BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Bees are subject to but few diseases which deserve special notice. The fatal effects of dysentery have already been alluded to (p. 90). "The presence of this disorder," says Bevao, "is indicated by the appearance of the exere
tain parts of the combs. In the moist, the brood, instead of drying up, decays, and produces a noisome stench, which may be perceived at some distance from the hive.* In the Spring or Summer, when the weather is fine and pasturage abounds, the following cure for foul-brood is recommended by a German Apitarian :--" Drive out the bees into any clean hive, and shut them up in a dark place without food for twenty-four hours; prepare for them a clean hive, properly fitted up with comb from healthy colonies, transfer the bees into it, and confine them two days longer, feeding them with pure honey." My readers are indebted to Mr. Samuel Wagner for a translation of Dzierzon's mode of treating foul-brood :
"I admit that I can furnish no prescriptions by which a diseased colony may be forthwith cured. Nay, I consider it highly improbable that a colony, in which the disease has made marked progress, can be cured by any medicaments. The removal of the putrid and infectious matter, already so abundant in the cells, must at least be simultaneously effected--and this seems to be altogether * impracticable. Nevertheless, there would be much gained if we could neutralize or destroy the _virus_ in the bees. themselves, and also render the infected honey harmless. A bee-keeping friend recently informed me that, if such honey be somewhat diluted with water, and then well boiled and skimmed, it may be safely used in feeding bees. Suspected honey should invariably be boiled and skimmed before it is fed to bees. For the hive itself, chloride of lime might prove an efficient disinfectant. I simply let the hives, which contained diseased colonies, stand exposed to sun and air for two seasons, and stock them thereafter without experiencing a return of the malady.
"On the whole, the disease has now lost its terrors for me. Though my bees may re-introduce it from neighboring Apiaries or other foreign sources, I no longer approach that it will suddenly break out in a number of my colonies, or spread rapidly in any of my Apiaries, because I shall hereafter avoid feeding foreign or imported honey, even if, in an unfavorable year, it should become necessary to reduce the number of my stocks to one-half or one-fourth of the usual complement.
"But when the malady makes its appearance in only two or three of the colonies, and is discovered early (which may readily be done in hives having movable-combs), it can be arrested and cured without damage or diminution of profit. To prevent the disease from spreading in a colony, there is no more reliable and efficient process team to stop the production of brood, for where no brood exists, none can perish and putterfly. The disease is thus deprived both of its aliment and its subjects. The healthy brood will mature and emerge in due time, and the putrid matter remaining in a few cells will dry up and be removed by the workers. All this will certainly result from a _well-timed removal of the queen_ from such colonies. If such removal becomes neecessary in the Spring or early part of Summer, a supernumerary queen is thereby obtained, by means of which an artificial colony may be started, which will certainly be healthy if the bees and brood used, be taken from healthy colonies. Should the removal be made in the latter part of Summer, the useless production of brood will at once be stopped, and an unnecessary consumption of honey prevented. Thus, in either case, we are gainers by the operation. If we have a larger number of coloniesthan it is desired to winter, it is judicious to take the honey from the colonies deprived of their queens, immediately after all the brood has emerged, as they usually contain the greatest quantity of stores at that time. If the disease be not malignant foul-brood, the colony may be allowed to remain undisturbed after it has bred a new queen, and, in most instances, such colonies will subsequently be found free from disease. I have, indeed, ascertained the singular fact that, if both bees and combs be removed from an infected hive, and healthy bees and pure comb be placed therein, these will speedily be infected with foul-brood ; whereas, when _the queen_ of an incipiently infected colony is removed, or simply confined in a cage, and the workers are still sufficiently numerous to remove all impurities, the colony will speedily be restored to a healthy condition. It thus seems as though the bees can become accustomed to the _virus_ which usually adhere so pertinaciously to the hive.
"_Fould-brood,_ indeed, _is a disease exclusively of the larger,_ and not of the emerged bees, or of brood sufficiently advanced to be nearly ready to emerge. Hence, the cause of the disease may exist already _in the food provided for the larvae_, and have its seat _in the chyle-stomach of the nursing bees,_ though these latter may not themselves be injuriously affected thereby.
"Though the colonies treated in this manner generally appear to be free from infection during the ensuing season, and the brood proceeding from the eggs of a queen subsequently given to then, or, from those of one reared by themselves, is healthy, maturing and emerging in due time, still, the disease, in most instances, re-appears in the following Summer. It is, indeed, possible that the bees may have re-introduced it from foreign sources, but it is not unlikely, also, that the infectious matter really remained latent in the hive. The bees do not usually remove all the putrid matter from the cells, but let some portions remain in the corners after it has become dry, merely covering it with a film of wax or propolis, through which, subsequently, when circumstances favor its action, the _virus_ may exert a malignant influence and cause a revival of the disease. Hence, when I do not break up such colonies altogether in Antuinn, and transfer the bees to new hives or other colonies with pure combs, I invariably regard them with suspicion, as unreliable, and keep them under strict surveillance at least a year longer.
