glue-like substance collected by bees and used by them to fill up cracks and fasten together frames and sections in the hive.
**Queen bee--A fertilized female produced from a fertilized egg, the larva of which is especially fed in an enlarged cell, known as the queen cell.**
**Queening--The introduction of a queen into a queenless colony of bees.**
**Queenless--A colony which has no queen.**
**Rendering wax--The act of melting combs and refining beeswax.**
**Ripe honey--Honey which has been evaporated by the bees and prepared for capping over.**
**Robbing--Bees entering other hives for the purpose of stealing honey.**
**Royal cell--The queen cell.**
**Royal jelly--A predigested food rich in carbonate secreted by bees and fed only to the larvae which are to become queens.**
**Shook swarm--An artificial swarm made by shaking bees from an overcrowded colony into a new hive, to avoid swarming.**
**Skep--A straw hive formerly used in rural sections.**
**Smoker--A device equipped with a bellows for producing smoke.**
**Solar wax extractor--A box containing a metal tray and a basin covered with a double glass frame, used for extracting beeswax by the heat of the sun.**
**Spent queen--queen bee which has become worthless.**
**Swarm--A division of a colony of bees into two for the purpose of increase. The old bees and old queen leave the hive.**
**Tested queen--A queen whose young show type characters.**
**Transferring--Taking bees and comb from a log or box gum and putting them into movable frame hives.**
**Unripe honey--Honey which has not been evaporated and treated with acid by the bees.**
**Worker bee--An undeveloped female bee the larva of which was not fed royal honey.**
**FIRMS HANDLING BEE SUPPLIES AND QUEENS**
**We frequently get requests for the names and addresses of firms dealing in bee supplies and queen bees. The following list has been prepared, and prospective beekeepers are advised to write for catalogues, to the different firms. Catalogues often contain suggestions which will be most helpful:**
**American Bekeeper, Berclair, Texas.**
**American Can Co., 112 W. Adams St., Chicago, Ill.**
**August Lotz & Co., Boyd, Wis.**
**Jas. W. Bain, Marion, Ohio.**
**W. W. Cary & Son, Lyonsville, Mass.**
**J. B. Case, Port Orange, Fla.**
**Dan G. Clark, 325-327 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn.**
**Francis J. Colahan, Bernardo, Calif.**
**Collingdale Apiaries, care J. R. Rambo, Collingdale, Pa.**
**J. H. M. Cook, 70 Cortlandt St. New York, N. Y.**
**W. W. Crim, Pekin, Ind.**
**Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, Ill.**
**John M. Davis, Spring Hill, Tenn.**
**Gus Dittmer, Augusta, Wis.**
**Doolittle & Clark, Borodino, N. Y.**
**W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co., Jamestown, N. Y.**
**E. T. Flanagan & Sons, Belleville, Ill.**
**Griggs Brothers, 521 Monroe St., Toledo, Ohio.**
**M. H. Hunt & Son, Bell Branch, Mich.**
**J. M. Jenkins, Wetumpka, Ala.**J. K. W. Shaw & Co., Loreauville, La.
Kretchner Mfg. Co., 3rd St. and 11th Ave., Council Bluffs, La.
E. E. Lawrence, Doniphan, Mo.
W. H. Laws, Box 47, Beeville, Texas.
Leahy Mfg. Co., Higginsville, Mo.
G. B. Lewis & Co., Watertown, Wis.
W. T. Lewis, Lewisburg, Miss.
Chas. H. Lilly Co., Seattle, Wash.
F. A. Lockhart & Co., Lake George, N. Y.
L. A. Lowmaster & Sons, R. D. No. 5, Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
Malan Brothers, Luserna San Giovanni, Italy.
Marshfield Manufacturing Co., Marshfield, Wis.
Michigan White Clover Honey Co., Detroit, Mich.
Minnesota Bee Supply Co., Minneapolis, Minn.
Charles Mondeng, 160 Newton Ave. N. Minneapolis, Minn.
Mondeng Mfg. Co., 147-149 Cedar Lake Road, Minneapolis, Minn.
Fred W. Muth Co., 51 Walnut St., Cincinnati, Ohio.
National Can Co., Baltimore, Md.
