BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
A. Pickled brood seems hardly a disease, but is believed by some to be only brood dead through chilling or some other cause, sc there is no cure for it, and it needs no cure, disappearing of itself. If you are not sure as to what ails your bees, you had better send a sample of the brood to Dr. E. F. Phillips, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., and after analysis you will be told just what the trouble is. It will cost you nothing, and if you write in advance to Dr. Phillips he will send you a box in which to mail the sample, together with a frank to pay postage.
**Pines.-Q.** Do bees ever make honey from pines? My bees are bringing in quite a little honey now, August 9, when usually there is nothing in this section except a few cowpeas that about feed the bees. It has been very dry here for three weeks, following an unusually wet spell. During most of this time the majority of the pines in this place have been covered with bees, and a fine-flavored honey is being stored. (Tennessee.)
A. Yes, bees store from pines and, in some parts of Europe, very largely.
**Pollen.-Q.** My bees are coming in from the fields with their legs loaded with pollen, and there is nothing in bloom here but red elm and a few little wild flowers. Do you think they work on red elm?
A. Yes, bees work on any of the elms. They may also be working on something else that you know nothing about. Bees can beat us humans a long way in finding nectar or pollen.
Q. Last spring my bees gathered pollen from maple trees (not sugar maple) as soon as it was warm enough for them to fly. Will they need to be fed flour?
A. No; with plenty of soft or red maple, they will need no substitute for pollen.
Q. In winter, if bees run out of honey stores, will they feed upon the stored pollen? Is it as good as the honey stores?
A. No; when the honey is all gone they will starve to death, leaving plenty of pollen in the hive.
Q. Where can I get a kind of bee-powder or food that is fed to bees to make them work better and produce more honey? My neighbor uses such, but refuses to tell me where he got it or what it is. It looks something like wheat flour. Bees like it very much.
A. There is no sort of secret powder or food that can be given to bees to make them do more unless it be honey and pollen, and there's no secret about that. The thing probably meant in the present case is some kind of meal used in place of pollen. In the spring, when the weather is good, and yet there is no pollen to be had, set out a box or dish of any kind containing some kind of meal, and the bees will take it in place of pollen. Grain of any kind ground will answer. The kind I have used more than any other is ground oats and corn--the kind that cattle and horses eat, that kind being conveniently on hand. Put a stone or block under one side of the box, and when the bees dig the meal down level, change the stone to the other side. They will dig out all the fine parts, and the coarser parts that are left can be fed to the four-legged stock. But just as soon as they can get the natural pollen they will desert the meal-boxes.
Q. Why is it that in your telling of the use of rye-four and pea meal for artificial pollen, you never mention wheat flour? Why is wheat flour never mentioned or recommended?
A. It is probably a case of blindly following tradition. My guess would be that wheat is as good asrye; but I never tried either. I know that ground corn and oats do well. Flour is good also.
Q. Will you kindly advise me what to do with extracting-combs that are filled with pollen? Many of mine are so clogged with pollen that I will be compelled to melt them unless there is some way of getting it out.
A. I'm just a bit suspicious that the trouble is not so bad as you suppose, and that if you leave the pollen where it is it will be used up by the bees next year, always supposing it is kept in good condition over winter. It often happens that such pollen is worth more than its weight in honey early in the season. If, however, you want to get the pollen out of the comb some other way than to have the bees eat it out, I'm not sure that I know of any good way. I have known pollen to dry up in the combs so it would shake out.
Q. Will the bees remove pollen from the center combs in the brood-chamber so the queen can have a compact circle to lay in, the combs being filled by queenless bees, caused by the queen being lost in mating? The pollen is fresh, and the cells about half full.
A. Yes, give them time enough and you will find the pollen all out of the middle of the brood-nest, if the queen is prolific.
