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Title: Bee-keeping for profit
Author: Morley, W. S.
Language: English
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BEE-KEEPING FOR PROFIT
=E. H. TAYLOR,= WELWYN,
============= HERTS.
[Illustration] =The Smallholder's
No. 12
Dovetail Hive
at 8/9.=
The Strongest Hive &
best value ever offered.
----
=A Big Stock of Bee Goods=
always on hand for immediate despatch
£2 orders carriage paid as
conditions in Catalogue.
LARGE CATALOGUE _FREE_.
+----------------------------------------------------+
| _CASSELL'S VOLUMES_ |
| |
| =Practical Rabbit Keeping= |
| =By George A. Townsend.= With 20 full-page |
| Illustrations. Cloth gilt. =3s. 6d.= net. |
| |
| =Poultry & Profit= |
| =By William W. Broomhead.= _Cloth._ =1s.= net. |
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| =Dogs & All About Them= |
| =By Robert Leighton.= with Frontispiece in Colour |
| and 16 Plates in Black-and-White. _Cloth._ |
| =2s. 6d.= net. |
| |
| =Poultry Foods & Feeding= |
| =By D. F. Laurie.= _Cloth._ =2s. 6d.= net. |
| |
| CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, |
| LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C. |
+----------------------------------------------------+
[Illustration: How to Handle a Frame]
BEE-KEEPING
FOR PROFIT
BY
W. S. MORLEY
WITH EIGHT PLATES
CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1914
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
1. GENERAL INFORMATION AND HINTS 3
2. HIVES 21
3. BEE-KEEPERS' REQUISITES 35
4. BEES: THEIR HABITS AND PRODUCTS 44
5. FLOWERS AND BEES 53
6. HINTS ON WORKING THE BEES 58
7. HINTS ON WORKING THE BEES (_continued_) 68
8. FEEDING 82
9. HOW TO SECURE THE HARVEST OF THE HIVE 92
10. HOW TO SECURE THE HARVEST OF THE HIVE (_continued_) 98
11. DISEASES OF BEES 106
12. ENEMIES OF THE BEE AND BEE-KEEPER 112
INDEX 120
LIST OF PLATES
HOW TO HANDLE A FRAME _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
QUEEN, WORKER AND DRONE BEES 12
A STANDARD FRAME WITH DRAWN-OUT COMB: AN EFFICIENT
QUEEN EXCLUDER: A FRAME HIVE WITH THE TOP REMOVED 36
QUEEN ON A PATCH OF SEALED HONEY 48
EXAMINING FRAMES 64
"SKEPPING" A SWARM 68
"SHAKING" A SWARM 78
SECTION FITTED WITH COMB FOUNDATION: BEES AT WORK
ON A SECTION 94
INTRODUCTION
IT is only in comparatively recent years that attention has been given
to bee-keeping on a scientific basis. Aforetime there were certain
traditional methods to be followed to secure the honey harvest, but
those who practised them knew neither the why nor wherefore. To-day,
however, thanks to the observations of our great scientists on the life
and habits of the bee, to their patience and diligence in noting the
insect's manner of working, we are in possession of knowledge which has
enabled the practical bee-keeper to reduce the old haphazard ways to
method, orderliness, and definite purpose.
The budding bee-keeper, as he reads one or other of these great works
on the bee and its ways, may begin to wonder if it is not all too
wonderful for him to deal with, and if he may ever hope to become
proficient in the art and practice of bee-keeping. Let me say, here
and now, that, given patience, perseverance, and diligence, a measure
of success is open to anyone who brings intelligence into his work.
Although the doubts and difficulties that assail the tyro, and the
questions arising therefrom, might raise a smile from the expert--if
only as a reminder of his own early aspirations and efforts--yet there
is no reason for despair; though disappointments are certain to arise,
they should be accepted merely as spurs to further effort, as steps
towards the ultimate goal of success.
Some may think--rashly--that there is nothing new to be said or
learned about the bee, but the fact is that even scientists are still
ignorant as to the definite uses of certain of the insect's organs,
and of the origin and remedies of some of the diseases from which it
suffers. Putting aside, therefore, the merely commercial aspect of
bee-keeping, there is still a wide field of interest and research open
for exploration by the intelligent bee-keeper.
BEE-KEEPING FOR PROFIT
CHAPTER I
=General Information and Hints=
The question of profit depends almost entirely upon the knowledge,
energy, and perseverance of the bee-keeper, for, given suitable
hive-accommodation and proper attention, the bees can generally be
depended upon to do their share of the work.
=Regularity and Foresight.=--All who are engaged in productive work in
conjunction with Nature know that "there is a time for everything,"
in connection with that work, and every advantage must be taken of
that particular tide if full benefits are to be secured at the harvest
season. Work must be done in regular rotation. A farmer must plough his
land before he can sow his seed; the seed must be sown at a certain
time--sown in hope many months before the harvest can be expected. The
same regularity and hopeful anticipation are necessary in bee-keeping
if full advantage is to be secured of the honey-harvest. In the same
manner, just as farmers must make use of modern methods and appliances
to obtain the best return for the outlay of capital and labour, so
the bee-keeper must bring into his work the practice of up-to-date
principles and labour-saving appliances connected with bee-keeping.
The old "skep," and the happy-go-lucky methods connected with it have
given place to the frame hive with well-defined principles to govern
and stimulate the production of its community of workers.
To work a bar-framed hive for profit it is first necessary that
the bee-keeper should exercise forethought and be prepared for any
emergency that may arise. He should always have by him plenty of spare
frames, foundations, supers, and other necessities, for nothing is more
annoying than a shortage of such during an unexpected honey-flow. It is
always at such times that his orders take longest in fulfilment, for
it is then the appliance-maker is overwhelmed with commissions from
unprepared clients, and the delay in the delivery of the goods means a
corresponding reduction of the bee-keeper's profits.
=Watchfulness and Intelligence.=--These two qualities are essential
assets to any would-be successful bee-keeper. There is no "golden
rule," for his guidance through the year, nothing that must be done
invariably at stated times and seasons. It is here that the novice
is puzzled and perplexed, for apparently what is right at one time
becomes wrong at another, but it is only by experience that the guiding
knowledge is acquired. For instance, it is useless to feed a hive with
the view to increase the brood, if the hive be queenless, or possesses
a drone-breeding queen, or a fertile worker. And again, it is useless
to put a super on a queenless stock or a weak hive, for instead of
helping to conserve the heat of the hive one but adds to the area for
the bees to heat with their own little bodies, with the additional
risk of chilling the brood and starving the bees. For it should be
remembered that the colder the hive, the greater the consumption of
food by the bees.
_It is well to bear in mind that the best of all heat-producers in a
hive are the bees themselves, but to enable them satisfactorily to
become so suitable accommodation and food are absolutely necessary._
=The Queen.=--One of the greatest mysteries connected with the hive
is the life history of the queen bee, and her position in the bee
community. Each hive is, as it were, a republic of female workers,
who serve with slavish devotion one of their number set apart from
birth for the position of supreme head of the community. Like their
sex generally throughout Nature, they give of their best where it is
most needed. They know by their instinct that if the queen is fed with
rich food her egg-laying capacity is stimulated, and, on the contrary,
when the honey-flow is finished, that the supply of such food must be
checked, with a consequent reduction in the number of eggs laid. They
know that the greater the population of the hive the greater the drain
on their honey store.
Generally speaking the life of a queen bee extends from two to five
years, at which age she is generally exhausted, or is deposed by the
community in favour of a younger queen.
The egg from which a queen bee develops is at the first precisely
similar to that which produces a worker, and both are fertile. It all
depends upon the kind of cell in which the egg is deposited by the
queen whether a mere worker or a royal offspring ensues. The queen
cells are acorn shaped, and larger in size than the others and are
generally placed on the edge of the comb. It is when the eggs are
hatched--three days after they have been placed in the cells--that the
special treatment of the queen grub commences. It is taken charge of by
the nurses and fed with the rich food--known as "chyle" food (see page
50), and it is this food alone that produces the difference between a
queen and a worker bee.
When the young queen is about a week old she will leave the hive to
find a mate. As mating can only take place when the queen and drone
are on the wing, she soars into the air followed by the rival and
eager drones. When the mating is accomplished the queen returns to the
hive and is then capable of laying eggs, both fertile and unfertile,
at will. The drone also returns home, but only to die: he has laid
down his life for the perpetuation of his race. A queen that has been
recently mated can be identified by a white speck on the back near the
end of the abdomen--the organ torn away from the drone.
Should a queen fail to be mated within six weeks of her leaving the
cell she is only capable of laying unfertile eggs. The egg-laying
capacity of the queen, under the "chyle-food" treatment is enormous,
ranging up to 3,000 eggs per day.
When a ruling queen realises that a queen grub is being reared in the
hive, the sex-hatred of a possible rival soon manifests itself, and
were it not for the watchful care of the workers the young queen's
career would soon be ended. But the old queen is put virtually under
arrest, and not allowed to venture near the queen cells. Her agitation
increases until she summons together all who are willing to follow her
and leaves the hive. This exodus of a queen and her adherents is known
as "a swarm." (See page 44.)
The queen bee can always be distinguished by her greater size, while
the increased length of her legs makes her still more prominent among
the workers. If it is wished to prevent the rearing of queens in the
hive, all that is necessary is for the bee-keeper to cut out the queen
cells from the combs, and give the bees additional room to store the
food they gather.
=The Worker Bee.=--The normal worker bee is an undeveloped female and
a true amazon. She is utterly indifferent to the drone, and is, of
course, unable to propagate her species. In some cases, however, the
ovaries of a worker are so far developed that she is able to produce
eggs which are necessarily unfertile. Such a worker is a nuisance in a
modern hive worked for profit.
As we have already seen, the egg from which the worker develops
is precisely similar to that from which a queen springs; the rôle
of worker or queen is determined by the cell in which the egg is
deposited. A grub in a worker cell gets but little "chyle" food--it
is stopped altogether on the third day--and a mixed diet of honey and
pollen. The drone is brought up entirely on the latter food.
As soon as a worker grub leaves the cell it enters upon its life
of labour. It is immature at this point, and as the air-organs, or
tracheæ, are not fully developed, it cannot fly. Its first work,
therefore, is that of "nurse" to the grubs still in the cells, and to
supply the queen with "chyle" food. About a fortnight after leaving the
cell, the young bee, if the weather be fine and warm, will venture out
of the hive to try its wings, and on early spring days such numbers of
them may be seen sporting near the entrance of the hive as to lead a
novice to suppose that swarming was about to take place. The bee-keeper
of experience, however, while rejoicing at the sight, will know that
the exodus is partly due to the fact that some natural or artificial
food has entered the hive and that more must be supplied for the needs
of the inmates.
After the worker's trial flight, she proceeds upon her duties as a food
supplier to the community. She has had some experience as a "nurse"
in handling pollen, so that at first it seems but natural she should
give most attention to that food, and, in cleaning her body from its
clinging particles, she finds out the uses of her several organs. In
the beginning her loads of pollen are often small, but with experience
her carrying capacity soon finds its limit. In time she discovers
nectar in the flowers, and as she becomes less able to gather pollen
she increases her honey-collecting power. When nectar is abundant bees
will often commence their work at sunrise and continue throughout
the day until sunset. In such a "honey-flow" the average life of the
worker from the time she leaves the cell is seldom more than six or
eight weeks, every minute of which is given up to the communal labour.
The whole of the work inside the hive depends upon the worker--she
is architect, builder, caretaker, nurse, sanitary officer and the
rest; there is method in everything she does, so it is inadvisable to
interfere unnecessarily with any part of it. She objects strongly to
undue interference, to mere curiosity of inquisitive humans. The worker
bees are, indeed, wondrous creatures: they are known to have their
feelings of friendship and dislike almost human in their intensity;
their expressions of sorrow on the loss of their queen or when their
stores are failing are as unmistakable as their hum of contentment when
the hive is thriving, or the buzz of anger when rudely-disturbed.
=The Drone.=--The drone is the male bee. He is the progeny of an
unfertilised egg laid by the queen, or by a fertile worker. His life
is usually a short and merry one. He lives entirely on the labour
of others, and, unless there is something radically wrong with the
hive, he is seen only during the spring and summer months, when his
services are in requisition. When on the wing the drone is by far the
noisiest of bees, although the sound he makes is somewhat similar to
that made by the worker when on the warpath, the note of warning to the
disturbing human, and the trumpet call to her fellow-workers.
Owing to the peculiar structure of the drone, mating can only take
place in the air, and when it has been accomplished the drone
returns to the hive but to die. When the honey-flow fails the death
warrant of the drones still in the hive is issued. They are seized
by the workers and killed or ejected from the hive. To the onlooker
there is a certain amount of amusement to watch this slaughter of
the non-producers of the community: to see a couple of workers
wrestling with the unwieldy drone, perhaps biting off one of his
wings in the effort to disable him, before the finishing stroke is
given. When, however, a bee-keeper sees the array of dead drones he
will probably think it would have been better for him had they been
workers--producers rather than consumers of honey. It is, of course,
greatly to the advantage of a bee-keeper that the number of the drones
should be kept down as low as possible. This can be done by giving
the bees full sheets of bees-wax impressed completely with the basal
forms of the natural worker cells, thus inducing them to confine their
building to those cells only.
We have already referred to the fact that a worker bee and a virgin
queen are capable of producing eggs. The progeny of these eggs,
however, although they may be produced in worker cells, are drones,
fully developed, though smaller than those hatched in drone-cells. When
this state of affairs is discovered in the hive the bee-keeper must
ascertain by observation whether it is the queen's doings, and, if so,
depose her and, if that of a fertile worker, destroy her. As a rule a
fertile worker deposits her eggs in a scattered sort of way, but as the
cells containing them are always capped as drone-cells--that is the
cappings are raised in a dome-like way--they are easily distinguishable
to the experienced eye.
[Illustration: Worker Bee]
[Illustration: Queen Bee]
[Illustration: Drone Bee]
(_Magnified two diameters. Photographs by John J. Ward, F.E.S._ )
=Metamorphosis.=--The metamorphosis, or change of form, which occurs
in the early life history of the bee is among the most interesting in
the insect world. When the egg is deposited by the queen, it rests
on end on the bottom of the cell and almost parallel with the sides.
At the close of the first day it inclines to an angle of about 45°,
and after two days it falls to the floor of the cell. As a rule, the
period of incubation is three days, and the grub is immediately taken
charge of by the nurse bees, and fed according to the kind of cell
in which it has been placed. At the end of five or six days the grub
is sealed up in its cell to undergo the next, or pupa, stage of its
existence. Generally speaking, the queen is ready to leave her cell on
the fifteenth day, the worker on the twenty-first, and the drone on the
twenty-fourth day from the time the egg is laid. If the weather is cold
these periods may be extended: it is a curious fact that the egg of an
insect can often bear a greater intensity of cold without injury than
can the developed insect.
