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 A HANDBOOK ON 
 
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 J. E. ECKERT 
 
 BEEKEEPING 
 
 IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL 
 nt Station 
 Extension Service 
 
 MANUAL 15 
 
THIS MANUAL is one of a series published by the University of California College of Agri- 
 culture and sold for a charge which is based upon returning only a portion of the produc- 
 tion cost. By this means it is possible to make available publications which, due to relatively 
 high cost of production, or limited audience, would otherwise be beyond the scope of the 
 College publishing program. 
 
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A HANDBOOK ON 
 
 BEEKEEPING 
 
 IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 J. E. ECKERT 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 The Fundamentals of Beekeeping 1 
 
 The Life Story of the Honeybee 18 
 
 Manipulation of the Hive 30 
 
 General Manipulations 34 
 
 Miscellaneous Operations 50 
 
 The Rearing of Queens 57 
 
 Diseases and Enemies of Bees 61 
 
 Honey and Beeswax 77 
 
 References for Further Reading 86 
 
 Index 87 
 
 This manual replaces the former Extension Circular 100 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS 
 
A HANDBOOK ON 
 
 BEEKEEPI 
 
 This is a handbook for both the beginner and the experienced beekeeper. 
 
 It lists three sources of income — honey and beeswax; rentals for supplying bees 
 for pollination; and sale of colonies, package bees, and queens. 
 
 It discusses the amount of investment you will need to make, how and when to 
 start, and what returns to expect. It tells you what equipment to buy and how to 
 assemble parts. It advises you to place your apiary near nectar and pollen plants, 
 and to move the hives to fresh plant sources when necessary. It names the plants that 
 are poisonous to bees. 
 
 It interprets the behavior of bees used in the pollination of agricultural crops 
 to make them more fruitful and tells how bees communicate with each other to carry 
 on their field duties. 
 
 The history of the queen, the drone, and the worker is told, and the "cycle of 
 the year" described. Seasonal operations are discussed in detail, as are also feeding, 
 both natural and artificial, and diseases with their treatment. 
 
 You are warned about bee stings and advised what to do about enemies of bees, 
 such as skunks, bears, and wax moths. 
 
 Finally, to show you what to do with your product, marketing is discussed. 
 
 THE AUTHOR: J. E. Eckert is Profes- 
 sor of Entomology and Apiculturist 
 in the Experiment Station, Davis. 
 
 APRIL, 1954 
 
NG IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 J. E. ECKERT 
 
 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BEEKEEPING . . . what 
 
 you should know, have, and perhaps think about 
 
 before taking up beekeeping as a hobby or profession 
 
 The keeping of bees is such an old 
 occupation you would naturally suppose 
 that the honeybee is a native insect, but 
 this is not true. Early records indicate 
 that it was first imported into Virginia 
 in 1621 and that beeswax and honey were 
 abundant in that state by 1650. The 
 Daily Alta California reported on July 1, 
 1852, that W. A. Buckley of Newburgh, 
 N.Y., arrived in San Francisco with three 
 hives of bees, one of which was "in fine 
 condition." (There is no further record 
 of this flourishing hive.) In the follow- 
 ing spring Christopher A. Shelton bought 
 12 hives of bees from an unknown bee- 
 keeper in Aspinwall and managed to land 
 the 12 in San Francisco with only enough 
 bees to make one full hive. The colony 
 was taken to San Jose, where it pros- 
 pered to the extent of casting three 
 swarms that spring. In December one of 
 the colonies was sold at auction for 
 $110.* By additional importations and 
 by natural increases, the number of col- 
 onies continued to expand in such vol- 
 ume that John S. Harbison, a pioneer 
 beekeeper of the state, shipped the first 
 carload of comb honey to Chicago in 
 1873. Mr. Harbison used the primitive 
 
 * Clyde Arbuckle, "Bee Line to California,' 
 Westways, Sept., 1952, pp. 8-9. 
 
 type of equipment shown below to pro- 
 duce this honey. 
 
 At present several thousand persons in 
 California own 521,000 hives represent- 
 ing an investment of several million dol- 
 lars. The number of colonies maintained 
 by each beekeeper varies from one to 
 several thousand. A few hundred indi- 
 viduals own and operate a major portion 
 of the total colonies, while the majority 
 
 Two types of hives used by beekeepers in the 
 early days of California beekeeping. The tall 
 hive has three tiers for comb sections; the other 
 is a single brood chamber that can be ex- 
 panded vertically. The "stove" smoker is a 
 forerunner of the bellows smoker. 
 
 [i] 
 
of beekeepers own less than 100 colonies 
 each. Apiaries are found in all parts of 
 the state where there are enough pollen 
 and nectar plants to support the colonies, 
 with a majority of the hives located in 
 the irrigated sections. 
 
 BEEKEEPING OFFERS THREE 
 SOURCES OF INCOME 
 
 In the early days honeybees were kept 
 mainly for honey and beeswax and for 
 the value of the natural swarms. Chang- 
 ing agricultural conditions have opened 
 new sources of income, so that three op- 
 portunities are now available: produc- 
 tion of honey and beeswax; sale of col- 
 onies, package bees, and queens; and 
 rentals from colonies used for pollination. 
 
 Production of honey 
 and beeswax 
 
 The honeybee will store pollen and 
 honey as long as floral sources are avail- 
 able. The honey thus stored beyond the 
 needs of the colony is taken by their 
 keeper as a return for his labor and in- 
 vestment. Annual production of honey 
 averages between 40 and 60 pounds for 
 *all colonies in the state, with seasonal 
 variations. Commercial beekeepers who 
 keep 500 or more colonies may average 
 from 60 to 120 or more pounds per col- 
 ony in a good year. The annual state pro- 
 duction of honey also varies. In 1952 it 
 was reported as 48,974,000 pounds, while 
 the five-year average of 1947 to 1951 was 
 22,431,000 pounds. California furnishes 
 about one-tenth of the honey produced in 
 the United States. 
 
 An important by-product of the honey 
 industry is beeswax, which the bees pro- 
 duce from honey and use to build their 
 combs and to seal the cells of honey and 
 brood. The beeswax of commerce is made 
 l>\ melting the cappings cut from the 
 honey combs in the process of extracting 
 the honey, and by melting entire combs 
 or pieces of comb. The amount of bees- 
 wax secured from each hive varies with 
 llic amOlinl and kind of honey produced 
 
 but averages from 1 to 2 pounds per hive, 
 or about 1 pound for each 50 or 55 
 pounds of extracted honey. The amount 
 of beeswax produced in California during 
 the past ten years has varied from 321,000 
 to 480,000 pounds. Since the price of 
 beeswax to the producer may average be- 
 tween 30 and 45 cents per pound, the 
 beekeeper should save all wax produced 
 in excess of the needs of each colony. 
 
 Sale of colonies, package 
 bees, and queens 
 
 Another source of income is the sale 
 of bees and queens to beginners and to 
 established beekeepers. These are gen- 
 erally sold as colonies established in 
 hives or in screened cages by the pound 
 or package. The average cost of an es- 
 tablished colony will vary with the value 
 of the equipment, condition and type of 
 bees, and strength of the colony. Estab- 
 lished colonies are often bought for less 
 than the value of the initial equipment. 
 
 Beekeepers in favored locations in 
 northern California have developed a 
 business of selling bees by the pound, 
 with or without queens, to established 
 beekeepers to restock hives for pollina- 
 tion or honey production. Since these 
 bees are shipped in screened wooden 
 cages, they are known as package bees. 
 Approximately 100,000 or more pack- 
 ages of bees are shipped annually out of 
 northern California to the northwestern 
 and Rocky Mountain states and to Can- 
 ada. A package usually contains from 2 
 to 4 pounds of bees with one queen and 
 enough sugar syrup to maintain the bees 
 until they reach their destination. There 
 are between 3,000 and 4,500 bees to the 
 pound, depending on the amount of food 
 in their digestive systems at the time they 
 are weighed. 
 
 The cost of a package of bees usually 
 averages around $1.00 a pound for the 
 bees, $1.00 for the queen, and the cost 
 of the package — or between $3.50 and 
 $5.00 a package, depending on its size, 
 method of delivery, and other factors. 
 
 [2] 
 
Approximately 75 beekeepers in Cali- 
 fornia produce queens for sale to other 
 beekeepers for requeening their colonies. 
 California queens are shipped to prac- 
 tically every state in the United States, to 
 various provinces in Canada, and to many 
 foreign countries. Between 250,000 and 
 300,000 queens are produced and sold 
 annually by California queen producers 
 at an average price of $1.00 to $1.50 each 
 for untested queens, and $2.50 to $5.00 
 or more for tested queens and breeders. 
 (See further discussion of queens, page 
 58.) 
 
 The production of package bees and 
 queens requires a greater amount of skill 
 in handling bees than the production of 
 honey and beeswax. The package bee in- 
 dustry is centered in northern California 
 because of generally favorable conditions 
 for building up colony strength in the 
 spring several weeks before the normal 
 honey flow. 
 
 Rentals for pollination services 
 
 A majority of our orchard and field 
 crops are either dependent upon insect 
 pollination to be fruitful, or their pro- 
 duction is increased when an adequate 
 number of pollinators are present during 
 the blooming period. The honeybee is 
 the only pollinator that can be controlled, 
 multiplied in numbers, and moved as 
 needed for pollination purposes. The 
 leveling of former pastures and waste- 
 lands to bring them under cultivation and 
 the greatly increased use of chemicals in 
 the control of weeds and insect pests have 
 reduced the number and value of other 
 pollinating insects and made agriculture 
 more dependent on the beekeeping indus- 
 try for this essential service. 
 
 Since it is usually not practical for a 
 farmer or orchardist to maintain a large 
 number of colonies of bees to pollinate 
 his various crops throughout the year, he 
 has to depend on the beekeeper to supply 
 the number of colonies needed. For best 
 results in the pollination of orchard blos- 
 soms one colony per acre is required, al- 
 
 though two per acre might be better for 
 almonds. Bees gather little or no surplus 
 of marketable honey from fruit trees; 
 hence the orchardist usually pays the 
 beekeeper a rental for the use of the bees. 
 Rentals of $1.50 to $5.00 per colony for 
 orchard pollination are quite common, 
 the price depending usually on whether 
 the bees are placed in one location or 
 distributed through the orchard. 
 
 In legume-seed production, a concen- 
 tration of one colony per acre for trefoil, 
 alsike, ladino, and red clovers and an 
 average of three colonies per acre for 
 alfalfa are generally considered adequate. 
 In very heavy stands of alfalfa four and 
 five colonies per acre are used. This con- 
 centration of bees is greater than is used 
 for commercial honey production, and 
 little surplus honey can be expected ex- 
 cept in very favorable years. The red 
 clovers provide only pollen for the pol- 
 linators. 
 
 Rentals for the use of the bees are 
 usually based on : 1 ) what the bees might 
 normally make from honey production; 
 2) the cost of moving the hives into the 
 seed area and the manner in which the 
 hives are distributed in or around the 
 fields; 3) the hazards of chemical poison- 
 ing involved; and 4) the production and 
 value of the seed crop. Since it has been 
 found that seed production is greatly in- 
 creased by having an adequate bee popu- 
 lation in the seed fields, other factors 
 being favorable, seed growers and bee- 
 keepers usually enter into contracts to 
 cover the pollination services. 
 
 The rentals paid for colonies used in 
 seed production vary with the type of 
 crop, number of hives, and potential crop 
 values. Contracts are generally written 
 for a minimum amount to cover moving 
 costs when the bees are moved in, and 
 the balance is estimated at so much per 
 colony based on the amount of clean seed 
 produced. The contracts also stipulate 
 the strength of colonies to be provided, 
 method and time of placing the hives, 
 avoidance of injury to the colonies from 
 
 [3] 
 
the application of pesticides, etc. Some 
 beekeepers specialize in providing bees 
 for pollination services and manage their 
 colonies accordingly. 
 
 The increasing use of pesticides for 
 the control of weeds and insect pests con- 
 stitutes a hazard to pollinating insects, 
 and both the beekeeper and the seed 
 grower must be alert to this danger at all 
 times for their mutual benefit. 
 
 BEGINNERS . . . 
 CHECK THESE POINTS 
 
 The keeping of bees attracts people of 
 all classes. Often a person who has found 
 a stray swarm becomes interested enough 
 in the habits of bees to buy additional 
 colonies. The pleasure and profit that 
 come from this venture vary according 
 to the interest of the beekeeper and the 
 experience he gains. The beginner seldom 
 knows that much information is available 
 on the subject. He gets his experience 
 painfully and expensively without advice. 
 Because the main part of the colony is 
 hidden in its hive and the worker bees 
 come and go, some beginners think that 
 the bees do all the work and that the bee- 
 keeper merely profits by their labors. 
 This is far from the truth. For beekeeping 
 to be profitable, the requirements of the 
 colonies must be known and must be sup- 
 plied at the proper time. 
 
 Before making an initial investment 
 in bees or equipment, measure your in- 
 terest and ability to invest by the follow- 
 ing considerations. 
 