"I also use these suspected colonies, by preference, for the production of queens with which to supply queenless colonies or start artificial swarms--successively removing from them the young queens as soon as they prove to be fertile or I have occasion to use them. In this way, I make such a colony farnish three or four--may, sometimes, by inserting sealed royal cells, even five or six young queens. But, in such operations, I invariably take the bees and brood for the artificial swarms, from colonies which are unquestionably free from the disease. For this purpose, I select strong colonies having young and vigorous queens, and which are consequently able to furnish the required supplies without any serious diminution of population, when the season is at all favorable to the multiplication of stocks. In such seasons, strong colonies, in good condition, with a vigorous queen in the prime of life, can easily supply brood and bees sufficient for four swarms."--_Bienenzeitung_, 1857, _No._ 4.
## Chapter XIII.
Robbing, and how prevented.
Bens are so prone to rob each other, that, unless great precautions are used, the Apiarian will often lose some of his most promising stocks. Idleness is with them, as with men, a fruitful mother of mischied. They are, however, far more excusable than the lazy rogues of the human family; for they seldom attempt to live on stolen sweets when they can procure a sufficiency by honest industry.
As soon as they can leave their hives in the Spring, if 'urged by the dread of famine, they begin to assail the weaker stocks. In this matter, however, the morals of our little friends seem to be sadly at fault; for, often those stocks which have the largest surplus are--like some rich suppressors--the most anxious to prey upon the meagre possessions of others.
If the marauders, who are ever provling about in search of plunder, attack a strong and healthy colony, they are usually glad to escape with their lives from its resolute defenders. The bee-keeper, therefore, who neglects to feed his needy colonies, and to assist such as are weak or queenless (p. 231), must count upon suffering heavy losses from robber-bees.
It is sometimes difficult for the novice to discriminate between the honest inhabitants of a hive, and the robbers which often mingle with them. There is, however, an air of roguery about a thieving bee which, to the expert, is as characteristic as are the motions of a pickpoeket to askillful polieeman. Its sneaking look, and nervous, guilty agitation, once seen, can never be. mistaken. It does not, like the laborer carrying home the fruits of honest toil, alight boldly upon the entrance-board, or face the guards, knowing well that, if caught by these trusty guardians, its life would hardly be worth insuring. If it can glide by without touching any of the sentinels, those within--taking for granted that all is right--usually permit it to help itself.
Bees which lose their way, and alight upon a strange hive, can be readily distinguished from these thieving scamps. The rogue, when caught, strives to pull away from his executioners, while the bewildered unfortunate shrinks into the smallest compass, submitting to any fate his captors may award.
These dishonest bees are the "_Jerry, Sneaks_" of their profession, and, after following it for a time, lose all taste for honest pursuits. Constantly creeping through small holes, and daughing themselves with honey, their plumes assume a smooth and almost black* appearance, just as the hat and garments of a thievish loafer acquire a "seedy" aspect. "I honesty is as good policy" among bees as among men, and, if the pilfering bee only knew its true interests, it would be safely laboring amid the smiling fields, instead of risking its life for a taste of forbidden sweets.
It is said that bees occasionally act the part of highway robbers, by waylaying a humble-bee as it returns to its nest with a well-stored sac. Seizing the honest fellow, they give him to understand that they want his honey. If they killed him, they would never be able to extract his spoils from their deep recesses; they, therefore, bite and tense him, after their most approved fashion, all the time singing in his ears, " Your honey or your life," until he empties his capacious receptacle, when they release him and lick up his swcets.
Bees sometimes carry on their depredations upon a more imposing scale. Having ascertained the weakness of some neighboring colony, they sally out by thousands, anger to engage in a pitched battle. A furious onset is made, and the ground in front of the assaulted hive is soon covered with the bodies of "numerable victims. Sometimes the baffled invaders are compelled to sound a retreat; too often, however, as in human contests--right proving but a feeble barrier against superior might--the citadel is stormed, and the work of rapine forthwith begins. And yet, after all, matters are not so bad as at first they seemed to be, for often the conquered bees, giving up the unequal struggle, assist the vietors in plundering their own hive, and are rewarded by being incorporated into the triumphant nation. The poor mother, however, remains in her pillaged hive, some few of her children--faithful to the last--staying with her to perish by her side amid the ruins of their once happy home.4
Footnote 4: "Been, like men, have their different dispositions, so that even their loyalty will sometimes fill them. An instance not long ago came to our knowledge, whlchi probably few hee-keepers will credit. It is that of a hive which, having early exhausted its store, was found, on being examined one morning, to be utterly asserted. The comb was-empty and the only symptom of life was the poor queen herself, "infindead, melanackoly, slow," crawling over the banergies cells, a and spectacle of the half of hee-greathes. Maritus among the ruins of CarthageNaposon at Fondnachbentwas nothing to this"_London Quarterly Resten_.