=Anatomy of the Bee.=--It is advisable that all bee-keepers should
know something of the structure of the bee, of its principal organs
and their functions. The subject is too technical to be dealt with at
length in a volume such as this, but the following notes may be of
sufficient service to rouse interest to further inquiry.
=Tracheæ.=--Bees have no lungs, but in place of them have air-sacs,
connected up by air-tubes or _tracheæ_ which run throughout the body,
varying in size much as do the "veins" of a leaf, until they are minute
enough to serve the extremities of the insect, the antennae and sting.
This arrangement of the air-supplying organs, general throughout the
insect world, may have something to do with the hibernation, to which
most are subject in a greater or less degree, in cold weather.
The worker-bee is extremely sensitive to cold, but the queen seems far
less susceptible, and often causes perceptible anxiety in a hive by
wandering out of the cluster in cold weather. I know of one instance
which came under my notice where the queen was very much alive in a
hive in which all the workers were dead, or dying from starvation in
cold weather, and although it is a recognised fact that queens which
have been injured by frost become drone-breeders it was not so in this
case.
=The Antennæ.=--The antennae of the bee must be accounted among the
most marvellous of its organs. They are made up of a number of joints
and chambers, and, though they are conjectured to be the organs of the
senses of hearing, feeling, and smelling they are not definitely so
known to be. As in the case of many other insects the antennæ of the
male bee are much longer than those of the female.
=The Tongue.=--From the bee-keeper's point of view the tongue of the
bee is one of its most important organs, for by means of it the bee
secures the nectar from the flowers. When the nectar is in abundance
the tongue serves as a trunk or proboscis through which it can be
drawn, and when the supply is scanty the spoon-like end of the
proboscis serves to lap it up. From the tongue the nectar passes into
the "honey stomach" from which it is regurgitated and stored in the
hive.
=The Legs.=--The six legs of the bee serve for manifold purposes
other than walking, and are so wonderfully adapted to them as to be
worthy of close study. They serve as hands, as combs and brushes for
cleansing purposes, they are provided with claws which are available
for climbing rough surfaces, or for clinging in the swarm: between the
claws is a pad which secretes a substance which enables the bee to walk
comfortably on smooth surfaces whether upside down or normally. On the
thighs of the hind legs are the pollen baskets in which are carried the
burden of pollen gathered from the flowers and taken to the hive for
storage.
=The Eyes.=--Three eyes, one simple and two compound, form the
complement for each bee. The single eye, the smallest, is placed in
the centre of the crown of the head, and the two compound on either
side of the head. Each compound eye consists of hundreds of facets
each of which has a perfect vision. Much argument has been made as
to the reason for all this sight-power, but without arriving at any
satisfactory conclusion. It is certain, however, that although the
bee can move about freely and work in the darkness of the hive, _yet
it cannot see in the dark_, for who among those who have worked bees
has not heard the plaintive wail of a bee that has been overtaken by
the night before gaining its hive--and this with the hives within easy
range?
=The Jaws.=--The jaws are used in much of the work of the
hive--kneading wax, cutting and reducing the combs, capping the cells,
for clearing away refuse, and particularly for carrying dead bees from
the hive. They serve as weapons, too, for fighting, and in ejecting the
useless drones when their season is ended. Then the jaws are used as
nippers to cut the wings of the bulky drone and so render him helpless.
=The Wings.=--Each wing consists of two parts, an arrangement which
allows the bee to close, or fold them up when she alights. On the
adjoining edge of each part is a row of minute hooks, and when the
wings are expanded these hooks become attached and thus provide a
strong and reliable flying surface. In addition to providing the means
of flight, the wings of the bee serve as fans for the ventilation of
the hive, a certain number of the community, who also act as sentries,
often being engaged in such duty. Should a bee-keeper see any of the
"fanners" at work on the alighting board at the entrance of the hive
he may know at once that the hive is too warm, and if he be wise
will open the entrance a little wider. Should the bees continue their
ventilating work after that, then he may surely know that something is
wrong and open the hive to investigate. The bees do not so work without
urgent need. It may be that the stores of food are fermenting, or that
wet has penetrated to the combs: mice may have entered the hive, or,
worst of all, foul brood may be rampant. All these would cause bad
odours, and the bees should be helped as speedily as possible to remove
the evil.
=The Sting.=--This weapon of offence and defence is usually the last in
the equipment of the bee to be used, for its discharge generally means
loss of life to its owner. To the enemy against whom it is launched, it
becomes a source of irritation and annoyance and sometimes of danger.
The sting is a fine lance, with incisions down one side which act as
barbs when the flesh is pierced by it, sinking the lance deeper at each
convulsion of the stinger or the stung. So soon as a barb is fixed it
is impossible for the bee to withdraw the sting, and in its struggle
to be free the whole of the stinging organs--including the poison
sac--are dragged from it, and the poison enters the wound. For this
reason it is necessary that the sting should be extracted as soon as
possible, for the longer it remains in the flesh the greater will be
the irritation. Should the sting be inflicted near a hive it will be
wise to remove oneself from the neighbourhood without loss of time, for
it is a well-known fact that the scent of the sting attracts other bees
and arouses their anger against the presumed enemy of their kind.
_The best remedy for a sting from a bee_ is methylated spirit, applied
immediately the sting has been extracted--though it is well to remember
that bees have an abhorrence of spirit, so that all trace of it
should be removed before venturing near a hive, or further stings may
be induced. There are many popular remedies for stings, such as the
application of ammonia, washing soda, the blue bag, an onion--all of
which have the same object--to nullify the effects of the irritant
poison, of which formic acid is one of the principal constituents.
Occasionally bees will attack fowls, although it is more than likely in
most such cases that the fowls are the aggressors and mistake the bees
for flies, of which they are very fond.
=Stingless Bees.=--There has been much talk of breeding stingless bees,
but personally I do not think such bees are ever likely to oust our
native breeds, for what chance could they have in fights with the armed
variety?
CHAPTER II
=Hives=
The question of the hive is, of course, the all-important one to the
bee-keeper; upon it depends in very large measure the success or
non-success of his enterprise. To the beginner, especially, it is a
matter for serious consideration, one not to be dealt with in any
haphazard fashion. There are so many forms and varieties of hive on the
market to-day that the novice, who perhaps started out with the idea
that a hive was merely "a hive--any one would do--and the bees would
accomplish the rest," is puzzled as to how to make a selection. As a
general recommendation in this direction I would say, _select the one
that is least complicated and easiest to clean_. Simplicity in working,
combined with efficiency in its purpose, is a sure and safe standard
to apply when selecting a hive. It is as well for the beginner to try
one or two varieties, so that he may find out by experience which is
better suited to his particular district, and the most convenient to
manipulate. That settled, he can then adopt for general use the one
best suited to his purpose.
=The Skep Hive.=--The skep hive, made of straw, is the survival of
those pre-scientific days when bee-keeping was conducted without
method, other than providing a house for the bees. Except that it is
still used by some who will not take the trouble to adapt themselves to
the modern methods, the skep hive would find no mention in a book on
bee-keeping for profit. Primarily the skep was made by our forefathers
merely as a means of securing the bees for the honey season, by
providing them with a ready-made home in which they could prepare their
combs and store their honey. Originally it was a rough structure of
straw, bound together probably with bramble-runners, peeled and split,
and it has developed into the form in which we know it to-day. Its
picturesqueness in the cottage flower garden cannot be denied, neither
can its utility up to a certain point, and that point was when the time
of the ingathering of the honey harvest arrived, for to secure the
honey the bees were destroyed. As a rule, it is the hive that contains
the best queen which has the most honey, and as the skep that was
heaviest was always selected for clearing, it necessarily followed that
in destroying the bees the best queens were sacrificed.
The usual plan of "taking" a skep hive was to dig a hole about a foot
deep, not quite large enough to hold the skep. A few red hot cinders
were placed on the bottom and on these was scattered brimstone. Then
the skep was placed over the hole and the bees smothered by the sulphur
fumes. It was a cruel and wasteful practice and it is strange that it
should survive in these days when the knowledge of better and more
economical methods is within reach of all.
Unless, however, disease is rampant in the district the "skepist"
is oftentimes a benefactor to a neighbouring up-to-date apiarist by
supplying him with swarms, or "driven" bees.
The capacity of a skep is sometimes increased by means of an "imp" made
of straw of the same circumference as the base of the skep on which the
hive is placed. Another method is to use bell glasses and sections as a
"super" placed over the feed-hole of the hive.
Although it can find no place in profitable bee-keeping--unless it be
for temporarily hiving a swarm--the skep nevertheless possesses some
advantages over the wooden hive. It is not liable to the attacks of
fungus, or rot; it is also warmer for the bees in winter if properly
covered in severe weather, for as the combs are fastened to the sides
of the hive they serve the purpose of a cavity wall or dead space.
=Wooden Hives.=--The wooden hive now reigns supreme in all
well-regulated apiaries, and the mechanical methods of working wood,
with their accuracy of joining, &c., from a constructional point of
view have brought them practically to perfection. It must be confessed,
however, that wood is not the ideal material for hive making. As we
have already suggested, it is subject to deterioration from fungus
and rot, and, even when well-seasoned, contains a certain amount of
moisture which renders it readily liable to these evils. The interior
of a hive, too, becomes moist from condensation, which again helps to
promote decay, a decay which in turn is favourable to the development
of disease among the bees.
As a check to the ill-effects of this moisture some bee-keepers make
a practice, when cleaning their hives, of thoroughly scorching the
interior walls with a blow lamp.
So-called "rot preventers" are not to be recommended for use inside the
hives, for many of them are highly injurious to the bees.
In purchasing hives it should be seen that they are in no wise cracked
or warped, that no large knots are contained in the wood, and that the
workmanship of the joints is in every way perfect. The roof needs to be
completely rain-proof and the eaves should hang well over the sides so
as to ensure the rain-water being carried away from the walls of the
hive.
=Size of Hive.=--In the selection of a hive the size must depend upon
the bee-keeper's own convenience, so that it is useless to lay down
any hard-and-fast rule. Many apiarists have a regular system of moving
their hives from district to district to meet the varying crops and
honey sources, and it naturally follows that the less cumbersome the
hive in their case the better. Personally I prefer a hive of about
eighteen inches square, outside measurement. This may be accounted
rather large for winter requirements, but it is always a simple matter
to reduce the interior space with a dummy.
One or two odd sized hives are convenient to possess; they are useful
in emergencies, and the smaller sizes especially come in handy for
queen rearing purposes, or when strengthening nucleus.
=The Floorboard.=--The hive bottom, or floorboard, which includes the
sloping platform outside the hive, on which the bees alight, should be
removable for the purposes of cleaning--which must be done thoroughly
at least twice a year. This alighting board should provide for an
entrance ¼ of an inch below the level of the sides and back of the hive
and should slope upwards to the floorboard about 4 or 5 inches inside
the hive.
When hives are moved frequently from one district to another it is
advisable to have a short alighting board, as less space is thereby
taken up in the removal conveyance. It is an easy matter to lengthen
the board when the hive is in position if it is found necessary. A
roofing slate makes a very good addition to a short alighting board.
=The Brood Chamber.=--The brood chamber rests on the floorboard: it is
usually made with a porched entrance from the alighting board, but,
although a porch is useful if the hive is in an exposed situation, the
bees, as a rule, will do equally well without it. The porch, indeed,
often proves a source of trouble to young bees, who fail to find the
entrance and rush frantically along the top of the porch in their
efforts to do so. The brood chamber usually has two single and two
double walls: on the inner, which are lower than the outer, rest the
ends of the bar frames that contain the combs or brood foundation. It
is here that the brood is reared and the natural life and work, of the
hive proceeds.
[Illustration: SIDE VIEW AND SECTIONAL SIDE VIEW OF A MODERN BAR-FRAME
HIVE.
(This Hive has a double set of Standard Frames)]
=Bar Frames.=--The bar frame is used as a case or support to hold the
honeycombs. Without them it would be impossible to lift the combs from
the hive and replace them in their proper position. It is these frames
that enable the modern bee-keeper to do so much more than was possible
with the old skep, and it has been by their aid that so much has been
learned of the home-life of the bee.
=Standard Frames.=--Frames vary in size in different countries, but the
standard frame now in general use in Great Britain is 8½ inches high,
14 inches wide, with a top bar 17 inches in length. The 1¼ inches at
each end rest on the top of the inner walls of the hive. The frames are
spaced the proper distance apart by metal ends of uniform size. There
are many varieties of these "self-spacers," but those most generally
in use in England were the invention of a past-master in apiary, the
late Mr. W. B. Carr. These "ends" slip on the terminals of the top bar.
When handling the frames, care should be taken not to hold them by the
metal ends, as they are apt to slip off and cause disaster. Another
matter that needs attention in connection with them is their liability
to rust, and when working for honey production the bee-keeper should be
scrupulously careful to see that only good clean metal ends are used on
the frames.
_To Hang Standard Bar Frames._--The sides of the frame should hang at
_least_ 3/16 of an inch and at the _most_ ¼ of an inch clear of the
walls of the hive. If the space be less than 3/16 the bees will fasten
the combs to the sides of the hive, and if it be over ¼ of an inch they
will build combs between the frame and the hive. The narrower space is
sufficient to allow the bees a free passage round the frames.
Some frames on the market are a little wider than the ordinary
standard. Known as "wide-shouldered frames," no "spacers" are necessary
to keep them the proper distance apart.
Standard frames, however, can be used successfully either in the
ordinary hive, the queen-rearing hive, or as a "super" (see page 31) if
it is worked in accordance with the instructions given on page 73, for
as they are exactly the same in measurement they can be interchanged
with any hive. It is advisable to pin or nail together any loose parts
of frames when making them up, for by so doing regrettable accidents
may often be avoided.
=Shallow Frames.=--The shallow frame is only 5½ inches high, with other
dimensions similar to the standard. They are used by most bee-keepers
in this country who work for surplus honey. They are of a convenient
size for gathering and storing separately the various "crops" of honey.
This, of course, is a great advantage, for it enables the bee-keeper
to select the choicest honey for exhibition, or for sale at increased
price. They are especially useful in this direction when heather honey
is the objective, both as a body box and as a super. As a super,
indeed, they are generally recommended to the novice in bee-keeping,
as, owing to there being less space for the bees to heat, they are
warmer than the standard frames for this purpose. There is no question
that a warm super induces the bees to explore it, and if food is
plentiful to use it as a store or warehouse, while, on the contrary,
should the heat of the super be lowered by a change in the outside
temperature after the bees have commenced to store therein, they will
often remove the honey thence to the brood-chamber.
Shallow frames are also used by some bee-keepers when working for
sections in strong hives immediately over the brood-chamber, as this
procedure usually prevents the lower case of sections from becoming
discoloured by the heat from the brood.
