Part 4
An essential in honey production is to have the hive overflowing with bees at the beginning of the honey flow, so that the field force will be large enough to gather more honey than the bees need for their own use. To accomplish this, the bee keeper must see to it that brood rearing is heavy some time before the harvest, and he must know accurately when the honey flows come, so that he may time his manipulations properly. Brood rearing during the honey flow usually produces bees which consume stores, while brood reared before the flow furnishes the surplus gatherers. The best methods of procedure may be illustrated by giving as an example the conditions in the white clover region.
In the spring the bees gather pollen and nectar from various early flowers, and often a considerable quantity from fruit bloom and dandelions. During this time brood rearing is stimulated by the new honey, but afterwards there is usually a period of drought when brood rearing is normally diminished or not still more increased as it should be. This condition continues until the white clover flow comes on, usually with a rush, when brood rearing is again augmented. If such a condition exists, the bee keeper should keep brood rearing at a maximum by stimulative feeding during the drought. When white clover comes in bloom he may even find it desirable to prevent brood rearing to turn the attention of his bees to gathering.
A worker bee emerges from its cell 21 days after the egg is laid, and it usually begins field work in from 14 to 17 days later. It is evident, therefore, that an egg must be laid five weeks before the honey flow to produce a gatherer. Since the flow continues for some time and since bees often go to the field earlier than 14 days, egg laying should be pushed up to within two or three weeks of the opening of the honey flow. In addition to stimulative feeding, the care of the colony described under the heading of "Spring management" (p. 26) will increase brood production.
=THE PRODUCTION OF HONEY.=
The obtaining of honey from bees is generally the primary object of their culture. Bees gather nectar to make into honey for their own use as food, but generally store more than they need, and this surplus the bee keeper takes away. By managing colonies early in the spring as previously described the surplus may be considerably increased. The secret of maximum crops is to "Keep all colonies strong."
Honey is gathered in the form of nectar secreted by various flowers, is transformed by the bees, and stored in the comb. Bees also often gather a sweet liquid called "honeydew," produced by various scale insects and plant-lice, but the honeydew honey made from it is quite unlike floral honey in flavor and composition and should not be sold for honey. It is usually unpalatable and should never be used as winter food for bees, since it usually causes dysentery (p. 40). When nectar or honeydew has been thickened by evaporation and otherwise changed, the honey is sealed in the cells with cappings of beeswax.
It is not profitable to cultivate any plant solely for the nectar which it will produce, but various" plants, such as clovers, alfalfa, and buckwheat, are valuable for other purposes and are at the same time excellent honey plants; their cultivation is therefore a benefit to the bee keeper. It is often profitable to sow some plant on waste land; sweet clovers are often used in this way. The majority of honey-producing plants are wild, and the bee keeper must largely accept the locality as he finds it and manage his apiary so as to get the largest possible amount of the available nectar. Since bees often fly as far as 2 or 3 miles to obtain nectar, it is obvious that the bee keeper can rarely influence the nectar supply appreciably. Before deciding what kind of honey to produce the bee keeper should have a clear knowledge of the honey resources of his locality and of the demands of the market in which he will sell his crop. If the bulk of the honey is dark, or if the main honey flows are slow and protracted, it will not pay to produce comb honey, since the production of fancy comb honey depends on a rapid flow. The best localities for comb honey production are in the northern part of the United States east of the Mississippi River, where white clover is a rapid and abundant yielder. Other parts of the United States where similar conditions of rapidity of flow exist are also good. Unless these favorable conditions are present it is better to produce extracted honev.
=EXTRACTED HONEY.=[1]
[1] For farther discussion of the production and care of extracted honey, see Bulletin 75, Part I, Bureau of Entomology.
Extracted honey is honey which has been removed by means of centrifugal force from the combs in which the bees stored it. While it is possible to adulterate extracted honey by the addition of cheap sirups, this is rarely done, perhaps largely on account of the possibility of detection. It may be said to the credit of bee keepers as a class that they have always opposed adulteration of honey. In providing combs for the storage of honey to be extracted the usual practice is to add to the top of the brood chamber one or more hive bodies just like the one in which brood is reared, and fill these with frames. If preferred, shallower frames with bodies of proper size may be used, but most honey extractors are made for full-size frames. The surplus bodies should be put on in plenty of time to prevent the crowding of the brood chamber, and also to act as a preventive of swarming.
Honey for extracting should not be removed until it is well ripened and a large percentage of it capped. It is best, however, to remove the crop from each honey flow before another heavy producing plant comes into bloom, so that the different grades of honey may be kept separate. It is better to extract while honey is still coming in, so that the bees will not be apt to rob. The extracting should be done in a building, preferably one provided with wire-cloth at the windows (p. 9).
