An Extra Quantity Of Pollen Not Always Detrimental
Categories: BEE PASTURAGE.Bee Keeping: Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
To test whether this extra quantity of bee-bread was so _very_
detrimental, I have introduced into such hive in the fall a family with
a queen and wintered them in it, and watched their prosperity another
year, and never found them less profitable on that account. I am so
well satisfied of this, that whenever I now have a hive in such a
situation, it is a rule to introduce a swarm.
It is calculated, I bel
are full, about seven-eighths of the cells are made the proper diameter
for raising the workers, the remainder for drones, except a few for
queens. Here is one circumstance I do not remember to have seen
mentioned, and that is, bee-bread is generally packed exclusively in
the worker cells. I would say always; but I would do better to be
careful, especially as I find my bees doing things so differently from
some others. I might as well remark here, that when taking combs from a
hive filled with honey, if such pieces were selected as contained only
the large or drone cells, but little risk of bee-bread would occur; of
the other combs, the outside sheets and the corners of the others near
the top are the next best. The sheets of comb used principally for
raising workers, and the cells next those so used, for an inch or two
in width, are nearly all packed with pollen, and much of it will
remain, when the breeding season is past. Smaller portions are found in
the worker cells in nearly all parts of the hive; even the boxes will
sometimes contain a little.
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A Successful Method
When you are all ready, take a stock that can spare a swarm; if bees are on the outside, raise the hive on wedges, and drive them in with a little water, and disturb them gently with a stick. Now smoke and invert it, setting the empty hive over. If ... A Suggestion
Mr. Miner's cross-bar hive is intended to make the bees construct all straight combs, and probably will do it. But the disadvantage of bee-bread and brood in the boxes will not be made up by straight combs. For the benefit of those who have been m... A Test
But while you are learning this nice distinction, your bees may be ruined. We will, therefore, give some other means of protection. Bees, when they have been stealing a sack of honey from a neighboring hive, will generally run several inches from ... A Test For The Presence Of A Queen
If you have a hive that you suspect has lost a queen at this season, her presence can be ascertained nine times in ten by this method. Sweep off the board clean, and look the next day or two after for these eggs. Take care that ants, or mice, have n... A Test For The Presence Of Queen Doubted
It is further asserted that if a hive loses its queen "no pollen is collected." Also, "that such quantities are sometimes collected, and fill so many cells, that too little room is left for brood, and the stock rapidly dwindles away in consequence."... A Tool For Their Destruction
I have used a simple tool, made in a few minutes, and very convenient in this business. Any one can make it. Get a piece of narrow hoop-iron, (steel would be better,) three-fourth inch wide, five inches long; taper from one side three inches from th... A Young Queen Takes The Place Of Her Mother In The Old Stock
In ordinary circumstances, when a swarm has left a stock, the oldest of the young queens is ready to emerge from her cell in about eight or nine days; if no second swarm is sent out, she will take her mother's place, and begin to lay eggs in about t... Accumulation Of Faeces Described By Some Writers As A Disease
This accumulation of faeces is considered by many writers as a disease--a kind of dysentery. It is described as affecting them towards spring, and several remedies are given. Now if what I have been describing is not the dysentery, why I must think ... Accusations Not Always Right
Careless bee-keepers, when their hives are thus robbed, feel regret, or are more often vexed at somebody--at the result of their carelessness. The person, keeping most bees in a neighborhood, must expect to be accountable for all effects of their ig... Advantage Of Proper Arrangement
Two inches being nearly the right distance, each one will be so made that a bee arriving at the top of the hive between any two sheets will be able to find a passage into the box, without the task of a long search for it; which I can imagine to be t... Advantage Of The Hive Close To The Board
An inch hole in the side of the hive, a few inches from the bottom, as a passage for the bees, is needed, as I shall recommend letting the hive close to the board; it is essential on account of robbing; also, it is necessary to confine as much as po... Advantage Of The Patent Vender
Here is where the patent vender has taken the advantage of our ignorance, by pretending that no other hive but _his ever obtained such quantities, or so pure in quality_. ... Advantages In Transferring
I would now like to show the advantages I derived in transferring the twenty swarms before mentioned. We will suppose that each family, from the first of October till April, consumed twenty pounds of honey. That in the centre combs, where there is m... Advantages Of Buckwheat
Under some circumstances, clover will continue to bloom through this part of the season; also, a few other flowers; but I find by weighing, a loss from one to six pounds, between the 20th July and the 10th of August, when the flowers of buckwheat be... Advantages Of Making One Good Stock From Two Poor Ones
