Part 2
The best time of the year to begin beekeeping is in the spring, for during the first few months of ownership the bee keeper can study the subject and learn what to do, so that he is not so likely to make a mistake which will end in loss of bees. It is usually best to buy good strong colonies with plenty of brood for that season of the year, but if this is not practicable, then smaller colonies, or nuclei, may be purchased and built up during the summer season. Of course, no surplus honey can be expected if all the honey gathered goes into the making of additional bees. It is desirable to get as little drone comb as possible and a good supply of honey in the colonies purchased.
The question as to what race and strain of bees is to be kept is important. If poor stock has been purchased locally, the bee keeper should send to some reliable queen breeder for good queens as a foundation for his apiary. Queens may be purchased for $1 each for "untested" to several dollars each for "selected" breeding queens. Usually it will not pay beginners to buy "selected" breeding queens, for they are not yet prepared to make the best use of such stock. "Untested" or "tested" queens are usually as good a quality as are profitable for a year or so, and there is also less danger in mailing "untested" (young) queens.
Various races of bees have been imported into the United States and among experienced bee keepers there are ardent advocates of almost all of them. The black or German race was the first imported, very early in the history of the country, and is found everywhere, but usually not entirely pure. As a rule this race is not desirable. No attention has been paid to breeding it for improvement in this country, and it is usually found in the hands of careless bee keepers. As a result it is inferior, although it often produces beautiful comb honey.
The Italian bees, the next introduced, are the most popular race among the best bee keepers in this country, and with good reason. They are vigorous workers and good honey gatherers, defend their hives well, and above all have been more carefully selected by American breeders than any other race. Especially for the last reason it is usually desirable to keep this race. That almost any other race of bees known could be bred to as high a point as the Italians, and perhaps higher, can not be doubted, but the bee keeper now gets the benefit of what has been done for this race. It should not be understood from this that the efforts at breeding have been highly successful. On the contrary, bee breeding will compare very unfavorably with the improvement of other animals or plants which have been the subject of breeding investigations.
Italian bees have been carefully selected for color by some breeders to increase the area of yellow on the abdomen, until we now have what are known as "five-banded" bees. These are very beautiful, but it can scarcely be claimed that they are improved as honey producers or in regard to gentleness. They are kept mostly by amateurs. Some breeders have claimed to select Italians for greater length of tongue, with the object of getting a bee which could obtain the abundance of nectar from red clover. If any gain is ever made in this respect, it is soon lost. The terms "red-clover bees" or "long-tongued bees" are somewhat misleading, but are ordinarily used as indicating good honey producers.
Caucasian bees, formerly distributed throughout the country by this department, are the most gentle race of bees known. They are not stingless, however, as is often stated in newspapers and other periodicals. Many report them as good honey gatherers. They are more prolific than Italians and may possibly become popular. Their worst characteristic is that they gather great quantities of propolis and build burr and brace combs very freely. They are most desirable bees for the amateur or for experimental purposes.
Carniolan and Banat bees have some advocates, and are desirable in that they are gentle. Little is known of Banats in this country, Carniolans swarm excessively unless in' large hives. Cyprians were formerly used somewhat, but are now rarely found pure, and are undesirable either pure or in crosses because of the fact that they sting with the least provocation and are not manageable with smoke. They are good honey gatherers, but their undesirable qualities have caused them to be discarded by American bee keepers. ''Holy-land," Egyptian, and Punic (Tunisian) bees have also been tried and have been universally abandoned.
The Department of Agriculture does not now distribute or sell queen bees or colonies of bees of any race.
=BEE BEHAVIOR.=
The successful manipulation of bees depends entirely on a knowledge of their habits. This is not generally recognized, and most of the literature on practical beekeeping consists of sets of rules to guide manipulations. This is too true of the present paper, but is due to a desire to make the bulletin short and concise. While this method usually answers, it is nevertheless faulty, in that, without a knowledge of fundamental principles of behavior, the bee keeper is unable to recognize the seemingly abnormal phases of activity, and does not know what to do under such circumstances. Rules must, of course, be based on the usual behavior. By years of association the bee keeper almost unconsciously acquires a wide knowledge of bee behavior, and consequently is better able to solve the problems which constantly arise. However, it would save an infinite number of mistakes and would add greatly to the interest of the work if more time were expended on a study of behavior; then the knowledge gained could be applied to practical manipulation.