 Reactions to bee stings 
 
 The sting of the honeybee generally 
 hurts even the seasoned beekeeper. A 
 first sting usually causes a swelling that 
 will last for a varying period of time — 
 seldom more than two or three days. Im- 
 munity to the poison can be gradually 
 acquired until the effect is not noticeable 
 after a few minutes. The pain of being 
 Btung L8 always felt for an instant after 
 the stinger is thrust into the flesh. The 
 stinger should be wiped or scraped off 
 
 immediately. Pulling or twisting it out 
 injects the contents of the poison sac into 
 the wound. With suitable clothing, prop- 
 erly adjusted, and with a knowledge of 
 bee behavior, you can usually avoid 
 being stung by handling bees properly. 
 The number of stings required to effect 
 immunity will vary with the individual; 
 some persons seem naturally immune, 
 whereas others may require many stings 
 over a long period to develop immunity. 
 
 In rare instances — where the individ- 
 ual is hypersensitive — the sting of a bee 
 may result in a more serious reaction than 
 simply local pain and swelling. Such a 
 person should not work with bees until 
 he has been immunized to bee venom 
 under a doctor's supervision. If a sting 
 causes a marked change in pulse rate, 
 difficult breathing, loss of consciousness, 
 or hives on various parts of the body, 
 consult a doctor immediately. Adrenalin 
 is a specific antidote when a person be- 
 comes generally affected by bee poison. 
 It should be administered by a physician 
 immediately, when the general symptoms 
 appear, or as soon as the sensitive person 
 is stung. 
 
 Some persons who are highly allergic 
 to bee stings have found that ephedrin, 
 taken in a capsule by mouth as soon as 
 they are stung, is a good antidote to a 
 general systemic reaction. Capsules con- 
 taining % gr. of ephedrin and % gr. of 
 amytal are available at most drugstores, 
 and an adult can take two such capsules 
 with safety after being stung by bees. 
 Benedril, in 50 mg. capsules, is another 
 antidote for bee poison that can be kept 
 on hand for emergency use. Capsules are 
 easier to take and to self-administer than 
 adrenalin under conditions where med- 
 ical attention is not available. 
 
 Amount of investment 
 
 The investment in a beekeeping project 
 depends on whether you start with all new 
 equipment and package bees or buy used 
 equipment and established colonies; it 
 depends also on the amount of equipment 
 
 [4] 
 
involved. If you plan to keep only a few 
 colonies, there will be no need for such 
 facilities as a warehouse, workshop, 
 trucks, and the extensive honey extract- 
 ing and processing equipment essential 
 to commercial operations. On the basis 
 of ten 3-story colonies operated for ex- 
 tracted honey, where all new equipment 
 is involved, the investment for hives, bees, 
 tools, and a small extractor and honey 
 tank amounted to approximately $23.00 
 per colony at 1952 prices. Used equip- 
 ment can usually be bought for less than 
 the original price, depending on the con- 
 dition of the equipment as well as the 
 urgency of the need to make the sale. 
 
 How to start 
 
 You may become familiar with the 
 management of bees by studying the cur- 
 rent literature on beekeeping and bee be- 
 havior while working with one or more 
 colonies of bees. In all cases it is desir- 
 able to have an instructor or experienced 
 beekeeper first demonstrate how bees and 
 equipment can be handled and explain 
 precautions necessary to keep the bees 
 under control while a hive is being ma- 
 nipulated. If you want to go into beekeep- 
 ing on a commercial scale you should 
 serve as a helper to an experienced bee- 
 keeper for one or more seasons in order 
 to gain the experience needed to operate 
 500 or more colonies. Hives of bees can 
 be moved from one location to another 
 according to the desire of the beekeeper 
 to live or operate in certain sections of 
 the state. 
 
 In buying established colonies, you 
 should require an inspection certifi- 
 cate from the county apiary inspec- 
 tor, which insures freedom from 
 disease. You should also examine the 
 hives to see the condition of the equip- 
 ment for each colony. It is an advantage 
 for a beginner to have colonies already 
 established in hives. If you buy package 
 bees, however, it is practical to start with 
 new equipment. Then you can watch the 
 progress of the bees in building new 
 
 Local effect of a sting near the eye of a 
 novice. These results are temporary and do not 
 recur when the beekeeper develops immunity 
 to the poison. 
 
 combs, starting their brood nest, and pur- 
 suing the natural cycle of activities in a 
 new hive. There is no danger of acquir- 
 ing diseased colonies when package bees 
 are installed on frames of foundation. 
 
 When to start 
 
 The climate varies so greatly in dif- 
 ferent parts of California that the best 
 time of year to start differs from one 
 region to another. A practical plan is to 
 study beekeeping literature during the 
 fall and winter, then to acquire the first 
 colony in the spring, when blossoms will 
 supply the food requirements for brood 
 rearing and colony maintenance. The 
 problems of spring management, swarm 
 control, and supering for the nectar flow 
 are usually very interesting to the begin- 
 ner, but they are problems you must 
 handle wisely. Unless you know some- 
 thing about the habits of bees and their 
 care and have surveyed the possibilities 
 of your location, the colony may try to 
 solve its own problems by swarming. Of 
 course, beekeeping can be started at any 
 season, provided you know the needs of 
 the colony at that time and manage ac- 
 cordingly. General directions for manag- 
 ing colonies during the different seasons 
 are given in the section on general 
 manipulations, pages 34—35. 
 
 [5] 
 
What returns to expect 
 
 The amount of profit in bees depends 
 to a large extent on the availability and 
 abundance of nectar- and pollen-produc- 
 ing plants and on favorable weather con- 
 ditions while the flowers are in bloom. 
 It also depends on the number of bees in 
 each colony, on the skill used in handling 
 bees and equipment, and on marketing 
 conditions. The three sources of possible 
 profit have already been listed — sale of 
 honey and beeswax; sale of colonies, 
 package bees, and queens; and rentals 
 for pollinating services. The income of 
 the beekeeper is not fixed like that of the 
 worker with a given salary. It varies from 
 season to season but averages from $3.00 
 to $10.00 or more per colony per year. 
 You may get additional income from 
 marketing the honey in retail packages, 
 or direct to the consumer at retail prices. 
 
 To have an apiary site in territory 
 where one or more major honey plants 
 occur in abundance is of great impor- 
 tance. In California the blooming period 
 of a nectar-producing plant is relatively 
 short in comparison with the period 
 when the bees are active. For this reason 
 beekeepers engaged in producing honey 
 must, as a rule, move their colonies about 
 in order to keep the bees in a nectar flow. 
 Commercial apiarists often move their 
 colonies from two to five times within a 
 single year. This system is called migra- 
 tory beekeeping. Although the average 
 permanent location may yield enough 
 nectar for the colony and some surplus 
 besides, this good fortune cannot always 
 be expected, except in some irrigated re- 
 gions where the nectar-secreting plants 
 are not dependent on rainfall for mois- 
 ture, or where the location borders both 
 a natural source of nectar and a culti- 
 vated area. 
 
 Normal average colony production in 
 California varies from 40 to 60 pounds 
 annually. Some colonies must be fed 
 sugar syrup in order to remain alive dur- 
 
 ing a dearth of nectar. Colonies in more 
 favorable locations may average 100 to 
 200 pounds or more of surplus. In addi- 
 tion to yield, the amount of profit on the 
 season's operations of course depends 
 on production and marketing costs and 
 market price. 
 
 Besides the money return, the bee- 
 keeper generally takes into consideration 
 the pleasure of working under healthful 
 outdoor conditions. Many people keep 
 colonies solely because of an absorbing 
 interest in the life history and habits of 
 bees. Thus beekeeping may become a di- 
 version for the professional or office 
 worker. Bees may be kept in an outapiary 
 some miles distant in the country and 
 visited regularly in conjunction with a 
 city occupation. Beekeeping is an avoca- 
 tion that may also fit in well with such 
 occupations as fruit growing and poultry 
 raising. 
 
 These are the 
 success factors 
 
 As a rule, success in beekeeping fol- 
 lows in direct proportion to the beekeep- 
 er's knowledge of bee behavior and hive 
 operation and his acquaintance with nec- 
 tar plants. This must of course be coupled 
 with business ability. Beekeeping re- 
 quires persistent effort and promptness 
 in meeting the demands of the occupa- 
 tion. It is not a business for a careless or 
 a lazy person. Honeybees meet with 
 many hazards. They are attacked by 
 spiders and many insects, by birds, mam- 
 mals, toads, bacteria, protozoans, and 
 fungi. They are subject to specific dis- 
 eases, many of which are very destruc- 
 tive. They are also liable to be poisoned 
 by chemical sprays through the increased 
 use of pesticides; in fact, chemical 
 poisoning has become a greater hazard 
 than bee diseases. The welfare of the bees 
 therefore depends not only on favorable 
 plant and climatic conditions, but also 
 on the care essential to their very exist- 
 ence. 
 
 [6] 
 
Choosing your 
 apiary site 
 
 Important nectar and pollen 
 plants. In locating an apiary, you should 
 know the nectar- and pollen-bearing 
 plants and their blossoming dates. Cali- 
 fornia has nectar-producing plants of 
 wide variety and seasonal distribution. 
 These plants may be found in varying 
 abundance, both at sea level and high in 
 the mountains. The more important 
 plants are listed in table 1. Each nectar- 
 secreting plant produces a honey char- 
 acteristic of that plant, not only in color 
 but also in flavor. Since the bees fre- 
 quently work on only one major honey 
 plant during its blooming period, you 
 may, if you like, keep separate the vari- 
 ous honeys produced. 
 
 An ideal apiary location is one that 
 furnishes enough spring flowers yielding 
 pollen and nectar for the bees to build up 
 their colonies rapidly for a major nectar 
 flow of long duration. Later plants should 
 provide stores for the bees during the 
 winter. In many localities of California 
 the climate encourages brood rearing 
 over the greater part of the year. The 
 blossoming periods of the more impor- 
 tant honey plants are usually short, how- 
 ever, seldom lasting longer than two 
 months and often not longer than three 
 weeks. Some plants produce a fine grade 
 of table honey; others, the stronger- 
 flavored honeys, used chiefly in the 
 bakery trade. 
 
 At least half the honey produced in 
 California is gathered from wild flowers; 
 adequate rainfall, therefore, is important 
 in its production. Atmosphere and soil 
 likewise affect the quantity and quality 
 of nectar produced by any particular 
 plant. For this reason, a good nectar 
 source in one locality may be of less value 
 in another. A distance of only a few miles 
 may make a marked difference in nectar 
 production. Many cultivated plants, such 
 as citrus, alfalfa, and cotton, are so sensi- 
 tive to climatic conditions that their an- 
 
 A location where the bees can 
 gather surplus from two or more 
 major plants is very desirable; it is 
 probably as profitable, over a pe- 
 riod of years, as the migratory 
 system. 
 
 nual nectar production varies greatly. In 
 the foothills surrounding the great val- 
 leys of northern California, including the 
 northern slope of the Tehachapi range, 
 the California buckeye (Aesculus cali- 
 fornica) , whose pollen is poisonous to 
 the honeybee, covers a wide area that 
 would otherwise make excellent bee ter- 
 ritory. Fortunately, this plant does not 
 extend into the more important sage and 
 buckwheat locations of southern Califor- 
 nia. Many sections in the Coast Range 
 cannot be used for beekeeping because 
 fogs are usually present when the honey 
 plants are in bloom. 
 
 As ideal year-round locations are hard 
 to find, many beekeepers move their col- 
 onies from two to five times a year. This 
 migratory system tends to provide the 
 bees with a continuous nectar flow. Such 
 a practice is expensive and calls for con- 
 siderable labor and equipment. 
 
 Sometimes bees are kept primarily for 
 pollination purposes or as a hobby, with 
 surplus honey of secondary importance. 
 Then almost any irrigated region and 
 many mountain locations will provide a 
 nectar flow sufficient for them to store 
 honey and to provide some surplus for 
 their keeper. 
 
 General considerations. The loca- 
 tion of both permanent apiaries and out- 
 apiaries must be given intelligent consid- 
 eration. Hives in permanent apiaries are 
 usually placed on concrete or stone foun- 
 dations to prevent damage by dry rot and 
 termites. Hives in outapiaries are often 
 placed directly on the ground in double 
 rows, back to back, with enough space 
 between each two rows for a truck to 
 pass through. Hives located in groups of 
 twos or fours, in straight rows, make a 
 
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better-looking apiary than hives scat- 
 tered about; however, this arrangement 
 often causes the young bees and the re- 
 turning field bees to drift with the wind 
 into hives other than their own. Since, in 
 California, outapiaries are generally 
 temporary locations, beekeepers often 
 place their colonies in irregular rows as 
 the truck is unloaded. This tends to re- 
 duce undesirable drifting of bees from 
 one end of a row to another. 
 
 As a rule, the hive entrance should face 
 away from the direction of the prevailing 
 winds. This is less necessary where wind- 
 breaks are provided. If natural sources 
 of water are not readily accessible, water 
 should be provided near the bees. Water 
 is especially necessary in desert locations. 
 
 Provide an economic surplus of 
 honey and pollen. A desirable loca- 
 tion should have sufficient pollen and 
 nectar plants to keep the colonies in good 
 condition and to produce a surplus for 
 their keeper. Locations that produce good 
 quality table honey are to be preferred 
 to those that produce honey of an inferior 
 grade. The territory should not be over- 
 stocked. Bees will fly an average distance 
 of 1% to 2 miles in search of nectar and 
 pollen, and much farther if necessary. It 
 is seldom practical to locate apiaries 
 
 closer than a mile apart, unless the nec- 
 tar production warrants. The number of 
 colonies in a particular region will also 
 influence the number that should be kept 
 in each apiary. From 50 to 100 colonies 
 is the general rule, enough to keep the 
 beekeeper busy in each location for half 
 or all of a day on each visit. Apiaries 
 are generally located either within the 
 nectar source or within a half mile of its 
 borders. 
 