=Sections.=--Sections are small wooden frames, which in England are
generally about 4½ inches square, in which honey may be stored by
the bees ready for sale purposes. They are made from the wood of the
American lime tree--commonly known as "basswood"--which is beautifully
white and easy to "work." The sections are made all in one piece, which
is cut into shape by machinery. The sections are placed in a rack or
"crate" which usually hold twenty-one in seven rows of three, with a
divider of tin or wood between each row, and a "bee space" under each
section.
The method of working with sections is explained on page 94.
=The Super.=--The super, or lift, is the bee-keeper's addition to the
hive, in which he induces the bees to store honey for him. It is placed
above the brood nest and supplied with frames or sections in which the
bees may work _apart from the brood_. To secure that, of course, is
the duty of the bee-keeper, and in the chapter following, the method
will be dealt with.
=Bee Escapes.=--The "escape" is to provide the bees with an additional
exit from the hive or super. It is fixed in a hole bored through each
end or side of the top portion of the hive, two or three inches below
the centre of the roof. The old-fashioned cone-shaped variety is now
usually worked double, one being fixed inside the hive and one on the
outside, but they are not altogether satisfactory, as the bees will
sometimes find their way back through them to the super. It will also
often be found when clearing supers by this means that the bees are
very slow in escaping. A new escape, called "The Porter Escape," with a
spring has been recently invented which allows the bees to return from
the super direct into the hive. It is fixed on a board which is placed
under the super.
=The Dummy.=--The dummy is a piece of board with lugs or ends which
project from the sides, and rest on the inner walls of the hive. It
is, in fact, a movable wall which is used to reduce the capacity of a
hive. The requisite number of frames are removed and the dummy placed
in position to cover the exposed side.
=The Quilt.=--Over all, is placed the quilt which retains the heat
in the hive. Most bee-keepers have their own opinion as to the best
material to use for this purpose. American cloth, glass, wood, carpet,
horse-hair, matting, felt, sacking, cotton, and paper all find their
advocates, and probably experience has proved them all. It is useless,
then, to be dogmatic in favour of any. I would suggest, however, that
one of the cheapest forms of quilt is one made of unbleached calico,
for this is about the only material that the bees do not try to sample,
or fasten to the frames.
Generally speaking it is advisable that a hole should be made in the
quilt for feeding purposes. For this it is not necessary to cut a piece
quite out but merely to make an incision along three sides of a square,
thus forming a flap that can be folded back when feeding is necessary.
This quilt should, of course, be supplemented with others to secure
thorough retention of heat in the hive.
All old quilts that have any "propolis" (see page 51) on them should be
saved to pack round crates of sections, or the propolis may be cut off
and used as a decoy in spring amongst artificial pollen.
=Queen-Rearing Hives.=--There are many varieties of "nucleus"
or queen-rearing hives, but the one I have found to give most
satisfaction holds from three to five standard frames. These are used
solely for the purpose of rearing young queens to take the place of
those worn out by hard work or old age. The method to be followed in
this direction is given on page 75.
=Observation Hive.=--This consists of a glass case made to hold one
standard frame, a shallow frame, and a row of sections. The bees can
thus be seen at work on the combs. It is mounted on a pivot, through
which the bees must pass to the entrance. Of course, the "observation
hive" is not intended to keep bees in for more than a few days at a
time, and when it is in use care should be taken not to expose the
combs or the bees to the heat of the sun.
CHAPTER III
=Bee-keepers' Requisites=
=Comb Foundation.=--It is this wonderful invention that with the
bar-frame has made bee-keeping a practical factor; without it, indeed,
the bar-frame hive would be useless from a commercial point of view.
The "comb-foundation" is a thin sheet of bees-wax, impressed by
machinery, on both sides, with true hexagonal, or six-sided, bases of
cells, a slight foundation for the walls being also impressed. Thus
the bees are given a start, as it were, in their work. This foundation
is made either with "worker" or "drone" cells and the bees will follow
unfailingly the lead thus given them in their building. It is made in
three degrees of thickness--"thin," "medium," and "thick"; the first
for use in sections, and the others in the brood chamber.
As a rule bee-keepers in England buy only the worker-brood foundation,
for should drones be required they can be secured by merely cutting
away the lower part of a honey-comb, or supplying only half a sheet of
foundation in the frames, for the bees will almost without fail build
drone cells on these.
Foundation is catalogued by all makers of bee-keeping appliances,
but it should be obtained only from reliable sources, for one of its
essentials is that it should be made from pure bees-wax thoroughly
cleansed and sterilized. Otherwise it may contain germs of brood
disease.
_Old Foundation._--If a stock of foundation should at any time be left
in hand it is advisable that it should be slightly warmed before it is
given for the use of the bees, for unless it is quite pliable the bees
will reject it.
=Excluder Zinc.=--It is impossible to work the bar-frame hive for
profit without the aid of excluder zinc, for it is this useful
appliance which prevents the queen from entering the supers and
spoiling the surplus honey by laying her eggs in the comb. For the
novice must learn at once that no honey should be extracted from combs
which contain brood.
The queen excluder should completely cover the open space above the
brood nest before the super is placed over it.
_A new queen excluder_ is now on the market, made of hard wires
strapped together, and the patentee claims that more workers can pass
through it than is possible with the old type.
[Illustration: A Standard Frame with Drawn-out Comb]
[Illustration: An Efficient Queen Excluder]
[Illustration: A Frame Hive with the top removed]
=Feeders.=--There are many varieties of feeders in use among
bee-keepers, and to attempt to give a description of them all would
occupy far too much space. It would, moreover, be unnecessary,
for, after all, the method of feeding is one to be decided by the
bee-keeper's own convenience and resources. Several feeders are on
the market to meet the requirements of quick feeding; these are made
either of tin or wood and include the "float feeders" and the Canadian
pattern, both of which find considerable favour. Another type covers
the so-called "slow feeders," in which the supply can be regulated by
turning the food vessel round to allow a larger or smaller quantity of
food to escape at the option of the bee-keeper.
_A cheap and serviceable feeder_ may be made by filling a glass jam jar
or pickle bottle with syrup and stretching a piece of bleached calico
over the top and tying it securely round the neck. The jar is then
placed in an inverted position over the feed-hole of the hive. Should
the syrup escape too quickly another thickness of calico can be added.
Glass jars should always be used as inverted feeders as the quantity
and condition of the remaining food can be seen at a glance.
_Scrupulous cleanliness_ is necessary with all feeders, or the food is
liable to turn sour or ferment.
=Uncapping Knives.=--Used for the purpose of removing the cap of wax
from the cells when extracting the honey from the combs, these knives
should be made of good material and be kept perfectly clean and bright.
Blades which discolour quickly should not be used, and where large
quantities of honey are extracted at a time it is advisable that two
knives should be available. This enables the process to be continuous,
as one knife can be heated--in hot water--while the other is in use.
In using the knife it is better to give it a sawing motion when
uncapping, for by so doing the chances of injuring the cells are
considerably lessened. It should be so arranged that the cappings fall,
as they are removed, into a tray or dish.
=The Extractor.=--This is a machine which should be included in the
outfit of every bee-keeper who is working with a view to profit. The
initial outlay may seem large, but by its quickness and efficiency a
good machine soon pays for itself and contributes to the credit side
of the account. The extractor is usually cylindrical in shape and
contains two cages, each sufficiently large to hold one standard frame
of comb. These cages are attached to a spindle which runs through the
centre of the machine, and is worked either direct by a handle or by
a simple chain or cog gear at the top. A lid and a honey tap complete
the outfit. The advantages of the extractor are many, but the chief one
is that the honey can be separated from the combs without breaking the
latter.
Hints for working the extractor are given on page 98.
=The Honey Press.=--This is used to squeeze thick or dense honey from
the combs. There are many varieties and makes on the market, ranging in
size down to that of the ordinary potato squeezer. Those used by the
larger honey farmers work with screw pressure. The combs are placed in
a wrapping of cheese-cloth, laid between pieces of American wire which
rest on fluted or ribbed boards, and the pressure applied. The honey
escapes by means of the fluted guides and the wax remains as a solid
cake.
=The Smoker.=--This is an indispensable article in the equipment of
the bee-keeper. It is not intended for the purpose of stifling the
bees, but on the contrary to make them good-humoured, and, although it
does not always have the desired effect, most bee-keepers have often
proved the smoker a good friend. The effect of the smoker when properly
applied is to cause the bees to gorge themselves with honey, for bees,
like most human beings, are good-tempered after a hearty meal.
After the smoker has once been lighted it should be placed on end, for
should it be laid flat the fuel will probably be extinguished.
It is always advisable when working the smoker to have a spare
cartridge handy so as to replace the one immediately it is consumed.
_Fuel_ for the smoker can be made from thin corrugated strawboard,
brown paper, calico, cotton wool, or anything indeed that will smoulder
rather than burn with a flare. It is a good plan to roll together some
fast and slow burning materials, thereby ensuring a steady smother
while it lasts. A supply of "cartridges" of this kind should be cut and
tied into lengths ready for use when required.
=Carbolic Cloths.=--These are useful for driving the bees down from the
frames into the hive, when the frames need manipulating. The cloths
are usually about 18 inches square, made of calico, and sprinkled with
one part of carbolic acid to two parts of water. They are laid over the
tops of the frame, but care has to be taken that the carbolic solution
is not too strong, or the bees will be driven from the hive.
When not in use, the cloths should be kept rolled up in a tin to ensure
their cleanliness and to retain their strength.
=Brushes.=--Bees are very particular concerning the kind of brushes
used by the bee-keeper to brush them from the combs, or to gather a
swarm together when it is scattered under a bush or in a position
where it is not possible to shake them into a hive. They have a firm
objection to anything of a hairy nature, and the very best method
to rouse them to wrath is to use a housemaid's broom under the
circumstances mentioned. It is a certain incitement to trouble.
Most brushes sold by appliance makers are of fibre, but one of the very
best forms can be made from montbretia leaves. The leaves, or blades,
should be cut from the plant near the ground and the tops doubled over
and tied near the end of the stalk. The stalk end is used as a handle,
the "brush" consisting of the intervening part. Montbretia is a very
adaptable plant and will thrive almost anywhere with a little care.
=Disinfectants.=--Disinfectants play a large part in the work of the
bee-keeper, to secure the cleanliness which is such an essential factor
to success, for the prevention of disease, and the confounding of the
many enemies of the bees.
_Carbolic Acid_ is the disinfectant most generally used, probably
because it is available for other purposes. It should not be used,
however, when supers are being removed or on any combs containing honey
that is to be taken for use. When cleaning the inside of a hive only
one part of carbolic acid should be used to ten or even twenty parts
of hot water, and care must be taken that the hive is thoroughly dry
before combs are placed in it, or the bees admitted.
_Naphthalene_ and _Camphor_ are each used for disinfecting purposes,
but more especially as antidotes against the wax-moth and other insects
that play havoc in the hive. Two fairly large pieces can be placed in
one hive, either in the cavities at the ends of the frames or over the
quilt.
=Veils.=--Some bee-keepers scoff at the necessity for a veil for
protection when handling the bees, but there is no question that
in spite of the grotesque appearance it imparts the veil is "a very
present help in trouble" to the average bee-keeper. Some people are
fortunate enough to be sting-proof and such can afford to smile at
those who seek, protection from a veil, but to those who are not immune
from the consequences of the angry attentions of the bee the veil is
indispensable. Serviceable veils can be made of Brussels or silk net,
mosquito netting, or fine wire. They can be procured in any colour,
though black is most generally adopted, that having been found the
least objectionable to the bees, who entertain violent prejudices on
the subject of colour.
Personally, I believe that it is the human breath to which the bees
particularly object, and I have found that if a little honey be eaten
before one opens a hive the enmity of the bees will be neutralised to a
very great extent.
=A pair of gloves, with gauntlets=, are absolutely necessary to the
bee-keeper's equipment, though an admirable makeshift for the latter
can be adapted from old stocking legs. These pulled over the sleeves of
the coat, after the gloves have been buttoned, form an efficient guard
against an exploring bee.
CHAPTER IV
=Bees: Their Habits and Products=
=Swarming.=--As already explained (pp. 7, 8) a hive will "swarm" when
an old queen finds that other queens are being nurtured in the hive.
In such a case she calls forth as many of her adherents as will follow
her and goes out to found a new community. Oftentimes the site of the
new home is definitely settled beforehand in some unoccupied hive,
and in such cases scout workers will have prepared and cleansed the
hive some days in advance. The passing to and fro of these pioneers
will sometimes give the owner of the empty hive the idea that he has
bees working there. Generally, however, the swarm issues from the hive
without any definite objective and flies on until the queen settles,
when her retinue of workers form a cluster around her.
As a rule it is an easy matter to tell when the bees are swarming,
for they rush pell-mell in a tumultuous stream from the hive, and fly
round and round, and in and out, hundreds being on the wing together,
taking the appearance of a living cloud. They are perfectly docile and
will allow the spectator to stand among them provided they are not
provoked. Of course this is easily done: the mere getting entangled
in the hair of the onlooker is sufficient to rouse their anger. Any
symptoms of nervousness, too, seem to become apparent at once to the
bees, and perspiration, again, is objectionable to them. But an expert
bee-handler may lift a swarm with his hands and suffer no ill, for so
long as they are not crushed the bees will not resent the handling.
It is seldom that a first swarm issues from the hive other than when
the weather is warm and the sun shining. Generally it is between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m. that swarming takes place. First swarms are usually the
largest, for when the joyful hum of the rising swarm sounds forth many
of the bees from adjoining hives will be drawn to join the swarm and
are received in a friendly manner.
_Virgin Swarms._--The bees of a swarm will often follow a virgin queen
when she goes out to seek a mate, the bees apparently thinking that if
she is lost they will die. It is therefore advisable that a hive which
is known to contain a virgin swarm should have the entrance blocked up
so that only one or two bees can pass in or out at a time. This may be
widened after the queen has been mated.
_The Treatment of Swarms_ will be found explained on page 68.
=The Scent of the Bee.=--Every novice in bee-keeping should make a
point of acquiring knowledge by practical experience on this wonderful
point in connection with bees, for it plays a most important part
in the success of bee-keeping. Not only does each hive diffuse a
different scent from that of its neighbour--even though the nectar
may be gathered by the bees from the same source--but the scent of
each hive may vary according to the work that is going on within it.
Each individual bee, too, can diffuse a varying scent to suit its
circumstances. An expert bee-keeper can generally tell from the scent
immediately he opens his hive what reception he is likely to meet with,
for even our native bees are seldom found to be docile in the midst or
towards the end of a honey-flow.
