BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
I have used it with unfailing success, and the beginner will make no mistake in adopting it where a rapid increase is not desired; it will result in a doubling of the colonies and a goodly surplus at the same time.
There are other times, however, when the beekeeper desires to increase his colonies several fold, and if great care is exercised, it is possible to increase the number of colonies to ten times the original number in one season; but one had better wait a season or two for experience before going in for a wholesale multiplication of colonies. Personally, I was able in one season to increase ten colonies up to one hundred, and, by a little feeding which will be described later on, succeeded in building the one hundred colonies up to strong swarms for winter quarters, and the following spring had one hundred prime colonies ready for the honey flow, all made from but ten colonies the season before. The increased value of the apiary was from $100 to $1000, and though there was no honey surplus gathH O W TO MAKE INCREASE
ered by the increase the season the division took place, yet the increased value of the apiary was many times what the surplus from the original ten colonies would have amounted to had they not been divided.
Let us suppose that you have a good strong ten-frame colony of bees, strong in bees and brood, and you wish to increase it to five colonies by division so that the apiary at the close of the season will be five times its original size.
About the last of April, if the colony is strong, and the weather permits, and honey is coming in rapidly, have on hand five extra hives all complete with full sheets of foundation wired in the frames, and above all four extra queens in their mailing cages that have been secured in advance from some breeder. You are now ready for the division.
Toward evening after all the bees are in, open the strong colony, and when you have found the frame with the queen, lift it gently from its live and place it in one of How to keep bees for profit the empty hives, removing two of the frames of foundation from the empty hive, in order to make room.
Then lift another frame of bees and brood from the strong colony with all adhering bees and place it in the new hive beside the frame that has the queen, and when they are in place, put on the lid, and close the entrance with a strip of wood nailed on. The new swarm, or nucleus, is now ready to be carried and placed on the stand it is to permanently occupy..
This new hive will contain two frames of bees and brood with queen and eight frames of full sheets of foundation.
Now take another empty hive and set aside two of its frames of foundation, and in their place put two more frames of brood and bees from the strong colony. As these two frames of brood and bees and all others taken will be without queens, take one of the little cages having a queen, and, tearing off the piece of cardboard from the end of the cage holding the feed, insert the little cage with the queen, the feed end down, between the frames of brood and bees in the new hive; push the frames close together, and, closing the entrance of the hive, place it on the stand it is to occupy. In about two days the imprisoned bees will eat a passageway through the feed to liberate the queen, and by the time she is liberated she will have acquired the odor of the colony and be accepted, whereas if she had been liberated at once at time of division, the bees would have perceived her to be a stranger and killed her. Treat the remaining empty hives the same way, and when all have two frames of bees and brood with a new queen you will have five little colonies all ready to get to work as soon as we take away the strip of wood from their entrances.
The original hive that was divided should be left on its old stand with the last two frames of bees and brood and the cage containing the queen. (See chapter on "Queen Rearing" in reference to introducing queens.)How to keep bees for profit
In three days you can remove the block from each entrance, and, using the same entrance strip, so tack it to the entrance of the hives, that there will be a small outlet about a half inch wide. Place a piece of board slanting from the top of the hive to the ground so that the bees when coming out will mark their new location and not return to the old stand they occupied before the division.
If this rapid increase is done early in the season, -- and it should be done early to give the little colonies the entire season in which to build up, -- the weather will be sufficiently cool, and the number of bees in each hive so few that there will be no danger of the bees smothering while imprisoned, which certainly would occur if a strong colony were so imprisoned during warm weather.
In about a week the little colonies can be opened and the cages taken out, and if you find the queen, or even eggs a day or so old, you can know that she has been accepted. There may be rare cases where the queen will
before cold weather. Personally I have made divisions as late as August 1, but this necessitated constant feeding and great care, and the addition to the nucleus of an occasional frame of sealed brood from some strong colony. Late increase, however, is only successful in the hands of an expert; the course of wisdom for the beginner is to make the increase early, and as the season progresses, if there are other strong colonies in the apiary that have not been divided, it is an excellent thing to encourage the struggling nuclei by giving them a frame of sealed brood every once in a while from one of the strong colonies. Be sure that you do not give them the queen from the strong hive, or you will make your strong hive queness and possibly sacrifice a good queen, as the little swarm will be sure to kill any additional queen that may be accidentally given them.
The empty space in the strong colony from which the frame of sealed brood is taken can be filled by a frame of foundation taken from the little swarm, after all adhering bees have been shaken in front of the hive to which they belong.