The National Supply Co., 78 River St. Elgin, Ill.
New Century Rearing Co., Berclair, Texas.
Page and Lyon, New London, Wis.
Portland Seed Co., Portland, Oregon.
Walter S. Pouder, 513-515 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, Ind.
A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.
Rosalwan Apariaries, Lincoln, Neb.
Otto Schwill & Co., 18-20 S. Front St., Memphis, Tenn.
C. M. Scott & Co., 1004 E. Washington St. Indianapolis, Ind.
W. D. Soper, Jackson, Mich.
I. J. Stringham, 105 Park Place, New York, N. Y.
Swarthmore Apiaries, Swarthmore, Pa.
The Victor Knolle Apiary Co., Hondo, Texas.
Curd Walker, R. F. D. No. 1, Jellico, Tenn.
C. H. W. Weber & Co., Central & Freeman Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Noah D. West, Middleburg, N. Y.
White Mfg. Co., Blossom, Texas.
W. L. Womble, Raleigh, N. C.
The Wood Bee Hive Co., Lansing, Mich.
A. G. Woodman & Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Daniel Wurth, 1111 Smith St., San Antenia, Texas.
A. W. Yates, 3 Chapman St., Hartford, Conn.
York Honey & Bee Supply Co., 141 Ontario St., Chicago, Ill.
That the climate and flora of Tennessee are adapted to beekeeping there is no doubt.
Italian bees kept in the old way produce an average of 39% pounds of chunk honey per colony. Where modern methods and appliances are used the yields vary from 50 to 110 pounds.
Use the modern 10 frame hive. It is practically impossible to keep colonies strong in the log or box "gum."
Use full sheets of foundation in both the brood chamber and super, and thus conserve the energy of the bees and increase your honey yield.
Abandon the black or German bee. Increase your honey yield and facilitate your work and reduce your stings by keeping Italian bees.
Start beekeeping in a small way and increase your colonies as you become experienced.
Study your bees in connection with a reliable book or bee journal. Control the bee moth by keeping your colonies strong.
Prevent loss from foul brood, and sachrood by requesting an inspection of your bees.
Start with a pure-blooded Italian queen, purchased from a reliable queen breeder.
The chief sources of honey are from, first, the white clover; second, poplar or tulip tree; third, linden or basswood; fourth, sourwood; fifth, asters or stickweed; sixth, black locust, and, seventh, fruit bloom.
To produce the largest quantity of honey use modern extractor--carefully preserve frames of comb for refilling.
Use wax extractor and save all cappings or pieces of comb for beeswax.
Become a member of the State Beekeepers' Association and take advantage of the benefits of the organization.
The following bulletins have been issued by the Tennessee State Board of Entomology and available copies will be mailed to anyone writing for the same. Address State Entomologist and Plant Pathologist, Knoxville, Tenn.
Bulletin No. 1. Law creating the Tennessee State Board of Entomology--Rules and Regulations.
Bulletin No. 2. The Fumigation of Nursery Stock--Law and Amended Rules and Regulations.
Bulletin No. 3. The Control of Insects, Fungi and Other Pests.
Bulletin No. 4. The San Jose and Other Injurious Scale Insects of Tennessee, with Methods for Their Control.
Bulletin No. 5. Orchard Management in Tennessee,
Bulletin No. 6, Vol. 1, No. 2. Amended Law Creating the Tennessee State Board of Entomology--Amended Rules and Regulations. Apiary Inspection Law.
Bulletin No. 7, Vol. 1, No. 3. The Inspection and Transportation of Nursery Stock in Tennessee, Other States and Canada.
Bulletin No. 8, Vol. 2, No. 1. The San Jose Scale in Tennessee with Methods for its Control.
Bulletin No. 9, Vol. 2, No. 2. Bekeeping in Tennessee.
Bulletin No. 10, Vol. 2, No. 3. Suggestion on Preparation and Use of Spray Formulas.
First Annual Report of the State Entomologist and Plant Pathologist, 1905.
Second Annual Report, 1906.
Third Annual Report, 1907.
Fourth Annual Report, 1908.
Fifth Annual Report, 1909.
Sixth Annual Report, 1910.
Seventh Annual Report, 1911, Vol. 1, No. 1.
