Bull. 1, new series, Div. of Entomology, U. S. Agriculture.

Frontispiece.

An Apiary in Maryland.

Bulletin No. 1. New Series. (Third Edition.)

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY.

THE HONEY BEE:
A MANUAL OF
INSTRUCTION IN APICULTURE

BY

FRANK BENTON, M. S.,

ASSISTANT ENTOMOLOGIST.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1899.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Division of Entomology,
Washington, D. C, May 27, 1899.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for republication a manual entitled, The Honey Bee: A Manual of Instruction in Apiculture, by Mr. Frank Benton, who has been in charge of the apiarian work of this Division for several years. The constant demand for information concerning bee culture for a long time indicated a need for such a public manual, and the work was begun and nearly completed under the direction of my predecessor, Dr. G. V. Riley. The manuscript was submitted September 20, 1895, and the edition of 1,000 copies was soon exhausted. In April, 1896, Congress ordered a reprint of 20,000 copies, in which some corrections and additions were made by the author. He has also taken advantage of the reprint of another (the third) edition to make some slight additional changes.

The apiarian industry in the United States is practically a development of the last forty years, although isolated individuals were engaged in this work long prior to that time. The importance of the industry at the present day is not generally realized, and the following figures will probably be surprising to many well-informed individuals:

As supplementary to these figures it may be stated that in addition to the 15 steam-power factories there is a very largo number of smaller factories, using mainly hand and horse power, which are engaged in the production of supplies, such as hives, smokers, honey extractors, sections, comb foundation, and other apiarian apparatus. It is estimated by Mr. Benton that the present existing flora of the United States could undoubtedly support, with the same average profit, ten times the number of colonies of bees it now supports. This branch of agricultural industry does not impoverish the soil in the least, but, on the contrary, results in better seed and fruit crops. The total money gain to the country from the prosecution of this industry would undoubtedly be placed at several times the amount given in the table above were we only able to estimate in dollars and cents the result of the work of bees in cross fertilizing the blossoms of fruit crops. In support of this it is only necessary to refer to the fact that recent investigations by another division of this Department have shown that certain varieties of pear are nearly or quite sterile unless bees bring pollen from other distinct varieties for their complete cross fertilization. I respectfully recommend the publication of this manual as No. 1 of the new series of bulletins of this Division.

Respectfully,
L. O. Howard,
Entomologist.

Hon. James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture.

PREFACE.

This treatise is designed to make the practical management of an apiary plain to those whose acquaintance with the subject is limited, and to direct such as may find in it a pleasant and profitable occupation to a system of management which may be followed on an extensive scale with the certainty of fair remuneration for the labor and capital required. With this object in view the author has deemed it best to treat the natural history of the bee but briefly, and also to give little space to matters which are in question, or to different methods of accomplishing given results, or to such as are only adapted to a limited portion of the country, but rather to explain one settled way widely applicable and which will lead to success. The methods advised here are such as the author has found practical during an extended experience, yet in regard to numerous details many works—both foreign and American—have been consulted, none more freely than Langstroth on the Honey Bee, revised by Chas. Dadant & Son, and Bees and Bee Keeping, by Prof. F. R. Cheshire.

Many of the illustrations were specially prepared for this bulletin. Some have been taken from publications of the Department of Agriculture. These include some of the smaller illustrations of honey-producing plants and also Plates III to X, which are from reports of the Botanist of the Department. Plates II and XI, and figures 5, 6, 8, 44, 50, 51, and 76 are copied from Cheshire; figs. 08 and 69 from Simmins. The Department is also under obligations to the A. I. Root Company, to Chas. Dadant & Son, T. F. Bingham, Hayek Bros., Tan Allen & Williams, and Dr. T. L. Tinker, for electrotypes.

Frank Benton.

Washington, D. C.

CONTENTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATES.

TEXT FIGURES.

MANUAL OF APICULTURE.

CHAPTER I.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE HONEY BEE

THE DIFFERENT SPECIES AND RACES.

A knowledge of the structural peculiarities and the life history of bees will aid anyone who essays to manage them for profit in determining more accurately what conditions are necessary to their greatest welfare. It is not to be understood that such knowledge will take the place of an acquaintance with those conditions under which actual practice has shown that bees thrive, but that it forms a good basis for an understanding of whatever practice has found best in the management of these industrious and profitable insects. It will also assist in pointing out in what way practice can be improved.

In a small treatise like the present one, the object of which is to give in plain language the information needed by one who engages in bee keeping primarily for profit, it is not possible to do more than present a mere outline of classification and a few general facts regarding structure. The reader who finds them interesting and valuable in his work is reminded that the treatment of these matters in more extended volumes, such as Langstroth's, Cheshire's, etc., will be found far more so.

Singling out from the order Hymenoptera, or membranous-winged insects, the family Apidæ, or bee family, several marked types called genera are seen to compose it, such as Apis (the hive bee), Bombus (the bumble bee), Xylocopa (the carpenter bee), Megachile (the leaf-cutter), Melipona (the stingless honey bee of the American tropics), etc. All of these are very interesting to study, and each fulfills a purpose in the economy of nature; but the plan of these pages can only be to consider the first genus, Apis, or the hive bee. Incidentally it may be mentioned that the plan of introducing the stingless bees (Melipona) from tropical America has frequently been brought up with the expectation of realizing important practical results from it. These bees might possibly be kept in the warmer portions of our country, but their honey yield is small, not well ripened, and not easily harvested in good shape, since the honey cells are of dark wax, like that made by our bumble bees, and they are not arranged in regular order, but in irregular clumps like those of bumble bees. The writer had a colony under observation last year, and experiments have been made with them in their native lands as well as in European countries. Of the genus Apis the only representative in this country is mellifera, although several others are natives of Asia and Africa.

THE COMMON EAST INDIAN HONEY BEE.

(Apis indica Fab.)

The common bee of southern Asia is kept in very limited numbers and with a small degree of profit in earthen jars and sections of hollow trees in portions of the British and Dutch East Indies. They are also found wild, and build when in this state in hollow trees and in rock clefts. Their combs, composed of hexagonal wax cells, are ranged parallel to each other like those of A. mellifera, but the worker brood cells are smaller than those of our ordinary bees, showing 36 to the square inch of surface instead of 29, while the comb where worker brood is reared, instead of having, like that of A. mellifera, a thickness of seven-eighths inch, is but five-eighths inch thick. (Fig. 1.)

Fig. 1.—Worker cells of common East Indian honey bee (Apis indica); natural size. (Original.)

The workers.—The bodies of these, three-eighths inch long when empty, measure about one-half inch when dilated with honey. The thorax is covered with brownish hair and the shield or crescent between the wings is large and yellow. The abdomen is yellow underneath. Above it presents a ringed appearance, the anterior part of each segment being orange yellow, while the posterior part shows bands of brown of greater or less width and covered with whitish-brown hairs; tip black. They are nimble on foot and on the wing, and active gatherers.

The queens.—The queens are large in proportion to their workers and are quite prolific; color, leather or dark coppery.

The drones.—These are only slightly larger than the workers; color, jet-like blue black, with no yellow, their strong wings showing changing hues like those of wasps.

Manipulations with colonies of these bees are easy to perform if smoke be used, and though they are more excitable than our common hive bees, this peculiarity does not lead them to sting more, but seems rather to proceed from fear. The sting is also less severe.

Under the rude methods thus far employed in the management of this bee no great yields of honey are obtained, some 10 or 12 pounds having been the most reported from a single hive. It is quite probable that if imported into this country it would do more. These bees would no doubt visit many small flowers not frequented by the hive bees we now have, and whose nectar is therefore wasted, but very likely they might not withstand the severe winters of the North unless furnished with such extra protection as would be afforded by quite warm cellars or special repositories.

THE TINY EAST INDIAN HONEY BEE.

(Apis florea Fab.)

This bee, also a native of East India, is the smallest known species of the genus. It builds in the open air, attaching a single comb to a twig of a shrub or small tree. This comb is only about the size of a man's hand and is exceedingly delicate, there being on each side 100 worker cells to the square inch of surface (figs. 2 and 3). The workers, more slender than house flies, though longer bodied, are blue-black in color, with the anterior third of the abdomen bright orange. Colonies of these bees accumulate so little surplus honey as to give no hope that their cultivation would be profitable.

Fig 2.—Worker cells of tiny East Indian honey bee (Apis florea); natural size. (Original).

THE GIANT EAST INDIAN HONEY BEE.

(Apis dorsata Fab.)

This large bee ([Plate I, figs. 2 and 3]), which might not be inappropriately styled the Giant East Indian bee, has its home also in the far East—both on the continent of Asia and the adjacent islands. There are probably several varieties, more or less marked, of this species, and very likely Apis zonata Guér. of the Philippine Islands, reported to be even larger than A. dorsata, will prove on further investigation to be only a variety of the latter. All the varieties of these bees build huge combs of very pure wax—often 5 to 6 feet in length and 3 to 4 feet in width, which they attach to overhanging ledges of rocks or to large limbs of lofty trees in the primitive forests or jungles. When attached to limbs of trees they are built singly and present much the same appearance as those of the tiny East Indian bee, shown in the accompanying figure ([fig. 3]). The Giant bee, however, quite in contradistinction to the other species of Apis mentioned here, does not construct larger cells in which to rear drones, these and the workers being produced in cells of the same size. Of these bees—long a sort of a myth to the bee keepers of America and Europe—strange stories have been told. It has been stated that they build their combs horizontally, after the manner of paper-making wasps; that they are so given to wandering as to make it impossible to keep them in hives, and that their ferocity renders them objects greatly to be dreaded. The first real information regarding these points was given by the author, lb 4 visited India in 1880-81 for the purpose of obtaining colonies of Apis dorsata. These were procured in the jungles, cutting the combs from their original attachments, and it was thus ascertained that (as might have been expected in the case of any species of Apis), their combs are always built perpendicularly; also that the colonies placed in frame hives and permitted to fly freely did not desert these habitations and that, far from being ferocious, these colonies were easily handled by proper precautions, without even the use of smoke. It was also proved by the quantity of honey and wax present that they are good gatherers. The execution at that time of the plan of bringing these bees to the United States was prevented only by severe illness contracted in India.

Fig. 3.—Comb of tiny East Indian honey bee (Apis florea) one-third natural sized. (Original.)

These large bees would doubtless be able to get honey from flowers whose nectaries are located out of reach of ordinary bees, notably those of the red clover, now visited chiefly by bumble bees and which it is thought the East Indian bees might pollinate and cause to produce seed more abundantly. Even if no further utilizable, they might prove an important factor in the production in the Southern States of large quantities of excellent beeswax, now such an expensive article. Should these bees and the common East Indian bee (Apis indica), previously referred to, visit in the main only such flowers as are not adapted to our hive bees, their introduction, wherever it could be made successful, would, without decreasing the yield from our hive bees, add materially to the honey and wax production of the country. Theoretical conclusions as to the results of such an introduction can not be of much account unless based upon an intimate acquaintance with the nature and habits of the bees to be introduced. Enough is known of the small bee to remove all doubt regarding the possibility of its successful introduction, and it is also probable that the large one would prove valuable. In neither case does there appear any possibility that evil results might follow their introduction. There are also numerous other varieties or species of bees in Africa and Asia about which no more or even less is known, but to investigate them fully will require much time and considerable expense. It is a subject, however, that should receive careful consideration because of the possible benefits to apiculture and the wider beneficial effects on agriculture.

THE COMMON HIVE OR HONEY BEE.

(Apis mellifera Linn.)

Besides the common brown or German bee imported from Europe to this country some time in the seventeenth century and now widely spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific, several other races have been brought here—the Italian in 1860, and later the Egyptian, the Cyprian, the Syrian, the Palestine, the Carniolan ([Plate I, figs. 1, 4, and 5]), and the Tunisian. Of these the brown or German, the Italian, and, in a few apiaries, the Carniolan bees are probably the only races existing pure in the United States, the others having become more or less hybridized with the brown race or among themselves or their cultivation having been discontinued. It should also be remarked that so few have kept their Carniolans pure that purchasers who wish this race should use caution in their selection or else import their own breeding queens. There are many breeders of Italians from whom good stock can be obtained. Egyptian bees were tried some thirty years ago, but only to a very limited extent, and, as has been the case with Syrians and Palestines imported in 1880, and whose test was more prolonged and general, they were condemned as inferior in temper and wintering qualities to the races of bees already here, it not being thought that these points of inferiority were sufficiently balanced by their greater prolificness and their greater energy in honey collecting.