This making one good stock out of two poor ones, cannot be too highly recommended; aside from its advantages, it relieves us from all disagreeable feelings in taking life, that we can with but little trouble preserve. ... Advantages Of The Changeable Hive Considered
The value of changeable hives is based upon the following principle:--Each young bee when it first hatches from the egg, is neither more nor less than a worm; when it receives the necessary food, the bees seal it over; it will then spin a cocoon, or... After Swarms
After swarms are second and third issues (or all after the first) from a stock; and quite a different affair from the first, as also are some first swarms, when the old queen has been lost, being led out by young queens. THEIR SIZE. Second ... After Swarms Different In Appearance From The First When About To Issue
Another thing, when after swarms start, the appearance about the entrance is altogether different from first ones, unless there is an unusual number of bees. I have said that for a little time beforehand, that such were in an apparent tumult, &c. Bu... Age Of Bees Indicated
Hundreds of bee-keepers lose some of their stocks in this way, and can assign no reasonable cause. "Why," say they, "there wasn't twenty bees in the hive; it was all full of honey," or worms, as the case may be. "Only a short time before, it was ful... Alder Yields The First
The first material gathered from flowers is pollen. Candle-alder (_Alnus Rubra_)[9] yields the first supply. The time of flowering varies from the 10th of March to the 20th of April. The amount afforded is also variable. Cold, freezing weather frequ... All Bee-keepers Should Understand It As It Is
As a guide in many cases, it is important that the practical apiarian should understand this matter _as it is_, and not as said to be by many authors. I shall be under the necessity of differing from nearly all in many points. ... All Should Be Made To Enter
In all cases be sure to get them all to enter; a cluster outside of it may contain the queen, unconscious of a home so near; and the probable consequence might be, she would leave for a miserable one in the woods. ... Amount Of Honey Collected From It
Swarms issuing as late as the 15th July, when they commence on buckwheat, sometimes contain not over five pounds of stores, and yet make good stocks for winter, whereas, without this yield, they might not live through October. It fails about once in... An Experiment
Several years ago, I thought I had obtained a principle that would revolutionize the whole system of bee management. In 1840 I constructed such hives, and put in the bees to test by actual experiment, the utility of what seemed so very plausible in ... An Experiment
Notwithstanding all this, I cannot recommend making a _good_ stock better by adding the bees from another good one as a source of profit. I tried it a few times. I had purchased some large hives for market, and wished to dispose of the bees without ... An Experiment 2
In the spring of '47, I placed under five full hives, containing 2,000 solid or cubic inches, as many empty ones, the same size, without the top. I had a swarm from each; but two had added any new comb, and these but little. If these hives had been ... An Extra Quantity Of Pollen Not Always Detrimental
To test whether this extra quantity of bee-bread was so _very_ detrimental, I have introduced into such hive in the fall a family with a queen and wintered them in it, and watched their prosperity another year, and never found them less profitable o... Another Method Of Uniting Two Families
I have occasionally adopted yet another method of making a good stock from two poor ones, which the reader may prefer. When all your old stocks have been reinforced that need it, and you still have some swarms with too few bees and too little honey ... Another Time Preferred
There is but one period from February till October, when prosperous stocks are free from young brood in the combs. If combs are taken out when occupied, there must be a loss of all the young bees they contain; which may be avoided. The old queen lea... Answers Not Satisfactory
Had I no experience further than this, I should, perhaps, rest satisfied as to the cause, and should endeavor to apply the remedy. Several other writers have appeared in different papers, on this subject, and nearly all who assign a cause have given... Ants A Word In Their Favor
Ants come in for a share of condemnation. This little industrious insect shall have my endeavors for a fair hearing; I think I can understand why they are so frequently accused of robbing bees. Many bee-keepers are wholly ignorant, most of the time,... Apparent Contradiction When Feeding Causing Starvation
It is possible that feeding a stock of bees in spring, may cause them to starve! whereas, if let alone, they might escape. Notwithstanding this looks like a contradiction, I think it appears reasonable. Whenever the supply of honey is short, probabl... Appearance Of Bees In Cold Weather
We will first endeavor to examine the condition of a stock left to nature, without any care, and see if it affords any hints for our guidance, when to assist and protect with artificial means. Warmth being the first requisite, a family of bees at ... Apt To Be Deceived About The Worms
But the worms, you can surely keep them out, you think, since you can seal up the boxes perfectly close, preventing the moth or even the smallest ant from entering! Yes, you may do this effectually, but the worms will often be there somehow, unless ... Apt To Deceive
Yet I can imagine how one can be deceived by such a small hive, and recommend it strongly; especially if patented. Suppose you locate a large swarm in a hive near the size of Dr. Bevan's; the bees would occupy nearly all the room with brood-combs; n... Are All The Birds Guilty?