The frames containing honey to be extracted are removed from the hive, the cappings cut off with a sharp, warm knife (fig. 21) made specially for this purpose, and the frames are then put into the baskets of the honey extractor (fig. 22) . By revolving these rapidly the honey is thrown out of one side. The basket is then reversed and the honey from the other side is removed. The combs can then be returned to the bees to be refilled, or if the honey flow is over, they can be returned to the bees to be cleaned and then removed and stored until needed again. This method is much to be preferred to mashing the comb and straining out the honey, as was formerly done.
In large apiaries special boxes to receive cappings, capping melters to render the cappings directly into wax, and power-driven extractors are often used. These will be found listed in supply catalogues.
The extracted honey is then strained and run into vessels. It is advisable not to put it in bottles at once, but to let it settle in open vessels for a time, so that it can be skimmed. Most honeys will granulate and become quite hard if exposed to changes of temperature, and to liquefy granulated extracted honey it should be heated in a water bath. Never heat honey directly over a stove or flame, as the flavor is thereby injured. The honey should never be heated higher than 160° F. unless it is necessary to sterilize it because of contamination by disease.
Extracted honey is put up in bottles or small tin cans for the retail trade, and in 5-gallon square tin cans or barrels for the wholesale market. Great care must be exercised if barrels are used, as honey will absorb moisture from the wood, if any is present, and cause leakage. The tin package is much to be preferred in most cases. In bottling honey for retail trade, it will well repay the bee keeper or bottler to go to considerable expense and trouble to make an attractive package, as the increased price received will more than compensate for the increased labor and expense. Honey should be heated to 160° F. and kept there for a time before bottling, and the bottle should be filled as full as possible and sealed hermetically.
=Granulated honey.=--Some honeys, such as alfalfa, granulate quickly after being extracted. Such honeys are sometimes allowed to granulate in large cans and the semisolid mass is then cut into 1-pound bricks like a butter print and wrapped in paraffin paper. It may be put into paraffined receptacles before granulation, if desired. There is always a ready market for granulated honey, since many people prefer it to the liquid honey.
=COMB HONEY.=
Comb honey is honey as stored in the comb by the bees, the size and shape being determined by the small wooden sections provided by the bee keeper. Instead of having comb in large frames in which to store surplus honey, the bees are compelled to build comb in the sections and to store honey there (fig. 2). A full section weighs about 1 pound; larger ones are rarely used. By the use of modern sections and foundation the comb honey now produced is a truly beautiful, very uniform product, so uniform in fact that it is often charged that it must be artificially manufactured. The purchaser of a section of comb honey may be absolutely certain, however, that he is obtaining a product of the bees, for never has anyone been able to imitate the bees' work successfully. To show their confidence in the purity of comb honey, the National Bee Keepers' Association offers $1,000 for a single pound of artificial comb filled with an artificially prepared sirup, which is at all difficult of detection.
There are several different styles of sections now in use, the usual sizes being 4-1/4 inches square and 4 by 5 inches. There are also two methods of spacing, so that there will be room for the passage of bees from the brood chamber into the sections and from one super of sections to another. This is done either by cutting "bee ways" in the sections and using plain flat separators or by using "no bee-way" or plain sections and using "fences"--separators with cleats fastened on each side, to provide the bee space. To describe all the different "supers" or bodies for holding sections would be impossible in a bulletin of this size, and the reader must be referred to catalogues of dealers in beekeeping supplies. Instead of using regular comb honey supers, some bee keepers use wide frames to hold two tiers of sections. It is better, however, to have the supers smaller, so that the bees may be crowded more to produce full sections. To overcome this difficulty, shallow wide frames holding one tier of sections may be used. The majority of bee keepers find it advisable to use special comb honey supers.
In producing comb honey it is even more necessary to know the plants which produce surplus honey, and just when they come in bloom, than it is in extracted honey production. The colony should be so manipulated that the maximum field force is ready for the beginning of the flow. This requires care in spring management, and, above all, the prevention of swarming. Supers should be put on just before the heavy flow begins. A good indication of the need of supers is the whitening of the brood combs at the top. If the bees are in two hive bodies they should generally be reduced to one, and the frames should be filled with brood and honey so that as the new crop comes in the bees will carry it immediately to the sections above. If large hives are used for the brood chamber it is often advisable to remove some of the frames and use a division board to crowd the bees above. To prevent the queen from going into the sections to lay, a sheet of perforated zinc (fig. 23) may be put between the brood chamber and the super (fig. 2).