Fig. 4.—Worker cells of common honey bee (Apis mellifera); natural size. (Original.)

The Tunisians, for similar reasons and also because they are great collectors of propolis, never became popular, although a persistent attempt was made a few years since to create sale for them under the new name of "Punic bees," the undesirable qualities of the race having previously been made known, under the original name, by the author, who had tested them carefully for several years—a part of the time in Tunis.

Cyprians.—Bees of the race native to the Island of Cyprus have produced the largest yield of honey on record from a single colony in this country, 1,000 pounds in one season. Everyone who has fairly tested them admits their wonderful honey-gathering powers and their persevering courage in their labors even when the flowers are secreting honey but scantily. They winter well and defend their hives against robber bees and other enemies with greater energy than any other known race. When storing honey Cyprians till the cells quite fall before sealing, and thus the capping rests against the honey, presenting a semitransparent or "watery" appearance, which is undesirable. They are extremely sensitive, hence easily angered by rough or bungling manipulators, and when once thoroughly aroused are very energetic in the use of their stings. These faults have caused a very general rejection of Cyprians, especially by those who produce comb honey. Even the producers of extracted honey do not seem to have learned how to manipulate Cyprians easily and without the use of much smoke, nor how much more rapidly they could free their extracting combs from Cyprian bees than from Italians. Nor have they seemed to count as of much importance the fact that Cyprians, unlike Italians and German or common bees, do not volunteer an attack when undisturbed; that they will, in fact, let one pass and repass their hives quite unmolested and even under such circumstances as would call forth a vigorous and very disagreeable protest from the other races just mentioned. It is to be regretted that there has been such a widespread rejection of a race having such important and well-established excellent qualities. It would be easier by selection in breeding to reduce the faults of this race than to bring any other cultivated race to their equal in the other desirable points.

Cyprians are smaller-bodied and more slender than bees of European races. The abdomen is also more pointed and shows, when the bees are purely bred, three light orange bands on the three segments nearest the thorax. The underside of the abdomen is even lighter orange colored nearly or quite to the tip. The postscutellum—the small lunule-like prominence on the thorax between the bases of the wings—is likewise orange colored instead of dull, as in European races. The rest of the thorax is covered with a russet-brown pubescence. Cyprians are the yellowest of the original races, and their bright colors and symmetrical forms render them attractive objects.

Italians.—Through the agency of the United States Department of Agriculture bees of this race were introduced direct from Italy in 1860. There had previously been repeated individual efforts to secure Italians bred in Germany, where the race had been introduced some years earlier, and a small number of queens had been landed here alive in the autumn of 1859, but most of these died the following winter and the few remaining alive seem not to have been multiplied as rapidly as those obtained in Italy by a purchasing agent of the Department of Agriculture and landed here early in 1860. Their good qualities were soon appreciated, and they had become well established and widely spread long before the Cyprians, imported twenty years later. For this reason, together with the fact that they cap their surplus combs whiter than some other races and because less skill is required in subduing and handling Italians, they have retained their popularity over bees which, though better honey gatherers, are more nervous under manipulation. Their golden-yellow color has also proved so attractive to many that the good qualities of more somber-hued races—gentler, better winterers, and better comb builders—have not received due consideration. Italians are, however, certainly preferable to the common brown or black bees, for they show greater energy in gathering honey and in the defense of their hives against moth larvæ and robber bees, while at the same time they are gentler under manipulation than the blacks, though they do not winter as well in severe climates.

Italian workers nearly equal Garniolans in size, and show across the abdomen when the latter is distended with honey not less than three yellow bands, which approach more or less a reddish or dark leathery color. By selection in some instances, and in others by the introduction of Cyprian blood, Italians and Italian hybrids have recently been bred which show four or five yellow bands or which are even yellow to the tip of the abdomen. They are certainly pleasing to the eye, and in case due heed has been given to the vigor and working qualities of the stock selected when establishing the strain, no valid objection can be brought against them except the tendency they have to revert to the original type of Italians. This is due to the comparatively short time they have been bred, and with each season's selection will of course grow less.

Carniolans.—These, the gray bees from the elevated Alpine province of Carniola, Austria, are the gentlest of all races, and as, besides their other good qualities, they winter the best of any, it is not surprising to see that they have steadily grown in favor. Their sealed combs are exceedingly white, as they do not fill the cells so full that the honey touches the capping, and they gather little propolis, qualities highly appreciated by the producer of comb honey. They are quite prolific, and if kept in small hives, such as have been popularized of late in the United States, are somewhat more inclined to swarm than the other races introduced here. This tendency becomes more pronounced when they are taken into a country whose summers are hot, like ours, and their hives are not well shaded, as they have been bred for centuries, with only slight introduction of outside blood, in a climate where the summers are short and cool. Moreover, the practice in Carniola is to place the long, shallow hives used almost exclusively there, in beehouses and side by side, one above the other, with intervening air spaces, so that at most only the front ends are exposed to the sun. This management long continued has doubtless tended to develop and fix more or less permanently in this race certain characteristics which should be taken into account in their management elsewhere. With these precautions they do well in all parts of the United States. (See [Plate I, figs. 1, 4, and 5].)

The Carniolan worker is readily recognized by its large form, less pointed abdomen, and general ashy gray coat, the abdominal segments especially presenting a ringed appearance on account of silvery white hairs which cover the posterior half of each of these segments. By crossing Carniolans with Italians or with Cyprians a yellow type with silvery rings is produced, and by continued selection in breeding the gentle disposition of the Carniolans can be secured with the greater honey-gathering powers of Cyprians should these be employed in forming the new strain.

German, common black, or brown bees.—These bees are found commonly throughout our country from ocean to ocean, both wild and domesticated. Exactly when they were introduced from Europe is not known, but considerable evidence exists which shows that there were no hive bees (Apis mellifera) in this country for some time after the first colonies were established; also, it was not until near the close of the last century that they reached the Mississippi, and less than half a century has passed since the first were successfully landed on the Pacific Coast.

Many bee keepers, having more attractively colored and frequently better bees, are inclined to consider this race as possessing hardly any redeeming qualities, or at least to underrate these because accompanied by undesirable traits. While it is true that they have some serious faults, the latter are not so great as those of some other races. They have become thoroughly acclimated since their first importation, over two centuries ago, and besides possessing good wintering and comb-building qualities, they will, when the flow of honey is quite abundant, generally equal Italians in gathering. But the disposition which bees of this race have of flying toward one who approaches the apiary and stinging him, even though the hives have not been molested, their way of running excitedly over the combs and dropping in bunches when they are handled, besides stinging the backs of the operator's hands, unless the whole colony has first been thoroughly subdued and the bees induced to gorge themselves with honey, or are constantly deluged with smoke, are very annoying to the novice who undertakes to perform necessary manipulations with them, and may even so discourage and daunt him as to cause the neglect of work of great importance to the welfare of the colony. The easy discouragement of bees of this race when a sudden check in the flow of honey occurs is also a peculiarity which does not commend them. These things, tending to reduce profits, often dampen the beginner's enthusiasm before he has acquired the knowledge and skill necessary to make the work genuinely successful. He had therefore better choose either Italians or Carniolans, and use as breeders only queens that are known to have mated purely.

The common race shows considerable variation in its markings and qualities. The workers have a dull, rusty brown color, especially about the thorax. Some strains are however much darker than others and in general the drones are darker than the workers. In size workers, drones, and queens of this race are intermediate between the other European races and those from the Orient. The same care and skill applied in the selection of breeding stock would result in as great improvement in this as in any of the more attractive yellow races.

CHAPTER II.
KINDS OF BEES COMPOSING A COLONY—BEE PRODUCTS AND DESCRIPTION OF COMBS—DEVELOPMENT OF BROOD.

KINDS OF BEES IN A COLONY.

Fig. 5.—Ovaries of queen and workers: A, abdomen of queen—under side (magnified eight times); P, petiole; O, O, ovaries; hs, position filled by honey sac; ds, position through which digestive system passes; od, oviduct; co.d, common oviduct; E, egg-passing oviduct; s, spermatheca; i, intestine; po, poison bag; p.g, poison gland; st, sting; p, palpi. B, rudimentary ovaries of ordinary worker; sp, rudimentary spermatheca. C, partially developed ovaries of fertile worker; sp, rudimentary spermatheca. (From Cheshire.)

Each colony of bees in good condition at the opening of the season contains a laying queen and some 30,000 to 40,000 worker bees, or six to eight quarts by measurement. Besides this there should be four, five, or even more combs fairly stocked with developing brood, with a good supply of honey about it. Drones may also be present, even several hundred in number, although it is better to limit their production to selected hives, which in the main it is not difficult to accomplish.

Under normal conditions the queen lays all of the eggs which are deposited in the hive, being capable of depositing under favorable conditions as many as 4,000 in twenty-four hours. Ordinarily she mates but once, flying from the hive to meet the drone—the male bee—high in the air, when five to nine days old generally, although this time varies under different climatic conditions as well as with different races. Seminal fluid sufficient to impregnate the greater number of eggs she will deposit during the next two or three years (sometimes even four or five years) is stored at the time of mating in a sac—the spermatheca, opening into the oviduct or egg-passage ([fig. 5, s]). The queen seems to be able to control this opening so as to fertilize eggs or not as she wills at the time of depositing them. If fertilized they develop into workers or queens according to the character of the food given, the size and shape of the cell, etc.; if unfertilized, into drones. The queen's life may extend over a period of four or five years, but three years is quite as long as any queen ought to be kept, unless a particularly valuable one for breeding purposes and not easy to replace. Indeed, if full advantage be taken of her laying powers it will rarely be found profitable to retain a queen longer than two years.

Upon the workers, which are undeveloped females, devolves all the labor of gathering honey, pollen, propolis, and bringing water, secreting wax, building combs, stopping up crevices in the hive, nursing the brood, and defending the hives. To enable them to do all this they are furnished with highly specialized organs. These will be more fully referred to in connection with the description of the products gathered and prepared by the workers.

Fig. 6.—A, Head of queen, magnified ten times, showing smaller compound eyes at sides, and three ocelli on vertex of head; n, jaw notch. B, head of drone, magnified ten times, showing larger compound eyes at sides, with three ocelli between; n, jaw notch. (From Cheshire.)

The drones, aside from contributing somewhat to the general warmth of the hive necessary to the development of the brood, seem to have no other office but that connected with reproduction. In the wild state colonies of bees are widely separated, being located wherever the swarms chance to have found hollow trees or rock cavities, hence the production of many drones has been provided for, so young queens flying out to mate will not run too many risks from bird and insect enemies, storms, etc. Mating in the hive would result in too continuous in-and-in breeding, producing loss of vigor. As we find it arranged, the most vigorous are the most likely to reproduce their species.

At the time of the queen's mating there are in the hive neither eggs nor young larvæ from which to rear another queen; thus, should she be lost, no more fertilized eggs would be deposited, and the old workers gradually dying off without being replaced by young ones, the colony would become extinct in the course of a few months at most, or meet a speedier fate through intruders, such as wax-moth larvæ, robber bees, wasps, etc., which its weakness would prevent its repelling longer; or cold is very likely to finish such a decimated colony, especially as the bees, because queenless, are uneasy and do not cluster compactly.

The loss of queens while flying out to mate is evidently one of the provisions in nature to prevent bees from too great multiplication, for were there no such checks they would soon become a pest in the land. On the other hand, the risk to the queen is not uselessly increased, for she mates but once during her life.