When bees are swarming they emit quite a distinct scent, which probably
accounts for the friendly reception accorded at that time to bees
from other hives. When a stranger approaches a hive, or if the bees
are disturbed, it will be noticed that those on the alighting board
elevate their abdomens and fan vigorously with their wings--with the
result that other members of the hive rush to the scene. It is true
that the sound of their wing movements is different from that caused by
the ventilating fanning, but there is no question that an alarm scent
is emitted from the abdomen and diffused by the vigorous movement of
the wings. In the same manner the sting of the bee when discharged
emits a peculiar scent which has the effect of rousing other bees to
anger, as though to avenge the death of their fellow-worker. The expert
bee-keeper well knows the scent of the sting even though he may be
immune from its effect. It is well to note, by the way, that cross-bred
bees as a rule are very quarrelsome and extremely sensitive, and are
often dangerous on this account, for they are very free with their
sting.
It seems evident that when a bee is frightened she loses her
distinctive scent, for driven bees, when they have nothing to fight
for, will unite peacefully. And I have known bees of the same hive
fight among themselves in a moment of panic, thus affording evidence
that the scent of the community has been destroyed for the time,
precluding the members of it from recognising their fellows under the
stress of the fright.
The scent of the queen is different from that of the workers. This can
be noticed especially in the case of a swarm, for workers will often
be seen "retrieving" the place over which the queen has passed, even
though the trail may be broken: should they fail to find her they will
often cluster and die. Because of this it is never advisable to handle
a queen, for the bees will notice the change of scent caused thereby
and often will kill a queen they do not own; to stranger drones,
however, they raise no objection during a honey-flow.
=Honey.=--It should be clearly understood that, contrary to the
assertion of the poet, bees do not "gather honey all the day, from
every opening flower." Honey is essentially a product of the bee from
the nectar provided by the flowers as an inducement to the visitation
of bees and other insects--not for the benefit of the bee but to serve
the purposes of the flowers themselves of cross-fertilisation. (See
Chapter on "Flowers and Bees," page 53.) The nectar is assimilated by
the bee and regurgitated in the form of honey.
[Illustration: Queen on a patch of Sealed Honey
(This is a diseased frame: notice the irregularity)]
Honeycomb.--The honeycomb is doubtless one of the greatest marvels
of the bee community. In its architecture and workmanship it forms,
indeed, one of the greatest wonders in the whole realm of nature. With
its multitudinous hexagonal cells, a honeycomb presents a continuous
source of delight; it is so constructed that not a single atom of space
is wasted and so designed that the minimum of material is used. Let it
be remembered that the honeycomb, primarily, is intended to serve as a
nest for the offspring of the queen--each cell to be a separate cradle
for the product of the egg placed therein.
As a rule, as we have noted, the cells are six-sided; the exceptions
are the queen cells--which are acorn-shaped--and the intermediate
cells which form buffers as it were between the worker and drone
cells. The latter are always built on the outside edge of the combs.
The worker cells are the smallest, and, although the bees hatched from
new combs are usually larger than those from old ones, the difference
is but slight. The reason for this is that as each bee is hatched it
leaves behind in the cell the cocoon in which its metamorphosis was
accomplished, and thus diminishes to that extent the size of the cell.
=Bees-wax.=--The wax of which the cells are composed is produced
from the body of the bee itself. It forms in thin plates underneath
the abdomen, these plates being kneaded by the jaws into the required
consistency and form. When comb-making is in progress the bees cluster
together in festoons, very similar in appearance to a swarm. It is,
of course, an exceedingly slow process, and the modern bee-keeper, to
expedite matters in this direction, assists the bees by giving them
ready-made foundation on which to build their cells. Fortunately the
bees have proved amenable to this "hustling" process and are thus able
to devote a larger part of their short life to the more remunerative
work--from the bee-keeper's point of view--of honey-producing.
=Chyle Food.=--As before stated, this is the rich substance with which
the queen is fed, and the worker grub indulged in for a short period.
It is regurgitated from the chyle or second stomach of the young or
nurse bees. All authorities agree that the power to produce the food
gradually diminishes after the insect is a fortnight old. It follows,
then, either that the young bees have the power to withhold the supply
during a period of rest, or the power to assimilate it is acquired
by the older bees, in proportion to their age and the ordinary food
they consume, during the period of compulsory-retirement in winter.
This semi-hibernation period varies in length in different parts
of the country, but in some cases it must last for at least three
months, between the date when the last eggs were laid and that when
the queen resumes egg-laying again in earnest. Chyle food has a thick,
milky-white appearance, an acid flavour, and quickly congeals if
exposed to the air. Probably on account of its being fed to the infant
bees one of its popular names is "pap" and another "bee's-milk."
=Propolis.=--This is a substance produced by the bees from the gum
which exudes from buds and trees, or the wax given off by some grasses.
Propolis emits a wholesome smell and is usually bitter to the taste. It
is used by the bees to plug up any holes or cracks in the walls of the
hive and to fasten the supers, lifts, frames, and sections together,
and also forms their natural disinfectant. Although methylated spirit
is violently disliked by bees, yet some forms of spirit varnish are
very attractive to them, probably yielding something towards the
production of propolis.
Some bees produce propolis to excess and it then becomes a nuisance,
for hives in which such a condition exists are always more difficult
to work. The queens from these hives should never be used for rearing
purposes. It will be found that foreign bees as a rule produce more
propolis than the native breeds. Propolis always serves to attract
bees, especially after it has been warmed before a fire for a few
minutes; it then becomes very sticky. It is often used to entice bees
to artificial food in early spring to stimulate brood-rearing before
natural pollen becomes abundant. This is done by scattering artificial
pollen among shavings or chaff, and generally serves its purpose.
Old quilts plastered with propolis are used by unscrupulous bee-keepers
to attract swarms from neighbouring hives.
CHAPTER V
=Flowers and Bees=
IN the economy of the world of flowers the bee plays an important
part, while in return the flowers provide the wherewithal of existence
for the bee. For the mere transference of pollen from one flower to
another the plant offers the bee a supply of nectar and a percentage
of the pollen which she is to carry for the plant's benefit. It is
the case that most plants depend upon cross-fertilization, and while
some rely upon the wind to carry the pollen, others, and by far the
greater number, depend upon bees and other insects to perform the work
for them. The methods adopted by flowers to secure the visitation of
their insect friends form a fascinating study which cannot be entered
upon here, ours only to consider the outcome, so far as the bees are
concerned, of the transaction.
=Honey.=--For the production of honey there must be for the bees easily
available access to nectar producing flowers, and it might be noted
that flowers always produce most nectar when growing under natural
conditions. It is a common error to suppose that all sweet-scented
flowers are visited by bees; for in the gardens, roses and sweet
peas are neglected by them, and in the hedgerows the honeysuckle is
passed by--it caters for moths only, while, on the other hand, plants
whose scent is entirely repugnant to the human sense of smell provide
attractive and happy hunting grounds for the bee.
After the resting time of both flowers and bees through the dark days
of winter there is a steady rotation of flowers through spring and
summer, which is brought to a close in the autumn by the flowering of
the heather. Approximately the appearance of the flowers of plants
and trees is in the following order: snowdrops, winter aconite, early
crocuses, "palm" willow, flowering currant, arabis, aubrietias, Norway
maple, elm, plum, cherry, apple, pear, chestnut, sycamore, dandelion,
the berry trees, whitethorn, and lilac; these mark the interval between
winter and the full glory of summer's bloom. The bees will begin their
labours almost as soon as the flowers begin to show, and all through
the full spring and summer their work never ceases. In August the
heather gives them a busy time until the autumn brings the resting
season round again.
Generally speaking the source from which honey is gathered may be
recognised by its colour and flavour. Many flowers, indeed, exude
nectar of a similar colour to their own, although it must be remembered
that the honey always becomes lighter as it candies or granulates.
But, approximately speaking, it may be taken that white clover honey
should be very light in colour; sainfoin honey should be yellow, lime a
greenish yellow, while heather honey will vary from orange to purplish
red.
The flavour of honey varies in like manner, though it is an undoubted
fact that the weather at the time of its gathering and storing by the
bees influences it greatly. The warmer and sunnier the day the more
pronounced the flavour of the honey.
White clover honey is esteemed the best for table and exhibition
purposes, for its purity of colour, fineness of grain, and mild
flavour. At the other extreme is heather honey--dark in colour, strong
in flavour, and a texture so thick that it will not "run"; so thick,
indeed, that it is impossible to extract or strain it by the ordinary
methods. As a rule it is usually pressed from the combs.
=Pollen.=--The bee uses pollen for a variety of purposes--for feeding
the pupae, as food for the older bees when honey is scarce or the
stores diminishing, and for mixing with wax to seal the brood cells.
"Bee-bread" is therefore a good name for it, although primarily its
purpose is not to serve the bees at all.
Of an infinite variety of colour and flavour--each flower produces its
own variety in both particulars--the pollen gathered by the bees is
stored in the hive strictly with its own kind. It has been found that
a bee visiting, say, clover, does not touch another kind of flower on
that "round," and so on. And each section of the workers store their
particular pollen in particular cells.
The young worker bee is usually well covered with hairs which serve
to gather up the pollen from the flowers visited. Leaving a flower
powdered over with it she scrapes it from her body into the pollen
baskets on the thighs of her hind pair of legs. Discharged at the hive,
the pollen is kneaded by the jaws and head and stored in the cells,
where it is covered with honey to preserve it. As the bee gets older
the body-hairs are gradually worn away so that as time passes the
worker becomes a honey-gatherer almost entirely.
CHAPTER VI
=Hints on Working the Bees=
=Position of Hives.=--All hives, if possible, should be arranged to
face south, for cold and draughts are among the deadliest foes of
the bees. Cold showers of rain or sleet in the spring often work
havoc among them so that it is well to minimise the danger as much as
possible. In this connection it is a common sight in early spring to
see bees that have become chilled lying on the ground near the hives,
and novices may gain experience in handling bees by picking up these
moribund specimens. They should be lifted with one finger and thumb and
dropped into a jar which should be covered at the top and placed before
a fire. When the bees have revived they may be liberated.
=Manipulating the Bees.=--Confidence is the most necessary quality
to the bee-keeper and one, of course, that can only be acquired by
experience. One golden rule to be remembered by the beginner is that
_the hive should be approached always from the rear_, and another,
_that everything should be done slowly and deliberately and never
jerkily_. Nothing irritates bees more than erratic or jerky movements
on the part of those manipulating the hives.
Until one has definitely proved immunity from the bee-sting it is
necessary that all safe-guards should be adopted before any work is
attempted on hives of which the bees are in possession. The veil,
gloves, and gauntlets should be donned and the trousers tied tightly
round the ankles to prevent the incursion in that direction of any
roving member of the hive. For although bees are usually on good terms
with their owner they are subject to varying moods, and it is well to
run no unnecessary risks.
=The Smoker.=--The smoker should always be ready to hand, charged and
lighted, with matches immediately available in case the fuel does
not burn properly. As already explained, the effect of the smoker
is to cause the bees to gorge themselves with food and so become
good-tempered. Having removed the roof of the hive, one corner of the
quilt is raised and a little smoke blown under it. The operation should
be repeated in two or three different places, and then an interval of
two or three minutes allowed to elapse in which the bees may fill
themselves. The quilt may then be carefully removed, and if necessary
more smoke may be blown over the frames, _but not downwards among the
bees_.
When handling the frames the nearest one at the side or back of the
hive should be taken out first, the bees that are on it shaken off, and
the frame placed safely on one side. This allows ample space in the
hive for moving the frames about for examination and other purposes
without crushing the bees.
=How to Handle Frames.=--Frames should never be held by the metal ends,
for these are liable to slip off and cause disaster. The frames should
always be lifted and handled near the ends of the top bar.
A frame of comb should never be turned horizontally, for in that
position the comb is apt to break. The proper way is to lower one end
of the frame until it is in a perpendicular position, then swing it
round half a turn and lower the other end. The comb will then be the
wrong side up and the movement must be continued until the comb is
again in its proper position.
Examination or other work in connection with the hive should be
completed as quickly as possible so that the combs may not be unduly
exposed.
=Spring and Autumn Cleaning.=--In the springtime--generally speaking
about the middle of April--it is necessary that the hive should be
cleaned, and, to secure "a thorough spring clean," the bees should be
transferred to another hive that has been already cleaned. If this is
not done, the hive must be thoroughly overhauled, and should any of the
combs be found to be in a bad condition and without any bees on them
they should be removed. If the combs are full of brood and honey it is
necessary to expand the brood chamber as described on page 67. In the
autumn the hive must be examined and cleaned again. All empty combs,
or those not used by the bees, should be removed and the space thus
rendered vacant closed by a dummy. Should the hive contain only a small
quantity of food the bees will have to be fed artificially. (See page
82.)
=Weak Hives.=--It is at the spring and autumn examinations that the
real state of the hive community is discovered, and in the former the
"weak." hive is a common occurrence. It is then that much depends upon
the bee-keeper whether his work is to be successful or not. It is
then that weak stocks must be brought up and strengthened either by
doubling or uniting the stocks, or by feeding.
The bees from strong hives soon find out those that are weak, and
apparently act on the principle that "to him that hath shall be given,"
for they proceed to help themselves to the depleted stores of the weak
hive. They even go to the length of forcing its occupants to help in
the removal of their stores and grant them the privilege of joining
their community for so doing. Those that remain faithful to the queen
of the weak hive are thus reduced to starvation. When a bee-keeper
finds that a weak hive is being raided in this manner he should close
it up entirely for a day or two. This will often quicken the spirit of
its inhabitants and cause them to retaliate on the raiders.
_Doubling Stocks._--For this purpose an empty hive is necessary, and
it should be one in which the frames range from the front to the back.
Placing the two weak hives on either side of the empty one, the frame
with the bees from the right hand hive are transferred to the right
side of the new hive. A dummy is then placed and all holes through
which a bee might crawl carefully blocked up. The frames from the other
hive are then placed in the remaining space and the hive closed up.
Care should be taken to fasten the quilt down firmly so that the bees
cannot obtain access to each other, for if they do they will surely
fight. For the same reason the entrances to the two parts of the hive
should be placed as far apart as possible and a piece of wood placed
along the centre of the floorboard.
After a few weeks the bees in the two divisions will acquire the same
scent and can be united. Should a spare queen be required one can be
removed, if not the older one should be killed, for the bees should not
be left to adjust the matter for themselves. A hole may be made in the
dummy so that the bees can pass from one division to the other, and a
few days after the dummy may be removed altogether.
This procedure may be followed also in the autumn, especially if young
queens are numerous and it is desired to save some.
_Feeding Weak Stocks._--If facilities are not to hand for thus dealing
with weak stocks, the frames not required by the bees should be removed
from the hive, the space contracted by a dummy, and the bees fed inside
the hive. In the autumn it is advisable to give weak hives frames of
food that have been stored and sealed by a strong hive that is kept
especially for such a purpose.