 Avoid areas infested with ants 
 and other pests. Sometimes the hives 
 in back-lot apiaries are placed on benches 
 a foot or so off the ground to prevent 
 damage from termites, ants, and dry rot. 
 This is also advisable when toads, lizards, 
 and skunks are abundant. For obvious 
 reasons, do not locate hives in an area 
 infested with troublesome ants or near 
 dens of skunks. In mountain regions 
 where there are bears, apiaries should be 
 protected by an electric fence, as de- 
 scribed on page 76. This repels not only 
 bears but also other large animals. 
 
 Furnish climatic protection. Natu- 
 ral windbreaks of brush or trees are ad- 
 visable wherever the prevailing winds in- 
 terfere with the flight of bees. In sections 
 of the state where the temperatures are 
 above 95° F in the summer and fall, par- 
 
 Partial shade is essential for bees in the Imperial Valley and may be supplied by natural growth, 
 
 such as mesquite, or by artificial shelters. 
 
tial shade is desirable. This shade may be 
 provided by boards laid on top of the 
 hives, by arbors, or by shrubbery. During 
 the winter, colonies generally fare better 
 if their hives are not shaded. 
 
 Avoid areas subject to fire or 
 flood. Apiaries should be located above 
 flood danger and irrigation water. The 
 apiary site should be cleaned to elimi- 
 nate a fire hazard. 
 
 Safeguard the public. In cities, col- 
 onies are often kept on the roof of a 
 building, in a back yard, or on a vacant 
 lot. Do not locate colonies where they 
 will interfere with highway or pedestrian 
 traffic. Nor should they be too near 
 cattle-feeding lots, fruit-drying centers, 
 garden pools, or neighboring houses. 
 This means that an apiary should be lo- 
 cated approximately 50 feet away from 
 any point at which the bees would be a 
 source of danger — farther in the case of 
 large apiaries. 
 
 A check list of nectar 
 and pollen plants 
 
 Because of California's great diversity 
 in soil and climate, there is a great range 
 of nectar and pollen plants throughout 
 
 Bees cluster out on hot days if the entrance is 
 restricted, as in the hive below. 
 
 the state, with different plants prevailing 
 in different localities. Two hundred or 
 more species of plants in California sup- 
 ply the honeybee with valuable quantities 
 of nectar and pollen. Of this total, only a 
 comparatively small number are of pri- 
 mary importance in the production of 
 surplus honey in commercial quantities. 
 These main sources are listed on page 12. 
 Also listed are plants of secondary im- 
 portance, valuable not only as sources 
 for the stimulation of brood rearing, but 
 also for quantities of pollen or surplus 
 honey in favorable seasons. 
 
 The comparative value of the chief pol- 
 len and honey plants in the various coun- 
 ties of California is given in table 1. 
 Certain plants, such as filaree, mustard, 
 and chickweed, are so widespread 
 throughout the state and are such valu- 
 , able sources of pollen that they deserve 
 special mention. Eucalyptus, however, 
 even though it furnishes surplus nectar in 
 some favored regions, such as the coastal 
 areas, may be considered undesirable in 
 others. Unfortunately, many of its varie- 
 ties bloom in late winter and very early 
 spring, when many bees are lost through 
 chilling as they attempt to work its blos- 
 soms. This loss of bees is so great in many 
 sections that colonies are greatly reduced 
 in strength and thus are weakened for 
 more important nectar flows that follow. 
 Changing agricultural conditions bring 
 about material changes in nectar- and 
 pollen-producing plants, and beekeeping 
 locations vary accordingly. The acci- 
 dental introduction of yellow star thistle, 
 although detrimental as a weed, has 
 greatly improved the nectar-producing 
 locations in sections of northern Califor- 
 nia. The use of mustard and sweet clover 
 as cover crops for soil-building purposes 
 has had the same effect in other sections. 
 Intense cultivation, however, generally 
 decreases the available nectar and pollen 
 sources. The increasing use of various 
 chemicals in the control of weeds has also 
 appreciably reduced the available sources 
 of nectar and pollen. 
 
CALIFORNIA NECTAR AND POLLEN PLANTS OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE 
 
 Alfalfa, Medicago sativa 
 Alfalfa (wild), Lotus scoparius 
 Blue curls, Trichostema 
 
 lanceolatum 
 Buckwheat, Eriogonum, spp. 
 Cotton, Gossypium spp. 
 Deciduous fruits 
 Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus spp. 
 Filaree, Erodium spp. 
 Ladino clover, Trifolium repens 
 
 var. latum 
 Lima bean, Phaseolus sp. 
 Manzanita, Arctostaphylos spp. 
 Mesquite, Prosopis juliflora var. 
 
 glandulosa 
 
 Mustard, Brassica spp. 
 Orange, Citrus sinensis 
 Sage (black) , Salvia mellifera 
 Sage (creeping) , Salvia sonomensis 
 Sage (purple), Salvia leucophylla 
 Sage (white) , Salvia apiana 
 Spikeweed, Centromadia spp. 
 Sweet clover, Melilotus alba 
 Tarweed, Hemizonia spp. 
 Vegetable crops (onion, carrot, and 
 
 asparagus) 
 Willow, Salix spp. 
 Yellow star thistle, Centaurea sol- 
 
 stitialis 
 
 NECTAR AND POLLEN PLANTS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE 1 
 
 Black locust, Robinia pseudo- 
 acacia 
 Button-willow, Cephalanthus 
 
 occidentalis 
 California buckeye, Aesculus 
 
 calif or nica 2 
 California honey plant, Scrophula- 
 
 ria calif or nica 
 Cantaloupe 
 
 Carpet grass, Lippia spp. 
 Cascara sagrada, Rhamnus 
 
 purshiana 
 Catclaw, Acacia greggii 
 Cedar, Libocedrus decurrens 3 
 Chia sage, Salvia columbariae 
 Coffeeberry, Rhamnus californica 
 Hollyberry, Rhamnus crocea 
 Jackass clover, Wislizenia refracta 
 Mad rone, Arbutus menziesii 
 Mountain misery, Chamaebatia 
 
 foliolosa 
 i )ak. Ouercus spp.* 
 Olive, Oleaeuropaea 
 
 Pentstemon spp. 
 
 Phacelia spp. 
 
 Poison oak, Rhus diver siloba 
 
 Rabbit brush, Chrysothamnus 
 
 nauseosus 
 Snowberry, Symphoricarpos 
 
 albus 
 Sumac, Rhus laurina 
 Tamarisk, Tamarix spp. 
 Trefoil, Lotus spp. 
 Toyon, Photinia arbutijolia 
 Wild lilac, Ceanothus spp. 
 Yerba santa, Eriodictyon 
 
 calif or nicum 
 
 1 Data assembled with the assistance of 
 George H. Vansell, U.S.D.A. Bee Culture, Davis. 
 
 ~ This plant is listed here primarily because 
 of its poisonous nature to bees and not because 
 of the surplus honey it may produce at the ex- 
 pense of the bee population. 
 
 :t Source of abundant honeydew in favorable 
 years. 
 
 * Source of pollen and honeydew. 
 
 [12] 
 
Minimum equipment 
 for the beekeeper 
 
 Type of hive. Before acquiring col- 
 onies, decide what type of beekeeping 
 best suits your locality. This decision will 
 indicate the type of equipment you will 
 need. 
 
 Undoubtedly the easiest kind of honey 
 to produce is extracted honey or comb 
 honey in shallow frames. This calls for 
 the 10-frame Langstroth hive, which is 
 standard among the great majority of 
 beekeepers in the state, although some 
 successfully use the 8-frame hive or other 
 sizes. Each hive should consist of a bot- 
 tom board, a brood chamber, at least two 
 standard 10-frame hive bodies of the 
 same dimensions as the brood chamber, 
 
 and an outer cover. If you expect to keep 
 only five colonies or less, then each hive 
 might well consist of two 10-frame hive 
 bodies and two to four shallow supers, 
 together with hive tops and bottoms. 
 Such equipment will permit the produc- 
 tion of honey in shallow frames so that 
 it can either be cut out of the frames in 
 comb form or extracted. An extra bot- 
 tom board and top for use with a hive 
 body, to take care of an increase of one 
 swarm, are also desirable. Eight-frame 
 equipment is recommended for women 
 beekeepers. 
 
 Queen excluder. This piece of 
 equipment is recommended, to confine 
 the queen to the brood chambers. A queen 
 excluder makes colony management 
 easier in many ways; it is essential where 
 
 INNER COVER 
 HIVE TOOL 
 
 OUTER COVER 
 SUPERS 
 
 SMOKER 
 
 SUPER COMBS 
 QUEEN EXCLUDER 
 BROOD CHAMBER 
 
 BOTTOM BOARD 
 
 The parts of a 3-story Langstroth hive. 
 
 [13] 
 
shallow frames are used to produce bulk 
 or cut-comb honey. Many commercial 
 beekeepers equip their hives with queen 
 excluders in the production of extracted 
 honey. 
 
 Hive cover. The two principal kinds 
 of hive covers are those fitting flat on top 
 of the hive and those telescoping a few 
 inches down over its sides. With the 
 former covers no inner cover is needed; 
 but with the telescoping type, an inner 
 cover of wood is essential, although some 
 beekeepers use burlap or canvas instead. 
 For migratory beekeeping the flat cover 
 is the best. 
 
 Smoker. The smoker, one of the most 
 useful tools in the apiary, should be kept 
 in good repair. The standard or jumbo 
 type is recommended. In the selection of 
 a smoker, it is well to remember that 
 copper, if given proper care, lasts longer 
 than tin. 
 
 Hive tool. The hive tool is used to pry 
 the supers apart, to loosen frames, and 
 to scrape burr and bridge combs and 
 propolis from the frames and hive. Al- 
 though various kinds are used, the 10- 
 inch Root hive tool, or one of similar 
 pattern, is the one most commonly used. 
 A serviceable hive tool can be made from 
 
 spring steel and fitted with a wooden 
 handle. The scraping edge of the tool 
 should be square and the corners 
 rounded — not sharpened to a cutting 
 point as is too frequently done. Square 
 edges and rounded corners will neither 
 splinter the wood nor cut the operator. 
 
 Bee suit. Special clothing may be 
 worn in the apiary to protect the bee- 
 keeper against stings. The veil — of first 
 consideration — should be of dark mate- 
 rial, either wire or tulle, in order that 
 the worker may have the clearest possible 
 vision. The folding wire veils sold by 
 most manufacturers and supply houses 
 are generally satisfactory. The cotton 
 tulle veil, with a silk tulle front, gives 
 especially clear vision. Whichever kind is 
 used, the veil should be fastened down 
 securely over the head and neck to be 
 entirely bee-tight even when the wearer 
 is bending over the hive. Straw hats or 
 hats covered with cotton cloth, instead of 
 felt, should be worn in the apiary, since 
 bees tend to sting felt or flannel. 
 
 Light-colored clothing is preferable to 
 dark, and cotton to wool or flannel. A 
 zipper coverall fastened at the wrists and 
 ankles makes a very serviceable outfit. 
 High-topped shoes or boots are generally 
 
 One method of wiring a frame to supply support for the comb. 
 
 [14] 
 
worn as a protection against stings. Some- 
 times elbow-length bee gloves made of 
 heavy cloth are worn, although usually 
 only when the bees are exceptionally 
 cross. The experienced beekeeper, how- 
 ever, often works with sleeves rolled up 
 and probably does not receive any more 
 stings, on the average, than if the sleeves 
 were fastened at the wrist. 
 
 Comb foundation. Comb foundation 
 normally consists of sheets of pure bees- 
 wax embossed on both sides with hexa- 
 gonal cell bases of the size built for 
 worker bees. Three principal types of 
 foundation are now available at most 
 bee supply dealers: light, medium, or 
 heavy brood; 3-ply; and thin super. 
 Wired foundation has vertical wires em- 
 bedded in the sheet of beeswax by the 
 manufacturers. The thin super founda- 
 tion is used for comb sections or for the 
 production of comb honey in shallow 
 frames. Straight combs of worker cells 
 are essential to the proper management 
 of bees, and these can be secured only 
 where the frame is properly wired and 
 full sheets of foundation are fastened in 
 each frame. 
 
 Wire-embedded foundation is to be 
 recommended, especially if combs are 
 subjected to strenuous movement in the 
 migratory system of beekeeping prac- 
 ticed in so many sections of the state. 
 The vertically embedded wires, supported 
 by two to four horizontal wires, also pre- 
 vent the cells in the upper part of the 
 comb from stretching out of shape with 
 the weight of honey during the heat of 
 summer. The 3-ply Airco foundation is 
 also stronger than regular foundation 
 and is used by many beekeepers to pre- 
 vent the cells from stretching out of 
 shape. 
 
 Bee brushes. Bee brushes are used 
 mostly at extracting time to brush the 
 bees off the combs. Two types of brushes 
 are used. One is a whisk broom of long 
 pliable strands, soft enough not to injure 
 the bees. The other type is a horizontal, 
 long-handled brush with soft bristles ap- 
 
 proximately 2 1 / 4 x 8 inches; this brush 
 comes in both a single and double row 
 of bristles. 
 
 Miscellaneous equipment. In as- 
 sembling the equipment received knocked 
 down (KD) from the factory, frame- 
 nailing, wiring, and embedding devices 
 will be needed. The beginner can pur- 
 chase these, or can make them from the 
 patterns used by established beekeepers. 
 