Fig. 7.—Modifications of the legs of different bees: A, Apis: a, wax pincer and outer view of hind leg; b, inner aspect of wax pincer and leg; c, compound hairs holding grains of pollen; d, anterior leg, showing antenna cleaner; e, spur on tibia of middle leg. B, Melipona: f, peculiar group of spines at apex of tibia of hind leg; g, inner aspect of wax pincer and first joint of tarsus. C, Bombus: h, wax pincer; i, inner view of same and first joint of tarsus—all enlarged. (From Insect Life.)

BEE PRODUCTS AND ORGANS USED IN THEIR PREPARATION.

Fig. 8.—Head and tongue of Apis mellifera worker (magnified twelve times), a, Antenna, or feeler; m, mandibula, or outer jaw; g, gum flap, or epipharynx; mxp, maxillary palpus; pg, paraglossa; mx, maxilla, or inner jaw; lp, labial palpus, l, ligula, or tongue; b, bouton, or spoon of the same. (Reduced from Cheshire.)

Pollen and honey form the food of honey bees and their developing brood. Both of these are plant products which are only modified somewhat by the manipulation to which they are subjected by the bees and are then stored in waxen cells if not wanted for immediate use. Pollen, the fertilizing dust of flowers, is carried home by the bees in small pellets held in basket-like depressions on each of the hind legs. The hairs covering the whole surface of the bee's body are more or less serviceable in enabling the bee to collect pollen, but those on the under side of the abdomen are most likely to get well dusted, and the rows of hairs, nine in number, known as pollen brushes, located on the inner surface of the first tarsal joint ([fig. 7, b]), are then brought into use to brush out this pollen. When these brushes are filled with pollen the hind legs are crossed during flight and the pollen combed out by the spine-like hairs that fringe the posterior margin of the tibial joint—that above a in [fig. 7]. The outer surface of this joint is depressed, and this, with the rows of curved hairs on the anterior margin and the straighter ones just referred to forms a basket like cavity known as the corbiculum or pollen basket, represented by the longest joints of the legs, A, B, and C, [fig. 7]. Into this the pollen falls, and with the middle pair of legs is tamped down for transportation to the hive. Having arrived there, the bee thrusts its hind legs into a cell located as near to the brood nest as may be, and loosening the pellets lets them fall into the bottom of the cell. The tibial spur ([fig. 7, e]) on each middle leg is, as Professor Cheshire has pointed out, probably of use in prying the pellets out. The latter are simply dropped into cells and left for some other bee to pack down by kneading or pressing with its mandibles. Various colors—yellow, brown, red, slate, etc., according to the kinds of flowers from which gathered—frequently show in layers in the same cell. Often when partly filled with pollen the cell is then filled up with honey and sealed more or less hermetically with wax. The bees store the pollen, for convenience in feeding, above and at the sides of the brood and as near to it as possible, the comb on each side of the brood nest being generally well stored with it.

NECTAR AND HONEY.

The liquid secreted in the nectaries of flowers is usually quite thin, containing, when just gathered, a large per centage of water. Bees suck or lap it up from such flowers as they can reach with their flexible, sucking tongue, 0.25 to 0.28 inch long. ([Fig. 8, l.]) This nectar is taken into the honey sac ([Plate II, h.s.]) located in the abdomen, for transportation to the hive. It is possible that part of the water is eliminated by the gatherers before they reach the hive. A Russian bee keeper, M. Nassanoff, while dissecting a worker, discovered between the fifth and sixth abdominal segments a small canal, to which he attributed an excretory function, and Zoubareff, having noticed bees ejecting a watery substance while returning from the fields, suggested that this gland probably served to separate a portion of the water from the nectar, the liquid deposited in the cells appearing to contain less of it than that just secreted by the flowers.

However this maybe, evaporation takes place rapidly in the heat of the hive after the nectar or thin honey has been stored, as it is temporarily, in open cells. Besides being thin, the nectar has at first a raw, rank taste, generally the flavor and odor peculiar to the plant from which gathered, and these are frequently far from agreeable. To make from this raw product the healthful and delicious table luxury which honey constitutes—"fit food for the gods"—is another of the functions peculiar to the worker bee. The first step is the stationing of workers in lines near the hive entrances. These, by incessant buzzing of their wings, drive currents of air into and out of the hive and over the comb surfaces. If the hand be held before the entrance at such a time a strong current of warm air may be felt coming out. The loud buzzing heard at night during the summer time is due to the wings of workers engaged chiefly in ripening nectar. Instead of being at rest, as many suppose, the busy workers are caring for the last lot of gathered nectar and making room for further accessions. This may go on far into the night, or even all night, to a greater or less extent, the loudness and activity being proportionate to the amount and thinness of the liquid. Frequently the ripening honey is removed from one set of cells and placed in others. This may be to gain the use of certain combs for the queen, or possibly it is merely incidental to the manipulation the bees wish to give it. When, finally, the process has been completed, it is found that the water content has usually been reduced to 10 or 12 per cent, and that the disagreeable odors and flavors, probably due to volatile oils, have also been driven off in a great measure, if not wholly, by the heat of the hive, largely generated by the bees. During the manipulation an antiseptic—formic acid—secreted by glands in the head of the bee, and it is also possible other glandular secretions, have been added. The finished product is stored in waxen cells above and around the brood nest and the main cluster of bees, as far from the entrance as it can be and still be near to the brood and bees. The work of sealing with waxen caps then goes forward rapidly, the covering being more or less porous.

Each kind of honey has its distinctive flavor and aroma, derived, as already indicated, mainly from the particular blossoms by which it was secreted, but modified and softened by the manipulation given it in the hives. When the secretion is abundant in a flower having a short or open corolla, hence one from which the bees find it easy to obtain the honey, they will confine their visits to that kind if the latter is present in sufficient numbers. Thus it is that linden, white clover, buckwheat, white sage, mesquite, sourwood, aster, tulip tree, mangrove, orange, and other kinds of honey may be harvested separately, and each be readily recognizable by its color, flavor, consistency, and aroma. When, however, no great honey yielder is present in large quantity and the source is miscellaneous, all manner of combinations of qualities may exist, introducing great and often agreeable variety. Thus the medicinal qualities and the food value of different kinds of honey differ as greatly as do their prices on the market.

PROPOLIS.

This substance, commonly known as "bee glue," is obtained by the bees from the buds and crevices of trees, and is carried to the hives in the corbicula or basket-like cavities on the outside of the tibial joints of the workers' hind legs, the same as they carry pollen. The workers with their mandibles scrape together and bite off the particles of propolis, and with the front and middle legs pass them back to the baskets, where the middle legs and feet are used to tamp them down. The pellets can be readily distinguished from those of pollen, the latter being dull and granular in appearance, while the freshly gathered propolis is compact and shiny. This resinous material, which becomes hard soon after it is gathered, is at first quite sticky, and the bee bringing it requires aid in unloading. Another worker takes hold of the mass with its jaws, and by united exertion they get it out of the pocket, though often by piecemeal and in long threads. It is not stored in cells, but is used at once to stop up crevices in the hives and to varnish the whole interior surface, as well as to glue movable portions fast, also in strengthening the combs at their attachments, and if the latter are designed exclusively for honey, and especially if not filled at once, the edges of their completed cells receive a thin coating of propolis, which adds considerably to their strength. The bees often make the flight hole smaller by filling a part of it with masses of propolis, sometimes mixed with old wax. Carniolans gather the least and Tunisians the most propolis of any of the different races. On this account the former are better suited than the latter to the production of fancy white comb honey.

BEE POISON AND THE STING.

The worker and the queen are supplied with another organ which is of great importance to them, namely, the sting; for without this the hard-earned stores of the hive would soon be a prey to all manner of marauders, and the queen would be deprived of an organ of occasional use to her in dispatching rivals, and of daily use to her during the working season in the deposition of eggs. The darts work independently and alternately, and are connected at the base with the poison sac, without whose powerful contents such a tiny weapon would be wholly ineffective. Poison glands pour an acid secretion—largely formic acid—into this sac, whence it is conveyed to the tip of the sting along the groove or canal formed by the junction of the sheath and the darts. The sting being but an ovipositor modified also another purpose in addition to oviposition, in the perfect female (the queen) its main use is in placing the eggs in their proper position in the bottoms of the cells.

Formic acid is known to have considerable antiseptic properties. Chemical tests show its presence in well-ripened honey, but not in freshly gathered nectar. The natural conclusion is that it has been added by the bees to assist in the preservation of the honey. In what manner it is supplied has frequently been questioned. Tests applied to the blood of the bee show its presence there, and the secretions of the head glands show still larger quantities. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that these glands, as well as the poison glands themselves secrete formic acid, and that the honey receives its portion from the former, the head glands, upon being disgorged from the honey-sac or during the manipulation to which it is subjected in the hive.

WATER.

During cold or cool weather much condensation of moisture takes place in wooden hives as these are usually arranged. The water, collecting in drops on the interior walls of the hive and on the cold, sealed honey, often trickles down over the cluster of bees, to their great injury. It has been claimed that when brood rearing begins this condensed moisture will be utilized in the preparation of brood food. Very possibly it may, yet its use is probably detrimental, since it is charged with waste products of the hive—those of respiration, etc. In its absence the water contained in the honey, if the latter has not granulated, seems to be sufficient. Later, however, when no condensation takes place in the hive and the greater number of developing larvæ require considerable supplies of water in their food, special trips are made to brooks and pools for it, and dew is often gathered from leaves.

SILK.

The larval bee produces a small amount of silk from glands in its head. The pupal cell is partially lined with this. Later, as the bee develops, there being no further use for the glands, they become atrophied.

WAX.

The light colored pellets which are carried into the hive on the hind legs of the workers, and which have been described as pollen, are often mistaken for wax. The fact is, wax is not gathered in the form in which we see it, except in rare instances, when, bits of comb having been left about, small quantities will be loaded up and taken in as pellets on the legs. Ordinarily it comes into the hive in the shape of honey and is transformed by the workers within their own bodies into wax. This production is wholly confined to the workers, for although the queen has wax plates 011 the underside of the abdomen and wax glands beneath them, yet both are less developed than in the workers and are never used. The wax plates of the worker overlying the secreting glands are well shown in [fig. 9], those of the queen and of the related genera, Bombus and Melipona, being shown for comparison. During wax secretion, that is, when combs are being built or honey cells sealed over, a high temperature is maintained in the hive, and many workers may be seen to have small scales of wax protruding from between the segments of the abdomen on the underside. The molds or plates, eight in number, in which the scales appear are concealed by the overlapping of the abdominal segments, but when exposed to view ([fig. 9, a]) are seen to be five-sided depressions lined with a transparent membrane. The wax glands themselves are beneath this membrane, and through it the wax comes in a liquid form. As the scales harden they are pushed out by the addition of wax beneath. The bees pluck them out with neat pincers ([fig. 7, a and b]) formed by the articulation of the hind tibiæ with the adjacent tarsal joints, pass them forward to the mandibles, and mold them into the shape of hexagonal cells, meanwhile warming and moistening them with the secretions of the head glands to render the wax more pliable.

Fig. 9.—Wax disks of social bees: a, Apis mellifera worker; b. A. mellifera queen; c, Melipona worker; d, Bombus worker—all enlarged. (From Insect Life.)

COMBS.

Wax is fashioned by the workers into cells of various sizes and shapes, according to the use to be made of them. The most regular in shape and size are the cells designed for brood ([fig. 4]). These combs in which workers are bred show nearly 29 cells on a square inch of surface, the combs being seven-eighths inch thick and the cells generally quite regular hexagons in outline. Drone cells are larger, there being but 18 of them to the square inch of surface, and the comb is 1¼ inches thick. The cells of combs designed only for honey are frequently more irregular in shape, generally curve upward somewhat, and are often deepened as the honey is stored in them, so that these combs sometimes reach a thickness of 2 or 3 inches.

The cells in which queens are bred bear in size and shape some resemblance to a ground or pea nut. They are often irregular in form, being sometimes curved, or short and thick, according to the space below their point of attachment, which is most frequently the lower edge or the side edge of a comb, or sometimes a mere projection or angularity in the general surface of a comb. Queen cells open downward instead of being built horizontally like drone and worker cells (figs. [62] and [63]).

Fig. 10.—Comb building—side of hive removed. (Original.)