It is often difficult to get bees to begin work in the small sections, but this should be brought about as soon as possible to prevent loss of honey. If there are at hand some sections which have been partly drawn the previous year, these may be put in the super with the new sections as "bait." Another good plan is to put a shallow extracting frame on either side of the sections. If a few colonies in the apiary that are strong enough to go above refuse to do so, lift supers from some colonies that have started to work above and give them to the slow colonies. The super should generally be shaded somewhat to keep it from getting too hot. Artificial swarming will quickly force bees into the supers.
To produce the finest quality of comb honey full sheets of foundation should be used in the sections. Some bee keepers use nearly a full sheet hung from the top of the section and a narrow bottom starter. The use of foundation of worker-cell size is much preferred.
When one super becomes half full or more and there are indications that there will be honey enough to fill others, the first one should be raised and an empty one put on the hive under it. This tiering up can be continued as long as necessary, but it is advisable to remove filled sections as soon as possible after they are nicely capped, for they soon become discolored and less attractive. Honey removed immediately after capping finds a better market, but if left on the hive even until the end of the summer the quality of the honey is improved. A careful watch must be kept on the honey flow, so as to give the bees only enough sections to store the crop. If this is not done a lot of unfinished sections will be left at the end of the flow. Honeys from different sources should not be mixed in the sections, as it usually gives the comb a bad appearance
To remove bees from sections, the super may be put over a bee escape so that the bees can pass down but can not return, or the supers may be removed and covered with a wire-cloth-cone bee escape.
After sections are removed the wood should be scraped free of propolis (bee glue) and then packed in shipping cases (fig. 24) for the market. Shipping cases to hold 12, 24, or 48 sections, in which the various styles of sections fit exactly, are manufactured by dealers in supplies. In shipping these cases, several of them should be put in a box or crate packed in straw and paper and handles provided to reduce the chances of breakage. When loaded in a freight car the combs should be parallel with the length of the car.
In preparing comb honey for market it should be carefully graded so that the sections in each shipping case are as uniform as possible. Nothing will more likely cause wholesale purchasers to cut the price than to find the first row of sections in a case fancy and those behind of inferior grade. Grading rules have been adopted by various bee keepers' associations or drawn up by honey dealers. The following sets of rules are in general use:
Eastern Grading Rules for Comb Honey.
_Fancy._--All sections -well filled; combs straight; firmly attached to all four sides; the combs unsoiled by travel, stain, or otherwise; all the cells sealed except an occasional one; the outside surface of the wood well scraped of propolis.
_A No. 1._--All sections well filled except the row of cells next to the wood; combs straight; one-eighth part of comb surface soiled, or the entire surface slightly soiled; the outside surface of the wood well scraped of propolis.
_No. 1._--All sections well filled except the row of cells next to the wood; combs comparatively even; one-eighth part of comb surface soiled, or the entire surface slightly soiled.
_No. 2._--Three-fourths of the total surface must be filled and sealed.
_No. 3._--Must weigh at least half as much as a full-weight section.
In addition to this the honey is to be classified according to color, using the terms white, amber, and dark; that is, there will be "Fancy White," "No. 1 Dark," etc.
New Comb Honey Grading Rules Adopted by the Colorado State Bee Keepers' Association.
_No. 1 White._--Sections to be well filled and evenly capped, except the outside row, next to the wood ; honey white or slightly amber, comb and cappings white, and not projecting beyond the wood; wood to be well cleaned; cases of separatored honey to average 21 pounds net per case of 24 sections; no section in this grade to weigh less than 13-1/2 ounces. Cases of half-separatored honey to average not less than 22 pounds net per case of 24 sections. Cases of unseparatored honey to average not less than 23 pounds net per case of 24 sections.
_No. 1 Light Amber._--Sections to be well filled and evenly capped, except the outside row next to the wood; honey white or light amber; comb and cappings from white to off color, but not dark; comb not projecting beyond the wood; wood to be well cleaned. Cases of separatored honey to average 21 pounds net per case of 24 sections; no section in this grade to weigh less than 13-1/2 ounces. Cases of half-separatored honey to average not less than 22 pounds net per case of 24 sections. Cases of unseparatored honey to average not less than 23 pounds net per case of 24 sections.
_No. 2._--This includes all white honey, and amber honey not included in the above grades; sections to be fairly well filled and capped, no more than 25 uncapped cells, exclusive of outside row, permitted in this grade; wood to be well cleaned; no section in this grade to weigh less than 12 ounces. Cases of separatored honey to average not less than 19 pounds net. Cases of half-separatored honey to average not less than 20 pounds net per case of 24 sections. Cases of unseparatored honey to average not less than 21 pounds net per case of 24 sections.