The reason we give the little colony sealed brood is because such sealed brood does not require attention and feeding by the bees, for if we gave the weak nucleus unsealed brood, there might not be sufficient bees present to properly care for it, with a consequent loss of brood and bees. When the brood is once sealed over, all that it requires is the proper temperature of about ninety-eight degrees to insure its hatching, and when these frames hatch in the little colony, it is astonishing what a multitude of bees will result to the colony to which the frames were given.
The above methods are the very best, and have proved their worth over and over, but, as has been said, the Alexander plan is the best for the novice. As experience is gained, rapid increase can be resorted to; but in any case keep your eyes on the increase, and give them all the encouragement possible in the matter of slight stimulative feeding, and an
**occasional frame of sealed brood if conditions demand it.**
**If the increase is started early, and the flow of honey prolonged, it is possible to make rapid increase without either feeding, or addition of sealed brood, but at all events watch the colonies closely, and meet any emergency that may arise.**
## Chapter 3 Location of the apiary -- out apiaries -- moving bees
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OCATION is of a twofold character, and has to do first with the possibilities of the flora of any given section of the country where bees are to be kept, and secondly with the position of the hives in the apiary.
As we stated in the first chapter, in any section of the country where agricultural pursuits are successfully carried on bees are sure to be a source of profit to their keepers, and even in suburban towns where the farming districts are remote, there is more or less forage for the bees, so that one is not compelled to seek an isolated country district in order to make a success of the venture. In fact, there are wild regions, such as the Middle West, where there is an abundant natural
## Location of the apiary
growth of clover, basswood, and wild raspberries, where some of the greatest crops are secured, so that we can see that the bees adapt themselves to almost any environment. While the buckwheat sections of New York state, the alfalfa districts of Utah, Colorado, and California, are particularly favorable for large returns, nevertheless in almost every section of the country bees are able to extract a goodly surplus for their owners.
Where the nectar-secreting flowers are more or less restricted, there is danger of overstocking, and this has led a good many eastern beeepers to resort to a system of out apiaries.
Instead of placing five hundred colonies in the home yard, a thing that is possible in the regions referred to above, it will be best in an average location to place not more than seventy-five colonies in the home yard, and then at distances of say three to five miles from each other, place additional apiaries of like number. In this way a large number of colonies may be kept in sections of the country that areHow to keep bees for profit
often only of an average character. The management of these apiaries is identically the same as the home yard, the only difference being that the operation of the out-yards requires a trip to them by the operator, which can be easily accomplished with horseand buggy, bicycle, motor cycle, or automobile.
Whether there be many or one yard, it is essential that the home yard be placed in a favorable or safe position so that the neighbors shall not be annoyed, or the keeper's family be constantly stung. This should also be the rule in the location of the out-yards.
In the matter of the out apiaries, a purchase of land for their location is not at all necessary, for a farmer or other person having a little land will usually be glad to rent it for from $5 to $10 a year, as an apiary of considerable size occupies but a small space.
If horses or other stock are at hand, the apiary should be placed a sufficient distance away from them to avoid annoyance, and the exercise of a little judgment will enable the
**LOCATION OF THE APIARY**
beekeeper to adjust himself to local conditions. Formerly an orchard was advocated as the best place in which to locate an apiary, but experience has proved that the bees do better if their hives are placed so that the sun can shine on them, and, during very hot weather, a little extra ventilation and the use of a shade
Hive stand.
board on top of the hives will offset the disadvantages of the hot spells. There is no doubt but that a back yard or open field is the very best place in the world for the bees, as the sun's rays in spring aid very materially in the rearing of brood, and even during the winter months it is a decided help to the bees.
A good plan is to arrange the hives in groups of four or five, as this renders manipulationmuch easier, and by equalizing things in the matter of distributing brood and honey, each group forms a convenient unit by itself. A stand of some sort for each hive is a necessity, as it keeps the hive from contact with the moist earth, and adds to the life of the hive, for rotting of wood is not likely to occur, and when stormy and winter days come on its protection is important.
Some beekeepers make concrete stands for each hive while others buy stands ready made, but both of these are an unnecessary expense, as any man can with a few boards, saw, and hatchet, make his own, and though such stands may be more or less crude, they are nevertheless just as useful as the expensive ones. All that is necessary is to get some rough hemlock boards and cut two lengths about a foot longer than the width of the bottom board of the hive; then cut two shorter lengths about six inches longer than the length of the bottom board of the hive and using each of the shorter lengths for
which it is rented, or else they can be brought over as needed.