Q. What can I do to prevent bees from storing pollen in the sections?
A. I know of.three things that will encourage pollen and brood in sections. One is to have the brood-chamber too small and crowded. A second is to have very little or no drone-comb in the brood-chamber and small starters in the sections. In that case the bees will build more or less drone-comb in the sections, the queen will go up for the sake of laying in drone-cells, and pollen will follow the brood. A third is to have shallow combs in the brood-chamber. In that case there is danger of pollen in sections even without any brood in them. Evidently, to avoid pollen in sections, we must avoid the three conditions mentioned. I rarely have any trouble in that way, and I use 8-frame hives with frames 9! is inches deep, and have the sections filled full with worker-foundation.
**Poplars.-Q.** Arc poplars good honey-flowers? They are plentiful here.
A. Yes; but the word poplar is used for different trees in different places. What you call poplar in Virginia is probably Liriodendron tulipifera, which is also called tulip tree and whitewood. It is a good honey-tree, although the honey is dark, I think.
**Porticos.-Q.** Of what use is the portico on some styles of hives?
A. It is supposed to protect from the wind any bees inclined to take a promenade on the alighting-board. It also furnishes a nice protection for spiders, and is not much used nowadays.
**Pound Packages.-Q.** Could you start a colony with one pound of bees and a queen?
A. Yes; if started early enough in a good season it will make a good colony.
**Propolis-Q.** Is there any wax in beeglue or propolis?
A. No, and yes. In pure propolis, of course, there is no wax; but in propolisis scraped from sections or frames-indeed as bees use it in general--there is more or less wax, as you will find out if you will melt it.
Q. Should the wax and propolis between the frames be taken off every time the hives are examined?
A. No; you are doing unusually well if you attend to it once a year.
Q. Is there any way of getting the propolis off of fence separators besides the triesome way of scraping? Will boiling injure the glued joints?
A. I don't know of any better way than to scrape. Boiling in water would dissolve the glue, and would not be a success in removing the propolis.
Q. Is there any sale for propolis, and if so, tell me where I can sell it. I have heard it is worth quite a bit, but never could find out where to sell it, or how much it is worth.
A. I very much doubt if there is any market for propolis. If you have propolis that has been saved from scraping frames, sections, etc, you may find it a paying job to melt the bees wax out of it.
Q. How can I refine propolisis and separate it from the wax? Does it lose its aroma when boiled in water?
A. I don't know how to refine propolisis. I have separated it from wax by putting it in a dripping-pan in the oven and pouring off the wax; but it doesn't make a perfect job. One would think it would work to boil it in water. Boiling water doesn't seem to hurt the aroma of propolisis.
Pumpkin.-Q. Do pumpkin blossoms, nettles, common mint, peppermint, snap-dragon, camomile and love-in-tangle produce honey or pollen for honeybees?
A. Pumpkins and all kindred vines do, also the mints. I don't know about the others.
Punic Bees.-Q. What do you think of Punic bees?
A. The little experience I had with Punic s makes me think them hardy and industrious, not with the sweetest of tempers, the worst gluers I ever saw, and capping honey so wattery-looking that they are fit for extracted honey only.
Q. Have the Punic bees proved a success in this country, or are they still an experiment?
A. In the experimental stage; reports varying from favorable to extremely unfavorable.
Put-up Plan.-Q. I do not understand the "put-up" plan as per pages 167-8 of "Fifty Years Among the Bees." On page 168 you say: "The cover is put on the supers, and the 'put-up' hive is filled with brood, and is placed over all."
If I were to do this I would put a solid board over the supers. Then I suppose you mean to place a brood-chamber of the "put-up" hive directly over all. But there would not be any place for the bees to get out.
Should a queen-excluding board be over the supers? Or, if a solid board, would I have to arrange the brood-chamber on top so as to leave an entrance for the bees to get out?
A. You have it straight until you say, "I suppose you mean to put the brood-chamber of the 'put-up' hive over all." I think the whole thing will become clear if you note that I do not say "brood-chamber," but that the hive is placed over all, and then remember that ordinarily when we talk about a hive we mean not merely the brood-chamber or hive-body, but the bottom-board along with it.