=THE PRODUCTION OF WAX.=
Beeswax, which is secreted by the bees and used by them for building their combs, is an important commercial product. There are times in almost every apiary when there are combs to be melted up, and it pays to take care of even scraps of comb and the cappings taken off in extracting. A common method of taking out the wax is to melt the combs in a solar wax extractor. This is perhaps the most feasible method where little wax is produced, but considerable wax still remains in old brood combs after such heating. Various wax presses are on the market, or one can be made at home. If much wax is produced, the bee keeper should make a careful study of the methods of wax extraction, as there is usually much wax wasted even after pressing.
=PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING.=
After the main honey flow is over the management must depend on what may be expected later in the season from minor honey flows. If no crop is to be expected, the colony may well be kept only moderately strong, so that there will not be so many consumers in the hive.
In localities where winters are severe and breeding is suspended for several months great care should be taken that brood rearing is rather active during the late summer, so that the colony may go into winter with plenty of young bees. In case any queens show lack of vitality they should be replaced early, so that the bees will not become queenless during the winter.
The important considerations in wintering are plenty of young bees, a good queen, plenty of stores of good quality, sound hives, and proper protection from cold and dampness.
If, as cold weather approaches, the bees do not have stores enough, they must be fed. Every colony should have from 25 to 40 pounds, depending on the length of winter and the methods of wintering. It is better to have too much honey than not enough, for what is left is good next season. If feeding is practiced, honey may be used, but sirup made of granulated sugar is just as good and is perfectly safe. If honey is purchased for feeding, great care should be taken that it comes from a healthy apiary, otherwise the apiary may be ruined by disease. _Never feed honey bought on the open market._ The bees should be provided with stores early enough so that it will not be necessary to feed or to open the colonies after cold weather comes on. Honeydew honey should not be left in the hives, as it produces "dysentery." Some honeys are also not ideal for winter stores. Those which show a high percentage of gums (most tree honeys) are not so desirable, but will usually cause no trouble.
In wintering out of doors the amount of protection depends on the severity of the winter. In the South no packing is necessary, and even in very cold climates good colonies with plenty of stores can often pass the winter with little protection, but packing and protection make it necessary for the bees to generate less heat, and consequently they consume less stores and their vitality is not reduced. Dampness is probably harder for bees to withstand than cold, and when it is considered that bees give off considerable moisture, precautions should be taken that as it condenses it does not get on the cluster. An opening at the top would allow the moisture to pass out, but it would also waste heat, so it is better to put a mat of burlap or other absorbent material on top of the frames. The hive may also be packed in chaff, leaves, or other similar dry material to diminish the loss of heat. Some hives are made with double walls, the space being filled with chaff; these are good for outdoor wintering. The hive entrance should be lower than any other part of the hive, so that any condensed moisture may run out. The hives should be sound and the covers tight and waterproof.
Entrances should be contracted in cold weather not only to keep out cold wind, but to prevent mice from entering. There should always be enough room, however, for bees to pass in and out if warmer weather permits a flight.
In the hands of experienced bee keepers cellar wintering is very successful, but this method requires careful study. The cellar must be dry and so protected that the temperature never varies more than from 40 to 45° F.; 43° F. seems to be the optimum temperature. The ventilation must be good or the bees become fretful. Light should not be admitted to the cellar, and consequently some means of indirect ventilation is necessary.
Cellar wintering requires the consumption of less honey to maintain the proper temperature in the cluster and is therefore economical. Bees so wintered do not have an opportunity for a cleansing flight, often for several months, but the low consumption makes this less necessary. Some bee keepers advocate carrying the colonies out a few times on warm days, but it is not fully established whether this is entirely beneficial and it is usually not practiced.
The time for putting colonies in the cellar is a point of dispute, and practice in this regard varies considerably. They should certainly be put in before the weather becomes severe and as soon as they have ceased brood rearing. The time chosen may be at night when they are all in the hive, or on some chilly day.
The hives may be piled one on top of the other, the lower tier raised a little from the floor. The entrances should not be contracted unless the colony is comparatively weak. It is usually not considered good policy to close the entrances with ordinary wire cloth, as the dead bees which accumulate more or less on the bottom boards may cut off ventilation, and the entrance should be free so that these may be cleaned out.
It is, however, good policy to cover the entrance with wire-cloth having three meshes to the inch to keep out mice.