BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
When the owner of a cow wishes to provide sufficient pasturage for this animal he can estimate the amount of land that will be required to raise the amount of food necessary to provide that cow with nourishment throughout the season. Having made this estimate, he can then plant whatever crop he decides, put a fence around the pasture, and everything has been provided for in the line of food. The fence will keep the cow in the pasture, and at the same time will prevent other animals from getting in and taking that which was not originally intended for them. However, in the case of providing pasturage for bees the question is not so easily solved, for several reasons. First, it would be impossible to estimate the exact amount of average which should be planted in order to provide enough food for any given number of bees; second, bees are no respeters of fences, and not only would the bees for which the pasturage was intended avail themselves of the opportunity of feeding there, but it would be equally open to all other bees in the community. In other words, it would not pay to plant crops with the sole idea in mind of their serving as sources for honey. It would be much better in locating an apiary to select, if possible, a location which is already provided with plants which furnish both nectar and pollen, for it must be borne in mind that not only nectar-producing plants are necessary, but we must also have pollen-producing plants. In choosing this location one should be careful to see that there is a continuation of food supply throughout the summer. If there are only one or two honey plants which furnish nectar in any great amount it might be that the period between the flows of honey would be so long and the honey flows might be so short that the bees would consume during the period of drought all of the honey which they stored during the honey flow. It is always possible, however, to improve any location in the matter of honey plants, and probably the best way to do this would be to join with the farmers in that community and encourage them to plant forage-crop plants that will at the same time furnish nectar. Prominent among this class of plants would be alfalfa, clover, sweet clover, alsike and buckwheat, because plants should serve a dual purpose of being both forage and honey plants. The beekeeper who would contribute toward the purchase of seed to encourage his neighbors in the planting of these dual-purpose crops would be well paid for his investment.
Some of the sources of honey which particularly apply to Kansas are, in the early spring, the elm trees, which furnish pollen, while the soft maples furnish both nectar and pollen. These are followed by the dandelion, which is one of the most valuable plants from the beekeepers' standpoint that we have, because it blooms so early in the spring and furnishes an abundance of pollen, which is so necessary for brood rearing. The fruit bloom in those sections of the state where fruit is produced furnishes nectar for brood rearing. Most of the nectar furnished by this class of flowers is consumed in rearing brood, and it is rare that any surplus is stored from this source. After the fruit bloom comes the white clover bloom in those parts of the state where clover is found. This is a very valuable source of nectar, and it is at this time that the beekeeper should put on his supers, so as to allow the bees to store the large surplus which they should gather from white clover. Of the sweet clovers, the yellow sweet clover blooms about three weeks earlier than the white sweet clover, and in a great many parts of the state there is a dearth of bloom between the time of the appearing of the fruit bloom and the white sweet-clover bloom. Those sections, however, where the yellow sweet clover is found do not suffer from this dearth. Consequently, beekeepers should urge and assist in seeing that all the waste places in their neighborhood are sowed to yellow sweet clover seed. It is possible to purchase this seed individually, or, better still, to secure the seed through your local beekeepers' association; then at the meeting of the association plans can be made for sowing different portions of the country, that the seed may be wisely distributed. The white sweet clover which is found so plentiful along the roadsides and waste places throughout the state is valuable, if not the most valuable honey plant that we have. As white sweet clover has proved to be a valuable forage plant, everything possible should be done to encourage its wider and more abundant distribution. Alfalfa does not produce honey everywhere that it is grown. In the drier sections of the country, and especially irrigated portions, it is an abundant producer of nectar. However, in the more humid sections it does not yield any nectar. Wherever alfalfa will not yield nectar, alsike clover should be grown and will be found valuable both as a forage plant and as a nectar-producing plant. Corn, although it probably does not produce any nectar, is very valuable as a pollen-producing plant.
The foregoing plants are the ones from which our chief source of light honey is produced. In the fall of the year heartsease, asters' and other fall-blooming plants usually produce an abundance of nectar. The amount that will be secured from a fall flow cannot be securely counted on because of the danger of an early frost. The heartsease honey varies in color in various parts of the country. In some places it is light, while in other places it is very dark. Heartsease does not need to be planted, neither do asters, as they will appear themselves in sufficiently large quantities to be of use if the season is at all favorable.
