BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
It is never well to remove any honey from the brood chamber unless the queen is crowded for room in which to lay eggs. This should only be done during the breeding season for it is essential to leave the brood chamber as full as possible in the autumn to furnish winter stores.
In removing the supers the bee escape may be used in the same manner as in comb honey production. Some beekeepers prefer removing the frames without moving the super from the hive. To do this an extra super body is necessary in which to place the frames as they are removed from the super. The bees are first driven down into the chamber below and as each frame is being removed the bees are brushed off by a bee brush.
(By A. I. Root Co.)
Dixie Bee-Brush
After the honey has been removed from the hive it should be carried directly to the honey house so as to prevent robbing.
PROCESS OF EXTRACTING.
Before the honey can be extracted the combs must be uncapped. This is done either by a steam heated knife or Bingham uncapping knife. This knife has both edges sharp and is beveled on the side coming in contact with the combs so as to prevent the cappings from sticking back to the comb and causing them to drop in an uncapping can or other receiving container. In uncapping, it is essential to keep the knife hot so as to shave off the cappings and not tear or break the comb.
In extracting care must be exercised not to run the extractor too rapidly at first as this may crush or break the comb. It is a good practice to extract some honey from one side, reverse the comb and extract the other side clean and then return to complete the extracting on the first side. This prevents crushing the comb by too great a force by the honey against the bottom of the cells, if the comb is revolved too rapidly in extracting the first side. In placing the combs in the extractor two of about equal weight should be opposite each other to prevent swinging of the extractor thus preventing excess wear Hand Extractor.
easier for the operator. The honey is thrown against the side of the can and runs down to the bottom. An opening is provided at the bottom which is usually equipped with a specially constructed gate-like arrangement for quick opening and closing.
After extracting, the combs are replaced in the super and returned to the bees to be refilled if nectar is still being produced or returned to be cleaned and then removed for storage. If no nectar is being gathered the empty combs may be placed on a hive as the full onesare removed. Where there is a dearth of 'nectar the combs should be kept in the honey house until the evening before returning. If not done it is likely to cause robbing and excitement in the apiary. If the combs are returned just to be cleaned six or more can be put over one colony. In storing surplus combs it is necessary to place them in a light, well ventilated room or in the hive bodies where they can be watched and fumigated when necessary to prevent their destruction by wax moth larva.
The extracted honey should be drawn from the extractor run through a strainer and stored either in a large galvanized can or other open vessels. The container should be covered with a cloth to keep out dust and insects. It is essential not to store extracted honey in a damp cool cellar basement or room as it readily absorbs moisture. Keep it in a warm dry place for several days before preparation for market.
**WHAT TO DO WITH THE Honey CAPPINGS.**
The honey cappings collected in the uncapping can should be separated from the honey by straining the honey through a close meshed wire strainer or cheese cloth sacks. The cappings should be thoroughly washed with cold water and then melted. In order to conserve the honey in the washings it can be used in making vinegar.
**SOURCES OF NECTAR.**
**Every beekeeper should familiarize himself with the honey producing flora of his locality. Even if it is difficult at times to ascertain the sources from which bees secure nectar; every effort should be made to learn the principal nectar producing plants in the vicinity of the apiary as well as the approximate dates of beginning and ending bloom of each honey plant. Such information is valuable in order to stimulate the bees in such manner as to have them reach their maximum strength when nectar is being produced in great quantities to insure a large surplus of honey.
