BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
When a virgin sails forth she is usually beset by a large number of drones, and with these in pursuit she flies very rapidly, so that she is overtaken only by the strongest, nature thus insuring vigor in her offspring.
A strange fact concerning the mating of the queen is that the drone usually dies immediately after he has accomplished his purpose, as the end of his existence has been fulfilled, and the queen returns to the hive with the male organs still clinging to her; these in time are either pulled away by the workers or else shrivel and dry up.
The BEE FAMILY she can move with astonishing rapidity, especially when locked in a death struggle with a rival. She is constantly attended by a retinue of young bees who feed her from time to time, for a queen will in twenty-four hours lay more than her own weight in eggs, and to do this must be abundantly fed, a function carried on by her attendants. The reverence the workers have for her, if such it can be called, is due to their knowledge that without her presence in the hive the colony must eventually perish, as there will be no brood to develop into workers to take the place of the bees that are constantly dying off from old age.
While the average age of a worker bee is about five weeks, queens have been known to live for a period of as many years, though as they grow older their powers of reproduction grow less. When the queen shows signs of failing the workers will rear another to supersede her, and under these conditions we often find two queens present for a limited time.
The cells in which the workers rear their queens are entirely different in shape from those in which they rear their workers and drones, and are very similar in appearance to a peanut hanging from the bottom of the brood comb.
The eggs from which the workers produce their queens are identically the same in character as those from which they raise the workers, but being deposited in the larger queen cells, and being fed a more stimulative food rich in royal jelly, the larva is enabled to expand to its proper size and permit the full development of its ovaries. In fifteen to sixteen days from the time the eggs were laid the matured virgin emerges, and is ready for mating in a few days.
The bee family
Usually a large number of cells are started by the workers at the swarming season. It must be remembered that when a swarm comes out seeking new quarters, the hive from which it emerges is left queenless for a few days, as the old queen accompanies the swarm, and the bees and brood that are left in the hive are dependent upon the hatching of one of the remaining queen cells for a queen.
If but one queen cell were left and that should fail to hatch, the hive would be hopelessly queenless, as at the time the cell should hatch the old queen would have been away so long that there would be no eggs present sufficiently young from which the remaining bees could rear another, as the egg must not be much over three days old to start it toward royalty. It is this possibility that prompts the bees to leave a large number of cells behind, often as many as fifty, so that provision is made for any emergency.
Usually as soon as a good virgin comes forth, the bees will proceed to tear down the re
maining cells, though very frequently as many as a half dozen queens will hatch at nearly the same time, in which case the bees and the virgin first hatched will destroy the surplus.
Frequently the hatching of two or more queens at a time will result in the emergence of after-swarms, a thing not to be desired, as these swarms are at best very small and seldom amount to much, and the best thing to do in such a case is to throw them back into the hive and let them fight it out until but one queen is in charge.
About two days after mating, a queen will begin laying, usually in the centre of the brood nest, but as the season advances and the attending nurse bees increase, she will cover a much larger area of comb, until at times, in the case of a very vigorous queen, every comb will be more or less flooded.
The workers which constitute the main population of the hive are, as we have said, undeveloped females, and in size are smaller than either the queens or drones. The eggsfrom which they are reared are eggs that have been fertilized by a drone and are deposited in worker cells by the queen. These eggs when first laid look like a piece of cotton thread about a thirty-second of an inch long, and are attached to the bottom of the cell by a bluish white gelatinous secretion.
Although at the time it is deposited the egg retains an upright position, on the second day it inclines to an angle of about forty-five degrees, and by the third day it lies perfectly flat in its cell, containing in itself the vital germ of life.
On its fourth day it has developed into a tiny white grub, and is supplied with a sufficient amount of food, known as pap, which the nurse bees give to it as soon as it has developed past the egg stage.
The food fed to the larvae is produced by the chyle-stomach of the nurse bees and is liberally given until the third day, when less is given, honey and pollen being added to the mass.
When the larva is about six days old, or
HOW TO KEEP BEES FOR PROFIT
about ten days from the time the egg was deposited by the queen, the bees close up the cells with a substance made of bee bread and wax, which under the microscope is seen to be porous so as to enable the developing bee to secure the necessary air, and in twenty-one days from the time the egg was laid the fully developed worker bites through the cap of the cell, and at once heads for a cell filled with honey, from which she sips a liberal supply. In about four days she is ready for her duties as a nurse bee, and about two weeks after birth is ready to begin her work as a field bee.
It is an interesting sight to watch a lot of young bees having a play spell in front of their hive. They will fly back and forth in front of the entrance, seldom flying more than three feet away, but as they become older they become self-reliant, and in a few days they may be seen returning to their homes heavily laden with propolis, pollen, and nectar.