Into the material used in constructing brood combs bees often incorporate bits of wax and fiber-like gnawings of cocoons from old combs in which brood has been reared, and if given cappings or trimmings of combs they will work them all over and utilize most of the material. Also when the bees have abundant supplies of pollen much of this is incorporated into the material of brood combs, thus saving the costlier substance—wax. Such combs show at once by their brownish or straw color, even when first constructed, that they are not made of wax alone. It will readily be seen from the above that the quantity of honey consumed by the bees in producing a pound of comb must vary greatly, for if the comb is designed for surplus honey it will be made of newly secreted wax, while if for brood other material will, as just stated, replace a portion of the wax. The amount of honey coming in varies from day to day, and it is difficult to estimate how much is consumed in feeding and keeping warm the brood: moreover, a high temperature is required in the hive to facilitate the secretion and working of wax, necessitating, of course, extra food consumption when the outside temperature is low. Accordingly estimates as to the amount of honey required to produce 1 pound of comb range from 5 pounds to 25 pounds. More accurate experiments are needed in this direction before anything positive can be stated. Until then 18 to 20 pounds might be looked upon as nearest the correct figure for white surplus combs, and half as much for dull straw-colored or brownish combs built for brood rearing.

DEVELOPMENT OF BROOD.

Ordinarily the winter cluster in a hive of bees occupies the more central combs, four or five in number. Near the middle of this cluster the queen deposits the first eggs of the season (which are fertilized eggs) in the small-sized or worker cells. Under favorable circumstances, that is, in a strong colony amply protected against inclement weather, this deposition usually occurs in January, though in a very mild climate some brood is generally present during every month of the year, and the cessation of egg-laying is very short. The eggs hatch on the third day after deposition into minute white larvæ, to which the workers supply food in abundance. The composition of this food has been the subject of much attention and more theorizing. It may be considered as pretty certain that during the first three days of the life of the larva its food is a secretion from glands located in the heads of the adult workers—a sort of bee milk, to which, after the third day, honey is added in the case of the worker larvæ, and honey and pollen in the case of drone larva?. As this weaning proceeds both worker and drone larvæ receive pollen, and in constantly increasing proportions, in place of the secretion. But this rich albuminous substance is continued to the queen larvæ throughout their whole period of feeding; moreover, the quantity of this food supplied to each queen larva is apparently super-abundant, for after it ceases to feed quite a mass of the food somewhat dried out will be found in the bottom of the cell from which a well-developed queen has issued. After assuming the pupa form the young queen is attached to this food by means of the tip of the abdomen, and it very likely continues for some time to receive nourishment from the mass.

The following table shows approximately the time occupied in the development of worker, drone, and queen:

The original circles of brood are gradually increased by the deposition of eggs in the cells next outside those already occupied, and circles are soon begun in the adjoining combs. In this way the space occupied by the developing bees is gradually increased, while preserving the general spherical shape of the brood nest thus formed, which, however, the shape of the hive often modifies somewhat. As already mentioned, each circle of brood has rows of pollen cells about it, chiefly above and at the sides, and the combs on either side contiguous to the brood are usually well packed with pollen. Outside of the pollen most of the honey on hand is stored. Thus ([fig. 11]) a cross section made in any direction through the middle of a hive in normal condition at the opening of the active season should show this relative arrangement of brood, pollen, and honey, which economizes most the heat of the hive and the labors of the nurse bees, favoring in this way the rapid increase of the population.

Fig. 11.—Cross section of brood apartment: s, s, sides of hive; t, t, top-bars of frames; h, p, l, sb, combs containing (h) honey, (p) pollen, (l) larvæ and eggs, and (sb) sealed brood. (Original.)

THE WORKER.

The worker larvæ are fed five days, and then the cell is given by the adult bees a covering which is quite porous by reason of numerous pollen grains incorporated into its mass, this openness of texture being necessary to give the developing bee air to breathe. The larva strength ens this capping by a loose webwork of silk within, extending down the side but slightly and attached at its edges to the last skin cast by the molting larva. This skin, extremely delicate and pressed closely against the inside of the cell, forms the lining of its sides and bottom. In about twelve days after sealing, that is, twenty-one days from the time the egg was deposited, the imago, or perfect bee, bites its way through the brown covering.

In the course of a couple of days it takes up the work of a nurse, and in a week to ten days may appear at the entrance on pleasant days, taking, however, but short flights for exercise, as ordinary field work is not undertaken until it has passed about two weeks in the care of brood. The worker then takes up also wax secretion, if honey is to be capped over or combs built, although old bees can and do to a certain extent engage in wax production.

THE DRONE.

Eggs left unfertilized produce drones and require twenty-four days from the time they are deposited until the perfect insect appears. They are normally deposited in the larger-sized horizontal cells, and when the latter are sealed, the capping is more convex as well as lighter-colored than that of worker brood, which is brown and nearly flat.

The fact that drones develop from unfertilized eggs is to be noted as having an important practical bearing in connection with the introduction of new strains of a given race or of new races of bees into an apiary. From a single choice home-bred or imported mother, young queens of undoubted purity of blood may be reared for all of the colonies of the apiary, and since the mating of these young queens does not affect their drone progeny, thereafter only drones of the desired strain or race and pure in blood will be produced, rendering, therefore, the pure mating of future rearings fairly certain if other bees are not numerous within a mile or two. Eventually also all of the colonies will be changed to the new race and without admixture of impure blood, provided always that the young queens be reared from mothers of pure blood mated to drones of equal purity.

CHAPTER III.
QUIETING AND MANIPULATING BEES.

The demeanor of bees toward an individual depends largely upon his bearing and treatment of them. Langstroth, in his excellent treatise, Langstroth on the Honey Bee (p. 193, revised edition), says:

Let all your motions about your hives be gentle and slow; never crush or injure the bees; acquaint yourself fully with the principles of management, and you will find you have little more reason to dread the sting of a bee than the horns of a favorite cow or the heels of your faithful horse.

Fig. 12. Use of veil and bee smoker. (Original.)

Most bee manipulators, however, grow somewhat indifferent to stings, since in time they become so inoculated with the poison of the bee that the pain of the sting is less severe and the swelling slight. But to avoid the stings is, with some of the races more recently introduced into this country, simply a question of care in manipulation and a free use of smoke. It is not meant that the bees should be stupefied with smoke, but merely alarmed and subjugated, and whenever they show any disposition to act on the offensive recourse is to be had to smoke. It is not necessary that the smoke should be from a particular source, but that from certain substances, as tobacco, subjugates them more quickly, while burning puffball stupefies them for the time. There are some objections to these substances which do not apply to wood, either partially decayed or sound, and as the latter when in a good smoker holds fire best and is very effective, it is advisable to keep a good supply at hand. Seasoned hickory or hard maple are best, though beech, soft maple, etc., are good. The most improved bellows smokers, when supplied with such fuel sawed 5 or C inches long and split into bits a half inch or less in size, will burn all day and be ready at any time to give a good volume of blue smoke, by which bees of most of the races now cultivated in this country are subdued at once.

Fig. 13.—Manipulation—removing comb from hive. (Original.)

With Italian or black bees a puff or two of smoke should be given at the hive entrance and the cover and honey board, or quilt, removed slowly and carefully, smoke being driven in as soon as the least opening is made and the volume increased enough to keep down all bees as fast as the covering is removed. The smoker may then be placed on the windward side of the hive to allow the fumes to pass over the top and toward the operator. The frames may then be gently pried loose and lifted out carefully, without crushing a bee if it can be avoided. Crushing bees fills the air with the odor of poison, which irritates the bees. So also when one bee is provoked to sting others follow because of the odor of poison.

Too much smoke will often render certain manipulations difficult; for example, when queens are to be sought out, or nuclei or artificial swarms made, volumes of smoke blown in between the combs will drive the bees from them so that they will cluster in clumps on the bottoms of the frames or in the corners of the hives. A little observation and judgment will enable one to know when the bees need smoke and how much of it to prevent any outbreak on their part, which it is always best to forestall rather than be obliged to quell after it is fully under way.

Fig. 14.—Manipulation—tilting to bring reverse side of comb in view. (Original.)

The frame hive as now made—with metal rabbets and arrangements for surplus honey, and quilts instead of honey boards—reduces propolization to a minimum and renders the danger of irritating the bees by jarring when manipulating much less. As a prerequisite to rapid and safe manipulation perfectly straight combs are necessary.

Fig. 15.—Manipulation—reverse side of comb brought to view. (Original.)

Fig. 16.—Manipulation—examining verse side of comb. (Original.)

With the common or black bees it is never safe to do without the veil as a protection to the face, and with these bees it will also be very difficult to avoid stings on the hands unless considerable smoke has been driven into the entrance beforehand and time has been given the bees to get well filled with honey before the hive is opened; even then frequent recourse to smoke will generally be necessary. Blacks are by far the most troublesome of all races about flying from their hive entrances to sting in an unprovoked manner. Next to these are the crosses containing the blood of the blacks. Italians have much less of this disposition, and Carniolans and Cyprians rarely, then latter almost never, fly from their hive entrances to attack unless their hives have been disturbed. Pure Cyprians can generally be handled without the use of the bee veil by skillful bee manipulators who understand the qualities of the race. Much of the work among pure Italians can be done without a veil after one has gained experience in manipulation. During four years' residence in Carniola the writer, manipulating annually several hundred colonies of bees, never had occasion to employ a bee veil. If no bees but gray Carniolans of pure blood are in the apiary and some smoke is used a veil will never be necessary. They maybe handled in all kinds of weather, early and late, even during the night, yet with but a small part of the risk which attends the manipulation of other races. Nor will it be necessary to delude them with smoke from time to time, as one is obliged to do with blacks. To dispense entirely with the bee veil is a more important consideration, especially to the professional bee-master, than is at first apparent to the inexperienced. Its use injures the eyesight seriously, especially where one is obliged to strain his eyes for hours to see eggs, larvæ, etc., in the cells, to hunt out queens and queen cells, and adjust frames. Besides this, the hindrance to rapid work which the veil causes, as well as the great discomfort in wearing it for hours during hot weather, are considerations worth weighing.

Fig. 17.—Quinby closed-end frames. (From A B C of Bee Culture.)

To recapitulate: To secure easy, rapid, and safe manipulation accurately made hives, with the frames, if hanging, arranged to rest on folded metal rabbets, and the combs perfectly straight, are essential. It is equally important also that some one of the gentler races be kept Furthermore, a good bee smoker fed with dry fuel is necessary, while the bee escape to clear supers without manipulation of combs is a great help. Quilts, queen excluders, and bee escapes reduce the amount of manipulation required, and at the same time facilitate what is absolutely necessary.

In general, the best time to manipulate hives is when most of the bees are busy in the fields. The young bees left at home are most easily controlled and the old ones returning are generally laden.

CHAPTER IV.
ESTABLISHING AN APIARY: TIME—SELECTING HIVES OF BEES—MOVING BEES—SELECTION OF SITE.

Spring is the best season to establish an apiary, especially for a person unacquainted with the practical care of bees. Colonies in good condition procured then are more easily kept in order by the novice than if purchased in the fall. Mistakes in management may possibly be remedied before the season closes, and by the time it is necessary to prepare for the winter the learner will have gained a certain amount of practical knowledge of the nature and requirements of the bees. If the start be made late in the season mistakes, if they occur, may result fatally before the proper remedy can be applied.

The beginner had better obtain his start by purchasing one or two colonies of pure Italian or Carniolan bees in accurately made frame hives and in first-class condition. These he should get from some bee-master of repute near his own place, if possible, in order to avoid expressage and possible damage through long confinement or numerous transfers. The cost per colony may be $6 to $8; yet bees at this price will generally be found much cheaper in the end, for, though common bees in box hives may frequently be obtained for half or even less than half as much, the cost, when finally transferred into frame hives, fitted up with straight combs, and the common queens replaced by Italians or Carniolans, will not be less. The possession of a colony already in prime working order gives the novice a standard with which to compare all others and often enables him to avoid costly experiments. Another plan, also commendable, is to agree with some neighboring bee keeper to deliver as many first swarms on the day they issue as are wanted. These will give the right start if placed as soon as received in hives with foundation starters and the frames properly spaced—1⅜ inches from center to center, it being understood that the swarms are early and prime ones, with vigorous queens. Only those issuing from colonies that have swarmed the year before or from such as were themselves second swarms of the previous year should be accepted. Swarms from these will have queens not over one year old. It is better to have queens of the current year's raising, but these can only be obtained by taking the second or third swarms from a given hive, which come later and are smaller, or by substituting young queens for those which come with the swarms.