A colony of bees consists normally of one queen bee (fig. 10, _b_), the mother of the colony, and thousands of sexually undeveloped females called workers (fig. 10, _a_), which normally lay no eggs, but build the comb, gather the stores, keep the hive clean, feed the young, and do the other work of the hive. During part of the year there are also present some hundreds of males (fig. 10, _c_) or drones (often removed or restricted in numbers by the bee keeper), whose only service is to mate with young queens. These three types are easily recognized, even by a novice. In nature the colony lives in a hollow tree or other cavity, but under manipulation thrives in the artificial hives provided. The combs which form their abode are composed of wax secreted by the workers. The hexagonal cells of the two vertical layers constituting each comb have interplaced ends on a common septum. In the cells of these combs are reared the developing bees, and honey and pollen for food are also stored here.
The cells built naturally are not all of the same size, those used in rearing worker bees being about one-fifth of an inch across, and those used in rearing drones and in storing honey about one-fourth of an inch across (fig. 11). The upper cells in natural combs are more irregular, and generally curve upward at the outer end. They are used chiefly for the storage of honey. Under manipulation the size of the cells is controlled by the bee keeper by the use of comb foundation--sheets of pure beeswax on which are impressed the bases of cells and on which the bees build the side walls.
In the North, when the activity of the spring begins, the normal colony consists of the queen and some thousands of workers. As the outside temperature raises, the queen begins to lay eggs (fig. 12, _a_) in the worker cells. These in time develop into white larvæ (fig. 12, _b_, _c_), which grow to fill the cells. They are then capped over and transform first into pupæ (fig. 12, _d_) and then into adult worker bees. As the weather grows warmer, and the colony increases in size by the emergence of the young bees, the quantity of brood is increased. The workers continue to bring in pollen, nectar to be made into honey, and water for brood rearing. When the hive is nearly filled with bees and stores, or when a heavy honey flow is on, the queen begins to lay eggs in the larger cells, and these develop into drones or males. Continued increase of the colony would result in the formation of enormous, colonies, and unless some division takes place no increase in the number of colonies will result. Finally, however, the workers begin to build queen cells (fig. 13). These are larger than any other cells In the hive and hang on the comb vertically. In size and shape they may be likened to a peanut, and are also rough on the outside. In preparing for swarming the queen sometimes lays eggs in partly constructed queen cells, but when a colony becomes queenless the cells are built around female larvæ. The larvæ in these cells receive special food, and when they have grown to full size they, too, are sealed up, and the colony is then ready for swarming.
The issuing of the first swarm from a colony consists of the departure of the original queen with part of the workers. They leave behind the honev stores, except such as they can carry in their honey stomachs, the brood, some workers, drones, several queen cells, from which will later emerge young queens, but no adult queen. By this interesting process the original colony is divided into two.
The swarm finds a new location in some place, such as a hollow tree, or, if cared for by the bee keeper, in a hive. The workers build new combs, the queen begins laying, and in a short time the swarm becomes a normal colony.
The colony on the old stand (parent colony) is increased by the bees emerging from the brood. After a time (usually about seven or eight days) the queens in their cells are ready to emerge. If the colony is only moderately strong the first queen to emerge is allowed by the workers to tear down the other queen cells and kill the queens not yet emerged, but if a "second swarm" is to be given off the queen cells are protected.
If the weather permits, when from 5 to 8 days old, the young queen flies from the hive to mate with a drone. Mating usually occurs but once during the life of the queen and always takes place on the wing. In mating she receives enough spermatozoa (male sex cells) to last throughout her life. She returns to the hive after mating, and in about two days begins egg laying. The queen never leaves the hive except at mating time or with a swarm, and her sole duty in the colony is to lay eggs to keep up the population.
When the flowers which furnish most nectar are in bloom, the bees usually gather more honey than they need for their own use, and this the bee keeper can safely remove. They continue the collection of honey and other activities until cold weather comes on in the fall, when brood rearing ceases; they then become relatively quiet, remaining in the hive all winter, except for short flights on warm days. When the main honey flow is over, the drones are usually driven from the hive. By that time the virgin queens have been mated and drones are of no further use. They are not usually stung to death, but are merely carried or driven from the hive by the workers and starve. A colony of bees which for any reason is without a queen does not expel the drones.
Many abnormal conditions may arise in the activity of a colony, and it is therefore necessary for the bee keeper to understand most of these, so that when they occur he may overcome them. If a virgin queen is prevented from mating she generally dies, but occasionally begins to lay eggs after about four weeks. In this event, however, all of the eggs which develop become males. Such a queen is commonly called a "drone layer."