Eighth Annual Report, 1912, Vol. 1, No. 4.
SUGGESTIONS ON MAILING SPECIMENS
Questions pertaining to insects and plant diseases will be gladly answered. All requests should be accompanied by specimens. These should be sent, not in a letter, but in a tight tin or wooden box with no openings, addressed to the State Board of Entomology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn. If possible, send some of the food of the insects, together with their work. Wrap all neatly, placing your own name upon the package. In a letter tell all you have noticed about the insect, as to its food, its first appearance, abundance, extent of injury, etc.
_A collection of Tennessee insects is being made, and any assistance in adding to this collection will be greatly appreciated._
# **Beekeeping in Wisconsin**
**N. E. AND L. V. FRANCE***
Footnote *: Through the courtesy of the Minnesota Experiment Station, Mr. L. V. France, Instructor in Beekeeping in the University of Minnesota. was permitted to cooperate with his father in the preparation of this text. Mr. France was assistant in Entomology in the Wisconsin Experiment Station in 1914-15.
The Business of Beekkeeping
For the amount of money invested and the labor involved, beekeeping gives as much, or more profit than any other agricultural pursuit. In this comparison, beekeepers, not "bee owners" are considered with dairymen, not "cow owners" and grain and stock farmers--not "soil diggers" and "stock drivers."
Among the minor agricultural industries of the state none are more important than beekeeping. The strength of this industry lies in the fact that a start can be made on a small capital and when the work is properly conducted the returns are tremendous. Strange as it may seem, only in one or two instances has this industry been exploited by capitalists, and yet those who have gone so far as to develop an organized business in the handling of bees, bee supplies and honey, report that many millions of dollars are turned over each year in this industry. It is now about 18 years since N. E. France began his work as State Apiary Inspector and no greater tribute can be given him than to record the fact that thousands of the beekeepers of the state believe in him, and depend upon him for guidance. All these years he has worked steadily and unselfishly in the interests of Wisconsin bekeeping and beekeepers. Much credit is also due his son, L. V. France, for valuable records now in the Department of Economic Entomology and which were secured and prepared under the supervision of J. G. Sanders, formerly in charge of this work at this Station. Fortunately, the Wisconsin Experiment Station is now in a position to continue the work already begun. Through the cooperation of the state authorities and the beekeepers themselves much good should be accomplished.--H. F. Wilson, Chief of Department of Economic Entomology.**
The profits actually realized have been variously estimated by Wisconsin beekeepers as ranging from a fair return on the investment to as high as five dollars an hour for the timespent in it. An authority of high standing has stated that eighty colonies of bees in a suitable locality and properly cared for will produce a revenue equal to that of the average 120 acre farm. However, like any other agricultural pursuit to be profitable, it must be conducted in a business-like manner and receive the same attention as the successful farmer or stockman gives to his crops or stock. Needless to say, a proper knowledge of bees and honey production is essential before the best results can be obtained.
About 90 per cent of those who start in bee culture fail because they do not have a sufficient knowledge of the life history and habits of the honey bee and modern methods of honey production. Or, possessing it, do not apply it properly. Commercial bee culture is a modern agricultural pursuit, the inventions and methods of management, making honey and wax production profitable, having been brought forward since 1850. Because of this and the general lack of scientific investigations, probably 80 per cent of the persons keeping bees are simply "bee owners" instead of real beeepers. Practical "bee education" was never more needed in Wisconsin than at the present time as the industry is increasing with great rapidity. The State Inspector of Apiaries has found during his years of service in the state that a proper knowledge of bee and honey production applied for better beekeeping is more needed than is a knowledge of bee diseases.
## Bees Needed to Distribute Pollen
An abundance of honey bees is a safeguard to horticulture. They are the greatest factor in the distribution of pollen among fruits and berries. A few other insects carry pollen, but if all honey bees were removed during fruit bloom season, it is safe to say that there would not be enough fruit or berries produced to pay for the gathering of the crop. Wisconsin horticultrists producing annually thousands of dollars worth of fruit and berries recognize the value of bees as pollinizing agents and either keep bees in, or nearby their orchard, regardless of whether or not any honey is produced.