SELECTION OF STOCKS.

The relative Strength of different stocks may be determined by watching the flight of the bees. The playing of the young bees in front of the hive is apt to deceive one. This lasts but twenty minutes or so, but a weak stock compared then with a strong one whose young bees are not flying might be regarded as very populous. The young bees sporting in front of the hive may be known by their light, fuzzy appearance, and by the fact that as they take wing to leave the hive they turn their heads toward the entrance and sail about it in semicircles, frequently alighting on the flight board and taking wing again. They are thus marking the location of the hive so as to be able to return to it, for an attempt to enter another hive might result fatally to them. They finally fly away in constantly widening circles. Field workers used to the location fly in a direct line away from the hive. When the young bees return they do not alight at once as do the field workers laden with honey, but generally hover about the entrance until certain they have reached the right hive. Having noted by their flight which stocks seem to have the most bees, a closer examination can be made by blowing a little smoke of any sort into the entrances and tipping the hives back, if they stand on loose bottom boards. When not so constructed the examination must, of course, be made by removing the top covering, or if the combs are built in frames, some of these.

In addition to the strength of the colony, the number of combs containing brood, straightness, kind and age of combs, amount of honey on hand, the cleanliness and healthfulness of the colony are points upon which full information is desirable. In April a good colony located in a central latitude ought to have brood in five or six combs; yet as ordinarily wintered it will be difficult to find colonies having at this time more than three or four combs containing brood. The combs should be straight, so that if in an old-fashioned box hive they can be cut out and fitted without great waste into frames, and if the hive is a frame one it is absolutely necessary to have combs straight and built wholly within the frames in order that the latter may be readily removed and returned to the hive. The less drone comb the better. There will always be enough, an area half the size of a man's hand being quite sufficient for each hive. The larger size of the drone cells and greater thickness of the combs (1¼ inches) will make it readily recognizable. If over one-eighth of the surface is drone comb the colony should be rejected. If the combs are so old as to be nearly black and to show cell walls much thickened they are very objectionable. There should be several pounds of sealed honey in each hive in early spring. Other things being equal, those stocks which come through the winter with 20 pounds or so of sealed honey in the combs will develop much faster than those having just enough to last them until they gather fresh honey rapidly enough to supply their daily needs. The presence of an abundance gives the bees courage. They do not fear to draw upon their stores to supply the young that are fast developing. The combs filled with honey part with their heat only slowly when the outside temperature falls, and there is thus less danger of a check in the development of the brood through too low temperature in the hive.

Fig. 18.—Box hive prepared for transportation. (Original.)

If the surfaces of the combs, the frames, or the inner walls of the hive are spotted with a brown, crumbly looking substance it is an evidence that the bees have bad diarrhea during the winter or spring, and if they have been badly affected not only will the combs and the whole interior of the hive be soiled, the former perhaps so as to be rendered almost worthless, but the bees will lack vitality, and will soon dwindle in numbers, not being able to survive the first arduous labors of the opening of the season. It is not always easy to determine whether a stock in a box hive is affected with foul brood or not, for the odor of decaying brood is not of itself sufficient to warrant such a conclusion, although it is well to reject any hive having any putrid odor about it. The natural odor of the hive, produced as it is largely by honey, wax, pollen, and propolis, is not unpleasant to most people, so that the presence of any disagreeable odor should arouse suspicion. If larvæ that have turned black are seen in the cells, and the capping of the sealed brood is sunken and in some instances perforated, showing brown and ropy contents in the bottoms of the cells, and the putrid odor is present, the existence of foul brood (Bacillus alvei Cheshire) is pretty certain. This is a scourge much to be dreaded. Not only should no hives or colonies be purchased from the same apiary, but none in the vicinity of an apiary so affected.

Fig. 19.—Frame hive prepared for transportation. (Orig.)

MOVING BEES.

In moving bees the box hives should be turned bottom upward, the bees driven back by blowing a little smoke on them, and a few loose rolls of rags laid across the lower edges of the combs in such a manner that a piece of sheeting, sacking, or preferably cheese cloth or other open material may be tied over the whole lower end and drawn tightly, so as to press the rolls against the combs and hold them in place. It is even well to tack strips of lath outside of the covering, so placed that they will cross the rolls of rags and press the latter more firmly against the lower edges of the combs. Strips may also be tacked around the lower edges of the hive to hold the cloth in place, or it maybe fastened by winding with strong cord. The bees should be thus prepared as late in the day as possible, care being taken that none escape, and at dusk stood bottom upward in a spring conveyance or on straw or hay several inches deep in the box of a wagon, with straw packed between and around the hives. It is advisable to drive slowly, avoiding ruts as much as possible. By turning the hives bottom upward the weight of the combs rests on their points of attachment, and since in such hives the combs are not always attached well down the sides danger of breakage is lessened, especially when the rolls of cloth are pressed against the edges of the combs. If the bees are in frame hives, the frames of which have not been disturbed recently, it is likely that, with care in driving, the combs will not get displaced. If necessary to use a sheet or cloth to give ventilation, it should be tied over the top and the hive placed in the wagon in the same position it occupied on the stand, lest the combs, not being attached all the way down, should fall to one side or the other. Except during quite warm weather and for long trips it may not be necessary to adopt all the precautions here indicated, although in case bees are to be transported on long journeys by rail or water far more careful preparation is even necessary.

Fig. 20.—An apiary in Florida. (Reproduced from photograph.)

SELECTION OF SITE.

The apiary should be located where no surface water will collect during heavy storms, yet the ground should not be very uneven, but rather a gentle slope. In the colder portions of the United States a south-eastern exposure is decidedly preferable, though in the South the slope of the site is less important to the welfare of the bees; a direct southern or south western exposure, however, will be found extremely uncomfortable at times both for the operator and for his bees. A windbreak, such as a board fence, a hedge, or a row of evergreens on the north and west, is advisable as a protection against sharp winds in winter and early spring, which keep many bees from reaching their hives even when near the entrances. Some shade is desirable, yet such density as to produce dampness is extremely detrimental. In moist elevated regions, which are of course cool, no shade will be needed, except temporarily for newly hived swarms. Tall trees are objectionable in or near the apiary, because swarms are likely to cluster so high as to render their capture difficult and dangerous. Some of the self-hivers or nous warming devices now offered for sale may with improvement yet accomplish the end in view, but heretofore clipping one wing of each laying queen and using all precautions to prevent after-swarming, making artificial swarms, selection in breeding, or any other means known to limit swarming, have not sufficed to prevent the occasional issuance of a swarm with a queen having wings. Therefore it is advisable to have the apiary located under or near low trees, where the hives can be readily seen from the house. Carniolan, Italian, and Cyprian bees give less trouble to passers-by or to live stock than do the ordinary brown or German bees, or hybrids of these races, yet whatever race be kept, it is best to have the apiary as secluded as the necessary or desirable conditions will permit.

The frontispiece and figures 20, 21, and 75, taken from photographs of apiaries located in different parts of the country, give a fair idea of sites actually occupied and the arrangement of hive-.

Fig. 21.—An apiary in California. (Reproduced from photograph.)

CHAPTER V.
HIVES AND IMPLEMENTS.

The safest and best rule in making or selecting hives and implements for the apiary is, have them simple and accurate in construction. A plain box with frames and as few other loose parts as possible will yield in the hands of a skillful bee-master far better results than the most elaborately constructed bee palace manipulated by one who does not understand the nature and requirements of bees; in fact, the most experienced generally prefer the former. The important point to decide in connection with any proposed modification or adjunct of the hive is whether its adoption will more than compensate for the resultant loss of simplicity. While zealously endeavoring to preserve simplicity of construction, however, complete adaptability to the purpose designed must be kept in view, and should not be sacrificed because of a slight added expense. The bee keeper needs but few implements. With even a limited number of hives, a smoker, a wax extractor, and a few queen-introducing cages are the most necessary, and one or two bee veils had better be added to the equipment, the total cost of which need not exceed $5 to $6. If the intention be to produce comb honey, and but a few hives are kept, then sections folded and with starters in place had better be purchased, but with ten or more hives and time during the winter season to prepare sections for the harvest, a section folder and a foundation fastener, costing together about $3, may be profitably added to the outfit. If only extracted honey is wanted a honey extractor with one or two uncapping knives should be purchased instead of the section folder and foundation fastener, the cost of the outfit being in this case some $15 to $18. Fifty or even seventy-five hives may be managed conveniently and economically with no greater investment in implements than that indicated above, and if both comb and extracted honey are wanted the cost of the outfit, it can readily be seen, need not exceed $20.

HIVES.

In regard to the particular style or form of hive to be used to insure the best results, it should be stated that while an intelligent apiarist whose experience has been considerable may be successful with almost any hive, even with poor ones, there can be no doubt that a hive not only adapted to the nature of the bees but also to the climate of the bee keeper's particular locality, and at the same time permitting the rapid performance of all operations necessary in securing surplus honey, will very materially affect the net profit of an apiary. This being the case, the original cost of a hive, whether a dollar or two more or less, is of small importance compared with the desirability of securing convenience and simplicity in its management and of promoting the welfare of the bees in winter and summer. Frame hives managed with intelligence and skill are essential to the greatest success. Inaccurately made frame hives, neglected, as is too frequently the case, so that the combs are built irregularly between or across the frames, are not one whit better than box hives. Even an accurately built frame hive, if no attention is given to the spacing of the frames when combs are being built, will soon present no advantages over a box hive of the same dimensions and having the same space for supering above the brood apartment.

Fig. 22.—Ancient Greek movable comb hive. (After La Maison rustique, published in 1742.)

The frame and hive most in use in this country is the invention of Rev. L. L. Langstroth, and this hive, with slight modifications, has been generally adopted in England and her colonies. It is also becoming known and appreciated on the continent of Europe. The patent on the frame the essential feature—expired many years ago, so that anyone who may wish to do so is now free to employ the invention. It is still used by many in the same form in which it was brought out in 1852. Others have changed the dimensions of the frames and given them different names, while retaining the special feature of the inventor's principle, namely, the loose-fitting frame suspended by the projecting ends of its top bar on a continuous rabbet. The outside dimensions of the Langstroth frame most in use are 17⅝ inches long by 9⅛ inches deep ([fig. 24]). Mr. M. Quinby, one of the most practical and successful bee-masters of our century, preferred frames 12 inches deep by 18 inches Long, and these are still used by many large honey raisers. Other sizes are also used somewhat.

Fig. 23.—Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive, with cap and gable roof. (Redrawn from Langstroth on the Honey Bee.)

Fig. 24.—Langstroth frame; size, 17⅝ in. by 9⅛ in. outside; pn, projecting nail. (Original.)

The bars composing frames are usually made seven-eighths inch wide, although some prefer to have the top bar 1 inch or even 1⅛ inches wide, and the bottom bar is made by some as narrow as live-eighths inch or even three-eighths inch square. The narrower bottom bar, at least down to a width of five eighths inch, renders the removal of the frames less difficult, and bees are brushed off a little more easily; but when combs cut from box hives are to be fitted into the frames it is not quite so easy to hold the pieces in the center of the frame by means of transferring sticks and get the bees to fasten them securely at the bottom as it is with full seven-eighths-inch bottom bars. Top bars have been made by some hive manufacturers from one-fourth-inch to three-eighths-inch strips, strengthened somewhat by a very thin strip placed edgewise on the underside as a comb guide; but such bars are much too light and will sag when filled with honey or with brood and honey, and when section holders or other receptacles for surplus honey or sets of combs are placed above them more than a bee space exists between the upper and lower sets of frames or between the section holder and the frames below, and the bees will fill in with bits of comb between these, making it difficult to remove the top story or any of the combs from it; indeed, an attempt under such circumstances to remove combs from the top story generally results in tearing the frames apart and breaking the combs, and if honey leaks out robbing may be induced at some times of the year, all because of an error in construction.