But for some of the birds accused of preying upon bees, I would say a word. ... Are Not Bees An Advantage To Vegetation?
Vegetable physiology seems to indicate a similar necessity in that department. The stamens and pistils of flowers answer the different organs of the two sexes in animals. The pistil is connected with the ovaries, the stamens furnish the pollen that ... Are Not Bees Directed Alone By Instinct?
On this subject I have but little to say, as I have failed to discover anything uncommonly remarkable, separate and distinct in one swarm, that another would not exhibit. I have found one swarm guided alone by instinct, doing just what another would... Are They All Guilty?
But some of these are probably clear of any actual mischief. I strongly suspect that the spirit of destructiveness with many people is altogether too active. There are some farmers, with this principle predominant, so short-sighted, that if it was i... Arrangement For Feeding
I got a tinman to make some dishes, two inches deep, 10x12 inches square, and perpendicular sides. A board was then got out, fifteen inches wide, and two feet long; two inches from one end, a hole is cut out the longest way, just the size of the dis... Artificial Swarms Only Safe Near The Swarming Season
By what I have said about artificial swarms, it would appear that it is unsafe at any time but the swarming season; that is my opinion. It may do a little in advance or a little after, providing royal cells can be had. By feeding as directed, (in Ch... Bad Policy To Raise The Hives
A great many apiarians raise their hives an inch from the board early in spring. They seem to disregard the chance it gives robbers to enter on every side. It is like setting the door of your own house open, to tempt the thief, and then complain of ... Bee Pasturage
In some seasons the earth is covered with snow much later than others. When this occurs, a greater number of warm days are necessary to melt it, and start the flowers, than otherwise. ... Bees Changeable
Bees are so changeable, especially in the summer and swarming season, that we can seldom be certain what they are, by what they have been. It is safest, therefore, _to know what they are now_. ... Bees Disposed To Carry Away Honey
When boxes are taken off at the end of the honey season, a different method of getting rid of the bees must be adopted, or we lose our honey. Unless the combs are all finished, we lose some then any way, as most of the bees fill themselves before le... Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive
I only will notice the fact, that the bees somehow disappear, and there is no more at the end of five years than at the end of one. A stock of bees may contain 6,000 the first of May, and raise 20,000 in the course of the year; by the first of the n... Bees Mark Their Location On Leaving The Hive
They rise on the wing, but do not leave in a direct line, but immediately turn their heads towards the entrance of their tenement, describing a circle of only a few inches at first, but enlarge as they recede, until an area of several rods have been... Bees When In The House Should Be Kept Perfectly Dark
When not kept perfectly dark, a few would leave the hives in either case. I have found it much better to make the room dark to keep the bees in the hive, than to tie over them a thin muslin cloth, as that prevents a free passage of the vapor, and a ... Best Conveyance
Probably the best conveyance is a wagon with elliptic springs. But a wagon without springs is bad, especially for young stocks. Yet I have known them moved safely in this way, but it required some care in packing with hay, or straw, under and around... Best Time To Witness Comb-making
The only time when I have witnessed the process with any degree of satisfaction is when the combs approach the glass, and but few bees in the way; then, by watching patiently a few minutes, some part of the process may be seen. ... Best To Use Old Combs As Long As They Will Answer
I am satisfied of this much, from actual experience, that every time the bees have to renew their brood-combs in a hive, they would make from ten to twenty-five lbs. in boxes, hence I infer that their time can be more profitably employed than in con... Both Old And Young Leave With Swarms
It is probable that no rule governs the issue of workers. Old and young come out promiscuously. That old bees come out may be known sometimes, by so many leaving, that not a quarter as many will be left, as commenced work in the spring. That young b...