To be specific about it, the lower hive has placed on it the super, or supers, and these are covered up just as they would be if no other hive was to be placed over. Then on top of this is placed the put-up hive with its bottom-board and its cover. This,you will see, leaves an entrance for the bees in the upper hive, just as there would be if, instead of being put up, it were set on a stand down on the ground. There is no possible communication between the two hives, and if a bee goes from one to the other it can only do so by going out at one entrance and going in at the other.
Q. Would it not answer to put up the queen as soon as queen cells with larvae in them are seen, instead of waiting and watching for swarms?
A. Yes, it works well, although I have not had as much experience with that plan as with waiting for the bees to swarm.
Q. When you put down the queen again, is there no danger of her being balled?
A. I do not recall that she was ever balled, to my knowledge.
**Queens--Q.** How can you tell a queen from the rest of the bees?
A. Look for a bee longer than the rest, and with wings that look too short for the length of its abdomen. You'll not be likely to miss it the first time you see it.
Q. What is meant by fertile queen, and virgin queen?
A. A queen that has met a drone, a normal laying queen, is a fertile queen. A virgin queen is one which has not yet been mated.
Q. In the advertisements of queen-breders, the following terms are used, which I do not clearly understand: Tested, Untested, Select Tested, Select Untested Queens, and Breeders.
A. A tested queen is one whose progeny shows she has mated with a drone of her own race. In the case of an Italian queen you will see that that will mean that the worker progeny of the young queen shows three yellow bands.
An untested queen is usually one sold as soon as she begins to lay, and so nothing is yet known as to the appearance of her progeny. An untested queen, of course, can be sold at a less price than a tested one, and that for two reasons. In the first place, it saves the expense of keeping the queen some three weeks, if she is sold untested. In the second place, if queens are kept until tested, those which do not come up to the test must be rejected or sold at a lower price as mismatched, while all will be sold at the same price if sold while untested.
A select queen, either tested or untested, is one. that is selected because she is unusually good in appearance. However it may be
there shall be no lack, and a number of extra young quecns are also reared. At the last there may be a duel to settle which one of these young quecns shall reign, and that gives you a chance to have the most vigorous one left.
Q. Can you give me the cause for a young Italian queen hatching with only a part of a wing?
A. Insufficient nourishment or a slight chilling, which may occur in a weak colony. Even in a strong colony a cell on the lower edge of the comb might be chilled on a very cold night. It has been said that letting a queen-cell fall, or shaking it might result in crippled legs or wings. In rarc cases, also, a moth-worm may have traveled through the wall of the cell and clipped the queen's wing.
**Queens, Age of--Q.** How long is the life of the average queen?
A. Perhaps about two years, varying from a few weeks to four or five years.
Q. Is there any way to tell the age of a queen, and also how old should a queen be allowed to get?
A. There is no certain way to tell by the looks of a queen how old she is. After you have some experience you will be able to make a fair guess as to whether a queen is old or young, as an old queen is more inclined to have a shiny look, because her plumage is worn away. Sometimes, however, a young queen has the same look. An old queen is not likely to move about on the combs in as lively a manner as a young one.
There are different views as to how old a queen should be allowed to become. Some think not more than two years. In my own practice I allow her to live as long as she will, for when she gets too old the bees will supersede her without any interference on my part. Of course, if she is unsatisfactory in any way, I get rid of her as soon as I can.
**Queen Balled.--Q.** What is meant by the bees "balling a queen?"
A. Very much what the word indicates; hostile bees will grab hold of the queen at different parts until there are bees all about her; then other bees will seize those that have hold of the queen, until there is a ball of them as large as a hickory-nut or larger.
Q. What should be done to a queen if balled?
A. Throw the ball in a dish of water and the bees will leave her. Or, you may smoke the ball; but hold the smoker at a dis tance, for if hot smoke is thrown on the ball the bees will sting her.