Fig. 25.—Form in which to nail frames: b, button; db, double button. (Original.)

To avoid this the top bar should never be less than five-eighths inch to three-fourths inch thick, while for long top bars seven-eighths-inch or 1-inch strips are preferable. The side and bottom bars may be made of one-fourth-inch strips. A corner is taken from the end of the top bar by a cross cut made at exactly right angles on the underside of the top bar, reaching to within one-fourth inch of the top of the bar, and another cut from the end so as to meet the first-mentioned one. Each side bar can then be nailed by one nail driven from above through the top bar, and two driven through the side bar itself into the end of the top bar. The bottom bar can then be nailed on, or, better still, cut short enough to permit it to be inserted between the side bars, the nails holding it to be driven through the latter. Nailing frames loosely or without getting them exactly in true brings with it great disadvantages. If only slightly out of shape they may swing together at the bottom or touch the sides of the hive, and in either case will be glued fast by the bees; also in the first instance the combs, which are always built perpendicularly, will not be wholly within the frames. To avoid these troubles it is essential, first, that the parts for the frames be cut very accurately; second, that the frame be in exact shape at the time of nailing; and third, that the nails be driven in quite firmly; long, slender, flat-headed wire nails being necessary to secure proper stiffness of the frame. Nails 1½ to 1¾ inches long made of No. 16 or No, 17 wire, or 4d. fine wire nails are the right size. Nailing in a form, such as is shown by [fig. 25], is therefore advisable. Greater ease in withdrawing the frames from the hive is secured by making the bottom of the frame one-fourth inch less in width than the upper part. A round-headed nail or a curved wire staple driven through the side bar at each lower corner into the end of the bottom bar and left projecting one fourth inch will also facilitate the removal of frames and their insertion in the hive without the crushing of bees, and hence allow more rapid manipulation. (Fig. 24, pn.)

Fig. 26.—Lock-joint chaff hive. (From Gleanings in Bee Culture.)

Fig. 27.—Manner of nailing hives. (Original.)

The hive to hold the frames should be the plainest kind of a box, the frames resting on rabbets made in the upper edges. Constructing it with lock joints, as shown in [fig. 26], or by halving together the ends of the boards, as in [fig. 27], and, in either case, nailing in both directions makes a strong hive body. The latter may be single-walled for mild climates or where cellar wintering is practiced: but for severe regions it is advisable to have permanent double walls with the inter-spaces filled with chaff, ground cork, or similar material, or else outer cases should be provided giving space between the latter and the hive proper for dry packing. As the bees always try to glue the frames fast by means of propolis, it is better to make them rest on strips of tin, galvanized iron, or band iron. The rabbet should therefore be made eleven-sixteenths inch deep, and the strip of iron or other metal frame-rest nailed on so that its edge will project upward five-sixteenths inch from the bottom of the rabbet. Folded strips of tin as made by manufacturers of apiarian implements are preferable to single strips nailed on, since they facilitate the sliding of frames and do not cut the top bars where the latter rest upon them ([fig. 28]). The projecting ends of the top bars being one-fourth inch thick, the bars themselves come within one-eighth inch of the upper edge of the hive. It is essential that the distance between the ends of the frames and the hive should not exceed three-eighths inch, lest in time of plenty the bees should build comb there; nor can less than one-fourth inch space be allowed, for if the bees can not readily pass around the ends of frames of the Langstroth type they will glue the frames to the side walls of the hive, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to remove them without breakage. If, as suggested, the frames are made one-fourth inch shorter at the bottom than at the top, that is, 17⅜ inches at bottom and 17⅝ inches at top, the hive should then be 18⅛ inches inside from front to rear, the frames running in this direction.

Fig. 28.—Section of improved tin frame-rest: A, folded edge on which frame rests; B and D, nails. (From Gleanings.)

If the frames are accurately made there will then be one fourth inch space at each end of the frame just below the top bar and three-eighths inch at each end of the bottom bar. Between the frames and the bottom board, on which the hive rests, one-half inch space answers, but five-eighths inch is preferable. The width of the hive will depend, of course, upon the number of frames decided upon, 1⅜ inches being allowed for each frame, and three-eighths inch added for the extra space at the side. If a top story to contain frames for extracting is placed over the brood chamber, its depth is to be such as to leave the space between the two sets of combs not over five-sixteenths inch, and in this, as in the lower story, the space between the ends of the frames and the hive wall should be no more than three-eighths inch. A good way to keep rain from beating in between the stories and also to retain the warmth of the bees in outdoor wintering, yet admit of suitable provision for the upward escape of moisture, is to have the second story fit over the top of the lower one, and rest on ledges made by nailing strips around the latter one-half inch below the upper edge. As this makes the upper story nearly 2 inches larger from front to rear than the lower one: it will be necessary when arranging this story for frames to make the front and rear double-walled. This is easily done by tacking on the inside of each end two half-inch strips, on which a halt-inch board is then nailed. These inside end pieces should be only wide enough to reach within three-fourths inch of the top edge of the outer ends, and, like the lower story, should be finished at the top with a metal rabbet for the frames to rest on, or the inside piece may be made to come within three-eighths inch of the top and its upper edge beveled so the frames can not be greatly propolized, an arrangement which answers very well for this story.

Fig. 29.—The Langstroth hive—Dadant-Quinby form—cross section showing construction. (From Langstroth.)

As to the width of hives and consequent number of frames each story is to hold, there has been of late much diversity of opinion. The original Langstroth hive held ten frames in the lower story and eleven frames in the second or top story. A demand for smaller-sized brood chambers and uniformity of the stories having been created, the larger hive-manufacturing establishments gave hives constructed to hold eight frames the most prominent place in their catalogues, and by many it was considered that those who adhered to the older, larger form did so merely through conservatism. But after some years' trial a reaction in favor of larger hives seems to have set in, especially among producers of extracted honey. Many of the latter are finding that with carefully bred queens even twelve-frame brood apartments give the best results. The author's experience of over twenty-five years with frame hives of various sizes and styles, both American and foreign, in widely differing climates, convinces him that to restrict a hive to a capacity of less than ten frames for the brood chamber is, in most localities, undesirable, but it will frequently be found advantageous to contract temporarily the space occupied by the bees. For extracted honey alone, especially in any region having a short flow of honey, twelve-frame capacity is preferable. Thin, movable partitions, known as "division boards," enable one to contract the space at will, and the addition of supers or top stories gives storage room for surplus honey. Some prefer to have the hive in one story holding twice the usual number of frames and contractible with a division board. The entrance is then usually at one end, parallel with the combs, and the surplus honey is obtained from the rear part of the hive, either in sections held in wide frames or it is extracted with a machine from ordinary frames. This plan renders access to all of the frames somewhat easier than when two or more stories are used, but as the methods now most followed involve on the whole less manipulation of individual frames than was formerly deemed advantageous this superiority can not count for much—hardly enough in fact to balance the limitation as to the number of frames and the inconvenience of larger and more unwieldy hive bodies, covers, and bottom boards.

Fig. 30.—The Nonpareil hire. (From Bee-Keeping for Profit.)

Fig. 31.—Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive, open: a, front of brood apartment; b, alighting board; c, movable entrance block; d, cap; e, straw mat; f, carriage-cloth cover for frames; g, g, frames with combs. (From Langstroth.)

Small hives may yield excellent results in the hands of a skillful bee-master, but an equal degree of skill will, in general, give as good, if not better, returns from large hives, and the novice who may not know just when or how to perform all operations will find himself much safer with hives holding ten or twelve frames in each story, and far more likely to secure good returns from them than from smaller ones.

A good, tight roof or cover is indispensable, well painted, so that no drop of water can get in from above. A flat roof slanting from front to rear will answer, but a ventilated gable roof with the sides well slanted is far preferable. Above the sections or the upper set of frames a piece of carriage cloth, enameled side down, should be laid during the summer season to prevent too great escape of heat above and to keep the bees from getting into the roof or propolizing it. The cloth is more suitable than a board, since the latter when propolized can not be removed without considerably jarring the bees. If the carriage cloth be weighted with a board which has been clamped with a strip across each end to prevent warping, there will be less propolization of the sections above or building of bits of comb on the tops of the frames when these have been used. To dispense with this extra piece and also to render the gable cover flat on the underside, the board which rests on the carriage cloth may be nailed to the cover permanently. During very hot weather the quilt may be turned back and the cover propped up.

The bottom board to the hive may be nailed permanently or the hive may be merely placed on it. In either case the sides and back of the hive should be wide enough to come down over the edges of the bottom board and thus shed all water that runs down the outside of the hive. A sloping board in front will facilitate the entrance of heavily laden bees and many that fall to the ground will crawl in if the hive is within 8 or 10 inches of the ground. Many persons place the bottom boards directly on the ground, and the majority have them but 3 or 4 inches above the surface. By arranging them farther from the ground, at least 6 or 8 inches, dampness is avoided and the ease in manipulation is greatly increased. English manufacturers make the Langstroth hive with permanent legs some 6 or 8 inches long. This is no doubt necessary in the damp climate of that country, and even here the free circulation of the air beneath the hive and the entrance of direct rays of sunlight at times are so beneficial that there might well be a return to this valuable feature, which was part of the original Langstroth hive.

Great accuracy of parts must be insisted upon in hives and frames, both because covers and top stories should be made to fit interchangeably, and because the bees carry out their own work with great precision, so that ease in manipulation of combs can only be secured by nice adjustment. Hives cut by machinery are therefore greatly to be preferred, and though most of those kept in stock by apiarian manufacturers do not include in their construction all of the features mentioned above, they still answer in most particulars the requirements of bee life, and, if proper protection for the winter be afforded, are very serviceable.

IMPLEMENTS.

BEE SMOKERS.

No well-appointed apiary in these days is without one or more bee smokers. The professional bee keeper who has once used a bellows smoker would as soon think of dispensing with this implement as a skillful cook would be disposed to go back from the modern cooking range to the old-fashioned fireplace.

Fig. 32.—The Bingham bee smoker.

For hundreds of years smoke has been used to quell and even stupefy bees, and various forms of bee smokers have long been used; but the modern bellows form, so far superior to the old clumsy implements which oftentimes required both hands of the operator, or to be held between the teeth, is purely an American invention. Mr. M. Quinby, one of the pioneers in improved methods in apiculture in America, was the inventor of the bellows smoker having the fire box at the side of the bellows so arranged as to enable the operator to work it with one hand, and when not in use to stand it upright and secure a draft which would keep the fire going. Certain improvements on the original Quinby smoker have been made without changing the general form of the implement, one of the most effective and durable of these improved makes being the Bingham direct-draft smoker. Other modifications are the Crane, with a cut-off valve, the Clark, Hill, and Corneil smokers. The medium and larger sized smokers, even for use in small apiaries, are preferable. They light easier, take in all kinds of fuel, and hold fire better, while they are always much more effective since they furnish a large volume of smoke at a given instant, thus nipping in the bud any incipient rebellion. The bee smoker and its use are well shown by figs. [12], [32], and [53].

VEILS.

Veils for the protection of the face will be needed at times—for visitors if not for the manipulator. The beginner, however, should use one under all circumstances until he has acquired some skill in opening hives and manipulating frames and has become acquainted with the temper and notes of bees, so that he will have confidence when they are buzzing about him and will know when it is really safe to dispense with the face protector. Veils are made of various materials. In those which offer the least obstruction to the sight, black silk tulle or brussels net is used, the meshes of which are hexagonal. Linen brussels net is more durable than silk, as is also cotton, though the latter turns gray in time and obstructs the vision. By making the front only of silk and the sides of some ordinary white cotton netting the cost of the veil is less, but it is not so comfortable to wear in hot weather, being less open. A rubber cord is drawn into the upper edge, which brings the latter snugly in about the hat band. By having the veil long and full and drawing it over a straw hat with a wide, stiff brim, tying the lower edge about the shoulders or buttoning it inside a jacket or coat, the face is securely protected. (Fig. 12.)