West Virginia is situated in the heart of the Appalachian or deciduousleaved forest region. As would be expected the principal nectar producing plants are trees. The more important among the great number of varieties that abound in this region are three species of basswood or linn, tulip trees or poplar, sourwood, sumac, black the Ohio river, the different clovers are probably most important. White clover, where it occurs in quantity, produces an excellent honey in color and flavor. Alsike clover is now being quite generally grown and is an excellent nectar yielding plant. Red clover, commonly grown by most farmers under ordinary conditions, is not a surplus plant. Sweet clover, which is sometimes considered a weed, is becoming more and more abundant every year especially in the extreme eastern counties. This is an excellent plant for the bekeeper. The bloom of apple, peach, plum and cherry are very important sources of nectar, however, not often yield any appreciable surplus, but the colonies are stimulated by such early bloom to early brood rearing. Even if the original large area of basswood has been cut
**Figure 26.**
**West Virginia's Most Popular Honey Plant, Basswood or Linden.**
**for lumber, a second growth springs up in a few years and blooms more profusely than the original trees. Sourwood is rather widely distributed and yields nectar in great quantity, which produces a water white honey with an aromatic flavor. Sumac, wild raspberry and wild blackberry are important in some localities, the former yields an amber colored honey of fine flavor. Blue Devil is important especially in the valleys of the eastern counties.**Figure 27.
A MORE ANCIENT MARINER.
The swarthy bee is a buccaneer,
A burbly velveted rover,
Who loves the booming wind in his ear
As he sails the seas of clover.
A waif of the goblin pirate crew,
With not a soul to deplore him,
He steers for the open verge of blue
With the filmy world before him.
His flimsy sails are abroad on the wind
Are shivered with fairy thunder;
On a line that sings to the light of his wings
He makes for the land of wonder.
He harries the ports of the Hollywoods,
And levies on poor Sweetbrier;
He drinks the whitest wine of Phox,
And the Rose is his greatest desire.
He hangs in the Willows a night and a day;
He rifles the buckwheat patches;
Then battens his store of pelf galore
Under the tautest hatches.
He woos the poppy and weds the Peach,
Inveigles Daffodilly,
And then like a tramp abandons each
For the gorgeous Canada Lily.
There's not a soul in the garden world
But wishes the day were shorter,
When Mariner B. puts out to sea
With the wind in the proper quarter.
He pilfers from every port of the wind,
From April to golden autumn;
But the thieving ways of his mortal days
Are those his mother taught him.
He looks like a gentleman, lives like a lord,
And works like a Trojan hero;
Then loafs all winter upon his hoard,
With the mercury down at zero.
BLISS CARMAN.
gradually dry down they take on a darker color and finally become a dark brown scale on the lower wall of the cell. If a toothpick or match stick is inserted in the decaying mass and slowly withdrawn, some of the larvae remains adhered to it and are drawn out into a thread which sometimes extend for two or three inches before breaking. This ropy feature is one characteristic in diagnosing the disease. The decaying larvae usually give off a penetrating odor similar to that of heated glue. In severe outbreaks the larvae are attacked after being sealed. In such cases, the cappings are frequently perforated and sunken. Scattered sunken cells left after the healthy brood emerge together with the glue pot odors are sufficient evidence of this disease.
**TREATMENT.**
The treatment of foul brood is very similar to "shook swarming," only narrow strips of foundation are used instead of drawn comb or full sheets in preparing the hive to receive the bees. The old hive is removed a foot or two from its stand and the prepared hive placed in its stead. The bees may either be shaken directly into the prepared hive, after removing several frames from the center of the hive or place newspapers in frcnt of the hive and shake the bees on it and later burn the paper. A third empty hive body should be provided to receive the combs after the bees have been dislodged. It is essential to leave this tightly closed in order to keep out the bees. After all the bees have been shaken, replace the frames with starter removed to make space for shaking. Close the hive, contract the entrance and put a queen trap at the entrance to prevent the queen from leaving the hive. Shaking treatment in the open should be undertaken only when nectar is being gathered by the bees. Otherwise operate under a tent of mosquito netting large enough to permit easy movement of the operator. Some beekeepers prefer placing a frame of drawn out comb or foundation in the center of the hive and removing it twenty-four hours after treatment to secure all infested honey the bees might have carried with them.