Their life is short, only about five weeks,
## The **Bee Family**
as they work themselves to death, and it has been estimated that a dessert-spoonful of honey represents the life-work of each field bee.
The drones are reared from infertile eggs, and are the male or father bees, and during the early spring and breeding season are present in large numbers. It takes about twenty-four days for the drone egg to develop into a fully matured bee, and though the cappings to their cells are raised much higher than those of the worker cells, they are porous and made of the same material.
They are in every sense of the word gentlemen of leisure, as all of the work of gathering pollen, propolis, honey, nursing the larvae, as well as defending the hives, devolves upon the workers. As sentinels the drones would be useless, as they have no stings, and can be handled with ease; it is perhaps this lack of defence that makes them manifest signs of right when we take them in our hands. While the drones do no work and are large consumers of honey, yet their presence in the hiveHow to keep be less for profit
is more or less beneficial, as they doubtless help to conserve the heat of the hive and indirectly aid thereby in the development of the brood. When flying to and from their hives the drones are big noisy fellows, and one unacquainted with their history may be frightened by their buzzing, but they are perfectly harmless and can be picked up and carried about, as they have no stings with which to defend themselves.
It has not been definitely determined whether in laying an infertile egg from which springs the drone, the queen lays it through choice, or is compelled to owing to the increased size of the drone cell. The fact remains, however, that in depositing the drone egg, the enlarged size of the cell permits the queen to spread her limbs farther apart, and thus the egg slips out without coming in contact with the fertilizing fluid as does the worker egg in the case of the smaller cell, which compels the queen to keep her limbs closer together.
The bee Family
**It is a remarkable fact that the drone is produced from an unimpregnated egg, and even to this day there are many who doubt it, but careful experiments have proved it to be true. A microscopical examination of the eggs for worker bees reveals the fact that spermatozoa are always present in numbers of from one to five, but in the case of the drone egg, none are present. This fact is further proved when we find that laying workers incapable of mating will also produce drones, though such drones are much smaller in size than those produced by a queen. It may be that the size of the drone reared from the egg of a laying worker is influenced by its being laid in a worker cell.**
**Having no stings, nor suitable proboscis with which to gather honey, nor baskets on their legs to gather and carry pollen, nor wax scales with which to secrete wax, nature has restricted them to their sole function in the hive; namely, the foundation of the virgin queens.**How to keep bees for profit
During the breeding season the drones are permitted to roam as they please through the hive and are fed a pap by the workers, who seem to know that the drones are needed for breeding purposes, but when the honey flow begins to show signs of ending, and especially in the early fall, the workers withhold from them the strengthening pap and drive them from the hives.
It is interesting and even pathetic at this time to find them clustered on the bottom board of the hive after the workers have driven them from the combs and life for them becomes a problem. Again and again I have seen a little worker tugging at a big drone to hustle him out of the hive, and though he plead in the language of the bees to be re-admitted, the workers are inexorable in their decision that out he must go, for, being a heavy consumer of honey, and the days of his usefulness over, the decree for his exclusion has been issued and the hand of every worker is turned against him.
## Chapter 6
## How to Keep Bees For Profit
ably sure of a good crop of honey, in fact, of even obtaining record crops, yet the bees have such wonderful ability to adapt themselves to almost any locality, that it is astonishing how often they produce a goodly surplus for their owners when there are few evidences of large areas devoted to the cultivation of those plants of which they are most fond.
Even in the suburban districts it is surprising how much white and sweet clover are accessible to them, to say nothing of fruit blossoms and locust for the early flow. Again, there are many localities where the fall flow from goldenrod and the white and blue asters yields a supply that often surprises the incredulous. One of the most successful beekeepers in the profession, and one who for forty years has made bee-keeping a sole means of support, is Dr. C. C. Miller of Marengo, Illinois, who has again and again declared that his location is really below the average, showing how a little experience will enable the determined man to make good. Of course,
## How to Start Be-Keeping
if one is fortunate enough to be located in the buckwheat region of New York state, or the basswood sections of the Middle West, or in the heart of the alfalfa ranches of Colorado, Utah, and California, it is an easy matter to make money very rapidly; nevertheless, no one should be deterred from engaging in this interesting and profitable industry because he is located remote from these sources of supply.
Bees are wonderfully industrious little folk, and if properly cared for will extract tribute from unheard-of sources. For three years I owned an apiary located on the shores of Long Island Sound, where the flora appeared decidedly unfavorable, yet to my surprise and joy the bees did remarkably well. This led me to a more careful survey of the country by which I found that there was quite an abundance of locust trees, considerable fruit bloom, while the lawns abounded with clover.