Whenever inside feeding is adopted, the entrance aperture to the
hive should be reduced so as to keep out bodies of raiders. The most
efficient means of securing this is to place along the entrance a piece
of perforated zinc with holes just large enough for one bee to pass
through at a time. This prevents a rush of marauders and allows ample
ventilation in the hive.
_Uniting Stocks._--This procedure is not so common among English
bee-keepers as it is with those in other parts of the world where the
conditions are more favourable to a successful result. The reasons are
chiefly because we can very seldom secure that the bees all work on the
same flowers, and because most of our English bees are cross-breeds and
therefore more addicted to fighting. It is not to be expected that a
broken breed of bees will unite peacefully with a pure breed.
[Illustration: Examining Frames]
However, uniting is sometimes resorted to, and the method of procedure
generally adopted in England is as follows. The hives to be united are
brought nearer to each other gradually, not more than a yard or so at a
time, and on fine days only, when the bees are flying about. The need
for this precautionary care is that the bees soon lose their bearings
if their hive is shifted to any great extent and will fly about until
death ensues from exhaustion; while to enter a strange hive in mistake
for their own is equally fatal for them. The actual process of uniting
is accomplished by taking combs alternately from each hive and placing
them in their new quarters, meanwhile spraying bees and combs with
scented syrup, or dredging them with flour.
I should, however, recommend the novice to "shake" or "drive" (see pp.
74, 79) each stock before uniting them, for hunger will do more to
reconcile the bees to each other than anything else. The driven bees
should be passed through a queen-excluder and the oldest queen, or
queens, destroyed. This will save a battle royal in the new hive, and
do much towards uniting the two sections of bees.
Queen-rearing hives may have frames of young bees added to them without
much fear of trouble, for as a rule young bees do not fight.
=Stimulating.=--Bee-keepers who are working for honey generally
stimulate the bees after the semi-hibernation days of winter are
passed, for a period of some six or eight weeks before their services
are likely to be required for honey gathering. This is to encourage
brood-rearing and is accomplished by feeding the bees with syrup or
artificial pollen. (See Chapter on Feeding, p. 82.)
It must be remembered that once artificial feeding for this purpose
has been resorted to it must be continued until the natural sources of
nectar are available to the bees, for nothing checks the population or
does more harm to the hive than stopping the food supply when breeding
has commenced.
It should be the aim of every bee-keeper to make himself acquainted
with the order and approximate times of blossoming of the flowers
and trees, and particularly the largest source of nectar in his
neighbourhood.
As a rule, from six to eight weeks is required to get the hives into
a profitable condition after brood-rearing has commenced in earnest.
In some favoured places the queen may begin to deposit eggs as early
as January, though of course, in the north and colder districts, this
is exceptional. Unless, therefore, a bee-keeper is in an exceptionally
good district, and works for early fruit blossoms as a source of
nectar, it is to his interest to leave the bees to themselves until
the middle or end of March, provided, of course, they are not short of
food.
=Choked Brood-Nest.=--When feeding the bees in spring it is necessary
to spread the brood-nest from time to time by adding a frame of comb
near the centre of it. This provides the queen with sufficient cells
in which to lay her eggs. Should the brood-nest become choked with
honey, feeding should be stopped and a frame or two of honey taken from
the hive and extracted, or given to hives that are not so fortunately
placed, filling up the space with empty combs. Should the stores of
honey and pollen be plentiful, it is well to scratch the cappings from
some of the cells, though care must be taken not to damage the cappings
of the brood cells, which will usually be found in the centre of the
frames.
Should the hive be full of frames and bees and most of the cells along
the top of the combs be covered with clean white cappings, a super may
be introduced, the necessary sheet of queen-excluder being placed over
the brood-nest. The super should be a warm one with no leaky joints and
fit properly over the brood-chamber. In districts exposed to high winds
the precaution should be taken of tacking a narrow strip of thin soft
felt round the bottom edges of the super to make it perfectly draught
proof.
CHAPTER VII
=Hints on Working the Bees=--(_Cont._)
=Swarming.=--One of the oldest practices associated with bee-keeping is
that of "ringing the swarm." Immediately the swarm was seen to issue
from the hive the bee-keeper began to create as loud a din as he could
by beating a tin or tray, and, so doing, followed the bees in their
flight. This entitled him to claim the swarm wherever they settled,
even though it might be in a neighbour's hive. "Ringing" is still
continued, for it is the most effectual means at command for causing
the bees to settle. The explosion of firearms, a clap of thunder, or
the roar of a blast, will secure their doing so, and probably the most
effectual "settler" for a swarm is a shower of rain--but none of these
is at the immediate command of the bee-keeper.
[Illustration: "Skepping" a Swarm]
When, therefore, the swarm is seen issuing from the hive preparations
should be made for "ringing" and following it. The noise should not be
commenced until it is certain that the queen has come out, or she may
show no inclination to do so. Sometimes the swarm will fly for some
distance, or it may happen to "cluster" comparatively near its former
home. In some cases trouble arises from the fact, already stated on p.
44, that the swarm has chosen a home in a neighbour's empty hive. Any
question of ownership can always be settled by an examination of the
combs in this hive, for if there are no eggs or brood more than a few
hours' old the bees undoubtedly belong to the claimant of the swarm,
and he is entitled to their possession or their value. Should there be
eggs or brood obviously deposited in the combs earlier than the day on
which the swarm entered, then no claim can stand, for it is certain
that it is impossible for the members of the swarm to be picked out
from those already in the hive when they entered.
_Handling the Swarm._--Should the swarm settle in a convenient position
on a branch of a tree, it can be transferred directly to a bar-frame
hive in the following manner: The hive, placed as nearly under the
swarm as possible, should have the entrance to the body raised, and
wedged, about an inch, and a board placed from the ground to the
alighting board; a sheet should be spread over this board and the
ground under the swarm. The swarm should be shaken from the branch on
to the sheet.
Should the cluster be in too awkward a position for this to be done,
a skep will have to be brought into requisition for transferring the
swarm to their new quarters. The cluster may be shaken into the skep by
gently raising the branch from which it is suspended and then giving it
a sharp downward movement. The skep should be held firmly and gently
turned right side up over the sheet on to which the bees should be
shaken in front of the bar-frame hive.
Should the bees be slow to run into the hive, those at the rear should
be given a few gentle puffs from the smoker.
Sometimes the swarm will contain more than one queen and consequently
will split up into several clusters. In such a case each cluster has to
be "shaken" separately. Occasionally it becomes necessary to "shake"
a swarm two or three times if the queen is not hived. It sometimes
happens, too, that the queen will come out again if the hive is
objectionable to her, and almost certainly so if she be a virgin.
As a rule, though, the old queen comes out with the first swarm, but I
have known cases in which swarming has been delayed, when as many as
five queens, including the old one, have come out with the first swarm.
In a very strong hive a virgin queen will sometimes come out with a
first swarm, but in such cases the swarm, as a rule, is a very small
one.
The hive used for a swarm should be scrupulously clean and contain
sufficient frames and combs for the requirements of the swarm. It is
usual to place only one thin quilt over the frames for the first few
days after a swarm has been given possession.
Hives containing newly placed swarms are usually allowed to stay until
the evening of the day before they are removed, but, of course, if the
situation is an inconvenient one, or if the hive is liable to be a
nuisance to the public, it should be taken away at once.
If allowed to remain it must be sheltered from the rays of the sun or
the heat will cause the bees again to issue forth.
Should a swarm not be required by the bee-keeper he must return it to
the hive whence it issued very early on the morning following the day
of swarming.
Each bee in a swarm usually carries sufficient food to meet its
requirements for one day, so that should a bee-keeper receive a swarm
from a distance he should feed it as soon as it arrives. All swarms
should be fed if the natural supply of nectar be scanty.
_Excessive Swarming._--Where bees are given to excessive swarming some
bee-keepers trim one of the wings of the queen to hinder her flight,--a
method also adopted to distinguish the ages of queens: the right wing
of one year's queens being cut, and the left of those of the following
year. Of course, the wings of a virgin queen should never be trimmed,
for mating is thereby prevented.
_Swarm Preventing._--The bee-keeper who works for surplus honey does
all he can to prevent his bees from swarming, and thus increases both
his stock of bees and supplies of honey.
Anyone who has even but slightly studied the ways of bees will have
noticed that they store their honey above the brood in response to one
of the wonderful instincts bestowed upon them by nature, and it is by
taking advantage of this fact that the bee-keeper who is working for
profit assures himself of one point of success. It is the method of
working standard frames from the brood-chamber as a super by which each
hive is practically made into two--a queenless colony above and a brood
stock below. I have tried pretty well all the systems used in England
and have proved this to be the most successful in securing the purpose
aimed at. For thereby the queen is given plenty of room in which to lay
her eggs, and the bees plenty of accommodation in which to store their
honey.
The method of working this plan is as follows. The bees should be
stimulated in the spring and as soon as the weather is favourable to
swarming the strongest hive should be examined. It the frames are
seen to be covered by the bees, and almost full of brood or stores,
everything is in order for the scheme. The essential point in it is the
removal of the combs from the brood-chamber _minus the queen_.
A super of the same size as the brood-chamber should be prepared and
a similar number of frames to those already in the brood-chamber duly
fitted with empty combs or a sheet of foundation. The first frame
is then removed from the brood-chamber, the bees shaken from it and
placed in a super. The "shaking" should be done by holding the frame
about a foot above the hive and giving it a sharp downward and upward
jerk to displace the bees. Needless to say, great care is necessary in
the operation, as to drop the frame, or crush the bees, would lead to
disaster. When the second frame is removed, an opportunity is afforded
to look for the queen, which may be identified by her larger bulk and
longer legs. Close attention must be given to see that there are no
queen cells in the combs as they are removed, for the presence of a
queen in the super is fatal to the scheme. All queen cells--easily
identified by their acorn shape--therefore, should be removed from the
combs.
After the third frame has been removed the empty ones should be
inserted as each full one is transferred to the super, until the whole
interchange has been effected.
The next proceeding is to place a sheet of queen-excluding zinc over
the brood frames, so that no possible way is open for the queen to gain
access to the super. The super is then placed in position and covered
up. Should the combs contain any drone brood opportunity will have to
be given them to escape after hatching, as they cannot pass through
the queen excluder. This may be done by rolling the quilt back for
about an inch along the whole length of one side, on a bright, sunny
day. The drones will soon find the opening and take flight.
If, after supering, the weather should be unfavourable for the bees to
gather food, artificial feeding will have to be resorted to. Should the
scheme be carried out early in the year and the queen be prolific, it
may be found necessary to repeat it to prevent swarming.
It is necessary to remember that inasmuch as the rearing of young
queens and the consequent swarming is not carried on under this method,
it is a necessity that _the hives should be re-queened every two years_.
=Queen Rearing.=--It is better to retain one hive for queen-rearing
purposes and this should contain the very best queen available so as to
secure a good strain of workers.
The drones, too, should be selected by allowing no drone cells in any
but the best hives.
For the small bee-keeper who cannot spare much time among his bees,
and who only requires half a dozen queens in a year, I would recommend
that queen-rearing should be worked in with the standard-frame super
method described in the earlier part of this chapter. If this course be
adopted the procedure is as follows.
The hive should be allowed to come to swarming-point in order that
queen cells maybe formed by the bees. These should contain eggs or
larvæ before the frames are transferred to the super, and all eggs or
larvæ should be of the same age. This is an important point, for should
one be hatched earlier than the others it will promptly destroy all the
other queen eggs or larvae in the frame. The wisest plan is to destroy
all queen cells that are capped and the ages of eggs or larvæ noted in
accordance with the information given on this point on page 13.
In working this method of queen-rearing, _the frames must not be
shaken_, but the bees brushed off into the hive, otherwise the contents
of the queen cells will be displaced.
The zinc excluder, of course, must be thoroughly applied to prevent the
queen obtaining access to the super.
The super can be left until the day previous to that on which the first
young queen is due to leave the cell. It must then be removed, with all
the bees in it, and it should either be split up or each queen caged
in its cell.
After the super is split up, the bee-keeper should try to procure
a swarm to divide amongst each part of the super--first running it
through a queen excluder to catch the queen. These divisions should be
given a separate hive if possible, but if it is necessary that they
should occupy one large hive care must be taken thoroughly to separate
each section and to have the entrances as far apart as possible. It is
advisable, too, that the entrances should be of a different colour to
ensure the young queens entering their own section, for should they by
chance enter another a battle is sure to ensue with fatal results.
=Re-queening the Hive.=--As already stated, the method of working the
hive with standard frames as a super necessitates re-queening every
two years. There are several ways of doing this. One is to find the
old queen and kill her, and allow the bees to install one of the young
queens. This method, however, has many disadvantages. First of all,
there is the disturbance to the hive in the search for the queen;
secondly, if the queen be found and killed, there is a loss of nearly
three weeks in the height of summer when no eggs are laid in the hive.
Another method is to allow the hive to swarm and to return the swarm
to its hive after destroying the queen. But this plan, too, has the
disadvantage of checking the supply of eggs.
The best method for all practical purposes is to re-queen after the
honey-flow, either with a home-reared queen or one purchased from a
reliable breeder. The old queen, together with any queen cells in the
combs, must be removed three or four days before the new queen is
introduced.
The easiest way to accomplish the introduction is by means of a
_queen-cage_. These are usually made of wood with three compartments,
in the inner two of which the queen is imprisoned. The other is filled
with soft candy. This cage is placed over the frames in the hive and
the queen is liberated by the bees eating a way through the candy. By
the time this is accomplished the queen will have acquired the scent of
the hive and will be accepted as ruler by the community.
The hive should not be disturbed for at least four days after the
introduction of the new queen.
[Illustration: "Shaking" a Swarm]
=Driving Bees.=--After the honey-flow is ended, it becomes necessary
to clear some of the hives and unite the bees with others. The old
method of dealing with this matter was the drastic and wasteful one
of putting the hive over the sulphur pit and wiping out the bees. The
more economical, as well as humane, method of driving is now generally
practised by the commercial bee-keeper. Driving is often accomplished
immediately after the clover has finished flowering, and the bees sold
to the bee-keepers in the heather districts, who are often glad to
increase their stocks in readiness for the heather honey harvest. In
other cases the driven bees are used to strengthen weak hives. In any
case driving must be done before the autumn unless the bee-keeper is
prepared to give the bees drawn-out combs and food to fill them with in
preparation for the winter.
When driving is to be put into operation it is always advisable to
remove the hive that is to be driven well away from the other hives,
for the operator is far more liable to be stung by the bees from them
than by those to be driven. An empty hive should be placed in the
position occupied by the removed one: this will serve to attract any
stragglers and prevent their flying away.
Another empty hive will also be required for the process, which is
commenced by turning the hive which contains the bees upside down. Over
this is placed the empty one--which should be of the same size--and the
edge nearest the end of the longest comb is fixed on the lower hive
by means of a knitting needle thrust through both edges. The opposite
edges of the hives should be left about six inches apart, being secured
in that position by means of driving irons or strong pieces of hazel
sharpened and stuck into the edge of both hives at a different angle
from that of the knitting needle at the back.