HONEY EXTRACTORS AND HONEY KNIVES.

Fig. 33.—Williams' automatic reversible honey extractor.

The honey extractor ([fig. 33]) consists of a large can, within which a light metal basket revolves. The full combs of honey, from which the cappings of the cells have been removed by a sharp knife, are placed inside the basket and after several rapid revolutions by means of a simple gearing are found to have been emptied of their contents. The combs, only very slightly damaged, can then be returned to the hives to be refilled by the bees. If extra sets of combs are on hand to supply as fast as the bees need the room in which to store honey, great yields can often be obtained. A good extractor should be made of metal, and the basket in which the combs are revolved should be light, strong, and doubly braced on the outside so that the wire-cloth surface, against which the combs press, will not yield. The wire cloth used, as well as all interior parts of the extractor, should be tinned, as acids of honey act on galvanized iron, zinc, iron, etc. Wire cloth made of coarse wire and with meshes one-half inch square is often used, but it injures the surface of new combs and those very heavy with honey more than that made of about No. 20 wire and with one-fourth-inch meshes.

Fig. 34.—Quinby uncapping knife.

Fig. 35.—Bingham & Hetherington uncapping knife.

For removing the wax covering with which the bees close the full cells a peculiarly shaped knife, known as an uncapping knife, is needed (figs. [34] and [35]). The blade, which should be of the finest steel to hold a keen edge, is fixed at such an angle with the handle as to keep the hand that grasps the latter from rubbing over the surface of the comb or the edges of the frames. The form of knife with curved point is best adapted to reach any depression in the comb, which, if uncapped and emptied of its honey, will likely next time be built out even with the general surface. Dipping the knife in hot water facilitates rapid work, and of course the heavier-bladed knives hold the heat better than thin bladed ones, and are for this reason preferred by some; also because they more surely lift the capping clear from the surface of the comb.

WAX EXTRACTORS.

A solar wax extractor is needed in every apiary; several are kept running in many large apiaries. Extractors which render wax by steam are also used. To the latter class belongs the improved Swiss wax extractor ([fig. 36]). This implement, invented in Switzerland and improved in America, consists of a tin or copper vessel with a circle of perforations in the bottom near the sides to let in steam from a boiler below, and within this upper vessel another receptacle—the comb receiver—made of perforated zinc. Its use, as well as that of the solar wax extractor, is described under the head of "Wax production."

Fig. 36.—Excelsior wax extractor.

Within a few years wax extractors employing the heat of the sun and known as solar wax extractors have come into general use ([fig. 61]). The essential features in all the forms that have been devised are a metal tank with a glass cover and usually a wire-cloth strainer, below which is placed the receptacle for the wax, the whole so arranged as to enable one to tilt it at such an angle as will catch the direct rays of the sun. The effectiveness of the solar wax extractor is increased by having the glass doubled, and adding also a reflector, such as a mirror or a sheet of bright metal. An important advantage of the solar wax extractor is the ease with which small quantities of comb can be rendered. By having this machine much is therefore saved that might be ruined by wax moth larvæ if allowed to accumulate, besides serving at the same time to increase these pests about the apiary. The wax obtained by solar heat is also of superior quality, being clean, never water-soaked nor scorched, and also light in color, owing to the bleaching action of the sunlight.

The cost of a medium-sized solar wax extractor does not exceed that of the larger Swiss steam extractors, yet of the two the former is likely to prove by far the more valuable, even though it can be used only during the warmer months.

QUEEN-INTRODUCING CAGES.

In every apiary there should be several of these on hand. The best are such as permit the caging of the queen directly on the comb over cells of honey. A little practice will enable anyone to make very serviceable and cheap cages for introducing queens. From a piece of wire cloth having ten to twelve meshes to the inch cut a strip 2 inches wide; cut this in pieces 4¼ inches long, roll each piece around a stick to give it a cylindrical form, lap the edges, and sew with a piece of wire. Then in one end of this cylinder make slits three-quarters inch apart and three-quarters inch deep, and bend over the tongues thus formed so as to close this end of the cage. With the flat end of a pencil press warm wax or comb into the bottom inside to give it firmness. Then unravel five or six strands of the wire cloth at the other end. The wire points left after unraveling these strands may be pressed into the comb so as to confine a queen and four or five of her attendant workers. ([Fig. 66.])

Fig. 37.—Simplicity feeder. (From A B C of Bee Culture.)

Most of the queen-mailing cages are arranged to admit of their use in introducing the queens also, so that when received it is only necessary to withdraw a cork and place the cage on top of the brood frames, thus admitting the bees to the candy. They will eat their way in and release the queen in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This plan is very good for such as lack experience in handling queens, and hence might injure them by grasping the abdomen, by pinching the thorax too hard, or by catching the legs on the wire cloth of the introducing cage.

Fig. 38.—Fruit-jar bee feeder. Bottom of feeding stage and perforated cap shown separately. (Orig.)

BEE FEEDERS.

During warm weather liquid food may be placed in any open receptacles which can be set in the upper stories of the hives. Tin fruit or vegetable cans that have been used may be made to serve the purpose, a wooden float for each or some bits of comb being put in to keep the bees from drowning; but during cool weather feeders arranged to admit the bees but not permit the escape of heat had better be employed. Glass fruit jars with metal caps are generally at Land, and make excellent feeders by merely punching a few holes in each cap. After the jar is filled with liquid food and the cap screwed on tightly it is inverted over a feed hole in the quilt or honey board. The cap, or top story, with cover, protects the whole, and it is very easy to see when more food is wanted by merely raising the cover slightly. If arranged on a feeding stage covered on the underside with wire cloth, as shown in [fig. 38], feeding may be accomplished without being troubled by the workers.

Feeders of various forms constructed of wood or tin, or of these materials combined, most of them serving the purpose excellently, are offered in catalogues of apiarian manufacturers.

SECTION FOLDERS.

Sections can be folded or put together readily over an accurately made block just large enough to fill the space inclosed by a section, and several machines to facilitate the work in case it is to be done on a large scale have been devised.

BEE ESCAPES.

Fig. 39.—The Porter spring bee escape.

The bee escape ([fig. 39]) is an important labor-saving invention for the honey producer. A number of them may be regarded as necessary in every apiary. They are inserted in holes bored in a honey board and used in freeing supers from bees, as described under "Honey production."

FOUNDATION FASTENERS.

For sections.—Several styles of implements for fastening thin foundation in sections have been devised. All of them do the work well. A simple one, which is also low priced, is Parker's; Clark's and the Daisy are also highly recommended, and A. C. Miller's is very complete, working automatically. The latter, and the Daisy shown in [fig. 40], each require the use of a lamp.

Fig. 40.—The Daisy foundation fastener. (From Gleanings.)

For frames.—If the top bars of the frames have a slot or saw kerf one-eighth to three-sixteenths inch deep on the underside, made by passing them lengthwise over a circular saw, sheets of foundation can be very readily fastened by slipping the edge into this groove and running melted wax along the angle formed on each side by the foundation and the top bar. Or a wedge-shaped strip may be crowded in at the side and secured with small wire nails. If the top bar is flat on the underside it will be necessary to press the foundation firmly against it; that is, to incorporate the edge of the wax sheet into the wood of the top bar by rubbing it with a smooth bit of hard wood or bone, such as a knife handle, moistening this implement to prevent the wax from sticking, and then fix it firmly by pouring melted wax down the other side. In the case of top bars having triangular comb guides or a projecting tongue on the underside the foundation can be securely fastened by merely cutting five or six slits three-eighths to one-half inch deep in one edge of the foundation and bending the tongues thus formed in alternate directions so as to place the V-edge of the top bar between them, when they can be firmly attached to the top bar by rubbing with a knife handle as before. Soapsuds or starch water may be used to advantage in moistening the knife handle. The foundation roller ([fig. 41]), a small disk of hard wood which revolves in a slot at the end of a handle and costs but a few cents, does effective work in fastening foundation in brood frames; in fact, it is rather better than the knife handle for the work just mentioned, except that it will not reach into the corners of the frames, and to secure the foundation there the knife handle must still be used. The roller will need to be moistened the same as the knife handle.

Fig. 41.—Fastening starter of comb foundation in frame. (Original.)

It is particularly important that the sheets of foundation be well fastened, for if one edge breaks loose with the weight of the bees it will crumple down in such a way as not only to ruin that comb, or rather to prevent the building of a good comb in the frame in question, but also very likely in the adjoining frames if they have not been previously built out; and in this case damage will probably result to them. To prevent bulging of the comb it is also essential that the sheets of foundation, if not wired, be narrower than the inside depth of the frame and shorter than its inside length. A full inch of space should be allowed between the bottom bar and the sheet of foundation, and a half inch at each end for two-thirds of the way up.

Fig. 42.—Spur wire-embedder. (From Gleanings.)

With these precautions swarms may even be hived on full sheets of foundation without wiring the frames: but the practice will probably continue of using starters, chiefly in the case of swarms, and, when full sheets are employed, of alternating them with combs already built out. Some prefer to wire the frames even though it is considerable trouble, for the combs require less attention while in process of construction and are firmer for shipping, for use in the extractor, or for any other manipulation. Three or four horizontal wires will suffice. No. 30 annealed tinned wire is the preferable size and quality. The end bars of the frame are pierced by four holes, the first 1 inch below the top bar. A small tack secures the end of the wire, which is then passed back and forth and drawn up so as to leave no slack. The four horizontal wires, 2 inches apart, will be sufficient to render combs quite secure. After fastening the foundation to the top bar in the usual way the wires are embedded in the wax by a spur embedder, which is a small wheel with grooved teeth ([fig. 42]). Where large numbers of frames are to be wired a current of electricity from a small battery will do the work more neatly and quickly than the spur embedder.

The disadvantages of wiring frames are, first, its expense, caused chiefly by the time employed in doing it; and second, the fact that wherever the wire does not get embedded into the midrib of the foundation, as is sure to happen in many cases, the rearing of brood is interfered with, and also, under the methods employed by the majority in wintering, moisture is very likely to cause the combs to cleave from the wires, whereupon the bees are disposed to gnaw the combs away from the wires in spots and not rebuild them.

These disadvantages, except that of expense, are overcome by incorporating fine wire in the sheets of foundation when they are rolled. The sheets are trimmed with wooden shears, which leave the ends of the wires projecting. These are then glued to the bars of the frame. The added expense is again the main objection, except to those who wish to ship colonies or nuclei, or transport them from place to place for pasturage.

COMB-FOUNDATION MACHINES.

The first attempts to give bees outlines of cells as a basis for comb building were made in Germany. The top bars of the frames were coated on the underside with beeswax, and a strip of wood having the outlines of bees' cells cut on it was then pressed against this wax so as to form a guide which should lead the bees to build their combs within the frames. This was only a comb guide, but was succeeded by small strips of wax having the outlines of bees' cells pressed on them by hand, a block of wood being engraved for this purpose. The general use of comb foundation, especially of the full sheets, was only made possible through the improved means of manufacturing it developed in the United States. The slow process of hand stamping was succeeded by its rapid production on machines, the essential feature of which is two engraved cylinders between which the warm sheet of wax is made to pass ([fig. 43]).

Fig. 43.—Comb-foundation machine. (From Langstroth.)

Such machines are now made in numerous patterns costing from $15 up. Foundation is made with flat-bottomed cells and also with the same form as that given by the bees to combs constructed wholly by themselves. Both sorts are readily accepted by the bees and built out. Both these kinds are also made in various qualities and weights. Only a good quality of perfectly pure beeswax should be accepted. Brood foundation is made in light, medium, and heavy weights. For use in section boxes thin surplus and extra thin surplus are made of light-colored wax. When full sheets are used in sections it is better to have it extra thin lest there should be a noticeable toughness of the midrib, technically known as "fishbone." For unwired frames the medium or heavy brood-comb foundation should be employed.

Until used it is best to keep comb foundation between sheets of paper and well wrapped, since if long exposed to the air the surface of the wax hardens somewhat, but if well packed it may be used years after it was made with almost the same advantage as when first rolled out.