Q. What should I have done when I saw the bees balling the queen, other than I did--pour a little warm syrup on them and close the hive? Honey was coming in fairly well, and I did not use smoke--just a whiff over the tops of the frames.
A. You did the right thing. When bees ball their own queen, if the hive be quickly and quietly closed, rarely does any trouble follow. If you want to be so careful as to guard against the rare case that sometimes happens, you can cage the queen and let the bees liberate her by eating out a plug of candy.
Q. Last summer I had six swarms come out and go away together (unclipped queens), and some of the queens were balled and killed. What can one do to separate them?
A. You can pick out each ball, put it in a hive, and then distribute to each ball its proportion of bees; for a queen is not likely to be injured in a ball until you have time to make the distribution.
Q. I lost several queens last season when they returned from their wedding flight. The bees balled them. I have found them balled when they were not over a week old. When I took some bees and a virgin queen and made a nucleus, the first queen would be mated all right. It was the second queen that got killed. Can you tell me why the bees killed the queens?
A. It is said that the bees attack the queen because she has acquired a strange scent. But there may be some question whether in returning from her wedding-flight she is likely to be killed by her own bees if the beekeeper himself does not meddle. Bees sometimes bail their old laying queen, and when I have found them doing so, I have always made it a rule to close the hive as quickly and quietly as possible, leaving the bees entirely to their own devices, and on looking in the hive a few days later everything would be found all right. If you try to rescue the queen from the balling bees, you stand a pretty good chance of having her killed. Why may it not be the same way when bees ball a queen that has just mated?
**Queens, Buying.--Q. Where can I get a first-class Italian queen, free of disease?**
A. In the proper season there are always found in the American Bee Journal, advertisements of those who have queens for sale, and these may be relied upon as free from disease. A man who would send out a queen from diseased stock would steal.
Q. How soon in the spring are queen-breders ready for mailing tested queens?
A. In the South I think they can ship in March tested queens of the previous year.
Q. How is it that most of the queen-breders advertise queens for sale and none can supply the beekeeper with queens early, but only want their orders booked early, and maybe have the queens forwarded the latter part of May or middle of June, the time when every beekeeper has plenty of queen material to supply himself?
A. Don't be too hard on the queen-breders; you may sometime be one yourself. It is all right to book orders to be filled as fast as possible, provided it is an understood thing that they are tc be so filled. If, however, he advertises to send queens by return mail, and then delays, he's not giving you a square deal. It looks a little as if your idea was that when you ordcr a queen you should always get it by return mail. It would be difficult for a man to treat all of his customers in that way. He would be obliged to have a stock of queens on hand before he made such an agreement; he would have no way of knowing how many to have in advance, and might be overstocked at a loss. You can, however, say when ordering, "If you cannot send a queen at such a time, return money," and then there could be no complaint on either side.
You say they send queens when every beekeeper has plenty of material to supply himself. Pray tell me how a queen-breder can have material earlier than the beekeeper. You and I can have material as early as any, and can rear queens as early; but we may want to buy queens for other reasons. Moreover, I wouldn't give 30 cents a dozen for queens reared too early, no matter who rears them.
**Queens, Caging.-Q.** How long is it safe to keep a queen caged? Must she have attendants as in shipping?
A. It is generally neither necessary nor desirable to have her caged more than ten days; but I have known a queen to be caged double that time in her hive without appearing to be hurt by it. No need of any attendants in the cage; they are likely to die in the cage and thus be a damage.
Q. How long may I keep queens caged (after they have commenced to lay) without danger of injuring them?
A. No doubt something depends upon circumstances. If a queen should be caged in a hive among her own bees, so that they can feed her, she would likely endure confinement several times as long as she would if the cage were left out of the hive with candy for the queen to eat. I have often had a queen caged in her hive ten days or so with no apparent harm, and my guess would be that she might stand it three to five times as long. Caged outside the hive, ten days might be all or more than she would stand.