Fields of white and alsike clover seed within one mile of an apiary yield at least twice as much as do those where the absence of bees is noted. A decreasing yield is found as the distance from the bees increases.
## A Few Figures on Beekeeping
According to the 1900 United States Census there were on about 707,260 farms in the United States more than four million colonies of bees. These were valued at a little more than $12,000,000 and produced annually nearly 61,100, 000 pounds of honey and 1,765,300 pounds of beeswax. The valuation of honey and wax was given at close to $6,000,000. These figures did not include bees kept in cities and towns where nearly as many colonies are found as on farms. Dr. E. F. Phillips of the Department of Agriculture has estimated the value of the average honey crop produced in the United States as at least $20,000,000 and the beeswax as $2,000,000. He regards these estimates as conservative.
Conditions similar to those in Wisconsin probably occur in other parts of the country. Here not more than one-tenth of the nectar produced is gathered and converted into honey by the bees, because there are too few bees present to gather it. In his recent book on beekeeping, Dr. Phillips
Figure 1: AN APIARY THAT "GREW"
states "that not more than one-twentieth of the nectar secreted is saved." The value of honey bees in the United States as agents of fruit pollenizers will probably never be known, but it certainly could be placed at a high figure.
The 1910 Census Report lists, in round numbers, 95,000 colonies of bees in Wisconsin valued at $360,000. These are credited with an annual production of more than 2,150,000 pounds of honey and 55,000 pounds of beeswax, the valuation of which exceeded $235,000. As this enumeration did not include colonies kept in cities the total should have been at least 150,000.
A very conservative estimate of the present annual honey production of our state would probably exceed 3,000,000 pounds.
## Italian Queens Imported in 1867
The history of beekeeping in Wisconsin has a close relationship to the development of bee culture in the United States. In 1867, Adam Grimm of Jefferson brought to Wisconsin from the eastern states the recently invented (1851) _Langstroth movable frame hive with twenty Italian queens,
Figure 2: An apiary that was built
all that remained of a shipment of 100 queens from Europe. This was the first successful importation of queens on a large scale. Previous to the introduction of movable frames and Italian bees, bees were kept in hollow logs, boxes, straw hives or "skeps" where no opportunity was given to learn their life habits. With the introduction of modern hives, and Italian bees, many new inventions and better methods of handling were brought about. A better knowledge of the life habits of the bees was also gained which has made modern honey production profitable. Today Wisconsin has many progressive beekeepers producing tons of the best quality of honey found in the United States.
## Flowering Plants which Produce Nectar
A "honey plant" is a flowering plant producing nectar which is available to honey bees. A "honey flow" is the yield of nectar from one or more kinds of honey plants for the period in which the bloom yields nectar.
"Nectar secretion" depends on several conditions, some of which are not, as yet, understood. White and alike clover require proper amounts of moisture with warm days and saltry nights to yield nectar most abundantly. The more important honey plants of Wisconsin named in the order they bloom are: dandelion (May 1 to June 1); white and alsike clover furnishing most of the surplus honey (June 1 to August 1), basswood or Linden (July 1 to July 20), sweet clover (July 15 to August 15), willow herb or fireweed, buckwheat, goldenrod, Spanish needle, asters, and many fall flowers in late summer and fall.
## Influence of Climate and Soil on Beekeeping
It is difficult to secure a good idea of the relation of the climate and soil conditions of a state to this poorly developed pursuit, for the larger number of persons engaged in it are usually following it only as a side line. For this reason, bekeeping has not been given the attention in Wisconsin that it deserves. Consequently, information gathered from beekeepers themselves is not entirely satisfactory.
Only general and distinctly marked influences of climate and soil are observed. These, however, do give general and roughly approximate data. We find that there are very few bees kept north of an imaginary line, running from Oconto, about 30 miles north of Green Bay, slightly northwest, through Antigo, Merrill, Ladysmith and through Burnett county to a point on the state line about 40 or 50 miles north of St. Paul. This is probably due in part to the unsettled condition of the region, but even more to the cold winters and comparatively short growing seasons for nectar-bearing plants.