 Bee escapes, although helpful in re- 
 moving surplus honey, are seldom used 
 by the commercial beekeeper in Califor- 
 nia. He prefers to shake or brush the bees 
 from the combs, or to drive them off by 
 the chemical means described later. Top 
 and entrance screens for hives are recom- 
 mended if colonies are to be moved from 
 one location to another with the greatest 
 safety (see also the section on moving, 
 page 50). 
 
 Extracting equipment consists of an 
 extractor, an uncapping knife, a cap- 
 pings box, a strainer, honey tanks, and a 
 steam generator. Extractors vary in size 
 from 2- to 50-frame capacity. All but the 
 2- or 4-frame extractors are power-driven 
 and generally have honey pumps at- 
 tached for pumping the honey from the 
 extractor to the tanks. The 2-frame ex- 
 tractor is very satisfactory for a small 
 number of colonies. A bee-tight solar 
 wax extractor which melts the wax by the 
 heat of the sun is a desirable piece of 
 equipment even in a small apiary; it 
 saves much wax that would otherwise be 
 thrown away. 
 
 How to assemble the equipment 
 
 If the hive is to be assembled, the be- 
 ginning beekeeper will need the following 
 equipment: 
 
 One-story, 10-frame, standard dove- 
 tailed hive, complete with Hoffman self- 
 spacing frames, metal rabbets, and nails 
 One or two hive bodies with frames 
 Two shallow extracting supers with 
 frames (if desired instead of full-depth 
 supers) 
 
 [15] 
 
Medium brood foundation, 20 sheets 
 (wired, 3-ply, or plain) 
 
 Thin super foundation for shallow 
 frames, 20 sheets 
 
 Tinned wire, *4 -pound spool 
 
 Frame-wiring outfit 
 
 Spur wire embedder or an electric em- 
 bedder 
 
 Queen excluder 
 
 Standard smoker 
 
 Folding wire bee veil 
 
 Hive tool 
 
 Paint 
 
 3-pound package of bees and queen or 
 the equivalent in a natural swarm 
 
 Nailing the frames. You should find 
 it easy to assemble the different hive 
 bodies, tops, and bottoms. You may, 
 however, be puzzled at first by the frames 
 themselves. The frames should be nailed 
 square with the aid of the frame-nailing 
 device, which is sold by bee supply manu- 
 facturers or can be made at home. 
 
 The end bars of Hoffman frames are 
 pierced with four holes in each for the 
 tinned frame wire that holds the founda- 
 tion in place; wiring devices are useful 
 in placing the wire in the frames. Diag- 
 onal wires in addition to horizontal wires 
 add greater strength to the frame; they 
 also aid in keeping the drawn comb from 
 stretching near the top bar. The wires 
 should be tight enough to sing when 
 thumbed during stringing, yet not so 
 tight as to cut into or bend the end bars. 
 Metal eyelets are sometimes placed in 
 the holes to prevent wires from cutting 
 into the wood. The frames are placed in 
 the frame-wiring device, with the top 
 bars next to the operator and with the 
 cut-out portion of the top bar uppermost. 
 Then the foundation can be fastened into 
 the frame by nailing down the strip in the 
 top bar without removing the frame from 
 the device. 
 
 I f a good grade of glue is used to fasten 
 the parts of the frame together during 
 the nailing process, a stronger frame will 
 
 result even though only four nails are 
 used for each frame. Other hive parts 
 can be glued to advantage before being 
 nailed. Further, instead of using metal 
 eyelets in the holes of the end bars, you 
 can use %e-inch staples driven into the 
 end bars % inch from the holes before 
 the frames are assembled. Another 
 method of preventing wires from cutting 
 into the end bars is to drive two or three 
 1-inch nails through each end bar with 
 the inner points bent so the frame wire 
 can be fastened to the nails. Beekeepers 
 who use this system have a gadget for 
 driving and bending the nails at the de- 
 sired angle at one operation. They also 
 use a 1 -frame holding device for wiring 
 the frames and a special device for elec- 
 trically embedding the wires. 
 
 Embedding the wires. The most 
 satisfactory way to embed wires in the 
 foundation is to heat them by electricity 
 until they are hot enough to sink halfway 
 through the sheets of wax. The frame 
 should be placed on the embedding board 
 with the comb foundation beneath the 
 wire. The electric current will heat the 
 wires and cause them to sink into the 
 foundation, at which point the contact 
 should be broken, and the wires held in 
 place until the melted wax congeals and 
 fastens the wires securely in the founda- 
 tion. The wires should not be too hot or 
 held in place too long while hot or they 
 will burn through the foundation. 
 
 The spur embedder or dry-cell battery 
 units are used to embed wires when elec- 
 tric current is not available. The spur 
 embedder is also a convenient tool when 
 foundation is embedded electrically; 
 with it one can fasten down portions of 
 wire that are not properly embedded. 
 
 Wires should not be embedded when 
 the foundation is cold; and frames con- 
 taining foundation should not be stored 
 in cold rooms, since contraction and 
 later expansion of the wax will cause 
 the foundation to pull loose from the 
 
 wires. 
 
 [16 1 
 
While most beekeepers use factory- 
 made equipment, many like to construct 
 their own beehives or hive parts. If this 
 is done, it is desirable to secure a com- 
 plete hive of standard make and to dupli- 
 cate the dimensions of all parts as ac- 
 
 curately as possible. Unless all dimen- 
 sions are accurate, the various parts may 
 not be interchangeable. As a consequence, 
 the bees will build combs and add pro- 
 polis in places where manipulation of 
 the parts will be made difficult. 
 
 EQUIPMENT YOU 
 MAY FIND USEFUL 
 
 One type of frame nailing device to 
 hold the frame parts square during the 
 nailing process. 
 
 A frame wiring device. 
 
 Courtesy Diamond Match 
 Company, Chico, Califor- 
 nia. 
 
 An electric device for 
 embedding wires in 
 comb foundation, one 
 at a time. Courtesy A. I. 
 Root Company, Medina, 
 Ohio. 
 
 A spur embedder for pressing wires into the comb 
 foundation. Courtesy Diamond Match Company. 
 
 [17] 
 
THE LIFE STORY OF THE HONEYBEE . . . habits 
 
 and requirements of different kinds of bees 
 
 and how they act at different times of the year 
 
 RACES OF HONEYBEES 
 
 In the United States all varieties of the 
 honeybee belong to a single species — 
 Apis mellifera Linnaeus. All hive bees 
 were imported from foreign countries, 
 the first being the German black. This 
 variety was followed by importations of 
 others, commonly called races since they 
 all interbreed. The German blacks were 
 gradually replaced by the Italian race, 
 primarily because of its resistance to 
 European foulbrood, its bright color, 
 and its quieter disposition. Of the many 
 races tried, only three have met with last- 
 
 ing 
 
 favor in the United States: the 
 Italian, the Caucasian, and the Carniolan. 
 All three races have been produced in 
 different sections of California. At pres- 
 ent the Italian is the most popular, the 
 Caucasian second, and the Carniolan, 
 because of its tendency to swarm, a weak 
 third. 
 
 Italian 
 
 The Italian race of bees in this country 
 is characterized by three to five bands of 
 yellow on the abdomen. The head, most 
 of the thorax, and the remainder of the 
 
 EGG 
 
 ITALIAN DRONES 
 
 ITALIAN WORKERS 
 
 CAUCASIAN DRONES 
 
 CAUCASIAN QUEEN Ml 
 
 i 
 
 Caucasian queen with Caucasian and Italian workers and drones. 
 
 [18] 
 
abdomen are black, with yellowish pubes- 
 cence. The darker strains of this race are 
 commonly called leather-colored, or 
 three-banded, Italians, while the lighter- 
 colored strains are known as five-banded, 
 or golden, Italians. All have been so inter- 
 bred that distinctive strains are not easy 
 to find. During recent years, the trend 
 in the selection of breeding queens has 
 been toward the production of the lighter- 
 colored strain, although the leather-col- 
 ored, or three-banded, bee is very popu- 
 lar. The Italian bees, which winter well, 
 are prolific and industrious, and are 
 usually gentle when purebred. Many 
 strains are comparatively resistant to 
 European foulbrood. Italian queens are 
 easier to find than those of the darker 
 races. First crosses between the Italian 
 and Caucasian or the Italian and Carni- 
 
 olan races, or the reciprocal crosses, are 
 generally as desirable in behavior as the 
 original strains; but second and third 
 crosses are usually undesirable. 
 
 Caucasian 
 
 There are two fairly distinct strains of 
 the Caucasian race of bees, which origi- 
 nated in the Caucasus region of Europe. 
 One strain is yellow, somewhat resem- 
 bling the Italian in appearance, the other 
 black with grayish pubescence. In Cali- 
 fornia the gray Caucasians are the only 
 accepted strain of this race. Purebred 
 Caucasians are gentle and prolific, do not 
 swarm excessively, and winter well. They 
 have the longest tongues of any race of 
 honeybee. They provision their brood 
 nests well and regulate their brood-rear- 
 ing activities to suit seasonal conditions 
 
 Italian queen and nurse bees. The queen has her right wings clipped. 
 
 [W] 
 
better than most races. They are econom- 
 ical in using their stores during the 
 winter. Purebred Caucasians and their 
 crosses with Italians have been kept suc- 
 cessfully in regions where European foul- 
 brood is common. Other tests have also 
 shown that they are resistant to the dis- 
 ease, although possibly not to the same 
 degree as the most resistant strains of 
 Italians. 
 
 Caucasian bees will seldom bother the 
 beekeeper by flying angrily in numbers 
 about the head, as do the Italians. They 
 will sting, however, when sufficiently 
 provoked, and probably because their 
 longer legs give them more leverage they 
 seem to sting more effectively. 
 
 The greatest criticism against the Cau- 
 casians is their tendency to build burr 
 and bridge combs between the frames, 
 which interfere with speed in handling 
 combs. They also gather and use greater 
 amounts of propolis — bee glue made of 
 a resinous material collected by bees 
 from plants — than do any of the other 
 races; but this is of less consequence 
 than the fault just mentioned. Caucasians 
 seem to drift to other hives less often 
 than do Italians; hence they might be 
 less likely to spread brood diseases. 
 
 Carniolan 
 
 The Carniolan race is found in Car- 
 inthia, neighboring Carniola, and in 
 Yugoslavia down to Dalmatia. The bees 
 resemble, to a certain extent, the gray 
 Caucasians. The segments of the abdo- 
 men are black, bounded by grayish rings 
 covered with whitish pubescence. Carni- 
 olans are the gentlest of bees. They are 
 extremely prolific. Colony population 
 increases rapidly in the spring, a fact 
 that often leads to excessive swarming. 
 This race undoubtedly builds more 
 swarm cells than either the Italian or 
 Caucasian. 
 
 The Carniolan-Italian cross results in 
 an unusually prolific bee with many de- 
 sirable characteristics of both races. It 
 winters well. This cross appears some- 
 
 what more resistant to the effects of buck- 
 eye poisoning (see page 73) than other 
 strains. 
 
 The best race? 
 
 Which is the best race of honeybee? 
 This question will always be argued 
 among beekeepers. Probably the answer 
 is for a beekeeper to give each race a 
 sufficient trial to become accustomed to 
 its special characteristics, and then to 
 choose the one most satisfactory to him. 
 There is a distinct advantage in having 
 only one race in any particular location, 
 especially if the region is suitable for 
 commercial queen rearing. 
 
 The German black, or Holland, bees, 
 introduced into this country some two 
 hundred years before the Italian, are now 
 difficult to find in most parts of the 
 United States. The Italians were popu- 
 larized for 25 years or longer before the 
 Caucasians and met with great favor be- 
 cause of color and resistance to Euro- 
 pean foulbrood. The Caucasians and 
 Carniolans have been handicapped, to a 
 great extent, by the fact that they are 
 black — a color wrongly associated with 
 lack of resistance to European foulbrood. 
 
 The Carniolans cap honey cells whiter 
 than either of the other two races, but 
 because of their tendency to swarm they 
 have met with less favor than the Italians 
 or the Caucasians. Some enthusiasts 
 claim that the Caucasians will store more 
 honey than other races, but this has not 
 been conclusively demonstrated for the 
 different sections of California. 
 
 LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS 
 
 A colony of honeybees usually con- 
 sists of a queen, a few hundred drones, 
 and several thousand workers. During 
 the summer, when bees are busily work- 
 ing on flowers, the colony may consist 
 of from 10 to 15 pounds of bees, with the 
 drones more numerous than in early 
 spring or fall. Each caste, or class, has 
 special duties, but the dominating im- 
 pulse of the entire colony is apparently 
 
 [20] 
 
to insure the survival of the species 
 rather than that of the individual. None 
 of the three castes can live very long 
 through individual effort. 
 
 The queen 
 
 Under normal conditions there is only 
 one queen to a colony and her sole duty 
 is to lay eggs. Although she is the mother 
 of all the bees in her colony, she is lack- 
 ing in mother instinct, apparently taking 
 no interest in her eggs or in the resultant 
 larvae. She is in no sense a ruler but is 
 purely an egg-laying machine. Although 
 she resembles the worker, the queen is 
 normally much longer than either the 
 worker or the drone, especially during 
 the egg-laying period when her abdomen 
 is greatly distended. Her wings appear 
 shorter than the worker's because of the 
 greater proportionate length of her abdo- 
 men; her thorax is slightly larger than 
 the worker's but smaller than the drone's. 
 She has neither pollen baskets, func- 
 tional brood food, nor wax glands. Her 
 sting is longer than the worker's, has 
 fewer and shorter barbs, and is curved. 
 