While it is true that the beekeeper in the favored locations referred to has the advan
tage of being able to keep a great many lives in the home yard, yet the suburbanite can overcome this by resorting to a system of out apiaries, and by having two or more apiaries three or four miles from home be able to harvest crops. These out apiaries can be located so that they are accessible by buggy, trolley, or train, and the only difference in their management and the home yard is that their owner has to take a short trip to get to them. Indeed, the majority of large beeepers prefer a system of out apiaries, as they claim they get larger crops without the danger of overstocking the home yard.
Having decided to get some bees, the question arises, "How and when shall I start?"
Spring is the best season of the year to begin, as such hives as will be purchased will not be heavy with honey and can be the more easily transported. Another advantage of starting in the spring is that the season is just beginning to open and the beginner will get experience in every phase of the industry, and shouldhe make mistakes, he will have ample time in which to remedy them before the winter comes on.
It is the truest economy to purchase bees of a pure breed in modern lives from some reputable beekeeper in the neighborhood, and if none are located within a reasonable distance, there is a large number who advertise stock in the leading bee journals.
Oftentimes it will be more convenient to purchase a couple of colonies in old-fashioned box hives from a near-by beekeeper, though a beekeeper who keeps his colonies in such makeshifts is far behind the times and must of necessity have to kill his faithful wards in order to get their honey, -- poor honey it is at that, as it generally is stored in old combs along with brood and even pollen from poisonous plants. These swarms can generally be purchased for from $1 to $2 a swarm, and all that is needed to put them in shape for shipping home by wagon or express is to wait until toward dark, when all the bees are in the How to keep bees for profit
hive, and then quickly turn it upside down and tack a piece of mosquito wire net over the bottom, making sure that no openings are left for bees to escape and make trouble.
Keep the hive upside down, and in this position take them home or ship them by express. Under no circumstances allow the bottom to be closed up, as the bees will smother. When the journey is ended, by using a little smoke, to be described later on in this chapter, drive all the bees away from the screen, take it off, and set the hive in proper position on some boards or a large box.
Do not leave the bees in the old hive, but send away at once to a bee supply house and purchase a complete hive with full sheets of wax foundation wired in the frames, and as soon as it comes transfer the bees automatically.
The best way to transfer is to bore a large hole through the top of the old hive, making it no less than an inch in diameter, and over this is to be placed the new hive without its
## How to start be-keeping
bottom board, but with its lid on and the frames all in place. Sometimes the outside bottom dimensions of the new hive will be larger than the top of the old hive, and special pains will have to be taken to keep the bees from coming out of the new hive when they are drummed upstairs. To prevent this it will be necessary to nail some cleats around the four edges of the top of the old box hive, or better still, take two boards and tack them together so that they can be set on top of the old box hive and project at least an inch outside of the bottom of the new hive on all sides.
With an auger bore one or two holes about an inch in diameter through the platform and old hive top near the centre, and place over it the new hive with its lid on, but no bottom board, for it must be remembered that we want no entrance to this double hive except the one at the bottom of the old box hive. Of course you should have your smoker going and your face and hands protected by veil and gloves.
Having everything in place, puff smoke in atHow to keep bees for profit the entrance of the old hive, and with a stick begin to bound on its sides.
Renew the smoke every four or five minutes, and keep up the drumming, and the bees will soon begin to go up into the new hive body, and in a half hour or so most of the bees will be up there, with the queen.
In a few days take off the lid of the new hive, and if you find that many of the bees are there and the queen has laid her eggs in the new combs, give the old box another smoking and bounding to drive up the rest, and in about a half hour you are ready to remove the new hive from the top, containing as it does the queen and most of the bees. To do this properly and to be sure of getting all the bees, lift the old hive to one side and, placing the bottom board of the new hive on the stand formerly occupied by the old hive, gently lift the new hive, bees and all, from the top of the old one and place it in position on the bottom board on the old stand. The old hive can be placed to one side of the new one not more
than two feet away, and in about a week put it the same distance on the other side of the new hive, for by doing this all the bees that hatch from the brood that was left in the old hive will enter the new one and in a matter of three or four weeks all of the bees from the old hive will have entered the new one, whose work will be going on without interruption. After the bees have been transferred, the old combs in the old hive can be cut out without angering the bees, and may be melted up for bees wax. This method is certainly far superior to the old-fashioned way of tearing the old hive to pieces, and having to cut out a lot of sticky old combs and piece them together with strings in the new frames. It also has the advantage of putting the bees on frames whose combs will all be wired and making them more secure in handling and extracting.