It has been estimated that in order to produce one pound of honey it is necessary for a bee to make several hundred thousand trips to the field. This, of course, means that a large number of plants must be visited in order to bring in a single pound of honey, and it will be seen that it would not be profitable to sow crops solely for the nectar which they would produce. However, as stated above, if the nectar-producing plants can also be used as forage crops, then they will be useful to both the stockman and the beekeeper.
Making milk out of honey.
What would be thought of a cow that could be bought for $40 which would provide two quarts of milk daily and two quarts extra for every Sunday in the year? In addition to providing this milk, it must be put into glass jars and delivered at the door. I do not own such a cow, nor do I believe anyone else does. However, I do own four colonies of bees valued at $40, which produced enough honey to purchase the amount of milk above named. The comparison might be carried still further and mention made of the fact that the bees went to pasture and returned unattended; there was no pasture rent to pay for them, and instead of it being necessary to purchase expensive grain for their winter feed, they brought home and put away enough food themselves to last them all winter, besides storing a surplus for my benefit. A man may capture a stray swarm of bees, put them in a hive, and call them his own, but he could not do the same with stray cattle and still be a law-abiding citi en.
These four colonies of bees had nothing to boast of in the line of ancestors. In fact, two of them were stray swarms which were caught and hived, while the other two were purchased at $6.50 per colony. The fact that I valued them at $10 per colony in the spring is not because they had cost me that much, but because that would probably have been the selling price at that time.
Early in August all four of the old queens were removed and young, untested queens--so called because they were so young their progeny had never been tested as to the purity of their race--were introduced. The reason for requesting at this time of the year was because the two queens in the purchased colonies were of uncertain age, while I knew that the queens in the colonies wh:ch were caught as swarms must have been old queens, as it is always the old queen that leaves with a swarm. Consequently I wanted to have queens all of the same age, and August was the most desirable time of the year to do this rcupening. A young queen introduced into a colony at this time would insure a large number of young bees before the colony went into winter quarters. No honey was removed from these colonies during the first year, as the honey flow that year was not particularly heavy and I wanted to be sure that each colony of bees had enough honey left them to last until the next honey flow began. Accordingly, forty to forty-five pounds of stores were left in each hive for the bees to consume during the winter.
When choosing a location for my bees I selected the south side of a dense hedge windbreak, as I considered such a windbreak would be better than a solid board fence. Immediately after the first frost I began to pack them for the winter. The reason for putting on the packing was because bees are like storage batteries, having just so much energy to expend, after which they die. During the winter the bees form a hollow cluster in the hive as soon as the temperature falls to 57 degrees. On the inside of this cluster will be found a number of bees fanning the air and performing other muscular exertions so as to raise the temperature of the hive. From time to time they go to the outside of the cluster and other bees come in and take up the work of maintaining the high temperature. The more of this work they have to do the quicker they wear out. The young bees which I secured in such large numbers by introducing young queens in August had the advantage over old bees in that they had enough energy to maintain the proper temperature of the hive and still be able to take part in the heavy work of spring brood rearing. The reason for the insulation was to help the bees retain this desired temperature with a minimum expenditure of energy. The hives were placed on hive stands about seven inches high, which had been previously packed with leaves. As this was a good, strong colony of bees and I wanted them to have plenty of room for spring brood rearing, two hive bodies were provided for each colony. On top of each upper hive body a queen excluder was placed, and on this a super with burlap tacked over the bottom. This super was then filled with dry forest leaves. Next a two-foot poultry netting with two-inch mesh was placed around the hive, which extended out eight inches from it, and leaves were pushed down between the poultry netting and the hive and packed in firmly. Of course I left an opening in the front for the bees to come out whenever they desired to take a flight. After these preparations were finished I felt quite satisfied and had no fears as to whether my bees would successfully winter. I knew there was an abundance of bees in each hive and that each had forty to forty-five pounds of stores left, that they were wintered in two stories, so they had plenty of room for spring brood rearing, and that they were protected not only by being well packed but by being placed in the shelter of a dense windbreak.
Having taken all of these precautions in the fall, the question of spring management of my bees was reduced to a minimum. I knew they had honey enough and room enough, and I could tell from the number of young bees flying in front of the hives that each one must have a queen, consequently I was able to postpone the first examination until very late in the spring, thus eliminating a lot of needless and really harmful manipulation.