 The queen is fed almost entirely on a 
 semiliquid food elaborated from pollen 
 and honey by the young workers known 
 as nurse bees. This food, called royal 
 jelly, resembles that fed to very young 
 larvae of queen, drones, and workers. 
 The number of eggs laid by a normal 
 queen depends largely on the amount and 
 kind of food she receives and on a favor- 
 able temperature in the hive. The quan- 
 tity and quality of this food in turn de- 
 pends mostly on the environmental con- 
 ditions affecting the colony. So, although 
 the queen can lay worker or drone eggs 
 "at will," her activities are governed by 
 factors that affect the colony as a unit. 
 
 During a scarcity of nectar and pollen, 
 brood rearing is retarded or may stop 
 entirely. In most sections of California 
 no brood will be found in normal colonies 
 during certain periods of late fall and 
 winter. The queen lays drone eggs in 
 drone cells early enough in the spring 
 
 and during the summer to provide adult 
 drones by the time the colony would 
 normally swarm, whereas few, if any, 
 drones are reared in late fall or during 
 a nectar shortage. 
 
 The queen is reared in a special cell 
 that is usually suspended vertically from 
 either the surface or the lower part of 
 the comb. She develops from the same 
 kind of egg as the worker; but because 
 of the special food she is fed, she emerges 
 in a shorter time than either the worker 
 or the drone. The increased quantity and 
 quality of the food received by the de- 
 veloping larva in the royal cell influence 
 the development of the organs character- 
 istic of the queen. Usually within 5 to 10 
 days after leaving the cell, the queen 
 takes one or more flights and mates with 
 a drone while in the air. She may mate 
 more than once before starting to lay. 
 Since she may mate with any drone flying 
 at the time, controlled breeding is diffi- 
 cult. The drone dies at the time of copu- 
 lation, and the queen returns to her hive. 
 The sperms received from the drone, or 
 drones, are stored within a special organ 
 of the queen, called the spermatheca, 
 from which they are released to fertilize 
 worker eggs. As the queen ages, she 
 
 A supersedure queen cell built on the surface 
 of a comb of brood. This is not necessarily the 
 best type of queen cell. 
 
 [21] 
 
gradually depletes her supply of sperma- 
 tozoa and may lay an increasing number 
 of drone eggs. If for any reason she fails 
 to mate, all her progeny are drones.* 
 
 When a queen shows any sign of fail- 
 ing, the worker bees usually begin the 
 production of another queen to replace 
 her and thus prolong the life of the 
 colony. They construct one or more 
 queen cells around larvae generally on 
 the surface of the comb. The first new 
 queen to emerge from her cell usually 
 tears an opening into each of the other 
 cells, stinging and thus killing the young 
 queens. She then mates, starts laying, 
 and takes over or augments the work of 
 the old queen. 
 
 It is not uncommon for mother and 
 daughter queens to be present in a colony 
 for some time after a supersedure queen 
 has been reared. In fact, failure to recog- 
 nize this situation often results in the 
 loss of a queen introduced into the colony 
 after the old queen has been killed. 
 
 Queens will live, as a rule, from one 
 to three or more years, although most 
 beekeepers find it profitable to change 
 queens every year, or at least every other 
 year. A queen's longevity depends on the 
 
 * It has been discovered recently that in some 
 instances about one unfertilized egg in a thou- 
 sand produces a female bee instead of a drone. 
 
 amount of work she does, as well as on 
 her vitality and other inherited charac- 
 teristics. She transmits to the colony 
 every quality exhibited by the workers 
 and thus controls such important factors 
 as temper, color, industry, character of 
 comb building, and resistance to disease. 
 It is important, therefore, to keep only 
 good queens of the best strains. As a rule, 
 a colony is no better than its queen. The 
 morale of a colony is definitely influenced 
 by the presence or absence of the queen. 
 Although the queen has a longer sting 
 than the worker, she rarely uses it except 
 in combat or in killing other queens. 
 Instances of a beekeeper being stung by 
 a queen are very rare. The queen does 
 not lose her sting in killing other queens. 
 
 The drone 
 
 The drone is larger and heavier than 
 the worker but not so long as the queen. 
 Its large, compound eyes come together 
 at the top of the head, while those of the 
 queen and the worker are on the sides of 
 the head. The drone is the only male bee 
 in the colony and its sole function in life, 
 apparently, is to mate with the queen. 
 The drone has no sting, nor has it the 
 many useful structures of the worker bee, 
 such as pollen baskets and wax glands. 
 Although its tongue is short and func- 
 
 Left. Mother and daughter (supersedure) queen on the same comb of brood. Both queens are 
 laying. The mother queen has her left wings clipped and is looking into a cell. Right. Worker 
 pupae in drone cells. The eggs were laid by a fertile queen, indicating that the size of cell does 
 not control the sex of the bee. 
 
 
Table 2. Average Number of Days in the Developmental 
 
 Periods of the Honeybee 
 
 
 Egg 
 
 Larva 
 
 Pupa 
 
 Total days 1 
 
 Queen 
 
 3 
 
 5^ 
 
 1V2 
 
 16 
 
 Worker 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 Drone 
 
 3 
 
 * l A 
 
 uy 2 
 
 24 
 
 tional, the drone usually depends on 
 being fed by the workers. 
 
 Under natural conditions, where colo- 
 nies live in trees, each colony contains 
 many drones. Domestically, however, 
 few drones are needed or desired, since 
 many colonies are usually kept in one 
 place, or queens are reared and intro- 
 duced in more controlled situations. Dur- 
 ing the nectar flow, the life of a drone, 
 like that of a worker, is approximately 6 
 to 8 weeks. Drones may live over winter 
 in queenless colonies. 
 
 The worker 
 
 The worker bees, although females, 
 lack the fully developed reproductive 
 organs of the queen. They are produced 
 
 from fertilized eggs laid in worker cells, 
 although occasionally worker bees may 
 be produced in drone-sized cells. It takes 
 longer to develop the worker and the 
 drone than the queen. 
 
 The workers perform all the labor of 
 the hive in a fairly definite routine. First, 
 after emerging, they comb themselves 
 and eat honey and pollen to gain strength. 
 Then, during successive periods, they 
 clean out the cells, feed the older larvae, 
 then the younger larvae, take orientation 
 flights, clean the hive, evaporate nectar, 
 build comb, and act as sentinels and 
 ventilators. Finally, they engage in the 
 field duties of carrying water, pollen, 
 nectar, and propolis. They also serve as 
 scout bees in finding these materials and 
 
 8 
 
 
 mrmmnmmrrmmmrmmrmmmrmmmmmmmtmmtmm 
 
 7 * 
 
 Q) 6 
 
 Q) 
 
 <U 
 
 Q_ 
 
 v) 4 
 
 T3 
 
 C 
 D 
 O 3 
 
 C 
 
 O 
 Q. 
 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
 r~i rv 
 
 Feb. Mar.\ 
 ^ — 43 — m* 
 
 X 
 
 *l v 1 ~-| ^ v- 
 
 June July I i AuQ. Sept. 
 46— *U— 38 — -H 26k 39 
 
 T 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 — I 
 
 A record of the number of pounds of pollen collected by a normal colony during continuous 
 
 periods at Davis in 1940. 
 
 [23] 
 
in locating a future home site for the 
 swarm. When necessary, the worker bees 
 may perform various functions as the 
 need arises after their various glands de- 
 velop and at varying ages. Their normal 
 life period, which depends on the amount 
 of work they do, generally lasts for 6 to 8 
 weeks during the seasons of active flight. 
 In winter, when they are less active, they 
 may live for several months. Usually 
 enough workers survive to carry on in 
 the spring until others have been reared 
 to take their places. 
 
 Food requirements 
 
 Honeybees get their natural food ma- 
 terials from pollen, nectar, and water. 
 The pollen provides the bee with the 
 protein that is absolutely essential to the 
 growth of the larvae, and nectar provides 
 the carbohydrates. Both pollen and nec- 
 tar provide minerals and other sub- 
 stances essential to the bee's diet. Worker 
 bees can live on honey or on syrup made 
 from beet or cane sugar and apparently 
 require little pollen except to rear the 
 brood. The nurse bees, on the other hand, 
 who elaborate the very rich food, royal 
 jelly, which is fed to all larvae under 2 
 days of age and to queen larvae during 
 the entire feeding period, need honey, 
 pollen, and water. When the worker and 
 drone larvae are 2 days old, they receive 
 coarser food consisting of honey and 
 pollen mixed with the brood food se- 
 creted by the food glands located in the 
 head of the nurse bees and always in less 
 quantity than is fed to larvae in queen 
 cells. 
 
 The amount of food required by a 
 colony during the year is difficult to de- 
 termine; estimates of 170 to 300 pounds 
 of honey a year have been made. It is 
 generally agreed that a frame of honey 
 and one of pollen are needed for every 
 frame of brood produced. The amount of 
 pollen needed to rear an adult bee has 
 been estimated at 0.1449 gram (about 
 our and one-half times the weight of a 
 young field bee) ; or 9.58 pounds of 
 
 pollen a month for each colony if a queen 
 averages 1,000 eggs daily. In California, 
 for the best interests of the colony a sur- 
 plus of 20 to 30 pounds of honey and 
 pollen should be present in the hives at 
 all times. 
 
 Arrangement of the colony nest 
 
 If at the beginning of a nectar flow a 
 3-pound package of bees is properly in- 
 stalled in a single-story hive on frames 
 of foundation, it should be examined 
 after 10 days or 2 weeks. Where normal 
 development has taken place, many 
 frames will be filled with comb contain- 
 ing brood, pollen, and honey. The brood 
 should be in a compact arrangement in 
 three or four frames, with pollen in cells 
 next to the brood, while the honey will 
 be stored above the pollen. As time goes 
 on, all the foundation will be built into 
 combs and the pollen will be concen- 
 trated, for the most part, in the outside 
 combs of the brood chamber. Young 
 worker bees will cut their way out of their 
 cells 21 days after the first eggs are laid. 
 After the cells have been polished by the 
 hive bees, the queen will deposit eggs in 
 them. In this way you may see in the same 
 frame two or more cycles of brood, rang- 
 ing from eggs to emerging bees. 
 
 A good queen will keep her brood in 
 compact arrangement and, if given well- 
 built combs, will have very few empty 
 cells among the brood. The eggs are at- 
 tached by the queen to the bottom of each 
 cell and extend upward. The pearly white 
 larvae that hatch remain coiled in the 
 bottom of the cell until they have finished 
 the feeding stage. Then they extend 
 lengthwise of the cell and are sealed in by 
 the worker bees with a finely porous cap- 
 ping of wax. The larvae line their cells 
 with a silken cocoon and change to pupae. 
 
 In a new comb, capped brood cells are 
 a light straw yellow; they become darker, 
 however, as more generations are reared 
 in the cells. The cappings of honey cells 
 are normally white. They may become 
 travel-stained with propolis and pollen, 
 
 [24] 
 
or hi. iay look water-soaked if the cap- 
 pings touch the honey beneath. Pollen 
 cells are usually only partially filled — 
 hence are seldom sealed. Sometimes, 
 however, they are £ Jed with honey and 
 are then sealed so that on the surface 
 they look like cells of honey. 
 
 When a colony is established in a 2- 
 story hive without a queen excluder, the 
 brood nest may extend into the second 
 story and include brood in ten or more 
 frames. If the space for brood rearing is 
 limited to one or two stories, some frames 
 may be entirely filled with brood, the 
 honey and pollen being crowded to the 
 outside combs. If the brood nest occurs 
 in the second story only — as often hap- 
 pens in early spring in a colony wintered 
 in two stories — much of the pollen will 
 be stored in the lower hive body. 
 
 The walls of the cells thicken somewhat 
 with age. The silken cocoons are so thin, 
 however, and the cells are so thoroughly 
 cleaned and polished each time after a 
 bee emerges that the brood combs can be 
 used for many years without any notice- 
 able effect on the size of the bees pro- 
 duced in them. Old brood combs are very 
 dark — almost black — and are consider- 
 ably heavier in the midrib than newly 
 built combs. Although darkened with 
 use, the cells are clean and do not add 
 color to honey stored in them. 
 
 The drone cells are usually confined to 
 the lower corners of the frames if full 
 sheets of foundation are used, or to parts 
 of the combs that have been stretched or 
 injured. Sometimes beginners attempt to 
 economize by using only half-sheets of 
 foundation. This is false economy since 
 many cells in the resulting combs will be 
 drone cells. 
 
 From top to bottom. A comb of worker brood 
 with some drone cells in the lower left-hand 
 corner and a sealed queen cell in the lower 
 right-hand corner. A comb showing the typical 
 arrangement of pollen next to the brood and 
 honey above. A portion of comb containing 
 only pollen; the cells are only partly filled by 
 the bees. 
 
 .;■ » 5 l f f T T < 
 
 
 • ilk. fs^. Hit L, Y. . TT t ^ 
 
 mm 
 
 
 i. W^ ■ 
 
 •^%,iib iffc W W k. 
 