Q. Can you cage a queen and put her in a colony having a laying queen? If so, how long can she be kept there?
A. Yes, and she may remain weeks, or she may be dead in a few days. She will be more sure to remain in safety if the cage is provisioned than if she has to depend upon the bees to feed her.
Q. Wouldn't it be better to cage queens on a comb of unsealed honey, on the push-in-cage method, than in cages with candy?
A. The way you suggest would be better if the queen be caged in a strange colony; if caged among her own bees there would be no advantage in it. For in that case the bees feed the queen, which is probably better than for her to feed herself.
Q. What is the proper procedure necessary in the caging of a queen over another hive, as in the case of taking one out for ten days or so, in the several different methods of management? What kind of a cage is used, and how and what is the queen fed? Is the common Benton mailing cage all right when provided with good candy?
A. Any cage that will go easily between the combs will answer, such as the Miller cage. The Benton cage is too bulky. Sometimes, however, instead of being put between the combs, the cage is merely thrust into the entrance of the hive. No need of any food in the cage; the bees will feed the queen.
Q. In sending queens by mail, what are cscort bees put in for, to keep up the temperature, or feed the queen?
A. The escort bees feed the queen and keep up the temperature, and it is quite possible that they serve an important purpose in keeping up her spirits by their genial company.
**Queens, Clipping.-Q. Is there any danger of clipping the queen's wing too soon or before she takes her mating flight?**
A. Great danger. If you clip her before mating she will be a drone-layer, if she lays at all.
Q. What is the advantage of clipping the queen's wings?
A. The advantage is that a prime swarm with a clipped queen will return to its hive because the queen cannot go with it.
(). How do you clip a queen's wings? Is it good policy to do so?
A. Probably the majority think it is good policy to clip. Mr. Doolittle catches a queen by one wing, lets her hold to the comb with her feet, and with a very sharp knife cuts the wing against thumb and finger. Probably a larger number, myself in the number, use a pair of scissors, holding the queen by the thorax (not by the abdomen or hinder part) between the thumb and finger of the left hand, and cutting off most of the two wings on one side.
Q. If a clipped queen swarmed from a hive upon a high stand and fell to the ground in the absence of the apiarist and could not get back, would the swarm return to the old hive, and would they, on finding their queen absent, proceed to rear a new queen in her place, or what would happen?
A. The swarm would return to the hive, in which there are already a number of young queens in their cells. The first of these will emerge from its cell in a little more than a week, generally, and a swarm is likely to issue with her.
Q. Clipping queen's wings, as I have repeatedly read in your journal, is in vogue among American beekeepers. I would like to make a trial of it in the spring, but have some misgivings. Can one be sure that the issuing swarm will find and cluster about the queen, which, perhaps, has fallen upon the ground a few steps from the bee-house? Or can it also happen that the swarm does not find the queen, and consequently returns to the hive from which it issued? (Germany.)
A. When the swarm issues, of course the clipped queen falls on the ground. If there is no one on hand to pick up the queen it very rarely happens that the swarm finds her and clusters about her. Indeed, in all my experience I never knew such a case. Sometimes the queen will be found at a little distance with a little cluster about her, perhaps as big as a walnut. Generally, however, she will be entirely alone. The swarm will return to the hive, perhaps in less than five minutes, after circling around in the air for a little time, and will pay no attention to the queen, even if she be quite near the hive on the ground, its only desire, apparently, being to hurry back into the hive as soon as possible. Often the swarm will cluster on a tree, just the same as if the queen were along, and it may remain clustered there 5, 10, 15 minutes or longer. In most cases the queen will find her way back into the hive if she is left to herself. The business of the beekeeper, however, is to pick her up, put her in a cage, move the old hive away, and put an empty one in its place, and then,when the swarm returns, to let the queen run into the hive with the swarm.
Q. If the queen's wings are clipped and queen-cells are cut out every ten days, will that prevent swarming?