It is advisable, too, to fix a tea-cloth or a piece of similar
material, so as to prevent the bees from running up the outside of
the top hive. The actual process of driving consists in tapping the
sides of the lower hive to which the combs are fixed, simultaneously
with the hands. If the bees are slow to run the taps may be given
at shorter intervals, while if they run freely the tapping may be
lighter and slower. As a rule the bees will fill themselves with food
before leaving the combs and it may be necessary to use the smoker to
dislodge the stragglers; in this case only very slight blasts should be
administered.
=Transporting Bees.=--When hives are sent any distance care must be
taken that ventilation is afforded _above as well as below_ the bees.
The reason for this is obvious; there must be a way for the escape of
hot air which rises to the top of the hive. This can be secured by
placing coarse linen cheese cloth or a sheet of perforated zinc under a
thin porous quilt.
All loose parts of a bar-frame hive should be made thoroughly secure
before the hive is dispatched. Skep hives should be packed bottom
upwards in a crate.
Swarms and driven bees should be sent away as soon as possible after
swarming and driving are completed, for, as we already have pointed
out, bees can only carry sufficient food to meet one day's requirements.
It should be an accepted rule, therefore, that when a hive is received
from a distance the bees should be fed immediately.
When bees are moved about regularly from one district to another it is
advisable that the hive should be fitted with a short alighting board
and thus take up less space in the conveyance.
CHAPTER VIII
=Feeding=
IN an erratic climate, such as that of Great Britain, bee-keeping
includes among its duties that of bee-feeding at certain periods of
the year, if profit is to accrue. It must be remembered that shortage
of food when the bees are active means an inroad on their stores and a
suspension of brood-rearing operations.
This applies most particularly to early spring when successful
brood-rearing is absolutely necessary to ensure a profitable issue
to the bee-keeper. If, therefore, there is a shortage of food then,
the hive will be thrown backward to such an extent that the bees will
have no time to gather surplus stores for the bee-keeper's benefit.
All their strength will go to supply the necessities of brood-rearing.
The honey-flow over, with their store so small that it serves their
needs but a short time--for much food is consumed in summer--the bees
then begin the pernicious system of robbing other hives, and thereby
causing further trouble.
=Spring Feeding.=--Spring feeding, therefore, may be looked upon as
a necessity for the bee-keeper out for profit. It is then that the
neglected hive so often succumbs after the community has existed safely
through the winter.
I consider that outside feeding is by far the better method in the
spring. For one reason it is always risky to disturb the bees by
inside feeding early in the year, and there is always the certainty of
admitting a draught of cold air to the hive. Another reason in favour
of outside feeding is that it induces the bees to take exercise, which
is decidedly good for them after the winter seclusion, and also keeps
the young bees from wandering in search of food, and thereby running
the risk of getting lost.
The food should be placed on a shelf at a good height from the ground,
and in a warm situation, well sheltered from cold winds. Protection,
too, is necessary for the food; a garden light reared against the house
wall answers the purpose admirably. The sun's rays passing through the
glass will warm the food and make it more acceptable to the bees. Old
honey in the combs is of course the ideal food for bees, but where this
is not available artificial food must be resorted to.
_Syrup Food._--All artificial syrup food should be made from pure
refined cane sugar, which supplies the bees with a substitute as
near to the natural food as is possible. Syrup for spring feeding or
stimulating should be made as follows:
Cane sugar 10 lb.
Water (clean spring water preferably) 7 pints
Table Salt 1 oz.
Vinegar 1 tablespoonful
This mixture must be boiled in a clean enamel saucepan and all scum
that rises to the surface carefully removed. Some bee-keepers add a
pinch of borax, or some naphtha beta, or other chemicals as preventives
against disease, but unless disease be actually rife in the district
these additions are totally unnecessary, especially in the spring of
the year. Moreover they are liable to spoil the flavour of any surplus
honey subsequently gathered by the bees.
It is only necessary to give each hive about one pint of syrup per
week, when spring feeding is commenced, but after a few weeks the
amount must be gradually increased. The worker bee generally leaves the
cell about 21 days after the egg has been deposited by the queen, and
as the young bee cannot leave the hive until she is a fortnight old,
an increased amount of food is required after each batch of brood is
hatched.
_Artificial Pollen Food._--Many bee-keepers use artificial pollen in
springtime for stimulating purposes. This consists of finely ground pea
or oat meal, and is sprinkled among dry shavings or chaff in a box. A
good method of attracting bees to such supplies is to place the pollen,
etc., in an old skep hive which retains some propolis, or to place an
old quilt in the box. In any case this food supply must be kept in a
sheltered spot as directed on page 83.
_Water._--A plentiful supply of clean water should be placed in the
food shelter, for the bees use large quantities in the brood-rearing
operations. In each gallon of water 2 oz. of table salt should be
dissolved. The water should be placed in a glass jar which should be
covered with a saucer and then inverted. Should the saucer be deep,
some small pieces of wood or spent tea leaves should be placed in it to
form alighting places for the bees. Another method of supplying water
is to allow it to drip from a small barrel on to a sloping board.
_When to Stop Spring Feeding._--Artificial feeding must be stopped as
soon as the bees are able to collect their natural supplies of nectar
and pollen. This is usually about the time when the sycamore blooms,
but in districts where crocuses or willows are plentiful it will be
earlier.
=Autumn Feeding.=--It is when the honey-flow is ended, and there is
no more natural nectar available for the bees, that feeding must
again be resorted to if the bees are to be saved through the winter.
The old method of allowing the bees to fend for themselves and stand
the risk of starvation in the winter is now looked upon not only as
unnecessarily cruel but absolutely wasteful. The slight cost of feeding
them is amply repaid by the strength of the stock when spring once more
arrives.
When the bee-keepers are working up an apiary from swarms, or driven
bees, autumn feeding is essential, for it is very seldom that late
swarms or driven bees are capable of securing sufficient winter stores
without the assistance of the bee-keeper.
Food given in autumn should contain less water than that given in
the spring. The reason for this needs but slight consideration.
In springtime when the days become increasingly warmer, and the
temperature of the hive increases with the growth of the population,
the bees need thinner food. The increasing heat of the hive would ripen
thick nectar or syrup too quickly and give the bees extra work in
collecting water with which to thin the food for the brood. In autumn,
however, the tendency is to a falling temperature, and, though brood
may be reared, the temperature of the external atmosphere will keep
that in the hive down to the normal.
_Syrup for autumn feeding_ made according to the following formula will
be found to meet all requirements:--
Cane Sugar 10 lb.
Water 5 pints
Salt 1 oz.
Vinegar 1 tablespoonful
When feeding bees for the winter all supers of frames should be removed
from the hives, otherwise the bees are liable to form two clusters,
and it is generally the case in such an event that one of these falls
a prey to cold when severe weather comes. The supers above the
brood-chambers should be removed before feeding is commenced. If one is
placed under the brood-chamber to give additional air-space the frames
must be removed therefrom.
=Winter Feeding.=--If in winter the bees should be short of food, a
cake of candy may be put in the hive, placing it on pieces of wood
resting on the frames. The candy may be made in various ways. If some
is required at short notice it may be obtained by mixing some castor
sugar with a little thin honey into a stiff paste. If time will allow
of the honey being heated so much the better, for the candy will then
keep in good condition for some time.
A candy used by many bee-keepers for winter feeding is made by boiling
5 lb. of cane sugar in a quart of water for about 15 or 20 minutes.
After the sugar has dissolved and the scum has been removed, the
mixture should be allowed to boil briskly without stirring.
In order to ascertain when it has boiled sufficiently, a little should
be taken in a spoon and dropped into a cup of cold water. Should it
form into a soft ball on the bottom of the cup it is ready for "dishing
up"; if it mixes with the water, the boiling must be continued. It
should be poured from the saucepan into a tin or enamelled pan to cool.
As soon as it is cool enough for one to bear one's finger in it, it
should be stirred until it is resolved into a stiff paste. The stirring
breaks up the coarse grains of sugar and thereby makes the candy more
acceptable to the bees.
Should the mixture, on testing, prove brittle or stringy it is evidence
of over-boiling, and more water must be added until it boils to the
proper consistency.
A little honey may be added with advantage after the mixture has been
removed from the fire--but not before, or the whole will boil over and
be wasted. The honey will often prevent the candy from becoming too
hard to be of use to the bees.
=When Bees Refuse Food.=--There are times when the bees will refuse to
avail themselves of food, and when such is the case it is certain that
there is a reason for it. The bee-keeper should try to ascertain what
this may be without unnecessarily disturbing the bees and provided that
the weather is suitable to an examination of the hive.
_Starvation_ is often a cause of bees declining the food, or, rather,
not availing themselves of it. Hives that have been purchased may be
so short of food that the bees are too weak, to exert themselves to get
to the food supplied. In such cases the application of a little heat to
the hive will generally work, wonders. It may be done by warming some
common bricks and placing them on the quilt, after closing the entrance
to the hive. Care must be taken that the bricks are not too hot or the
combs will be melted. Such a proceeding will sometimes revive bees
that are practically dying from starvation, so that they will take
full advantage of any food that is offered to them. This remedy may be
applied in spring to moribund hives.
_Fermenting or Granulated food_ in the combs are other causes of the
bees declining to take other food. The first condition is usually
brought about through excessive moisture in or around the hive. Honey
that is gathered in late autumn, or syrup that is supplied to the bees,
may not become sufficiently ripe in the cells to be sealed by the bees,
and fermentation ensues.
=Old Honey Stores.=--If when examining the hives in spring it should be
found that there is any considerable quantity of dark coloured honey
left over from their winter store it is advisable to persuade the
bees to use it for brood-rearing. The cells in such combs should be
uncapped and placed near the centre of the brood-nest. All old stores
should thus be used up if possible, otherwise they may spoil the colour
and flavour of the new honey.
Should anything be the matter with the hive or bees, try to rectify
it; but, if the case be hopeless, burn or otherwise destroy the whole
rather than run any risk of contamination to other bees from disease.
CHAPTER IX
=How to Secure the Harvest of the Hive=
AS already mentioned, the use of the bar-framed hive is now considered
essential to profitable bee-keeping, and in previous chapters many
hints have been given as to the working of certain details connected
with it. There are, however, matters connected directly with the
gathering and harvesting of honey which have yet to be dealt with.
=The Use of Comb-Foundation.=--One of the most important items in
the working of the bar-framed hive is the comb-foundation to which
reference was made on page 35. It is by its use that profit reaping is
made possible to the bee-keeper. Where it is intended to work combs on
the standard frame principle, the foundation should be of the thick
"worker" kind, for if the bees are not inclined to wax-making they will
often thin down the thick foundation to obtain the wax with which to
draw out the cells.
In placing the foundations in the frames, particular care should be
taken to see that the latter are accurately square. The foundation
should be so placed that the angles of the cells point to the top and
bottom of the frame, and the cells run in parallel lines thereto.
The foundation must be fixed firmly in the frame, and, to secure this,
it is often advisable to drive one or two fine ¾ or inch nails through
the top bar. Melted bees-wax should then be run in the sawgate for
final security.
_Wiring Frames._--Many bee-keepers wire the frames to secure a sure
hold for the foundation. Personally I do not consider it necessary
except under exceptional circumstances. The great objection I have
to it is that the wire is bound to rust in time, more especially the
parts that are not covered with wax, and the rust is sure to affect the
flavour of the honey. It is well known that nothing is so detrimental
to honey as contact with metal.
Should wiring be considered necessary, there are various ways of doing
it. Some are content with two wires stretched across the width of the
frame at equal distance from the top and bottom, and others take the
wires across the length from opposite corners. In any case the wires
must be pulled taut and embedded in the foundation. A little implement
known as an embedder is used for the purpose and has to be heated
sufficiently to set the wire in the wax without unduly melting the
latter.
An embedder can be made by rubbing or grinding obliquely the point of
a fairly large nail and filing a small V-shaped groove at the end in
which the wire can run.
Hives of bees that contain frames recently fitted with foundation
should not be moved if it can possibly be avoided, for the foundation
is apt to buckle under the heat of the hive and may easily break away
under the strain of a sudden jerk.
=Section Working.=--In working with sections for honey it is always
advisable to use the thin foundation, for if there is nothing for the
bees to start work on they will build combs of all kinds and shapes
among the sections; many bee-keepers use drone foundation for the
purpose. With the view, too, of confining each comb to a section,
dividers (see p. 31) are placed between each row of sections. The
use of the queen excluder, of course, is absolutely necessary to the
success of section working.
[Illustration: Section fitted with Comb Foundation]
[Illustration: Bees at work on a Section]
It is often advisable when giving very strong stocks sections to work,
to place a super of shallow frames immediately above the brood-nest,
for the heat arising therefrom will often discolour the combs in the
sections. In any case, to avoid this risk it is better to remove a
crate of sections too soon rather than too late, for, in addition to
the discoloration risk, it must be remembered that so long as the combs
remain in the hive the bees will continue to add to the thickness of
the cappings. As soon, therefore, as the cappings are sufficient to
seal the cells effectually the crate of sections should be removed.
I do not advise the use of sections unless there is opportunity and
facilities for the bees to fill these from one source, for sections
never look well if they contain vari-coloured honey, and certainly the
mosaic-like appearance consequent thereon is against them commercially.
=The Care of Honey-combs.=--The bees should be encouraged to draw out
as many honey-combs as possible during a slack time in the beginning
of the year. It means feeding the bees, of course, to do this, but, as
brood-rearing is encouraged at the same time, the feeding is to good
purpose. Honey-combs are a valuable asset of the bee-keeper--a fact
that is emphasised when we consider that it takes from 6 to 20 pounds
of nectar to produce one pound of comb. Great care therefore should be
taken of them when not in use and precautions taken to preserve them
from the attacks of mice, moths, and predatory insects. In winter time
they should be stored in an old hive in a dry situation, and small
pieces of camphor or naphthalene should be placed in the bottom of the
hive and in a saucer over the frames.
Mildew, too, has to be guarded against, but slight attacks of it may be
remedied by placing the combs either in the warmth of the sun or near a
fire.
=The Honey.=--One very important fact to remember is that no combs
should be removed from the hive until the cells have been sealed by
the bees. When the nectar is gathered and deposited in the cells it
contains a certain proportion of water which must be evaporated before
the honey is ready to be sealed. The bees know precisely when the
moment for sealing has arrived, so that to secure the honey in good
condition it is necessary to await this final operation. The rule
cannot be--and is not--observed by bee-keepers who are short of supers,
for they are often obliged to remove one from the hive, take the
contents, and return it to the hive fitted with new frames. This method
of working is unsatisfactory from every point of view. Not only are the
bees disturbed unnecessarily, but the flavour of the honey is not so
good if taken too soon from the hive. Moreover, it is an accepted rule
that honey should be extracted from the combs as soon as possible after
it is taken from the hive, and if a bee-keeper is to be continually
interrupting his normal work to remove and extract honey, he is giving
himself far more trouble than is necessary if he is properly equipped.