 % % * % % % % 
 
When queen excluders are used to con- 
 fine the queen to the lower part of the 
 hive, only a small amount of pollen is 
 carried above the excluder into the super 
 combs unless frames of brood are trans- 
 ferred from the brood chamber to the 
 super. Pollen in the supers is not objec- 
 tionable unless comb honey is produced 
 in sections or in shallow frames. Nor- 
 mally, surplus honey is stored above the 
 brood. 
 
 The cycle of the year 
 
 The various activities of a colony 
 throughout the year are known as the 
 cycle of the year. In describing the devel- 
 opment of a colony or in observing its 
 activities, we may begin the cycle at any 
 season. It is most interesting, however, 
 to begin in the spring, when activities 
 are getting under way after the winter 
 period. 
 
 If a colony has enough pollen and 
 honey, brood rearing may begin in the 
 center of the bee cluster some weeks be- 
 fore the first spring flowers are in bloom. 
 This constitutes a heavy drain on the 
 pollen supply, and brood rearing will be 
 retarded later if the supply is not re- 
 plenished from fresh sources. 
 
 With the opening of the first flowers, 
 
 A portion of a comb of brood with many 
 sealed queen cells, three of which have been 
 cut open to show their contents. 
 
 the bees will eagerly seek what pollen 
 and nectar they can find. They will also 
 carry water to mix with the honey in 
 making the larval food. The first pollen 
 and nectar of the year greatly stimulate 
 brood rearing. The young bees usually 
 increase faster than the old bees die off, 
 so that the population of the colony grad- 
 ually increases. If the brood chamber be- 
 comes crowded by the production of 
 more brood and honey, preparations will 
 be made to divide the colony naturally 
 by swarming. Queen cells will be built 
 along the bottoms and sides of the brood 
 combs — many more than are needed to 
 assure production of the queen destined 
 to become the mother of the colony after 
 the swarm and the old queen leave. 
 
 Some days before the swarm is to 
 issue, interesting developments other than 
 the building of queen cells will take place. 
 The nurse bees feed the queen less and 
 she gradually tapers off in the number of 
 eggs she lays; this reduces her weight 
 for flying. Scout bees go out and actively 
 seek a place in which the swarm can lo- 
 cate and build a new home. More work- 
 ers will remain in the hive, so that the 
 colony begins to loaf, and many bees 
 may cluster on the front of the hive. 
 When the hive is on a stand above the 
 ground, the clustering bees may form a 
 beard below the entrance, or if the hive 
 rests on the ground, the bees may gather 
 on the front or shady side of the hive. 
 
 Then, at any time after the first queen 
 cells are sealed, or even earlier, the ma- 
 jority of the field bees and many hive 
 bees that are able to fly will sally forth 
 with a great whirl and roar. The air in 
 the immediate vicinity of the hive will 
 be filled with excited, swirling, happy 
 bees, creating a high-pitched swarm tone 
 which, once heard, is seldom forgotten. 
 After a few minutes of flying, small 
 groups of bees will begin to cluster here 
 and there; finally all will form a large 
 cluster in one place. 
 
 Hammering on pots and pans will not 
 induce swarming bees to cluster; in fact, 
 
 [26] 
 
Bees clustering out because of crowded con- 
 ditions within the hive or in preparation for 
 
 swarming; and at right, bees emerging from a 
 hive at the time of swarming. 
 
 the bees are in no way affected by such 
 mechanical din. After the swarm has 
 clustered, it can be shaken into a box or 
 otherwise carried to a hive and allowed 
 to run into its new home. If the queen's 
 wings have been clipped, she may be 
 found on the ground in front of the hive 
 from which she came. After a few minutes 
 of clustering, the swarm will return to its 
 old home. If the queen is with the swarm, 
 the bees will hang in the cluster for a 
 few minutes to an hour or more before 
 taking wing again, then will fly directly 
 to their new home in one continuous 
 flight. In some instances a swarm will 
 remain clustered overnight or will even 
 build combs at the point of clustering. 
 Such open-air colonies produce large 
 clusters of combs and, where the winter 
 conditions are not too severe, may live 
 thus for more than one season. 
 
 The hive from which the swarm has 
 gone will contain many frames of brood, 
 a fair population of bees, and several 
 queen cells in different stages of develop- 
 ment. Some of the cells may be ripe, with 
 the queens ready to emerge. The first 
 queen to leave her cell often will go to the 
 other queen cells, tear a little hole in the 
 side of each, and sting the inmates. The 
 worker bees will then tear the queen cells 
 down, drag forth the dead queens, and 
 
 carry them from the hive. If a second 
 swarm is to be cast, some of the queen 
 cells will be protected from the wrath of 
 the newly emerged queen by the worker 
 bees clustering around the cells. When 
 this happens, a secondary swarm will 
 follow the first within a few days. If the 
 laying queen's wings have been clipped 
 and the colony persists in swarming, she 
 will finally disappear and one or more 
 young queens will emerge with the pri- 
 mary swarm. If no secondary swarm re- 
 sults and the new queen successfully 
 
 A swarm entering a hive after being shaken 
 from a branch. 
 
 [27] 
 

 Drones being driven from a hive in the fall of the year. 
 
 mates, the population of the colony will 
 soon be built up by the emerging brood, 
 and work will continue as usual. As long 
 as nectar is available it will be gathered 
 as surplus if sufficient storage space is 
 provided. 
 
 Toward the close of the nectar flow, 
 the drones will be starved and driven out 
 by the worker bees. This action of the 
 colony is sure evidence of the end of the 
 nectar flow. More bees will also seek 
 watering places, since they will no longer 
 have the excess moisture from the evapo- 
 ration of nectar for their needs in brood 
 rearing and in cooling the hive. More of 
 the honey will be stored in the brood 
 nest, and some already in the supers may 
 be carried down and stored in the brood 
 combs. This trait is particularly charac- 
 teristic of the Caucasian bee in the fall. 
 
 Sometimes during the active period, 
 instead of building swarm cells, the col- 
 ony will build only one or two queen 
 cells, and these will usually be found on 
 the surface of the combs. This indicates 
 that the queen is failing and that the 
 bees are starting to produce a new, or 
 supersedure, queen to take her place. 
 Under such conditions the young queen 
 may emerge, mate, and begin to produce 
 »■«:«.'* while the old queen is still in the 
 
 hive. The old queen may even continue 
 to serve for several weeks. Sometimes 
 in early spring both old and young 
 queens are found in the same brood area 
 of a colony. (See illustration, page 22.) 
 
 With the approach of fall, brood rear- 
 ing is generally brought to a close. Many 
 old bees die, and the colony gradually 
 dwindles from a great strength of 60,000 
 or more bees to about one-third that num- 
 ber. This reduction is gradual, extending 
 over several weeks. The worker bees 
 carry an increasing amount of propolis 
 to make their hives tight for the adverse 
 season, which they evidently sense ap- 
 proaching. Caucasian bees generally 
 stop brood-rearing activities before Ital- 
 ians and often reduce the size of the hive 
 entrance and any other openings with 
 larger amounts of propolis. 
 
 As the days grow colder, the bees be- 
 come less active. Instead of hibernating, 
 as most insects do, however, they gather 
 close together to form a tight cluster 
 whenever the temperature of the air 
 around them falls below 57° F. If the 
 temperature drops below this critical 
 point, the bees gather still closer to- 
 gether. Through the insulating value of 
 the cluster and the combs of wax, as well 
 as the activity of the bees, the tempera- 
 
 [28] 
 
ture within the cluster gradually rises 
 until at no point is it below 57° F. The 
 cluster is generally formed on combs 
 containing some honey, and as the honey 
 is used up the bees gradually move to 
 other stores. In many places in Califor- 
 nia, bees are seldom confined to their 
 hives for more than a few days at a time 
 in the winter; for this reason, densely 
 compacted clusters are formed only dur- 
 ing the colder periods. Winter activity, 
 however, may tend to shorten the lives of 
 the workers and to reduce the strength 
 of the colony. This is especially true in 
 regions where bees work on the euca- 
 lyptus bloom or on other winter-bloom- 
 ing plants when the temperature is below 
 the critical point for the bee. 
 
 Communication among bees 
 
 The duties of the worker bees include 
 a search for new sources of nectar, pollen, 
 water, and propolis and location of a new 
 home for the colony at swarming time. 
 The bees that engage in such activities 
 are known as scout bees. The manner in 
 which they communicate this informa- 
 tion to the members of their colony was 
 not known until Dr. Karl von Frisch pub- 
 lished the results of his studies concern- 
 ing the language of bees. 
 
 Dr. von Frisch demonstrated that the 
 scout bees perform two types of dances 
 in order to convey information they find 
 as to food sources — a so-called "round 
 dance" and a "tail-wagging dance." 
 (These dances can be observed by any- 
 one through the glass sides of an ob- 
 servation hive.) When colonies are 
 moved into a location in which they have 
 not worked previously, scout bees and 
 field bees take orientation flights to mark 
 their hives and then seek sources of nec- 
 tar, pollen, and water. As soon as bees 
 find such food materials they mark the 
 location and return to their hives and 
 engage in one or the other of these dances 
 on the combs of the brood chamber. If 
 the food material is located within 50 to 
 100 yards of the hive, the dancing bee 
 
 circles in a narrow space, first to the left 
 and then to the right in the form of a 
 figure 8, with its head toward the center 
 of the figure. The greater the amount of 
 food available, the greater will be the 
 number of bees engaged in the dances. 
 
 It is believed that a large number of 
 bees will concentrate their efforts in the 
 near vicinity of their hive for a time, 
 gradually extending their activities as in- 
 formation is imparted by scout bees of 
 new sources at greater distances. This is 
 highly important to the management of 
 colonies in the pollination of various 
 crops. 
 
 When the source of supply is located 
 beyond the 50- to 100-yard range, the 
 returning scout bees engage in a tail- 
 wagging dance in which the bee first 
 turns rapidly in a half circle, then moves 
 in a given direction for a short distance, 
 and then circles in the opposite direction, 
 actively wagging its abdomen while 
 traveling in the straight line. Thousands 
 of observations have indicated that the 
 distance of the food source from the hive 
 is related directly to the number of turns 
 in the wagging dance that are made in a 
 given time. The direction the scout bees 
 had to fly is denoted by the straight por- 
 tion of the dance, which is at the same 
 angle to the force of gravity as they have 
 flown with respect to the sun during the 
 flight from hive to feeding place. If the 
 dancer heads directly upward during the 
 straight part of her dance on the honey- 
 comb, it means that the feeding place is 
 in the same direction as the sun; if the 
 straight line is downward toward the 
 bottom of the comb, the direction is away 
 from the sun. If the bee had to fly to the 
 right or left of the sun to reach the feed- 
 ing place, the straight line will be at the 
 same angle to the right or left, according 
 to her flight. If the comb is held horizon- 
 tally, the dancing bee will make the 
 straight line in the same direction as she 
 had to fly. (For further information on 
 the language of bees, consult the refer- 
 ence list, page 86.) 
 
 [29] 
 
Fidelity of bees 
 to food sources 
 
 Once a worker bee locates a food 
 source on information provided by the 
 scout bees or by herself, she will con- 
 tinue to fly to the same source as long as 
 the material being gathered is available. 
 She will seldom work more than one 
 plant source on any one trip and will con- 
 tinue to work the same source as long as 
 it produces. We do not know why bees 
 distribute themselves over a given terri- 
 tory or why they may fly over many 
 acres of the same blooming plant to work 
 in a given field farther away, but we do 
 
 know that this behavior is of great im- 
 portance in the pollination of specific 
 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and field 
 crops. For example, two varieties of 
 alfalfa may be grown for seed within a 
 hundred yards or so of each other with- 
 out much danger of any bees visiting 
 both of the fields on any one trip or even 
 on successive trips. Individual bees may 
 confine their pollen- or nectar-gathering 
 activities to only one or two fruit trees 
 in an orchard ; this indicates the necessity 
 of having compatible varieties inter- 
 planted rather closely in order to effect 
 the needed cross-pollination of the fruit 
 blossoms. 
 
 MANIPULATION OF THE HIVE ... the actual 
 
 operations used in care of the bee colony and 
 
 especially the handling of the queen 
 
 Preparations to make 
 
 Handling bees is neither difficult nor 
 dangerous if reasonable precautions are 
 taken. The veil should be securely ar- 
 ranged to protect the head and neck, and 
 the bee suit or clothing to protect the 
 ankles and body. If the bees are excep- 
 tionally cross, the beginner should use 
 gloves, but he will probably soon discard 
 them as being too clumsy. The smoker 
 should be well lighted and smoldering 
 properly. Although burlap sacking is 
 probably the most common fuel used, 
 rotten wood or shavings, excelsior, and 
 cotton waste are usable. 
 
 Opening the hive 
 
 After all preparations have been made, 
 approach a hive from the side — keeping 
 out of the line of flight — and blow a puff 
 or two of smoke into the hive entrance to 
 disorganize the guards and distract the 
 attention of the bees from the disturb- 
 ance. Then pry up the cover and, before 
 removing it entirely, blow a little smoke 
 across the frames. If the bees still tend to 
 fly out aggressively, puff more smoke 
 
 down between the frames, then replace 
 the cover for a few seconds. Use no more 
 smoke than is necessary to subdue the 
 bees. The beginner often uses so much 
 smoke that a colony may be too disor- 
 ganized to resume productive labor for 
 hours. 
 