If the virgin queen is lost while on her flight, or the colony at any other time is left queenless without means of rearing additional queens, it sometimes happens that some of the workers begin to lay eggs. These eggs also develop only into drones.
It also happens at times that when a queen becomes old her supply of spermatozoa is exhausted, at which tune her eggs also develop only into drones. These facts are the basis of the theory that the drone of the bee is developed from an unfertilized egg or is partheno-genetic. A full discussion of this point is impossible in this place.
The work of the hive is very nicely apportioned among the inmates, so that there is little lost effort. As has been stated, the rearing of young is accomplished by having one individual to lay eggs and numerous others (immature females or workers) to care for the larvæ. In like manner all work of the colony is apportioned. In general, it may be stated that all inside work--wax building, care of brood, and cleaning--is done by the younger workers, those less than 17 days old, while the outside work of collecting pollen and nectar to be made into honey is done by the older workers. This plan may be changed by special conditions. For example, if the colony has been queenless for a tune and a queen is then given, old workers may begin the inside work of feeding larvæ, and these may also secrete wax. Or, if the old workers are all removed, the younger bees may begin outside work. As a rule, however, the general plan of division of labor according to age is probably followed rather closely.
=DIRECTIONS FOR GENERAL MANIPULATIONS.=
Bees should be handled so that they will be little disturbed in their work. As much as possible, stings should be avoided during manipulation. This is true, not so much because they are painful to the operator, but because the odor of poison which gets into the air irritates the other bees and makes them more difficult to manage. For this reason it is most advisable to wear a black veil (fig. 4) over a wide-brimmed hat and to have a good smoker (fig. 3). Gloves, however, are usually more an inconvenience than otherwise. Gauntlets or rubber bands around the cuffs keep the bees from crawling up the sleeve. It is best to avoid black clothing, since that color seems to excite bees; a black felt hat is especially to be avoided.
Superfluous quick movements tend to irritate the bees. The hive should not be jarred or disturbed any more than necessary. Rapid movements are objectionable, because with their peculiar eye structure bees probably perceive motion more readily than they do objects. Persons not accustomed to bees, on approaching a hive, often strike at bees which fly toward them or make some quick movement of the head or hand to avoid the sting which they fear is to follow. This should not be done, for the rapid movement, even if not toward the bee, is far more likely to be followed by a sting than remaining quiet.
The best time to handle bees is during the middle of warm days, particularly during a honey flow. Never handle bees at night or on cold, wet days unless absolutely necessary. The work of a beginner may be made much easier and more pleasant by keeping gentle bees. Caucasians, Carniolans, Banats, and some strains of Italians ordinarily do not sting much unless unusually provoked or except in bad weather. Common black bees or crosses of blacks with other races are more irritable. It may be well worth while for the beginner to procure gentle bees while gaining experience in manipulation. Later on, this is less important, for the bee keeper learns to handle bees with little inconvenience to himself or to the bees. Various remedies for bee stings have been advocated, but they are all useless. The puncture made by the sting is so small that it closes when the sting is removed and liquids can not be expected to enter. The best thing to do when stung is to remove the sting as soon as possible without squeezing the poison sac, which is usually attached. This can be done by scraping it out with a knife or finger nail. After this is done the injured spot should be let alone and not rubbed with any liniment. The intense itching will soon disappear; any irritation only serves to increase the afterswelling.
Before opening a hive the smoker should be lighted and the veil put on. A few puffs of smoke directed into the entrance will cause the bees to fill themselves with honey and will drive back the guards. The hive cover should be raised gently, if necessary being pried loose with a screwdriver or special hive tool. When slightly raised, a little more smoke should be blown in vigorously on the tops of the frames, or if a mat covering for the frames is used, the cover should be entirely removed and one corner of the mat lifted to admit smoke. It is not desirable to use any more smoke than just enough to subdue the bees and keep them down on the frames. If at any time during manipulation they become excited, more smoke may be necessary. Do not stand in front of the entrance, but at one side or the back.
After the frames are exposed they may be loosened by prying gently with the hive tool and crowded together a little so as to give room for the removal of one frame. In cool weather the propolis (bee glue) may be brittle. Care should be exercised not to loosen this propolis with a jar. The first frame removed can be leaned against the hive, so that there will be more room inside for handling the others. During all manipulations bees must not be mashed or crowded, for it irritates the colony greatly and may make it necessary to discontinue operations. Undue crowding may also crush the queen. If bees crawl on the hands, they may be gently brushed off or thrown off.