Excepting near the Green Bay and on the Bayfield Peninsula where it may reach 140 days, less than 120 days is the usual length of the growing season north of that general line. The remainder of the state has a growing season of more than 120 days. In the eastern third of the state, the counties bordering Lake Michigan for a distance west of about 20 to 25 miles, have the growing season lengthened from 10 to 20 days. Likewise, the season for a strip, 15 miles wide, along the Mississippi River is lengthened from 10 to 15 days, but this is much less constant in the increased length of growing season than the eastern Wisconsin region.
Not only does the influence of Lake Michigan lengthen the growing season, but it holds back the advance of plant growth in the early spring, lessening danger from frost, and giving the bees when once started in the spring, a chance for uninterrupted brood-rearing. The dandelion and fruit bloom then close almost simultaneously with the beginning of clover bloom. This is important for in that region clover continues for about five weeks, and the basswood bloom begins about the third and fourth weeks in July. The season for clover and basswood is from one to two weeks earlier in the southern half of the remainder of the state, say from Juneau county south, but north of that county it is the same as is found in eastern Wisconsin.
## Soil Types Affect the Honey Flow
The soils of the state also affect beekeping by influencing the character of plant growth. So far as beekeping is concerned, Wisconsin soils are of two kinds, heavy and sandy.
We find clover and basswood doing well on heavy clay soils and occurring less frequently on sandy soil. Much, however, depends on the character of the sandy soil.
If it is nearly all sand, usually few important honey-producing plants grow. Consequently, very few bees are found in Waushara, Green Lake, Marquette and Adams counties. However, if the soil is a sandy loam, its value as furnishing bee pasturage varies with its content of sand. Upon the sandy loams in northern Sauk, southern Juneau, parts of Monroe, Jackson, Trempealeau, Eau Claire and Dunn counties there are certain areas fairly well adapted to beekeeping.
Figure 3: THE BEREKEPING REGIONS OF Wisconsin
Generally outlined, such areas are the Reedsburg district in northern Sauk, Mauston in southern Juneau, Sparta in northwestern Monroe, Black River Falls and Merrillan in Jackson and most of Trempealeau, Augusta and Eau Claire southward in Eau Claire, and Menomonie in Dunn counties. On the other hand northern Juneau, parts of Monroe and Jackson counties are quite sandy and poorly adapted to beekeeping.
Almost enclosed within the sandy soil region is the majority of Buffalo county which is a residual clay and loessial soil. Here are numerous beekeepers especially about Mondovi and Alma. Then there is an area including Pierce, western Pepin, western Dunn and most of St. Croix counties, which is a clay soil giving good yields of white clover. This may be designated as the Pierce county district.
## State Divided Into Six Bee Regions
Climate and soil conditions, therefore, divide the present beekeeping part of Wisconsin into six regions. A considerable portion of the undeveloped section north of the northern region is fairly well adapted to beekeeping and awaits along with the progressive farmer, the beekeeper. In this region there probably are numerous localities that would yield good returns in honey from clover, basswood, goldenrod, and fall flowers. Wisconsin's climate, soils, and honey plants admirably adapt her for beekeeping so that with proper encouragement and development in near future she should rank with Texas, California and Colorado as a honey-producing state.
## What Are Essentials for Success
Successful beekeeping means the ever-increasing happy life of service coming from the study and love of the wonderful honey bee and its reasonably profitable production of the best possible grades of pure honey and beeswax. The degree of success as a beekeeper is measured by his ability to understand and appreciate the life of the honey bee and to properly fit into the conditions of climate and plant growth which concern him in his region or locality.
## The Different Types of Bees
Honey bees are not natives of America. They probably were first brought over by the Spaniards, as "common bees" and were first reported in Florida in 1763. Making their homes in hollow trees, they moved north and westward gradually, but in advance of settlers. The Indians called them the "White man's fly." They became distributed over the United States east of the Mississippi River by the time of the first known importation of bees from England, Germany and Italy.
Soon after the close of the Civil War, Italian bees from northern Italy began to be imported. The first successful importation was made in 1868 by Adam Grimm of Jefferson, Wisconsin. As beekeeping developed, the common black angry bees became more or less mixed with the yellow gentle Italian bees. Even today in the different states there are few localities having "pure" common, black German bees; they are mostly hybrids or crosses of blacks and Italians, the amount of Italian blood depending largely upon the attention given to his bees by the individual beekeeper.