It is, therefore, far better to leave the honey in the hive until the
end of the honey-flow and deal with it as a whole.
CHAPTER X
=How to Secure the Harvest of the Hive=--(_Cont._)
=Extracting Honey.=--The use of an extractor is a necessity to the
bee-keeper who is working for profit, for chief among its advantages is
that the honey can be separated from the combs without breaking them.
_Uncapping._--When uncapping the cells, care should be taken to collect
all the cappings in a tray or basket as they are removed, and they
should be melted down as soon as possible after the extracting is
completed.
_Working the Extractor._--The side of the comb which contains most
honey should be dealt with first, and in placing the frame in the
extractor it should be seen that the bottom bar faces the direction in
which the spindle revolves. The cells of the comb are usually built on
an angle, and the honey will be thrown out of them quicker in this way
than if they were placed to catch the air.
Great care is needed when extracting honey from new combs, for they are
exceedingly brittle. It is generally advisable, therefore, to turn the
handle very slowly at first, and, unless it runs very freely, not to
extract all the honey from a comb at the first operation. By partially
emptying the one side and then reversing the comb the pressure on it is
relieved gradually and the risk of breakage avoided. When the greater
part of the honey has been extracted, the speed of the revolutions of
the cages can be increased without any danger to the combs.
All honey should be extracted from the combs as soon as possible after
they are taken from the hive, for it will run more freely then than
after it has been allowed to stand and thicken, while its flavour will
be better retained.
When a large amount of honey has to be extracted, the cleanest combs
with the lightest honey should first be dealt with, and before the
darker honey is taken the other should be run through the strainer and
put to ripen, so that each kind shall be kept absolutely separate.
=Ripening Honey.=--After extraction, the honey should be placed in
a suitable vessel in a warm room to ripen. After it has stood for
a few days the surface will be seen to be covered with a white
scum--particles of wax and pollen--which should be removed as it forms.
The honey immediately below is thin and watery. This is due to the
proportion of water it contains, and measures must be taken to get rid
of this by evaporation, or it will spoil the keeping property of the
whole. To seal up any of this thin honey is to ensure fermentation and
disaster.
The very best vessels in which to ripen honey are the large earthenware
cream pots that are glazed inside. Being to a certain extent porous
they allow for the evaporation of excessive moisture. They are, too,
easy to clean and free from any possibility of metallic influence on
the honey.
=Straining Honey.=--Strainers may be made of many variable materials
from wire to muslin, according to the preference of the bee-keeper.
Personally I have found that the most serviceable and effectual
strainer material is soft linen cheese-cloth, and I would recommend
that a good supply of it, ranging from coarse to fine in quality,
should be kept by every apiarist for straining purposes, when broken
comb has become mixed with the honey.
When the operation is necessary and a considerable quantity of comb has
to be removed, the following method will be found to be both simple
and effectual:
A piece of coarse cheese-cloth, about four feet long, with the ends
gathered and tied, should be held by two persons. The honey is poured
into the middle of the cloth, under which is the vessel into which
the honey is to drain. As the thin honey escapes, the cloth should be
gently raised and lowered alternately at each end. This movement causes
the comb and wax to move first in one direction and then the other and
accumulate into a ball which constantly gathers up the particles of wax
that in the ordinary way clog the strainer. By its weight and movement,
too, it forces the honey through the cloth.
The old-fashioned strainers made from cheese-cloth in the shape of a
fool's cap were effectual, but slower in their action than the method
I have described. They had the advantage, of course, that they could
be left to perform their work while other matters were attended to--an
advantage to a cottage bee-keeper. They were made by cutting a piece of
cheese-cloth square and sewing up the cross-cut to about three parts
of its length, with one of the sides from the corner where they meet.
After the seam had been run, the edge of the cloth was turned over and
hemmed to prevent the escape of any particles of wax with the honey.
_To Strain Dense Honey._--Most bee-keepers have had experience of the
difficulty of straining dense honey, and most of them are agreed that
the old-fashioned method of squeezing it through a strainer is far from
satisfactory. It is a tedious, messy process, calculated to try the
patience and temper of the mildest of men.
The alternative method, though not perfect, is, in my opinion, far
preferable. This is of heating the honey by the water-jacket principle
to reduce its density. The great point in it, of course, is to apply
just sufficient heat to affect the honey without melting the wax. Great
care is needed in this respect, for if the wax melts and mixes with the
honey straining is hopeless and the sale spoilt.
When dealing with small quantities the vessel of honey can be placed
in a pan of boiling water on the fire. For larger quantities the
extractor, or a large milk-can--provided it be not galvanised--may be
used, and suspended over or in a copper full of boiling water. It is
advisable, however, not to heat more than three inches of honey at
one rime, for there is the liability of having the honey nearest the
side of the vessel hotter sooner than that in the centre. This may
be obviated to a degree by stirring it while it is heating. To avoid
altogether the risk of overheating it is better first to warm the honey
sufficiently for it to pass through a coarse strainer and then repeat
the operation through a finer one.
=Storing and Bottling Honey.=--It is far better to keep honey in bulk
than to store it in small bottles or jars, for there is no question
that the flavour is thereby retained to a greater degree. It should be
stored in a perfectly dry place, for it has the property of absorbing
moisture. Especially is this shown in connection with sections, for
they generally contain a few cells that are only partially filled or
imperfectly sealed.
=Marketing Honey.=--In dispatching honey it will be found that the tin
vessels supplied by the appliance makers are the most convenient, for
they are light, and, if properly packed in a box or crate, are not very
liable to damage. The bee-keeper who lives any distance from the market
will find it more profitable to sell his honey in bulk rather than to
bottle it for sale, for, after buying bottles, allowing for carriage
and breakages, the small apparent advantage vanishes.
Sections should be graded according to the colour of the honey and
weight of the combs. Attractive cases may be obtained in which to place
them, but before being put therein the sections must, of course, be
cleaned of all odd pieces of wax and propolis that are generally found
adhering to them when taken from the hive.
=Bees-Wax.=--Bees-wax is one of the byproducts and has a certain
commercial value for the bee-keeper. All pieces of wax, however small,
comb and foundation, should be carefully preserved, and never wasted.
They should be stored in an air-tight tin box, to secure them against
the attentions of the wax-moth until such time as they can be melted
down. Only comb of a very dark colour, or such as has the cells thickly
coated with linings of cocoons, are not worth retaining and should be
burnt forthwith.
Before melting the wax, it should be sorted approximately into light
and dark varieties, and each melted separately. Combs from the
brood-nest should also be treated separately owing to the additional
straining required by the wax obtained from that source. Wax
extractors are made in many forms by various makers, but for ordinary
use nothing excels the common earthenware jam or preserve jars,
provided they are sound and free from cracks. Water should be added to
the wax before it is treated, or it will burn in the jar.
Dark wax is saleable to tailors, and the lighter quality to
manufacturers of foundation.
CHAPTER XI
=Diseases of Bees=
TO understand thoroughly the life of the bee as exhibited in the hive
is all to the benefit of the bee-keeper; for he will then quickly
appreciate when matters are at all wrong with the bee communities in
his care. He realises the necessity for keeping his stocks up to their
full strength, for his knowledge tells him that they are better in
every way for being numerically strong; they then keep warmer, consume
less food proportionately than when the hive is weak, and give a far
better return in brood and honey.
There are many infectious diseases to which bees are liable, most of
which are due to bacilli and yeasts or ferments, and which receive
untold assistance from inferior or fermenting food and unclean
conditions in the hive.
These, then, are two conditions against which the good bee-keeper
is always on guard. He is careful never to give fermenting honey,
or an excess of artificial pollen, when natural food is scarce, and
especially to bar unsuitable food such as beet, raw or ill-conditioned
sugar, and syrup.
He is scrupulous concerning the cleanliness of the hives, and allows
no accumulations of wax, dirt, dead bees, or the presence of decaying
matter of any kind. Most particular is he, too, to see that the roofs
are thoroughly watertight, for he knows that any leakage is bound to
engender mildew in the quilts and consequent fermentation in the combs.
He believes in prevention rather than cure, for he knows that the
conditions of bee life tend to spread disease with lightning rapidity
should it once get a hold in the hive. Its hundreds of inhabitants
confined in such a small space, each possessing air organs which
penetrate every part of its system, afford every advantage to the
spread of microbic diseases.
Should bees ever be seen vigorously fanning at the entrances to a hive
without apparent cause, it is a sure sign there is something wrong, and
examination should be made at once.
=Foul Brood.=--This is the very worst scourge to which the bees are
subject. It is a disease that attacks the brood in the cells, and, as
there are no young bees produced to take the place of those that die,
the hive is soon decimated. The disease is easily identified, for the
whole of the cells attacked are perforated and of a brown colour, and a
most offensive odour is produced.
The disease is probably spread by bees from an infected hive taking
refuge in others, or by robber bees entering the infected one. There is
nothing to do when virulent foul brood is discovered but to burn the
whole contents of the hive.
=Dysentery.=--This is a disease which principally affects the older
bees and is generally caused by feeding too heavily on pollen--more
particularly in winter time when proper exercise cannot be taken. The
symptoms are a distended abdomen, which is filled with a yellowish
brown substance that is discharged copiously. In bad cases it is
discharged on the combs.
The _best remedy_ is to add an ounce of table salt to a quart or more
of warm syrup and feed the bees outside in a sheltered spot.
=Isle of Wight Disease.=--This is one of the most mysterious and deadly
diseases which affect bees. Further, it attacks the hives in winter
when circumstances are all in its favour. Large sums of money have
been spent by bee-keepers, and a vast amount of time and thought given
by pathologists in the endeavour to trace its cause and remedy, but
hitherto without avail.
The _usual symptoms_ are similar to those of dysentery, with a loss of
power of flight. In attempting to fly, an affected bee falls to the
ground in a helpless condition.
As in dysentery, however, it is the older bees that are affected; the
brood and young bees seem immune. It would seem, therefore, that the
winter feeding on pollen has something to do with it. Probably because
pollen is more of a natural food to them, and because their air organs
are not fully developed, the disease does not affect the young bees
through that channel.
There are many so-called remedies which claim to be efficacious, but I
have no faith in them except in very mild cases. I fail to see how a
remedy can be administered when a hive is attacked in mid-winter and
the bees are clustered, or when it reaches the stage when paralysis
occurs. In such a case there is nothing to be done short of destruction.
If, however, a bee-keeper should have reason to suspect the conditions
of a hive, and it is at all possible to feed it outside, I would
recommend that the method should be tried, for no harm would be done
and possibly a certain amount of good. The food given should be
thinner than usual--to counteract the effect of the farinaceous pollen
food--and contain double the ordinary amount of salt. The hive should
be cleared of any dirt, and the floor-board washed over with a weak
solution of carbolic acid.
Should the combs become full of syrup as the result of this feeding,
take some of them out and place them near the feeder, replacing them
with empty ones.
The outside feeding encourages the bees to take exercise, which is
all to their advantage, but it is not permissible where there are
large numbers of hives in the district. In such a case a quilt of open
material must be placed over the hive instead of the several thick
ones, and inside feeding adopted.
=Chilled Brood.=--Although this cannot in every instance be accounted
a disease, yet, unless care be taken, there is no knowing where an
incipient case will end. The cause is suggested by the name— the brood
in the cells becomes chilled, and the effect is death. As a rule, when
this has happened the cappings of the cells become black, and the
appearance of an affected comb is something akin to that presented by
foul brood. Whenever a hive contains any quantity of chilled brood, the
bees should be given to another hive, and the queen, together with the
combs, destroyed, unless the hive be a very strong one. In such a case
the worst half of the combs can be removed and their space filled with
a dummy.
If new combs are added it will generally be found that it is merely to
afford facilities to the spreading of the evil. It is useless to add
bees to an affected hive, for they will immediately fly away from the
danger zone.
CHAPTER XII
=Enemies of the Bee and Bee-keeper=
BEES, and with them the bee-keeper, are subject to annoyance and
depredations from many enemies in the natural world. Some make direct
attacks on the hive and their contents, and others, by destroying or
interfering with the food supply of the bees, sadly deplenish the
stores for which the bees work and on which the bee-keeper's hopes
rest. Among the former are insect-eating birds, spiders, moths, and
other insects. Prominent in the other class are bud-eating birds and
the green fly. Thus it will be seen that in both classes the enemies of
the bees are also those of the gardener, so that no scruples need be
felt in combating them with all the forces at our command.
=The Earwig.=--Among the most tiresome of pests is the earwig. The
bar-framed hive seems to suit its requirements in every particular,
and an opportunity is apparently never lost by it to enter and take
possession. Any empty combs that may lie within its purview are
immediately commandeered for its own particular purposes--even when
combs are kept for warmth in a super or section crate on the quilt
inside the hive they are not safe from the ravages of this pest. Its
eggs are deposited in the cells and the combs rendered useless.
One of the best traps for catching earwigs is the old-fashioned one of
a plant-pot filled with moss and placed upside down on the end of a
stake. The pot and its contents should be dropped into boiling water at
regular intervals of a few days.
=Mice.=--Both house and field mice are included in the bee-keeper's
black list. Their raids are seldom made in summer-time, especially
if the hives are up to strength, but in winter it is no uncommon
occurrence to find them in possession of a hive. It is probably the
sweet scent and suggestion of warmth that first attract them to explore
the hive, but once inside they begin the work of devastation. They are
keen after the farinaceous pollen and demolish the combs to get to
their stores.
The only effective way to prevent the entry of mice is to place a piece
of zinc perforated with holes just large enough to admit the passage
of a bee, along the entrance to the hive to a height of 3/16 of an inch.
=Moths.=--Moths of various kinds choose the hive as a suitable place
in which to deposit their eggs, and the bee-keeper has need to keep a
sharp lookout for the first evidence of their visitation, for, if not
dealt with promptly, disaster is sure to follow. They generally deposit
their eggs in loose bundles among the combs, and immediately the grubs
are hatched they commence operations on the cells, which are rendered
useless by their perforations. The sawgate of the frame is a favourite
lodging of the moth, and the skep hive, of course, is a happy hunting
ground for it.
The old-fashioned remedies--lavender flowers and camphor--are still
esteemed the best for warding off moths, though naphthalene and
chemical solutions are without doubt equally effective.
=Ants.=--The fondness of ants for sweet things is sufficient
explanation of their raids on the hives. Where they are numerous it is
advisable to stand the legs of the hive in tins containing paraffin
oil: this is an effective means of preventing their climbing into the
hives.