In examining a frame hold it over the hive if possible, so that any bees or queen which fall may drop into it. Freshly gathered honey also often drops from the frame, and if it falls in the hive the bees can quickly clean it up, whereas if it drops outside it is untidy and may cause robbing. If a frame is temporarily leaned against the hive, it should be placed in a nearly upright position to prevent breakage and leaking of honey. The frame on which the queen is located should not be placed on the ground, for fear she may crawl away and be lost. It is best to lean the frame on the side of the hive away from the operator, so that bees will not crawl up his legs.
In hanging frames the comb should always be held in a vertical position, especially if it contains much honey. When a frame is lifted from the hive by the top bar, the comb is vertical with one side toward the operator (fig. 14). To examine the reverse side, raise one end of the top bar until it is perpendicular (fig. 15), turn the frame on the top bar as an axis until the reverse side is in view, and then lower to a horizontal position with the top bar below (fig. 16). In this way there is no extra strain on the comb and the bees are not irritated. This care is not so necessary with wired combs, but it is a good habit to form in handling frames.
It is desirable to have combs composed entirely of worker cells in order to reduce the amount of drone brood. The use of full sheets of foundation will bring this about and is also of value in making the combs straight, so that bees are not mashed in removing the frame. It is extremely difficult to remove combs built crosswise in the hive, and this should never be allowed to occur. Such a hive is even worse than a plain box hive. Superfluous inside fixtures should be avoided, as they tend only to impede manipulation. The hive should also be placed so that the entrance is perfectly horizontal and a little lower than the back of the hive. The frames will then hang in a vertical position, and the outer ones will not be fastened by the bees to the hive body if properly spaced at the top.
In placing frames in the hive great care should be exercised that they are properly spaced. Some frames are self-spacing, having projections on the side, so that when placed as close as possible they are the correct distance apart. These are good for beginners or persons who do not judge distances well and are preferred by many professional bee keepers. If unspaced frames are used, the brood frames should be 1-3/8 inches from center to center. A little practice will usually enable anyone to space quickly and accurately. Careful spacing is necessary to prevent the building of combs of irregular thickness and to retard the building of pieces of comb from one frame to another.
A beginner in beekeeping should by all means, if possible, visit some experienced bee keeper to get suggestions in handling bees. More can be learned in a short visit than in a considerably longer time in reading directions, and numerous short cuts which are acquired by experience will well repay the trouble or expense of such a visit. Not all professional bee keepers manipulate in the very best way, but later personal experience will correct any erroneous information. Above all, personal experimentation and a study of bee activity are absolute necessities in the practical handling of bees.
=TRANSFERRING.=
In increasing the apiary it is sometimes best to buy colonies in box hives on account of their smaller cost and to transfer them to hives with movable frames. This should be done as soon as possible, for box hive colonies are of small value as producers. The best time to transfer is in the spring (during fruit bloom in the North) when the amount of honey and the population of the colony are at a minimum.
Transferring should not be delayed until spring merely because that season is best for the work. It may be done at any time during the active season, but, whenever possible, during a honey flow, to prevent robbing. If necessary, it may be done in a tent such as is often used in manipulating colonies. By choosing a time of the day when the largest number of bees are in the field the work will be lessened.
=Plan 1.=--The box hive should be moved a few feet from its stand and in its place should be put a hive with movable frames containing full sheets of foundation. The box hive should be turned upside down and a small, empty box inverted over it. By drumming continuously on the box hive with sticks for a considerable time the bees will be made to desert their combs and go to the upper box, and when most of them are clustered above, the bees may be dumped in front of the entrance of the hive which is to house them. The queen will usually be seen as the bees enter the hive, but, in case she has not left the old combs, more drumming will induce her to do so. It is necessary that the queen be in the hive before this manipulation is finished. The old box hive containing brood may now be placed right side up in a new location and in 21 days all of the worker brood will have emerged and probably some new queens will have been reared. These bees may then be drummed out and united with their former hive mates by vigorously smoking the colony and the drummed bees and allowing the latter to enter the hive through a perforated zinc to keep out the young queens. The comb in the box hive may then be melted up and any honey which it may contain used as the bee keeper sees fit. By this method good straight combs are obtained. If little honey is being gathered, the colony in the hive must be provided with food.