Just before the honey flow began these colonies were examined carefully and several frames of brood were found in each colony. As young bees were emerging very rapidly, they were beginning to crowd the brood chambers, thus bringing about a condition which would ordinarily cause swarming. In order to prevent this the queen was located in each colony, placed on one frame of brood, and confined to the lower brood chamber by a queen excluder. The rest of the brood was placed in the upper story above the excluder. The queen was now confined to the lower story with only one frame of brood and had plenty of room for egg laying. The fact that the brood chamber was no longer crowded by young bees stimulated the field bees to become more active. When the weather became warm the hives were blocked up so that they might be more easily ventilated, which also had a tendency to prevent swarming. As the queens were very vigorous and filled the frames in the brood chamber with brood, it was necessary to repeat this plan of separating the queen from the brood several times during the summer. Our main honey flow in the vicinity of Manhattan comes from alfalfa and sweet clover, and the honey from these two sources is light in color, good in quality and commands a good price. During the fall hearstease blooms abundantly. Hearts-ease honey is a very satisfactory honey for the bees to pass the winter on, but in this locality it is dark colored and strong to the taste; consequently it will not bring as good a price as either alfalfa or sweet-clover honey. During the summer I removed the alfalfa and sweet-clover honey and sold it, and left the bees all of the hearstease honey which they had stored. The total crop from these four colonies of bees was over 400 pounds, which sold for $125. This sum of money invested in milk at 15 cents a quart would purchase the amount of milk mentioned in the opening paragraph.
SPRING CARE OF BEES.
The proper time to begin preparing for the spring care of bees is in August of the preceding year, because it is then that a new queen should be introduced in order to insure a large number of young bees to successfully pass the winter. Young bees are able to undergo the hardships of winter and still retain enough energy to carry on the heavy duties of spring brood rearing.
During the month of September, or just after the first frost, it is the duty of the beekeeper to see that the bees have plenty of stores. By plenty of stores is not meant only sufficient food to carry them through until the elms and maples bloom in the spring, but enough to last until the honey flow begins.ns. This means, for Kansas, about forty pounds of honey to each colony. It may be objected here that it is too late now to do these things. This is very true, but now is a very good time to call attention to the fact that the spring care of bees would have been much simplified had these things been attended to last year, and in planning next year's work these things should be done.
Those who have not followed the above suggestions should examine their colonies on the first warm day, with two purposes in mind: first, to see if they are queenless; and second, to ascertain the amount of stores in the hive. If the colony is queenless it would be better to unite it with a queen-right colony, because, although it is possible to,purchase queens from the South at this time of the year, their delivery is apt to be delayed, and the colony grow weaker while you are waiting for the queens. If the stores are found to be insufficient, then a thick syrup made of two parts of sugar to one part of water, by measure, should be fed to the bees.
Great quantities of food are necessary during brood rearing, and not only food, but water; therefore, watering places should be provided near every bee yard. These are of many patterns, the chief requisite being that the bees get water from them without drowning. A tub or vessel filled with water, with a lot of chips or pieces of broken cork floating on the surface will make a suitable drinking place.
If some of the colonies are found to be weak, even though they may have a queen, it will be best to unite the weak colonies, but always combine a weak one with a stronger one. It is practically impossible for the weak colony to become strong in time to materially assist in the gathering of the honey crop. However, if the weak colony is added to the strong colony it will increase the honey-gathering force of the latter that it may increase the surplus yield. Later, after the honey flow is over, the colonies may be divided if you wish to keep the same number of colonies that you had in the spring. Those who have had plenty of stores in their hives and were sure that their queens were good in the fall, and have their bees packed well for the winter, need be in no hurry to remove the packing, provided they have left sufficieht room for spring brood rearing, because the packing material will protect the colonies during the cold nights which are apt to come between now and the beginning of the honey flow.
THE NECESITY OF WINTER PROTECTION FOR BEES.
In order to obtain large crops of honey it is necessary to have large colonies ready to go to the field at the beginning of the nectar flow. It is essential in order to secure those large colonies that they pass through the winter with as little loss in their working force as possible. Bees, like storage batteries; have a certain amount of energy, which when once expended means the death of the bees. In order to have a large working force in the spring all precautions should be taken that will enable the bees to pass through the winter with a minimum expenditure of energy. This energy is used by the bees in the winter in maintaining the proper temperature in the hive: As bees are cold-blooded insects and do not give off heat, they maintain the proper temperature by consuming honey and by muscular exertions. Both of these processes consume energy and shorten the life of the bees.