When extracting at the out yard, the extracting supers can be taken off late in the afternoon and be carded back to the home yard, extracted in the place set apart for this work, and be returned to the bees in the morning. If this is too much trouble, a wooden frame extracting cage about ten feet square, covered with wire cloth, and when set up secured by hooks and eyes, can be carried to the yard and the extracting done on the spot. As these large cages are inexpensive, and when taken down can be easily carried in a small wagon, an increasing number of bee-keepers who have a system of out yards are using them.
If the bees at the out yards are to be wintered outdoors with winter cases, there will be no carting of the bees to the home cellar in the fall and carting them back to their yards in the spring, and this is an important item in favor of outdoor wintering, which will be considered in the chapter on "How to Wintersupply houses have in the making of their screens overlooked this extra bottom cleat, so that when the hive of bees is set on the floor, they might as well be entirely without the bottom screen. The lids and bottom boards that were removed from the hives to be moved can be sent or carried separately.
When bees have been bought in the old-fashioned box hives, all that is necessary is to turn the hive upside down and tack some wire net over the bottom, and ship the hive in this position.
When a quantity of bees are to be shipped a considerable distance by rail it will be a good thing for their owners to accompany them, and give them in warm weather an occasional sprinkling of cold water to cool and keep them quiet.
If horses and wagon are employed, by all means unhich the horses before the bees are loaded on the wagon and take them a safe distance from the bees until the wagon is loaded, and, when the other bees have stopped flying,
justed to the hives to prevent the escape of the bees, or otherwise most of them will escape in transit, and the colony become almost entirely depopulated by the time it arrives at its destination.
If a shipment of a large number of hives is to go a long distance, it is essential that some one accompany them, and if the bees are found to be clustering on the upper screens, some water, which can be carried in five-gallon honey cans, can be sprinkled on them with a small hand sprinkler, or whisk broom, and after sprinkling, the bees will return to their combs, with the result that there is greater ventilation and air for the colony. In warm weather especially, it is a mistake to ship a very strong colony, for they are almost certain to smoother, as I know by some sad experiences. For this reason it is best to screen and pack the colony about noon, when a large number of bees are in the field, and on the stand from which the colony was taken there should be placed an empty hive with frames of full
## Location of the A Pream
foundation, with a frame of unsealed brood in its centre, which will take care of the returning bees. A queen can be given to them, and in an incredibly short time the hive will build up to a strong colony.
This method. however, should not be adopted, unless the colony so divided is unusually strong. It is no detriment to the colony shipped, for by the time it reaches its destination, enough new bees will have hatched out to fill it full, and it has this advantage to the buyer, that the bees in the colony will be largely young bees, and their gentleness will be a decided gain to him, as he can handle them with greater confidence.
Some years ago beekeepers advocated migratory bee-keeping, believing that the colonies could be located in the far South at the opening of the early flows there, and be gradually moved north to take advantage of the continuing flows, and a gigantic crop secured; but few have tried it, and those who have declare that the results do not warrantthe effort. I have not heard of any phenomenal crops being gathered by this method. The majority of beekeepers are content to leave their home and out apiaries in their permanent locations, and where a section is found to be unusually good, an out apiary is established at that point. This has proved to be the most satisfactory and profitable plan.
Before closing this chapter, a few words concerning out apiaries seem necessary. It is the fear of overstocking a given location that has led to the adoption of out apiaries, but after all is said, the danger of overstocking is more imaginary than real, if a little care is exercised.
There are few locations that will not support as many as one hundred colonies, and add a goodly surplus at that, and if one hundred colonies are the limit, it will be better to keep them all at the home yard than to go to the extra trouble of establishing an out yard.
**If one hundred and fifty or several hundred colonies are to be kept, then it becomes an absolute necessity to establish some out yards, and if one hundred and fifty are to be kept it will be best to put, say, seventy-five hives in the home yard, and seventy-five in an out yard, say from three to five miles from home; and these out yards can be so located along the line of trolley and railroad as to be of easy access by their operator.**
**It is a disputed question how far bees will travel from their homes in quest of nectar; some authorities go so far as to say that bees will travel a distance of five miles or more, but, generally speaking, three miles will be their limit, and even if the apiaries are located but three miles from each other (though five miles would be better), there is not a great deal of danger in the matter of crowding, as many experiments have proved.**
**There are some beekeepers fortunately located, notably the late Mr. Alexander of Delanson, who is in the midst of the buckwheat country of**How to keep bees for profit
New York state, who kept all of his hives, some eight hundred, located in the one home yard, and during favorable years produced in the neighborhood of eighty thousand pounds of extracted honey, principally buckwheat. This, however, is an exceptional case, and the average location will demand the keeping of not more than one hundred hives in one yard; in case a large number of colonies are kept, a system of out apiaries is absolutely essential to success.