 Bees seal the frames together with pro- 
 polis at every point of contact. There- 
 fore, insert the hive tool between the out- 
 side frame and the hive wall to pry the 
 frame toward the center, then loosen it 
 from the next frame by prying it back 
 again before trying to remove it. This 
 frame should be set on end outside, 
 against the opposite side of the hive, to 
 facilitate the removal of the other frames. 
 The frames should be held in vertical 
 position when the comb is examined — 
 preferably so that sunshine or strong 
 light will fall on the part being inspected. 
 To examine the opposite side of the comb, 
 lower one end of the frame and pivot it 
 on the top bar, keeping the frame in a 
 vertical position. Unless this precaution 
 is taken, new combs may become rather 
 plastic and stretch in hot weather. The 
 
 [30] 
 
combs can be withdrawn more readily 
 when only nine frames are equally spaced 
 instead of the usual number of ten. 
 
 From time to time during the exami- 
 nation of a hive it may be necessary to 
 puff a little smoke across the frames to 
 keep the bees in a state of subjection. 
 Avoid jerky or nervous movements, and 
 do not jolt or jar the hive. Replace the 
 frames in the original position unless the 
 condition of the colony can be improved 
 by making a change. A frame should 
 never be dropped into a hive, but should 
 be set in without a jar and without killing 
 any bees. Injured bees emit poison, the 
 odor of which often causes other bees to 
 sting. The safety of the queen should be 
 always kept in mind. She is often injured 
 by careless handling of frames. It is not 
 good practice to set the frame containing 
 the queen on the outside of the hive. If 
 this is necessary, set out two frames with 
 the queen on the inside surface. 
 
 Since the climate greatly influences the 
 bees' temper, do not open the hive except 
 under favorable conditions. If the day is 
 warm, the bees usually will be less in- 
 clined to sting. A good nectar flow also 
 improves their temper and simplifies the 
 beekeeper's work. It gives the field bees 
 and the house bees something to do; and 
 busy bees are more contented than idle 
 ones. A nectar flow also forestalls the 
 danger of robbing. Avoid opening the 
 hive when the temperature is so low that 
 it will chill brood, or when it is much 
 higher than that of the normal brood 
 nest — 92° to 95° F. The experienced 
 beekeeper can generally determine the 
 condition of a colony by glancing at one 
 or two combs, or by tilting a super to 
 glance at the bottom of the combs and 
 the top bars of the hive body beneath. 
 This practice greatly reduces the time 
 the hive is kept open. In order to become 
 acquainted with bee behavior, the be- 
 ginner should examine his colonies fre- 
 quently. Nevertheless, hives ordinarily 
 need not be opened except to provide 
 enough room for brood rearing, to de- 
 
 termine nectar storage, or to improve the 
 general welfare of the colony. Periodic 
 inspections for disease should be made, 
 but these can be arranged in conjunction 
 with other hive-tending practices. (See 
 bee diseases, page 61.) 
 
 The results of each examination 
 should be recorded, especially by the be- 
 ginner, either on a special place on the 
 hive itself or in a notebook. Such infor- 
 mation, properly dated, becomes invalu- 
 able in correcting errors and in outlin- 
 ing future work. To save time, the ex- 
 perienced beekeeper ordinarily uses ab- 
 breviations and symbols in making 
 records, such as Q- for queenless, Qcl 
 for queen cell, VQ for virgin queen, LQ 
 for laying queen, SU for super, etc. 
 
 Care of the queen 
 
 The welfare of a colony depends to a 
 great extent on the excellence of the 
 queen and on her care. Good queens may 
 be injured or killed through the careless 
 manipulation of frames or through 
 faulty introduction in a colony. The 
 queen breeder's responsibility should not 
 be taken lightly. Since the queen is al- 
 most as important to a colony as the 
 foundation is to a house, her value 
 should be remembered whenever a hive 
 is opened. Actually, success in beekeep- 
 ing is largely dependent on the queen. 
 
 Finding the queen. Many beekeepers 
 waste too much time in trying to find 
 the queen in a hive. It is more important 
 to recognize the work of a good queen 
 than to find her on the combs. A proper 
 amount of brood in all stages for the 
 season, regularly placed in the combs, 
 indicates that she is functioning prop- 
 erly. The colony then need not be dis- 
 turbed further than by an examination 
 of one or two frames of brood. But if the 
 queen must be found, the hive should be 
 opened as gently as possible and with no 
 more smoke than necessary. If there is 
 likely to be brood in two stories, the 
 upper story should be set off on the cover 
 and the lower chamber examined first. 
 
 [31] 
 
Carefully remove the outside frame and 
 lean it against the opposite side of the 
 hive. Then quickly examine one frame 
 after another. As each frame is removed, 
 glance at the surface of the next comb 
 for the queen. Examine very carefully 
 each comb that contains eggs, for the 
 queen will usually be on or near such a 
 comb. If there are no eggs or young lar- 
 vae in the chamber, the queen will be in 
 the second story. Examine the frames in 
 the second story before setting it back 
 on the first. If the hive is jarred, or if too 
 much smoke is used, the queen may hide, 
 or she may run to the sides of the hive 
 or to the bottom board, where she will 
 be very difficult to find. As a last resort, 
 shake the bees into a hive body and force 
 them with smoke to run through a queen 
 excluder into the story below. The queen 
 then will be found on the excluder. 
 
 Handling the queen. If a queen is 
 to be marked, clipped, or lifted from the 
 comb, she should be picked up by the 
 wings with the thumb and forefinger, 
 without any pressure on her abdomen. If 
 her wings are to be clipped, she should 
 be transferred to the forefinger of the 
 other hand, and at least two of her legs on 
 one side grasped between that finger and 
 the thumb and held firmly but not too 
 tightly. The queen will not sting when 
 so handled. Reports of beekeepers being 
 stung by queens are exceedingly rare. 
 While held in this position, the queen can 
 be marked and her wings clipped. The 
 beginner may well practice on drones 
 before clipping or marking his first 
 queen. 
 
 It is necessary to clip the queen's 
 wings on only one side. Use a fine pair 
 of scissors to do this. Clip the wings at 
 about one-half their length. Do not snip 
 too close, and do not mutilate a leg in 
 clipping. If the left wings of the present 
 queen are clipped one year and the right 
 wings of a new queen the next year, it 
 will aid in telling the year in which the 
 queen was produced. 
 
 A queen marked with a spot of bright 
 
 yellow or vermilion on the top of her 
 thorax is much easier to find than an un- 
 marked queen, especially if she is a dark 
 Italian, Carniolan, or Caucasian. Use a 
 quick-drying paint. Automobile lacquer 
 or fingernail polish is an effective pig- 
 ment to use in marking queens. 
 
 The queen can be run into a mailing 
 cage without being caught. This is done 
 by gradually herding her between the 
 thumb and forefinger into the opening 
 of the queen cage, which is placed next 
 to the comb in front of her. When a queen 
 has been confined to a mailing cage for 
 some days, she is much smaller than when 
 she is laying regularly and may fly 
 readily if permitted. 
 
 Introducing the queen. Until you 
 have had enough experience with bees to 
 know how to rear your own queens, buy 
 them from established queen breeders. 
 Queens are generally listed as tested or 
 untested. No reliable breeder will know- 
 ingly sell a poor or an unmated queen; 
 his reputation would be injured. This is 
 why most queens are satisfactory even 
 though they may fall into the untested 
 class. 
 
 Colonies can be requeened at any time 
 if proper precautions are taken to meet 
 seasonal conditions, but most beekeepers 
 introduce queens near the close of a 
 nectar flow or in the spring. As requeen- 
 ing can be combined with swarm control, 
 usually the best time to requeen is during 
 the spring nectar flow. If the spring sea- 
 son is short, with little time for the colony 
 to build up for the main nectar flow — as 
 in the citrus regions of southern Califor- 
 nia — queens can be introduced after the 
 orange-nectar flow or in the fall. 
 
 Colonies should be made queenless at 
 least a few hours before the new queen 
 is introduced. This causes the colony to 
 realize its condition and accept a queen 
 more readily. It is best to introduce the 
 queen before queen cells are started, or 
 at least to tear down all queen cells at 
 the time of introduction. Dequeening 
 and requeening are often accomplished 
 
 [32] 
 
at the same operation. The old queen 
 may be set aside in a nucleus or placed, 
 without attendants, in a cage between 
 frames of brood above an excluder of 
 some other colony until the new queen 
 
 has started to lay. If the new queen is 
 killed at introduction, the old queen can 
 be reintroduced in the regular way and 
 kept until another is brought in. 
 
 Although there are several ways of in- 
 
 INTRODUCING THE QUEEN 
 
 Types of cages used in the introduction of queens. 
 
 Introducing a queen by means of the paper cage. 
 
 [33] 
 
troducing a queen, it is most often done 
 by means of the mailing cage. This usu- 
 ally has three compartments; one is 
 rilled with soft candy, which also fills a 
 hole leading into the compartment from 
 the outside. This hole is further covered 
 with a small piece of pasteboard or a 
 plug of soft paper. Take the address card 
 from the top of the cage, but leave in 
 place the paper that covers the opening 
 in the candy end of the cage. If the col- 
 ony is small, this paper obstruction may 
 be safely removed. 
 
 The cage can then be placed in the 
 queenless hive so that the bees are able 
 to feed the queen through the wire, while 
 other bees are eating out the candy in 
 the end of the cage. During the 12 to 24 
 hours it takes the bees to remove the 
 candy, they become accustomed to her 
 presence in the hive and will generally 
 accept her when she walks through the 
 opening made by removal of the candy. 
 The cage is usually placed on its side be- 
 tween two top bars or stood on its end, 
 with the candy end up, on the bottom 
 board between two brood combs. 
 
 Some beekeepers successfully intro- 
 
 duce queens in paper introducing cages 
 having small openings in both ends. The 
 cage is usually partly pushed into a comb, 
 enclosing some cells of honey, after the 
 top shell is removed. The bees gnaw away 
 the cage, thus releasing the queen and 
 making it unnecessary for the beekeeper 
 to return to the hive to remove the cage. 
 A small paper matchbox may be modi- 
 fied for this purpose. 
 
 Queen-cage candy is made of powdered 
 sugar and an invert sugar syrup called 
 nuolomoline. Starch-free sugar is pre- 
 ferred because bees are unable to digest 
 starch normally put in powdered sugar. 
 Mix the syrup with the sugar until the 
 mixture becomes firm enough to hold the 
 shape of a ball. This candy is used to 
 provision queen cages while they are be- 
 ing shipped through the mail. It would be 
 a better food if the confined bees had 
 access to water. 
 
 For home use in introducing queens, 
 you can make the candy from honey and 
 powdered sugar. The honey should be 
 taken only from a colony known to be 
 free from American foulbrood while the 
 honey was being produced. 
 
 GENERAL MANIPULATIONS . . . operations that 
 
 will be necessary at different times of the 
 
 year . • • includes honey extraction operations 
 
 Condition of the colony 
 in the fall 
 
 A colony which is in proper condition 
 in the fall for wintering will have a young 
 queen and 5 or more pounds of bees of 
 varying ages, free of bse diseases. 
 
 Each colony should have sufficient 
 honey and pollen to last until the spring 
 supply is available. With an early de- 
 pendable spring nectar flow, 30 pounds 
 of stores will be sufficient in most parts 
 of California. It is good crop insurance 
 cither to leave more in the hive or to 
 store combs of honey to give to the col- 
 
 onies in the spring. The latter practice is 
 frequently followed in outapiaries which 
 may be molested during the winter 
 period. 
 
 In sections of the state where fall and 
 spring flowers are scarce, you should see 
 that each colony has sufficient pollen for 
 early spring brood rearing. Some hives 
 may have more than they need, and any 
 surplus can be distributed among the 
 needy colonies. Colonies in 2-story 
 hives generally accumulate pollen in the 
 lower brood chamber. If the second story 
 is left full of honey, they will have suffi- 
 
 [34] 
 
cient stores to carry them through a long 
 building-up period in the spring, when 
 additional stores may not be available. 
 
 Weak or queenless colonies should be 
 united with queen-right colonies. Colo- 
 nies which are below normal strength in 
 the fall may have poor queens. If enough 
 bees are present to cover five or six 
 frames, and if there is a young queen, the 
 colony is usually strong enough to winter 
 well in valley locations and to build up 
 to a normal strength in the spring. 
 
 Each hive should be provided with a 
 watertight cover which must be fastened 
 or weighed down so that it will not be 
 blown off during the winter. Each hive 
 should also be protected from wind. Col- 
 onies well protected from the prevailing 
 winds during the fall, winter, and spring 
 will use up less energy in keeping warm. 
 Below the snowline, colonies in Califor- 
 nia need only wind protection during the 
 winter period. Above this elevation, their 
 strength may be conserved by wrapping 
 the hive in one thickness of building 
 paper, covered with a thickness of tar 
 paper on the outside, and by making its 
 top watertight. The hive entrance should 
 be made small enough to suit the colony 
 size. If necessary, it should have a wire 
 guard against mice. A coat of paint ap- 
 plied to the hive every second or third 
 year will keep it in good order. In the 
 fall, each hive should be reduced to one 
 or two stories, depending on the strength 
 of the colony. Two stories are usually 
 preferred because the second provides a 
 food reservoir — often called a food 
 chamber — against a failure of a nectar 
 flow in the spring. 
 
 Last, but most important, you should 
 know that each colony is free from dis- 
 ease and that each has a prolific queen. 
 This condition must be assured by mak- 
 ing the necessary inspections and change 
 of queens in early fall while weather 
 factors are still favorable. 
 