If the bee-keeper would not have'his bees so demoralized that their value will be seriously diminished, he will be _exceedingly careful_ (p. 199) to prevent them from robbing each other. If the bees of a strong stock once get a taste of forbidden sweets, they will seldom stop until they have tested the strength of every hive. Even if all the colonies are able to defend themselves, many bees will be lost in these encounters, and much time wasted; for bees, whether engaged in robbing, or battling against the robbery of others, lose both the disposition and the ability to engage in useful labors.4
Footnote 4: If the Aplarian would guard hls bees against dishonest courses, be must be exceedingly careful, in his various operations, not to leave any comba where strange bees can find them (see note, p. II7); for, after once getting a taste of stolen honey, they will hover round him as soon as they see him operating on a hive, all ready to produce upon it and snatch what they can of its expoiled treasure.
By keeping the movable entrance-blocks of my hives very close together, when a colony is feeble, if thieves try to slip in, they are almost sure to be overhauled and put to death; and if robbers are bold enough to attempt to force an entrance, as the bottom-board slants forward, it gives the occupants of the hive a decided advantage. If any succeed in entering, they find hundreds standing in battle-array, and fare as badly as a forlorn hope that has stormed the walls of a beleaguered fortress, only to perish among thousands of enraged enemies.
By putting these blocks before the entrance of a hive which has ceased to offer any effectual resistance, the dispirited colony will often recover heart, and drive off their assailants.
When bees are actively engaged in robbing, they sally out with the first peep of light, and often continue their depredations until it is so late that they cannot find the entrance to their hive. When robbing has become a habit, they are sometimes so infatuated with it as to neglect their own brood!
The cloud of robbers arriving and departing need Figure 5: Plate XVIII.
never be mistaken for honest laborers carrying, with unwieldy flight, their heavy burdens to the hive. These bold plunderers, as they _enter_ a hive, are almost as hangry-looking as Pharaoh's lean kine, while, on _coming out_, they show by their burly looks that, like aldermen who have dined at the expense of the city, they are stuffed to their utmost capacity.
When robbing-bees have fairly overcome a colony, the attempt to stop them--by shutting up the hive or by moving it to a new stand--if improperly conducted, is often far more disastrous than to allow them to finish their work. The air will be quickly filled with greedy bees, who, unable to bear their disappointment, will assail, with almost frantic desperation, some of the adjoining stocks. In this way, the strongest colonies are sometimes overpowered, or thousands of bees slain in the desperate contest.
When an Apitarian perceives that a colony is being robbed, he should contract the entrance, and, if the assailants persist in forcing their way in, he must close it entirely. In a few minutes the hive will be black with the greedy cormorants, who will not abandon it till they have attempted to squeeze themselves through the smallest openings. Before they assail a neighboring colony, they should be thoroughly sprinkled with cold water, which will make them glad to return to their homes.
Unless the bees that were shut up can have an abundance of air, they should be carried to a cool and dark*place. Early the next morning they may be examined," and, if necessary, united to another stock.
There is a kind of pillage which is carried on so secretly as often to escape all notice. The bees engaged in it do not enter in large numbers, no fighting is visible, and the labors of the hive appear to be progressing with their usual quietness. All the while, however, strange bees are carrying off the honey as fast as it is gathered. After watching such a colony for some days, it occurred to me, one evening, as it had an unhatched queen, to give it a fertile one. On the next morning, rising before the rogues were up, I had the pleasure of seeing them meet with such a warn reception, that they were glad to make a speedy retreat.
May not the fertile mother give to each hive (p. 203) its distinguishing scent? And may not a hive without such a queen be so pleased (p. 226) with the odor of other bees, as to let them do what they will with its stores? As bees are seldom engaged in raising young queens, except in the swarming season, when honey is so plenty that they are not inclined to rob, this may, if my conjectures are correct, account for the scarcity of this kind of pillage.
hive some intensely powerful and unaccatomed odor. Ife ehte this the most readily by placing in it, in the evening, a small portion of music, and on the following morning the bees, if they have a healthy queen, will biddly meet their assimilants. These are nonplussed by the unwonted odor, and, if any of them enter the hive and carry off some of the coveted booty, on their return home, having a strange smell, they will be killed by their own household. The robbing is thus soon brought to a close,"--8. WAREN.
"It will usually be found that a stock which is overpowered by rebbers has no queen, or one that is deceased (p. 244, soda).