It requires considerable skill to make foundation successfully, and those who use but a small amount will do better to purchase their supply. The high quality of nearly all of the foundation thus far supplied in this country has also justified this plan. Should the practice of adulterating wax become as common among comb-foundation manufacturers in this country as on the continent of Europe no doubt many more would procure machines and make their own foundation.

CHAPTER VI.
BEE PASTURAGE.

Bees obtain their food from such a variety of sources that there are few localities in our country where a small apiary could not be made to yield a surplus above its own needs. Even in the center of our larger cities bees placed on the roofs of stores and dwellings have often furnished quite a surplus gathered from the gardens of the city and its environs. Again, in regions where the soil is too light, rocky, or wet to admit of profitable cultivation, it is often the case that honey-producing plants abound; indeed, waste land is frequently far more profitable for the honey-producer than fields that have been brought under cultivation, especially when the latter are mainly devoted to grain or potato raising, for insignificant weeds in field or swamp often yield honey abundantly, and among the best yielders are certain forest trees, whose blossoms, by reason of their distance from the ground and in some instances their small size, escape notice. Showy flowers made double by the gardener's skill, such as roses, dahlias, chrysanthemums, etc., have rarely any attraction for our honey bees. Moreover, the small number of these ornamental plants usually found in any one locality renders the honey yield, even in case they are abundant secreters of nectar, so slight that they are of little value. The novice who is seeking to determine the honey resources of his locality should therefore not be led into error by these. He should compare the flora of his locality with reliable lists of honey-producing plants, and, if possible, consult some practical bee-master familiar with his surroundings. And all information on this score should be fully accepted only after careful verification, as it is very easy for anyone to be deceived regarding the sources of given honey yields—plants which produce abundantly one season not always yielding the next, or those that produce honey freely in one portion of the country not yielding anything in another. Soil and climate, the variations of successive seasons, and all other conditions affecting plant growth—conditions which even the most skillful scientific agriculturists admit are exceedingly difficult to understand, and in many respects, as yet unexplainable—influence the amount and quality of nectar secreted by a given plant.

The danger of overstocking is largely imaginary, yet in establishing a large apiary it is of course essential to look to the natural resources of the location, and especially to decide only upon a place where two or more of the leading honey-producing plants are present in great numbers. In the North, willows, alder, maples, dandelion, fruit blossoms, tulip tree (frequently called whitewood), locust, clovers (white, alsike, crimson, and mammoth red), with alfalfa and melilot, chestnut, linden or basswood, Indian corn, buckwheat, fireweed, willow-herb, knotweeds, mints, cleome, golden-rods, Spanish needle, and asters may be cited as the chief sources of pollen and honey; and of these the tulip tree, locust, white clover, alfalfa, melilot, linden, and buckwheat furnish most of the surplus honey. The fruit blossoms, with the exception of raspberry, come so early that a small proportion only of the colonies are sufficiently strong to store surplus, and of course this statement applies with still more force to plants which blossom before apple, pear, cherry, etc. Some of the clovers, mustard, rape, cultivated teasel, chestnut, barberry, sumac coral berry, pleurisy root, fireweed, borage, mints, willow-herb, Spanish needles, cleome, etc., though yielding well, are only found abundantly over certain areas, and do not therefore supply any considerable portion of the honey that appears on the market, though when any of them are plentiful in a certain locality the bee keeper located there will find in nearly all cases that the surplus honey is greatly increased thereby.

Fig. 44.—Willow herb (Epilobium angustifolium). A, young flower: s, stigma turned back: a, anthers; l, lobe or pod. B, older flower: s, stigma turned forward; a, anthers: l, lobe. C, spike of flowers. D, section of pollen grain: e, extine; i, intine; ti, thick intine; f, fovilla. E, growing point of pollen grain: e, e, extine; i, i, intine; f, fovilla; pt, pollen tube. (From Cheshire.)

In the middle section of our country, from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina westward, most of the sources named above are present, although the maples (particularly hard maple) furnish less, and fruit bloom, the clovers, linden, and buckwheat are not as great yielders as in the North. Sourwood or sorrel tree, mountain laurels, sour gum or tupelo, huckleberry, cowpea, magnolia, and persimmon make up in part for these, the sourwood being especially important, while in some localities certain species of asters yield very abundantly. The tulip tree (known commonly as poplar) is a greater yielder than in the North, while in the western portion of the middle section the Rocky Mountain bee plant or cleome and more extensive areas of alfalfa and melilot are very important sources.

In the more southern States fruit bloom is far from being as great a source of honey as in the North, though with the extension of orange groves in Florida and Louisiana an increased production of very fine honey maybe looked for in those States. The titi, magnolia, palmetto, and black mangrove yield well in some parts, and sour gum (tupelo or pepperidge), cotton, and pennyroyal are sources not to be overlooked. In Texas horsemint and mesquite, the latter also extending farther West, furnish fine yields, while many mountain localities of southern California are clothed with white and black sages—wonderful honey producers. In certain localities there the orange and other fruit orchards, and also wild buckwheat, give the bees excellent pasturage for a portion of the year.

Certain small homopterous insects, such as plant-lice, bark-lice, mealy-wings, and some leaf-hoppers, which congregate on the leaves or bark of various plants and trees, notably pines, oaks, and beeches, and suck their juices, secrete a sweet liquid, which is often taken up by bees as it falls on the surrounding vegetation. This secretion, commonly known as honeydew, or plant-louse honey, is usually of an inferior qua lit y, though that from pine-tree aphides is sometimes fairly good. Most of it granulates very soon after having been gathered, sometimes even before the cells have been sealed.

Under peculiar conditions of the atmosphere sweet exudations, also known as honeydew, drop from the leaves of certain plants and are eagerly taken up by the bees. This substance is sometimes very abundant and of excellent quality. It should not, however, be confounded with the secretions of extra-floral glands such as are possessed by the cowpea, horse bean, partridge pea, and vetches. These seem to be natural productions for the purpose of attracting insects to the plants, while the former is apparently an accidental exudation through the plant pores, brought about very likely by some sudden change of temperature. Both are, however, merely the saccharine juices of the plant, and when refined by the bees may become excellent honey.

CULTIVATION OF HONEY PLANTS

In all localities there will probably be found intervals during the working season when bees will find very little or even nothing gather, unless supplied by cultivation. When possible it is ah best to till in such intervals with some honey-producing plant which at the same time furnishes some other product—fruit, grain, forage, green manure, or timber. The attempt to cultivate any plant for its honey alone has not thus far been found profitable, in practice, however promising it may seem theoretically. Catnip (Nepeta cataria), motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), globe thistle (Echinops sphærocephalus), figwort (Scrophularia nodosa), bee balm (Melissa officinalis), borage (Borago officinalis), Rocky Mountain cleome (Cleome serrulata), melilot or sweet clover (Melilotus alba), and linden (Tilia americana) have all been recommended repeatedly and tried here and there somewhat extensively. But thus far the hope of securing a sufficient increase in the crop of honey to pay for the cultivation of these plants has in all cases had to be abandoned. With the appreciation in value of agricultural lands the prospects for the profitable cultivation of any crop for honey alone are still further removed. Yet the writer is fully convinced that in the future, especially in the older portions of our country, eminent success in bee raising will require much more attention to the furnishing of artificial pasturage for the bees, a close study, in fact, of the bee flora of one's locality, and a systematic effort to supply the deficiencies by sowing self-propagating honey plants, and such as may be cultivated with profit for other reasons besides their honey yield.

Fig. 45.—Wagner a flat pea (Lathyrus sylvestris wagneri).

Fig. 46.—Dwarf Essex or winter rape (Brassica napus).

Among those plants which have just been mentioned as having been cultivated at various times for their honey alone, the linden for shade and ornament as well as for timber, catnip for sale as an herb or to secure its seed, and melilot for forage or green manuring are the only ones which, under present conditions, might in some cases be profitably cultivated. There may be introduced with advantage, however, all such honey-producing plants as, with one sowing or planting, will readily propagate themselves and without cultivation extend their area along roadsides and over waste lands, always excepting of course such as may become troublesome weeds. For this purpose most of the plants referred to above are available, and many others which like these are adapted to one portion or another of our country might be added, as, for example, pleurisy root or butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Indian currant or coral berry (Symphoricarpos symphoricarpos), viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare), lady's thumb (Polygonum persicaria), horsemint (Monarda citriodora), willow-herb (Epilobium angustifolium), etc., but of course it can not be expected that they will thrive and thoroughly establish themselves without further attention, except in such localities as present very favorable conditions for their growth. Furthermore, there is always the risk that a plant which yields honey abundantly in one part of the country may not do so in another region, even though it grows well, so that it is necessary in most cases, especially with wild plants, to test them anew before extensive introduction, no matter how well established their reputation as honey producers may be elsewhere.

Fig. 47.—Summer or bird rape (Brassica napus).

Among plants of economic value in other directions fruit trees and shrubs are to be counted as of much importance to bees. The apple and the cherry yield well, the others less, though the gooseberry, were it more plentiful, would be of considerable value. Strawberry blossoms are, in general, visited sparingly and yield only a small amount, but the raspberry, coming later, when the colonies are stronger, is a most important source, greatly liked by the bees, and furnishing as fine a quality of honey as is known. Ten acres in raspberries will furnish pasturage for three weeks to 75 or 100 colonies of bees. Mustard for seed, and rape for pasture and seed, may be made to furnish much to the bees in early spring. Buckwheat honey is dark and strong, but is relished by some, and when well ripened is good winter food for bees, so that whenever this plant can be made to blossom at a time when the bees find nothing better and a crop of grain can also be harvested from it, a plentiful supply should by all means be sown: the clovers, white, alsike, crimson, and mammoth or medium red may be sown for pasturage, hay, forage, for purposes of green manuring, or for seed, and honey of fine quality obtained if a sufficient number of blossoms are allowed to appear.

Fig. 48.—Sacaline or giant knotweed (Polygonum sachalinense).

Fig. 49.—Russian or hairy vetch (Vicia villosa).

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), a most important honey producer as well as perennial forage crop, can be grown over a much greater area of the United States than has heretofore been generally supposed. Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) and serradella (Ornithopus sativus), both most excellent honey plants, have not received the attention they merit either North or South. Japan clover (Lespedeza striata) is grown profitably in the South, and more even might be expected from the introduction of sulla clover (Hedysarum coronarium) there, the latter a great honey producer. Chicory, even on poor soil, is a good honey and pollen plant. Northern bee keepers should try the dwarf (quick-growing) varieties of cowpeas (Vigna sinensis) extensively grown in the South for forage and green manuring. Vetches are of recognized value for the same purposes, especially the Russian hairy vetch (Vicia villosa). Sacaline (Polygonum sachalinense) and flat peas (Lathyrus sylvestris) are visited by bees, and in certain situations may be found of value otherwise. Peppermint (Mentha piperita) yields well in July and August. Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) when grown for seed are assiduously visited by bees for honey during June. July, and August. Gorse or furze (Ulex europæus) for forage may prove valuable in some localities here, as it is highly esteemed in some parts of Europe. Its odorous yellow blossoms, much frequented by bees, appear in May. Filbert bushes (Corylus avellana) will grow in many portions of our country, yielding, besides nuts, an abundance of early pollen, even in February or March. The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) succeeds in the Southwest, yielding a crop of economic value, besides a harvest in late summer for bees. It is also a fine ornamental tree. There are no finer shade or ornamental trees for the lawn or roadside than lindens (basswoods) and horse-chestnuts. To these chestnut, locust, sourwood, and tulip trees may be added. The timber of all is useful; and since they are great honey yielders their propagation near the apiary is very desirable.

Bees range ordinarily within 2 or 3 miles in all directions from their homes, but sometimes go farther. Pasturage to be especially valuable, however, should be within 2 miles, and less than a mile distant to the main source is quite preferable. The advantage is probably not so much in the saving of time in going back and forth, for bees fly with great rapidity, but because when sudden storms arise, especially those accompanied by high winds, the heavily laden bees are more likely to reach home safely and the hive will not be decimated of its gathering force.

BEES AS CROSS-FERTILIZERS.