If there is a considerable amount of capped brood in the infected combs it can be saved by placing the frames over a weak diseased colony. This allows the young bees to go below as they emerge, thus strengthening the colony which should also be treated later. In case there is not enough brood to justify saving, the combs should be carried away and rendered as soon as possible by thorough boiling in hot water. Sometimes it is advisable to burn the comb, frames, and all materials, to prevent spread of the contagion.
If the honey is saved, it should be used in home consumption and never sold. Never under any circumstances allow it to come in contact with the bees. The hive bodies should be scorched until the wood is charred. This can be done either with a painter's torch or stacking them on top of each other and placing a quantity of straw or excelsior, in the bottom, saturated with kerosene and ignited. After burning for a few minutes place a cover over the top to smother the flames.
## Chapter 1 European full broods, its cause, symptoms and treatment.
European foul brood is caused by an organism known as Bacillus Pluton. This disease attacks the larvae at a much earlier stage than American foul brood, while the larvae are still curled up at the base of the cell. This disease is more destructive during the spring and early summer than at any other times, often disappearing later in the summer or during a heavy honey flow. Italian bees resist the ravages of this disease better than any other race. It spreads faster, is more destructive, and a larger percentage of colonies are affected than with American foul brood.
### 1.3 SYMPTOMs.
The earliest indication is a slight yellowish or gray discoloration of the larvae, which at the same time move about uneasily in their cells. After death the larvae usually fall away from the bottom of the cell, losing their rounded opaque appearance and become translucent. Later the color changes to a decided yellow or gray, losing their translucency and become a moist collapsed mass very much the appearance of being melted. Finally all that is left of the larvae are grayish brown scales against the bottom of the cells or a shapless mass on the lower side wall. The scales are very seldom black and are not adhesive as in the American Foul brood, but are easily removed and the bees carry out a great many in their effort to clean house.
Decaying larvae which have died of this disease are usually not ropy and the odor is very scarce only in severe cases when a sour odor is present similar to that of yeast fermentation.
**Treatment.**
Where the beekeeper is inexperienced in handling diseased bees, European Foul brood should be treated in the same manner as American. It has been previously stated that Italian bees are able to withstand European foul brood better than other races. In regions where this disease is prevalent it is recommended that apiaries be requeened with young vigorous Italian queens of good stock. This should always be done whether the infected bees have been given the shaking or other treatment.
It has been found by many beekeepers that the removal of the queen and keeping the colony queenless for a period of twenty days, and at that time requeening with a young tested Italian queen, often results in the disappearance of the disease. This treatment should only be used by the experienced beekeeper.
### 1.4 SAC BROOD.
When attacked by this disease the larvae die about the time of sealing, usually lying on their backs with their heads turned upward. The color varies from light yellow to brown. The body swells and the contents become watery and the head black and hard. This disease does not
**Figure 29.**
Winter Extracts its Toll. Notice Empty Hives in Background. Ten Colonies Were Left Out of One Hundred Going into Winter. Losses Due to Lack of Protection.
## 5 Spring DWINDLING.
This name is applied to a condition in the spring when the loss of adult bees is at a more rapid rate than can be replaced by the emerging brood. It is undoubtedly caused by a weakened condition by poor wintering.
## 6 Enemies of the Bee.
The enemies of the bee are not numerous. Occasionally a bird cultivates a taste for bees; the chief offender, however, is the King Bird, but their damages are so small that it hardly deserves mention. Skunks sometimes are troublesome in making raids on the apiary at night. Mice at times cause damage, especially during the winter, by making their nests in the hives. Ants often make their nests between the cover and top board, to take advantage of the heat from the bees. They are easily driven away by scattering powdered sulphur or salt where they nest.
## 7 The Bee Mott.
The most prevalent enemy of bees is the bee moth. There are two species: the greater wax moth (_Galferia mellonella_) and the lesser wax moth (_Achroia grissella_). The larvae of the moth destroy the combs by burrowing through them, constructing silken tunnels as they go. Colonies that are queenless or weakened by disease are often entirely destroyed by the ravages of the larvae. They are especially destructive to stored combs. Since the moths can not stand low temperatures it is best to store surplus combs in cold rooms.