## Chapter Xiv. Directions for Feeding Beers.
Few things in practical bee-keeping are more important than the feeding of bees; yet none have been more grossly mismanaged or neglected. Since the sulphur-pit has been discarded, thousands of feeble colonies starve in the Winter, or early Spring; while often, when an unfavorable Summer is followed by a severe Winter and late Spring, many persons lose most of their stocks, and abandon bee-keeping in disgust.
_In the Spring, the prudent bee-keeper will no more neglect to feed his destitute colonies, than to provide for his open table._ At this season, being stimulated by the returning warmth, and being largely engaged in breeding, bees require a liberal supply of food, and many populous stocks perish, which might have been saved with but trifling trouble or expense.*
* " If the Spring is not favorable to base, they should be fed, because that is the season of their greatest expense In honey, for feeding their young. Having plenty at that time, enables them to yield early and strong swarma,"--Wildman. A bee-keeper, whose stocks are allowed to perish after the Spring has opened, is on a level with a farmer whose cattle are allowed to starve in their stalls; while those who withhold from them the needed aid, in seasons when they cannot gather a supply, resemble the merchant who burns up bis ships, if they have made an unfavorable voyage.
Colamella gives minute instructions for feeding needy stocks, and quotes approreWhen bees first begin to fly in the Spring, it is well to feed them a _little_, even when they have abundant stores, as a small addition to their hoards encourages the production of brood. Great caution, however, should be used to prevent robbing, and as soon as forage abounds, the feeding should be discontinued. If a colony is _over-fed_, the bees will fill their brood-combs, so as to interfere with the production of young, and thus the honey given to them is worse than thrown away.
The over-feeding of bees resembles, in its results, the noxious influences under which too many children of the rich are reared. Pampered and fed to the full, how often does their wealth prove only a legacy of withering curses, as, bankrupt in purse and character, they prematurely sink to dishonored graves.
The prudent Apirarian will regard the feeding of bees --the little given by way of encouragement excepted--as an evil to be submitted to only when it cannot be avoided, and will much prefer that they should obtain their supplies in the manner so beautifully described by him whose intimitable writings furnish us, on almost every subject, with the happiest illustrations :
"So work the honey bees,
Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts,
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home,
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Make boot upon the Summer's velvet buds;
Which pillage they, with merry march, bring bone
To the tent royal of their emperor,
Who, busised in his majesty, surveys* [15] The singing masons building roofs of gold; The civil citizens kneading up the honey; The poor mechanile porters crowding in Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate; The and-eyed justice, with his surly hum, Dellvering o'er, to executors pale, The lazy, yawning drone."
* [16] Saksfhar's _Kevy F., Act I, Scene 2_.
* [17] Impoverished stocks, if in common lives, may be fed by inverting the hives and pouring a teacapfull of honey among the combs in which the bees are clustered. A bee deluged by sweets, when away from home; is a sorry spectacle; but what is thus given them does no harm, and they will lack each other clean, with as much satisfaction as a little child sucks its fingers while fasting on sugar candy. When the bees have taken up what has been poured upon them, the hive may be replaced, and the operation repeated, at intervals, as often as is needed. If the stock is in a movable-comb hive, the food may be put into an empty comb, and placed where it can be easily reached by the bees. If a colony has too few bees, its population must be replenished (p. 221) before it is fed. If it has but a small quantity of brood-combs, unless fed very moderately, it will fill the cells with honey instead of brood. If the Apitarian wishes the bees to build new comb, the food must be given so regularly as to resemble natural supplies, or they will store it in the cells already built. To build up small colonies by _feeding_, requires more care and judgment than any other process in bee-culture, and will rarely be required by those who have movable-comb hives. It can only succeed when everything is made subservient*to the most rapid production of _broom_. By the time the honey-harvest closes, all the colonies ought to be strong in numbers; and, in favorable sea sons, their aggregate resources should be such that, when an equal division is made, there will be enough food for all. If some have more and others less than they need, an equitable division may usually be effected in movable-comb hives. Such an agrarian procedure would soon overthrow human society; but bees thus helped, will not spend the next season in idleness; nor will those which were deprived of their surplus, limit their gatherings to a bare competency.
Early in October--in northern latitudes, by the middle of September--if forage is over, all feeding required for wintering bees should be carefully attended to. If delayed to a later period, the bees may not have sufficient time to seal over their honey, which, by attracting moisture and souring, may expose them (p. 256) to dysentery. Such colonies as have too few bees to winter well, should be added to other stocks.
_West India_ honey is, ordinarily, the cheapest liquid bee-food. To remove its impurities, and prevent it from souring or candying in the cells, it should have a little water added to it, and, after boiling a few minutes, should be set to cool; the seam on the top should then be removed. A mixture of three lbs. of honey, two of brown, sugar, and one of water, prepared as above, has been used by me (p. 257) for many years, without injury to my bees.