Where the colonies are bought in modern hives there need be no transferring, and the only thing necessary to do to make them ready for moving will be to make a couple of framesHow to keep bees for profit of wood seven-eighths of an inch thick, cover them with wire netting, and nail a frame to the top and bottom of the hive after the lid and bottom board have been removed and the bees sent to their destination; where with the use of a little smoke the net frames can be removed, the hive body set in position on its bottom board, and the lid put on. The methods for transferring and moving bees are identically the same whether one or more hives are secured.
It is a waste of time, money, and patience for the beginner to attempt to make his own hives, as many a beekeeper has found to his sorrow, for the work as done by the hivemanufacturers is so smooth and accurate, and the result of so many years of experience, that nothing made by the novice will equal them. Modern hives as made by a number of supply houses are of the best lumber planed smooth, and dovetailed at the corners to prevent warping.
Hives should conform to the habits of the bees, and there should be no more space in
**How to start be-keeping**
them than a bee space, or otherwise the bees will build brace-combs all around the frames and render their handling almost impossible,
The Root Smoker.
**A. Metal projection to aid the fingers in holding bellows. B. Coiled wire handler.** C. Hook on back of bellows. D. Loeked nuts.** E. Stamped metal \(\mathrm{cap}\).** F. Flexible hinge.
to say nothing of the robbing that is sure to result from broken combs.
Before we take up the matter of the hives to be adopted, let me speak of the tools and implements necessary. The first thing essenHow to keep bees for profit
tial is a good smoker, one that has large fuel capacity, and a good strong bellows. After a thorough test of all the smokers on the market, I have no hesitancy in saying I prefer the Root Jumbo, a cold blast smoker, as it perfectly meets all the requirements. A good smoker can be purchased for $1.25 and with proper care will last for years. Planer shavings, old rags, dried leaves, gunny bags soaked in a solution of saltpetre and dried in the sun, rotten wood, and dried pieces of apple branches all make excellent fuel, for what we want is plenty of smoke with little heat, and the beginner can take his pick.
I generally use planer shavings, though there are times when I want an enduring smoke I start a good fire with shavings; when I have about an inch of good red embers in the smoker I pile in rotten wood or apple wood, and a couple of replenishings of the fuel are sufficient for all day. As the fire gets low a few puffs of the bellows occasionally will bring it up so that it is ready whenever needed.
## How to Start Be-Keping
Another essential is a good veil, and after trying many I find that the Rauchfauss veil, a combination of muslin and wire net, is the best, as the cloth net veils seldom last over a season, -- often not so long, -- and the net may be blown by the wind so close to the face that the bees find no difficulty in stinging through it. The Rauchfauss veil is made of stout muslin and ties around the crown of the straw hat. There is a circle of wire netting about a foot wide that comes just from below the brim of the hat and goes all around the head, permitting a current of air to enter and at the same time keeping out all the bees. From the bottom edge of the wire net there is another section of muslin with a drawing-string, so that all bees are excluded at its lower edge, and thus making a veil that is both durable and effective. Such a veil can be bought for seventy-five cents, but can be made at home at a cost of about twenty-five cents. Another essential is a hive tool for prying off the hive lids, lifting out the frames, and scrapHow to keep bees for profit
ing propolis from the hives and frames, more or less of which is sure to be gathered by the bees.
There are a few other conveniences for the apiary which, though not essential, add to the comforts of working with the bees. A good market basket with stout handle is a handy thing for carrying the smoker, fuel, and hive tool, and as soon as one thing is used and set aside it can be dropped into the basket, which will save hunting around in the grass for it when wanted. A good wheelbarrow is also a great convenience, as it saves the back when it comes to carrying hives either filled or empty; the best one has removable sides. In preparing yourself to work among the bees, don't fail to close the ends of the trouser legs by using bicycle clips or by tying them with stout cords.
Though some of the most successful beekeepers are women, there has never yet been given in a bee journal a satisfactory bee dress for them. Some have advocated male attire, others bloomers, things the average woman **detests,** and yet there is available for women
one of the most satisfactory and bee-proof dresses imaginable, and it is as follows.
A woman to prepare herself properly for work in the bee yard should first purchase a pair of men's overalls of proper length and in the bottom of each leg place a drawing-string. The overalls should be put on just over the underwear, and when they are properly adjusted, tie the drawing-strings tightly about the ankles. Over this she may put her skirt, and in this attire she will suffer no annoyance whatever from the bees and yet be properly dressed. The drawing-strings at the bottoms of the legs of the overalls will effectively exclude the bees that may be in the grass, while the waist band of the skirt will keep out any bees that may adhere to the overalls. When the work is finished in the yard the skirt can be lifted and any adhering bees brushed off before entering the house.