In controlling the bee moth there is only one rule and that is to keep all colonies strong and not expose surplus combs in open places. Moths discovered in combs can easily be destroyed either by sulphur fumes or bisulphide of carbon. The use of the latter requires extreme caution and should be kept away from fire or flame as it is highly infamable and explosive. By burning sulphur in the honey house all moths and flies will be killed without injuring the honey. This should be done occasionally in order to prevent serious outbreaks of the bee moth.
## 8 Wintering.
Since bees do not hibernate, as do many insects, it is necessary for them to generate a certain amount cf heat in order to survive the winter. To generate heat they must have an adequate supply of good honey. Honeys of the lighter color are desired in preference to the dark honey because of the amount of indigestible materials they contain. "Honey. dew" honey should never be left in the hives for winter supplies. Colonies short cf stores should be supplied with a syrup of granulated sugar. Every colony, in order to winter well, should have no less than thirty pounds of honey.
Where colonies are wintered out of doors, it is necessary to provideextra protection to reduce the energy expended by the bees to keep the temperature from falling below 57 degrees.
In order to protect the bees from changes of temperature the hive or group of hives should be placed within a box about eight to ten inches larger in every way than the hive or hives, and pack the intervening space with dry leaves, dry saw dust, or dry planer shavings. A small tunnel through the packing material allows passage way for the bees to the entrance of the hive. It is essential to cover the top with some roofing material to prevent the packing from becoming wet by rains or snow. The rule to follow for outside wintering is to leave abundant stores, pack early and heavily, protect from the wind and unpack late.
Where cellar wintering is practiced. bees should be taken in about the time the weather becomes too cold for further flights. It is well to leave them in the cellar until the warm days make their appearance in the spring. Some beekeepers prefer leaving them till the maples bloom before placing them on their summer stands. It is essential where bees are stored in a cellar that a constant and uniform temperature of at least 45 to 50 degrees be maintained. Properly ventilated to rid the cellar of surplus moisture and avoid crowding.
**LITERATURE ON BOOKKEEPING.**
The beekeeper will find at least one good journal and one or more books relating to apiculture to be indispensable.
Figure 30.
**Literature That Should Be Found in Every Beekeeper's Library.**
Journals.
American Bee Journal, published at Hamilton, Illinois, and Gleanings in Bee Culture, published at Medina, Ohio, are two publications issued in the United States.
There are a number of books on beekeeping from which to select. They may be obtained from any dealer in beekeeping supplies, publishers of the above journals, or book dealers.
A, B, C and X, Y, Z of Bee Culture, A. I. and E. R. Root, A. I. Root Company, Medina, Ohio.
Seekkeping, Dr. E. F. Phillips, The MacMillan Co., New York City
Productive Beekeeping, Frank C. Pellett, J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
First Lessons in Beekeeping, C. P. Dadant, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois.
Thousand Answers to Bee Questions, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Ill.
Langstroth-Dadant on the Honey Bee, L. L. Langstroth, Ameri- can Bee Journal, Hamilton, Ill.
Catalogs of manufacturers of bee supplies will be found to contain much valuable information and should be included in the beekeeper's library. The following publications relating to bee culture are for free distribution and may be obtained by addressing the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
Farmers' Bulletin No. 442--Treatment of Bee Diseases,
No. 447--Bees.
No. 503--Comb Honey.
No. 695--Outdoor Wintering of Bees.
No. 653--Honey and Its Uses.
## Chapter 3
College of agriculture
Agricultural Experiment Station
**BEEKEPING IN ARKANSAS**
**BULLETIN NO. 170**
**FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS**
**JUNE, 1920**
The Bulletins of this Station are sent free to all residents of the State who request them.
Beekeeping in Arkansas
We have a large number of colonies of bees and make beekeeping a very profitable pursuit.