The novice will be wise to go slowly in the matter of out apiaries, until he has the necessary experience to make it a success.
## Chapter 13 Diseases and enemies of bees
B EES, like all other stock, may be subject to disease, and other enemies that will ravage them if the conditions are favorable, but as a matter of fact the danger is very remote if the bees are given the proper care they demand. In my many years of experience, I have never had a case of disease among my bees, and the predations of natural enemies such as birds, skunks, snakes, and mice have been of such rare occurrence as to be infinitesimal factors in all the years that have passed. It is well, however, to describe some of the diseases to which bees are prone, and to point out preventive and curative measures for any possible condition that may arise.
Foul Brood is the most dreaded of diseases. It is of two varieties, the American and theHow to keep bees for profit
European, and, unless speedily cured, will in a short time ravish and destroy an entire apiary.
It is primarily a bacterial disease of the larva, and when once a spore of the disease takes possession of a larva, it spreads with wonderful rapidity.
It is usually transmitted to a healthy colony in one of two ways : either by the introduction of a new queen that may have come from some section of the country where the disease is prevalent, or by the bees of a healthy colony robbing honey from an infected hive, and the spores carried in the honey that was robbed. This danger has led a great many beekeepers to kill all of the attendant bees that accompany the queen in her journey through the mails, and reserve only the queen for introduction ; and this is a most excellent precautionary measure to adopt.
Beginners are very liable to confuse chilled dead brood, or pickled brood, with foil brood, and become needlessly alarmed ; but when
## 11 Discussion
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infection is well under way, and the bacteria fully at work. The color of the sticky mass is like strong coffee with milk added, but since these conditions prevail to a certain extent in the cases of chilled and pickled brood, we cannot be sure it is the real foil brood unless we test it with a toothpick or match as outlined above; if it adheres to the match, and can be drawn out to a distance of one-half or one inch, we can then be reasonably certain that we have a case of real foil brood on hand.
The progress of this disease is very rapid, as all the combs of the hive are more or less certain to be infected, the honey included, and when the queen lays new eggs the honey that is fed to the larvae will contain a lot of spores, and the new larvae will in turn become diseased.
After a time the bacteria are so prevalent in the hive that no brood can be reared, and as the old bees die off the colony becomes so weak that it becomes an easy prey to robber
Diseases andemies of bees bees, who will in turn carry its infected honey to healthy colonies, and in this way the disease will spread with alarming rapidity.
Sometimes a beginner will imagine he has a case of foul brood because the bees in warm weather will sometimes leave the cappings of brood they are sealing in an unfinished shape, so that there will be a small pinhole opening in the centre of the cell, but if the larvae are nice and white, there is no occasion for alarm. In the case of foul brood the perforation will not be regular and rounded, but will have ragged edges, and this is due to the fact that the bees seem to have an instinct that something is wrong with the brood, since it fails to hatch, and they tear away a part of the cappings to determine what is the matter.
The best preventive measure is to take such good care of every colony that it is always strong, for bees are like human beings, the stronger are better able to resist disease in every form; and as a rule a strong colony is seldom affected unless the spores are directly How to keep bees for profit introduced by the bees from some already infected source.
After the treatment of a diseased colony, it is absolutely essential that all tools and implements that have been used shall be kept from the other bees till they have been thoroughly boiled and sterilized, if they are to be used again on a healthy colony. Even the clothing that was worn while treating a diseased colony is a perfect means of transmission, and there have been cases where careless inspectors of foul brood have gone from a diseased apiary to a healthy one without change or fumigation of their wearing apparel, and rendered the infection of the healthy apiary almost a foregone conclusion. The entrance to the hive of a diseased colony should 'be made smaller to prevent the possibility of robbing, and all manipulation should be done late in the day after the bees have ceased to fly, or serious consequences will follow. A great many curative methods have been tried in the past, using salicylic acid, phenol, carbonic diseasedenemiesofbeesacid, and formaldehyde, but the results were in no sense satisfactory.