Winter protection reduces the work necessary to maintain the proper temperature, and therefore will result in a larger colony of bees in the spring, which will possess a much more unexpended energy to carry on the spring work of brood rearing, that there may be a large working force ready for the nectar flow when it starts.
The figures given above show "very conclusively three things: First, that a windbreak is of great value in properly protecting bees for the winter; second, that the open winter causes a greater loss in the bees than does a severe winter; and third, it shows above all things that packing is most essential to good wintering conditions, and proves clearly that winter protection is necessary in order to have a strong colony of bees ready for the nectar flow in the spring.
## Methods for Wintering Bees.
There are several essentials to good wintering, among which the most important are: First, to have plenty of young bees in the hive in the fall of the year; second, to have plenty of stores; third, to have the bees protected by a good windbreak; fourth, to have the hive well packed with an insulating material; and fifth, to have plenty of room for spring brood rearing. If these essentials are attended to the colony should winter in good shape to be ready to take an active part in spring brood rearing, and to insure a good, strong colony of bees to take advantage of the nectar flow when it starts. The necessity of having a large number of bees is that they will be able to maintain the proper temperature of the hive by muscular exertion during the winter and yet have enough energy in the spring to take up the spring duties in the colony. In order to have a large number of young bees in the hive, one of the best ways to be certain of this is to requeen during the month of August with a young queen. Such a queen will be more apt to raise a lot of young bees than an older queen, and another thing in her favor is that she will be less likely to swarm during the following season.
The proper amount of stores per colony for Kansas is about thirty-five to forty pounds. Sufficient stores should be left to feed the colony until the nectar flow actually starts in the spring. It is not enough just to leave sufficient honey to feed them until the maples and elms bloom in the spring, because this time is very apt to be followed by a period of bad weather or a dearth in honey, and although a colony may'be strong at this time, a shortage of stores may cause their death before the real nectar flow begins. If at the time of putting colonies into winter they do not have a sufficient amount of stores they should be fed sugar syrup made at the rate of two parts of sugar to one of water, by measure. Enough of this sugar syrup should be fed to bring their stores to the required amount.
For a protection from the wind a good hedge or some shrubs will furnish the ideal conditions. A solid windbreak is to be avoided at all times. If the bees are placed near a solid board fence or a solid board windbreak, better results will be obtained if every other board is removed. When a solid windbreak is used a current of air passes over its top and then down directly to the hive.
The single-walled hives which are commonly used do not give sufficient protection from the cold, and these should be packed with some insulating material. A live may be placed singly in a packing box, or they may be put in groups of four, with two of the entrances facing to the east and two to the west. Four inches of packing should be placed beneath the hives, six inches on the sides, and eight inches on the top. Tunnels should be made to the exterior so that the bees can pass out for flight. Packing should be put on after the first frost, and a good insulating material will be ground cork, leaves, chaff, shavings or sawdust, packed tightly around the hives. Another method of packing is to place poultry netting with two-inch mesh around the hive, allowing it to protrude about six inches all the way round, and pack between this and the hives with leaves. More leaves should be stuffed beneath the hive, and a super filled with leaves placed on top. Th's last form of packing gives good winter protection, is easy to prepare, and costs but little.
Plenty of room for spring brood rearing may be given by using a two-story hive for wintering purposes, as the queen will then have much more room than if confined to a single story. However, two-story h'ves are not always satisfactory, and it really would be better to winter bees in one of the larger hives, such as the Dadant hive or the Jumbo hive, because instead of having a break between the upper and lower hive bodies there would be one continuous sheet of comb between the bottom bar and the top bar, which would give more ideal conditions for brood rearing than if the queen were obliged to pass over the obstructions which would be found in going from one hive to the other. She would pass up from the lower hive body to the upper mueh quicker than she would go back down. The obstructions in the way of her passing would act as a natural queen excluder.
To sum up, a young queen should be introduced in August to insure plenty of young bees, then winter packing should be applied immediately after the first killing frost, and if the hives are so placed that they are protected from the wind, with plenty of stores and plenty of room for spring brood rearing, there is no reason why large colonies of bees should not result from this practice. In order to get more honey from a colony we must have more bees in it, and every effort of the beekeeper which produces more bees at the right time means more money in his pocket.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WINTER STORES.
The Kaneas State Agricultural College is conducting at the Experiment Station a test to determine the best form of a winter protection for bees.