By encouraging people to become beekeepers, we do not mean "bee owners." Bees must be kept; not merely owned. Not only are apilaries belonging to such owners a dead investment; but they are actually a serious menace, because highly infectious brood diseases are allowed to proceed unchecked, and the neglected apilaries serve as centers of infections in the entire neighborhood.
STATUS OF BEEKBEEPING IN ARKansas
According to reports of the United States Department of Agriculture there were in 1918 83,458 colonies of bees in the state. Iowa and Missouri offering no better opportunities have about twice the number of colonies in Arkansas. In these reports we learn also the unpleasant fact that Arkansas beekeepers lose annually sometimes as high as 25 per cent of their colonies on account of starvation. Another item in the reports explains this tremendous loss by the fact that bees are given no winter protection in this state. To reduce these extensive losses and to aid in the growth of one of the most profitable industries of the state is the purpose of this bulletin.
THE VALUE OF BEES.
According to a conservative estimate considerably more than one-half of the nectar secreted by plants in the United States every year is lost. Bees are the only agency that man has by which he can appropriate for himself this valuable plant product and have it made into one of the most delicious, nutritious, and readily digestible of all foods.
The peculiar advantages of beekeeping are seldom sufficiently realized. It does not require an investment in land, nor in expensive equipment. Any man or woman who has the aptitude can learn to make money in the production of a food material that almost always can be sold at a handsome profit, and that during a temporary depression of prices can be kept in a good marketable condition, even from year to year if necessary.
A crop of honey is not all that is to be gained from beekeeping. To the fruit grower, the truck gardener, and the cotton grower bees may be more valuable in the aid of securing a crop than for honey production.
It has been experimentally proved that the production of most varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries, naspberries, and gooseberries depends upon the transmission by insects of the fertilizing pollen from flower to flower of different trees or varieties. Among the various insects that assist in the transferring of pollen, the honey bee is certainly the most important single agent. Fruit growers in California seem to have realized this, since many of them pay the beekeepers from two to five dollars for each colony of bees placed in the orchard.
Recent experiments have brought out the fact that cotton, especially long staple varieties, depends to a considerable extent on insects for pollination. It is recognized that growers of long staple varieties of cotton will find beekeeping a distinct advantage to the cotton crop. In regard to the value of cotton as a honey plant the reader is referred to page 30.
There is an old theory that bees will injure ripe fruit, especially grapes. This supposition is entirely unwarranted as has been shown by many investigators. That bees will not injure the skin of sound fruit can be determined by anyone by placing sound fruit in a hive, where it is surrounded by thousands of bees. It will be found that the fruit remains uninjured. Ripe fruit is often injured by birds or wasps, and bees will try to secure the fruit juice that would otherwise be lost.
THE COLONY
A colony of bees consists normally of one queen, who is in nowise the ruler, but who is the mother of the colony, a number of workers, and in the summer, a few hundred drones or males. The number of workers in a colony varies between wide limits. These limits have been given as from 1,000 to 50,000. However, strong colonies, colonies that will store an abundant surplus, should have as many as 80,000 or 100,000 workers.
The QueenUnder normal conditions there is but one queen in a colony. She is the only perfect female. She is larger than the other bees, her abdomen is longer than that of the workers and her wings are shorter in proportion to those of the worker. The queen has a curved sting which, as a rule, she uses only in killing other queens. Her only task is that of laying eggs in that part of the hive used for rearing brood. The number of eggs laid in a day varies with the different seasons. At the height of brood rearing as many as 3500 eggs may be laid in a day. A queen may live four or five years, but as a rule she cannot perform her task satisfactorily longer than two or three years. A virgin queen leaves the hive four or five days after she has emerged and during her flight mates with one of the drones. The drone dies as a result of mating and the queen is now fertilized for life, or perhaps better, for her entire period of usefullness. She does not as a rule leave the hive again except in case of swarming, when she leaves with the swarm.