=The Blind Louse.=--This is a parasite fairly common in this country,
and the bees, both hive and wild varieties, are favoured by it as
hosts. Although it is said to be harmless, it must be treated with
suspicion, and if its presence in a hive be detected steps should be
taken to get rid of it. If tobacco smoke be blown into the hive, the
parasite will loosen its tenacious grip and fall to the floorboard
of the hive. Its destruction is then easy. Before the floor-board is
replaced it should be washed with hot water into which a few drops of
carbolic acid have been dropped.
=Pollen Mites.=--Amongst the smallest of the insects visible to the
naked eye these little creatures work--as their name suggests--among
the pollen stored by the bees. They are about the size of a grain of
pollen and prefer the pollen when it is damp either with honey or water.
It is a commendable practice to keep combs that contain pollen by
themselves when they are not in use.
=Spiders.=--In this country the spider is not to be so dreaded by the
bee-keeper as it is in hotter climates. For cleanliness' sake, however,
it is well to keep the hive clear of its webs.
=Green Fly.=--It is the bee-keeper rather than the bee that has cause
to dislike the green fly. To the bee, indeed, the aphis ranks as great
a friend as it does to the ant. To both it is the excretion with which
the aphis surrounds itself that is the attraction. To the gardener and
the bee-keeper, however, it is an abomination to be warred against by
all means at command.
The excretion of the aphis, popularly known as "honeydew," is white
when at first sprayed out by the little creature, but after it is
stored by the bee in the comb its presence is marked by a dark patch in
the honey, and the bee-keeper knows that the latter is spoiled. This
dark colour is attributed to a fungus generated by the honeydew. Where
large quantities of honeydew are contained in combs the most economical
method of dealing with the latter is to give them to the bees for
drawing-out combs, for it is practically impossible to separate
the honey, and for commercial purposes the presence of honeydew is
prejudicial.
Occasionally honey that contains honeydew will crystallise, sometimes
to look like a sponge, and in such cases the honeydew can be run off.
If not so treated it will ferment and permeate the candied honey.
=Wasps.=--When particularly numerous, wasps become a source of anxiety
to the bee-keeper, and it is therefore to his interest to aid in
keeping their numbers down as much as possible. The usual method is to
destroy the nests before the queens are hatched out--which generally
occurs about the middle of September.
=Snails and Slugs.=--Here again the bee-keeper and the gardener are at
one in their efforts against common enemies. It is probably due to the
trail of slime left by both slug and snail that the bees do not care to
interfere with these intruders to the hive and leave them to roam about
at their leisure.
The practice of using old honeycombs as bait or traps for these
marauders is not to be commended, for their fermenting contents near
the hives is in no way good, and may lead to ill, for the bees. Where
snails and slugs are troublesome it is better to raise the hives at
least a foot from the ground and clear away all grass and weeds in
their immediate neighbourhood, sprinkling the ground with strong salt
and water--or if the ground is to be fallowed, dry salt may be used.
=Birds.=--For the most part birds are indirect enemies of the bees,
for they injure them by injuring the buds and flowers on which they
draw for nectar. Finches and sparrows are the worst offenders in this
respect.
A bird that often makes a direct attack on bees, however, is the
blue-tit, an insect-eating bird. When the winter is severe, and
insects rare, the blue-tit will venture to tackle bees. Its methods
afford a curious instance of the adaptability of wild creatures to
circumstances. The general proceeding is for the blue-tit to alight
on the front of a hive and tap gently with its beak at the entrance.
The tapping attracts the attention of the inmates, and one is
usually curious enough to investigate its cause. The bird seizes it
immediately, flies off with it to a convenient branch, and, holding it
down with one claw, with a quick motion abstracts the sting organs.
That source of danger removed, "little Billy Bluecap" proceeds to peck
off the head--which he likewise discards--and to lay open the thorax,
the contents of which are all that he requires. From this, it is
evident that blue-tits have developed an epicurean taste with regard to
bees, and, when one has acquired it, it is astonishing the number of
bees it will demolish to satisfy its cravings.
When hives are liable to such raids, perforated zinc, or small strips
of glass, fixed on edge across the entrance will often serve to
frighten the birds off.
Another bird that raids directly on bees is the flycatcher, one of the
migratory birds which come here for breeding purposes. Their usual
swooping movement when catching insects on the wing is not practised
when bees are their objective. It would seem that they avoid bees when
flying. When raiding them, the bird alights at the back of the hive,
and rushing under the alighting board, gathers up as many bees as he
can from the ground in front of the hive.
It is quite possible that flycatchers could account for many a missing
virgin queen.
=The Toad.=--Perhaps it is hardly right to class the toad as an enemy
to the bee, seeing that the bulk of its food consists of insects that
are injurious--either directly or through their larvae--to vegetable or
plant life. But, inasmuch as it varies its diet with bees when they can
be obtained, we have included it in this list.
INDEX
A
AIR-ORGANS of bee, 9, 14
Alighting board, 26, 81
Ammonia as remedy for bee-sting, 19
Antennæ of bee, uses of, 15
Ants in hives, 114
Aphis and bees, 116
Artificial pollen, 85
Autumn feeding, 87-8
B
BAR frame, advantages of, 28;
how to handle, in hive, 60, 74
Bar-framed hive, working for profit and, 4;
comb formation and, 35;
how to transport, 81;
essential to profit-making, 93;
how to work, 92 _et seq._
"Bee-bread," 56
Bee escapes, 32
Bees, as heat producers in hive, 5;
and swarming, 8, 44, 68;
metamorphosis of, 13;
anatomy of, 13-9;
sting of, 18;
and fowls, 19;
stingless, 19;
scent of, 46-7;
and comb-making, 50;
and varnish, 51;
and cross fertilisation of flowers, 53;
and honey gathering, 54-5;
and pollen, 56-7;
treatment of chilled, 58;
manipulation of, 58-9;
how to stimulate, 65;
and reserve food, 72, 81;
how to drive, 79;
how to transport, 81;
when food is declined by, 89;
diseases of, 106 _et seq._;
enemies of, 112 _et seq._
Bees-wax, how formed, 49-50, 92;
value of, 104;
how to melt and sort, 104-5
Birds and the bee-keeper, 117
Blind louse and bees, 115
Blue-bag as remedy for bee sting, 9
Blue-tit and bees, 118
Brood-chamber, 26;
when to expand, 61;
standard frames from, as super, 73
Brood-nest, choked, treatment of, 67
Brood-rearing, artificial feeding, and, 66;
time of commencement of, 66;
use of old honey stores in, 90-1
Brushes, best form of, 41
C
CALICO, unbleached, for quilt, 33
Camphor, use of, in hives, 42, 96, 114
Canadian feeders, 37
Candy, for winter feeding, 88
Carbolic acid, use of, as disinfectant, 42
Carbolic cloths, how to use, 40-1
Carr, W. B., and "self spacers," 28, 29
Cells, queen, 6, 8, 74;
drone, cappings of, 12, 13;
shapes of, 49
Cheese-cloth as strainer, 100
Chilled brood, 110
Chyle food, 7, 9, 50-1
Cleanliness, necessity for, 38, 61, 71, 107
Comb-foundation, and drone rearing, 12;
varieties of, and how to use, 35;
how to use old, 36;
and wax-making, 50;
how to use, 92-3;
handling of hives containing, 94
Confidence, necessity for, 58
D
DISINFECTANTS, 42
Doubling stocks, method of, 62
Driven bees, taking old queen from, 65
Driving, method of, 79
Drone, the, and mating, 7, 11;
life history of, 11;
how to keep down number of, 12;
period of incubation of, 13;
comb-foundation and breeding of, 35;
cells of, 49;
means of escape from super for, 74
Dummy, how used, 32, 61
Dysentery, symptoms of, and remedy for, 108
E
EARWIG and bees, 112
Embedder, a simple, 94
Enemies of bees, 112
Excessive swarming, remedy for, 73
Excluder, zinc, 36, 74, 76
Extractor, necessity for, 38;
how to work, 98-9
Eyes of bee, 16
F
FANNING as a sign of trouble in hive, 17, 107
Feeders, varieties of, and how to use, 37
Feeding, circumstances in which it is useless, 5;
varieties of feeders, 37;
use of propolis in, 52;
when necessary, 61, 81;
weak stocks, 63;
inside, 64;
to encourage brood rearing, 66;
after supering from brood-chamber, 75;
necessity of, in spring, 82;
method of, in spring, 83;
syrup food, 84;
artificial pollen food, 85;
water in, 85;
when to stop, in spring, 86;
in autumn, 86;
in winter, 88;
injurious, 107;
in cases of suspected disease, 109
Fermentation in hive, 18, 90
Float-feeders, 37
Flowers and bees, 53
Flycatcher and bees, 119
Formic acid, in bee sting, 19
Fold brood, 18;
symptoms of, 107
Fuel for smoker, 40
G
GLOVES, use of, 43, 59
Green-fly and bees, 115
H
HEATHER honey, shallow frames and, 30;
colour and flavour of, 55;
extraction of, 56
Hive, bees as heat producers in, 5;
bees and ventilation of, 17;
hints on selection of, 21;
the skep, 22;
disadvantages of wooden, 24;
size of, 25;
floorboard of, 26;
brood-chamber, 26;
queen-rearing, 33, 75;
observation, 34;
scent of, 46;
position of, 58;
how and when to clean, 61;
weak, 61;
for swarm, 71;
re-queening of, 75, 77;
transport of, 81;
heating when bees are starved in, 90;
dangers of fermenting food in, 90;
use of old honey-stores in, 90-1;
mice in, 18, 113
Honey, what it is, 48;
flowers and nectar for, 54;
influence of source of on colour, 55;
flavour of, 55;
formation and sealing of, 96;
extraction of, 97-9;
ripening, 99;
straining, 100-2;
storing and bottling, 103;
marketing, 103
Honeycomb, composition and purpose of, 48-9;
care of, 95,96;
removal from hive of, 96-7
Honey dew, 116
Honey press, 39
I
"IMPS" for skep hive, 23
Incubation, period of, 13
Isle of Wight disease, 108
J
JAWS of bee, how used, 17
L
Lime honey, colour of, 55
M
METAMORPHOSIS of bees, 13
Methylated spirit, as remedy for bee sting, 19;
bees' objection to, 19, 51
Mice and hives, 18, 113
Mildew, in honeycombs, 96;
in quilts, 107
Modern methods, necessity for, 3
Montbretia leaves, brushes of, 41
Moths in hives, 114
N
NAPHTHALENE as disinfectant and insecticide, 42, 96, 114
"Nucleus" hives, 33
O
OBSERVATION hives, 34
Onion as remedy for bee-sting, 19
Outside feeding, advantages of, 83;
method of, 83-4;
in cases of suspected disease, 109-10
P
POLLEN, and worker bees, 10;
bees as transferrers of, 53;
how used by bees, 56;
artificial, 85
Pollen-baskets of bee, 16, 56
Pollen mites, 115
Porter escape, 32
Prevention of swarming, 72
Profit, necessities to secure, 3, 36, 38
Propolis, on old quilts, 33, 52;
what it is, 51;
excess of, 51-2;
use of, in artificial feeding, 52, 85
Q
QUEEN bee, life history of, 5-7;
chyle food and, 7;
mating of, 7;
egg-laying capacity of, 7;
virgin, and unfertile eggs, 7, 12;
and swarming, 8, 44, 68, 70;
size of, 8;
how to prevent rearing of, 8;
period of incubation of, 13;
susceptibility to cold of, 14;
hives for rearing, 33;
excluder, 36;
scent of, 48;
shape of cell of, 49;
wing-clipping of, 72;
exclusion of, from super, 74;
rearing of, 75
Queen-cage, 78
Queen excluders, 36;
use of, in driving, 65;
use of, in supering, 74, 76
Queen-rearing hives, 33, 65, 75
Queen-rearing, methods of, 75
Quilt, its use and material, 32-3
R
"RINGING the swarm," 68
Ripening honey, method of, 99
Rot in wood hives, 24
"Rot preventers," 25
Rust, and frame "ends," 29;
and frame wires, 93
S
SCENT of bees, 46 _et seq._
Sections, shallow frames and, 31;
how made, 31;
how to work, 94;
how to market, 104
"Self-spacers" for bar frames, 28
Shaking, a swarm, 70;
frames, 74
Shallow frames, 30
Skep hive, development of, 22;
uselessness of, in modern practice, 22;
how "taken," 23;
"imp" and super for, 23;
its immunity from fungus and rot, 24;
how to pack for transport, 81
Slow feeders, 37
Slugs and the bee-keeper, 117
Smoker, object and use of, 39-40;
how to use, 59, 80
Snails and the bee-keeper, 117
Soda as remedy for bee sting, 19
Spiders in hives, 115
Spring feeding, 83-6
Standard frames, sizes of, 28;
"ends" for, 28-9, 60;
how to hang, 29;
"wide-shouldered," 29;
as super, 29, 75;
comb foundation and, 92;
wiring, 91
Starvation, symptoms of, 89
Stimulating, process of, 65
Sting of bee, as weapon of defence, 18;
remedy for, 19;
scent of, 47;
safeguards against, 59
Stingless bees, 19
Straining honey, 100-2
Super, and queenless stock, or weak hive, 5;
for skep, 23;
standard frames as, 29;
shallow frames as, 30;
what it is, 31;
for use with choked brood-nest, 67;
of standard frames from brood-chamber as, 73;
removal of, for winter feeding, 87;
in section working, 95
Swarm, how to handle the, 45, 69;
virgin, 45;
"ringing" the, 68;
shaking the, 70;
first, 71
Swarming, cause of, 8, 44;
signs of, 44-5;
times of, 45;
scent in, 46;
excessive, 72;
prevention of, 72
Syrup food, recipes for, 84, 87
T
TONGUE of bee, uses of, 15
Tracheæ, 9, 14
Transporting bees, methods of, 81
U
UNCAPPING, 98
Uncapping knives, how to use, 38
Uniting stocks, method of, 64
V
VARNISH, and bees, 51
Veil, how to use, 42-3, 59
Ventilation of hive, 17, 81
Virgin queen, and unfertile eggs, 7;
swarm, 45, 70
W
Wasps and the bee-keeper, 116
Water, necessity for providing, 85;
in autumn feeding, 87
Weak hive, 61;
"robbery" from, 62;
treatment of, 62-5
White clover honey, colour of, 55
Wings of bee, arrangement and uses of, 17
Wiring of frames, methods of, 93
Worker bee, description of, 8;
occasional fertility of, 8, 12;
life history of, 8, 10;
and pollen, 10;
as honey-gatherer, 10;
period of incubation of, 13, 85;
sensibility to cold of, 14;
cells of, 49;
and pollen, 56-7
PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C.
* * * * *
Transcriber Note
Minor typos corrected. Text moved to prevent splitting of paragraphs
by image placement. Hyphenation or lack thereof, were left as in the
original.
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