 Colonies need little or no attention in 
 winter. It is a good policy, nevertheless, 
 to look at the hives occasionally during 
 
 the winter season — without opening them 
 or disturbing the bees — to see that each 
 entrance is open and no undue number 
 of dead have accumulated at the entrance. 
 If a colony dies during this period, the 
 hive should be taken into the workshop 
 immediately to forestall robbing and ex- 
 amined to determine the cause of death. 
 
 During the winter all equipment, in- 
 cluding spare combs, hive bodies, and 
 extracting equipment, should be made 
 ready for spring and summer use. This 
 includes repair, nailing and wiring 
 frames, and protection of drawn combs 
 from the wax moth. 
 
 Spring management 
 
 The first spring examination of colo- 
 nies should be made on a warm spring 
 day during the first or second cycle of 
 brood. The condition of the brood, 
 amount of stores, and strength of colony- 
 should be noted at that time. The queen 
 need not be found unless her wings are to 
 be clipped. The presence of a normal 
 amount of eggs, larvae, and sealed brood 
 will indicate that she is functioning prop- 
 erly. Colonies found queenless on first 
 examination should be united with those 
 having queens, unless laying queens can 
 be introduced. During manipulations, a 
 hive should not be kept open any longer 
 than is absolutely necessary. Any colony 
 found infected with either European or 
 American foulbrood at this time should 
 be immediately cared for according to 
 instructions given under the subject of 
 brood diseases and their treatment. Any 
 additional stores needed should be sup- 
 plied. If the bees start robbing, exami- 
 nation of the colonies should be discon- 
 tinued. With favorable weather condi- 
 tions, brood rearing will increase rapidly, 
 and the colony will gain in strength soon 
 after pollen and nectar become available. 
 When the colony appears crowded in the 
 brood chamber, an additional story of 
 empty combs should be added. Frames of 
 foundation should not be provided unless 
 the bees are gathering nectar. 
 
 [35] 
 
Package bees and their care 
 
 Bees in combless packages are shipped 
 in quantity from California to the north- 
 western states and Canada. Some of these 
 packages are also sold in California, 
 however, to increase the strength of col- 
 onies for the early nectar flow in the 
 southern counties or to start new colonies. 
 To secure the greatest return from these 
 bees, proper methods must be used in 
 their installation and care. Each package 
 contains 2 to 4 pounds of bees and a 
 queen. Sometimes 4-pound packages con- 
 tain two queens and are divided to form 
 two packages when installed in hives. 
 The 3-pound package is the better size 
 because the extra pound of bees enables 
 the cluster to maintain a more uniform 
 temperature during bad weather. Uni- 
 form temperature, in turn, increases 
 brood production more rapidly. 
 
 Best time to receive package 
 bees. To strengthen colonies, the pack- 
 age bees should be ordered so they can 
 be added just before the nectar flow, for 
 nearly all the bees will become fielders 
 within a few days. There is also consid- 
 erable advantage in strengthening weak 
 colonies 3 to 4 weeks before the start of 
 a long nectar flow. This practice helps 
 to build up a desirable amount of brood 
 to maintain colony strength during that 
 period. Where the packages must produce 
 
 Packages of bees ready for shipment by 
 railway express. 
 
 colonies for honey production or for pol- 
 lination service, they should be received 
 6 to 8 weeks before the major plants 
 come into bloom. 
 
 Pollen essential for package bees. 
 Since abundant pollen is essential to the 
 rearing of brood, the newly established 
 bees either must be given combs that 
 have already been filled with pollen by 
 bees, or must be located where they are 
 able to secure pollen from flowers. If the 
 bees are to be established on comb foun- 
 dation, they should not be installed until 
 weather and floral conditions are favor- 
 able for the gathering of pollen. 
 
 Installing the bees. Before the bees 
 arrive, the hives should be made ready 
 and the locations prepared. For best re- 
 sults, each hive should contain at least 
 two combs of pollen — even though some 
 pollen is available in the field — and the 
 equivalent of three full frames of honey. 
 If combs of honey are not available, the 
 bees should be fed a 50-50 sugar syrup 
 until they are self-supporting. The addi- 
 tion of one comb of brood from an 
 established colony will insure a much 
 faster build-up of the small cluster into a 
 working colony. 
 
 Soon after the packages are received, 
 the bees should be fed all the sugar syrup 
 they can hold. The quickest method of 
 feeding the bees is to shake or spray thin 
 syrup onto them through the wire sides 
 of the cage. After they have been fed, the 
 bees should be kept in a cool room until 
 late in the afternoon. They will drift less 
 if installed just before dark. If the day 
 is cool and cloudy, the bees can be in- 
 stalled at any time. 
 
 The bees may be installed by several 
 different methods, but the one most com- 
 monly used is carried out as follows: 
 
 Three or four frames are removed from 
 the side of the hive into which the bees 
 are to be installed and placed at the back 
 of the hive. The bees are then wet with a 
 spray of warm water or thin sugar syrup, 
 and then jarred to the bottom of the cage. 
 The feeder can and queen cage are re- 
 
moved and the bees shaken into the space 
 left by the removal of the frames. The 
 queen is examined to see if she is alive 
 and uninjured, and then she too is 
 sprayed or wet through the screen of her 
 cage, after which the wire covering her 
 cage is removed and she is released di- 
 rectly on the pile of bees in the bottom of 
 the hive. The frames are eased back into 
 place and the hive is closed, care being 
 taken not to injure the queen. If some 
 bees still remain in the package, they can 
 be shaken in front of the entrance or the 
 cage placed on the ground next to the 
 entrance so the bees can run in later. 
 
 If the hive is provided with combs of 
 honey and pollen, it need not be fed ad- 
 ditionally. Otherwise, a friction-top pail 
 of syrup should be inverted on top of the 
 combs, an empty hive body placed 
 around, and the cover put in place. If 
 there is a tendency for other bees to rob 
 at the time of installation, the entrance 
 of each newly established hive should be 
 reduced to 3 or 4 inches. 
 
 The newly established colony should 
 not be disturbed for several days or until 
 after the queen has established a brood 
 nest. The bees may injure the queen if 
 the colony is disturbed before that time. 
 
 Another method of installing a pack- 
 age of bees is to remove enough combs 
 to set the package of bees inside the hive. 
 Remove the feeder can and the queen 
 cage. Open the candy end of the queen 
 cage and run a match stem through the 
 candy. Then place the queen cage, wire 
 side down, between two combs, shaking 
 some of the bees over the queen cage. 
 Place a can of feed over the combs inside 
 a hive body and reduce the entrance. The 
 cage can be removed the following day 
 and the combs replaced. If the queen has 
 left her cage, it can be removed. 
 
 For maximum safety against the intro- 
 duction of American foulbrood into a 
 newly established colony by the use of 
 drawn combs or a swarm of unknown 
 origin, % gram of sodium sulfathiazole 
 should be added to each gallon of sugar 
 
 syrup or honey syrup fed (see pages 65- 
 68). 
 
 Adding package bees to weak 
 colonies. When package bees are used 
 to strengthen weak queen-right colonies, 
 they can be ordered without queens — if 
 the queens in the colonies are satisfactory. 
 If the colony is to be requeened, kill the 
 old queen a day before installing the 
 package containing the new queen. Wet 
 the bees in the packages with sugar 
 syrup, as described above, and sprinkle 
 sugar syrup liberally over the combs of 
 the colony to which the bees are to be 
 added. Shake the wet bees from the pack- 
 ages directly on top of the frames, or 
 preferably into a space made by removing 
 three or four combs; then replace the 
 frames and cover the hive. If the hive is 
 to be requeened at the same time, the 
 queen should be introduced by the usual 
 cage method. If the queen comes with the 
 package and is in a cage provisioned with 
 candy, the opening into the candy end of 
 the cage should be uncovered by remov- 
 ing the cork or metal plug. If the queen 
 is in an unprovisioned cage, she can be 
 wet thoroughly with syrup and released 
 directly among the bees shaken from the 
 cage. When the bees are added to a 
 queenless colony, however, it is safer to 
 introduce a queen by the cage method. 
 
 One method of installing a package of bees. 
 The queen cage has been placed on top of the 
 frames and the cage of bees set in the space 
 from which five combs were removed. 
 
Swarm prevention and increase 
 
 Swarming, an inherited instinct of the 
 honeybee, is a means of preserving and 
 propagating the species. This instinct is 
 stronger in some races — even within cer- 
 tain strains of the same race — than in 
 others. The tendency to swarm, therefore, 
 can be reduced to a certain extent by a 
 careful selection of breeding stock. Chief 
 among the many factors which contrib- 
 ute to swarming are overcrowding in the 
 brood nest, lack of storage space, pres- 
 ence of old queens, lack of ventilation in 
 the hive, and confinement of the colony 
 to the hive during a nectar flow by cold 
 or rainy days during a normal swarming 
 period. Swarming seems to be more per- 
 sistent in some regions than in others, 
 being more prevalent in areas where 
 there is a great abundance of pollen. The 
 swarming tendency usually declines dur- 
 ing a major nectar flow if the colony is 
 given ample comb space in which to rear 
 brood and to store honey. 
 
 Bees build numerous queen cells in 
 preparation for swarming and often 
 "hang out" on the front of the hive for 
 some days. Such symptoms are advance 
 notice that conditions in the hive must 
 be made more favorable or a majority of 
 the bees will leave for a new home pre- 
 viously located by scout bees. Some bee- 
 keepers depend on cutting out all queen 
 cells every 10 days to control swarming, 
 but this method is very seldom used in 
 commercial apiaries in California. 
 
 One method of swarm control which 
 can be coupled with the making of new 
 colonies is as follows: When a hive con- 
 tains brood in both stories and will soon 
 need additional comb space, lift the top 
 story off, place a queen excluder on top 
 of the lower chamber, then a super of 
 combs, and then the former second brood 
 chamber on top. Destroy any queen cells 
 present. Nine or ten days later, examine 
 the hive again and find the queen. If she 
 is in the top story, set this chamber aside 
 on a new bottom board and supply a 
 cover. If she is in the lower chamber, set 
 
 this aside, and put the top story in its 
 place. If the queen has laid in the combs 
 added 10 days previously, place the 
 combs containing eggs and larvae in the 
 chamber set aside with the queen. Ex- 
 change the frames of sealed brood for 
 empty combs if necessary. The two hive 
 bodies on the original stand should con- 
 tain mainly sealed brood. All queen cells 
 must be destroyed. Transfer the bees with 
 the combs. If the queen is of good stock, 
 one of the queen cells can be left to re- 
 queen the colony; but it is best to intro- 
 duce a young laying queen into the queen- 
 less portion, since the colony will then go 
 ahead faster. The new queen can be intro- 
 duced safely by the cage method within a 
 few hours after the division has been 
 made. If time permits, a ripe queen cell 
 can be given to the division, instead of a 
 laying queen. As a rule, this manipula- 
 tion settles the swarming problem for 
 the remainder of the season and provides 
 one increase in the number of colonies. 
 The two colonies can be united at the be- 
 ginning of the nectar flow in summer or 
 later if the beekeeper desires. 
 
 A second method of increase is to make 
 one or two nuclei from each colony 
 strong enough to occupy two brood 
 chambers with ten or more frames of 
 brood. A nucleus is simply a small col- 
 ony; its size is generally denoted by the 
 number of frames of which it is com- 
 posed. To make a 3-frame nucleus, 
 two frames with brood and bees and one 
 of honey are taken from a strong colony 
 and placed in another hive; one or more 
 frames of bees are shaken into this hive 
 for good measure. The nucleus is then 
 moved to another apiary, and a queen is 
 introduced by the cage method or by 
 providing a ripe queen cell. The entrance 
 of the nucleus hive may be reduced in 
 size to 1 or 2 inches. Many of the field 
 bees will return to the original hive if the 
 nucleus is left in the same apiary, but 
 enough young bees usually remain in the 
 new hive to care for the brood, the ma- 
 jority of which should be sealed. 
 
 [38] 
 
Extracted honey production 
 
 Supering. Experienced beekeepers se- 
 cure a maximum amount of honey by 
 giving storage room just ahead of the 
 requirements of the colony. An examina- 
 tion of the combs is the best way to de- 
 termine when additional storage space is 
 needed. This examination may be simply 
 a glance at the top bars of the frames 
 under the cover or, at most, the removal 
 of one or two outside combs. If the combs 
 are being whitened along the top bars 
 by the addition of new wax, this means 
 that the comb builders are lengthening 
 the cells in which to store new honey and 
 that more room may soon be needed. 
 
 Some experienced beekeepers make a 
 practice of weighing a few hives in dif- 
 ferent parts of an apiary by lifting the 
 back of each hive just off the ground by 
 the hook of a spring scale. If the hives 
 have not increased in weight since the 
 last visit, the colonies in the apiary are 
 not disturbed. The daily weight records 
 of a colony on platform scales often prove 
 valuable. They determine the periodic 
 yields of the more important honey 
 plants in any given area and indicate 
 when supers may be required. 
 
 The amount of super room to give at 
 any time depends on the strength of the 
 colony and on the duration and intensity 
 of the nectar flow. Supers of foundation 
 should not be given unless the colony is 
 so crowded that it requires more room 
 for expansion. Then they are provided 
 only if the nectar flow is intense enough 
 and lasts long enough to enable the bees 
 to draw the foundation into comb. Best 
 results are obtained if frames of founda- 
 tion are interspersed with drawn combs. 
 If the nights are cool, too much room in 
 a hive is detrimental. It may cause more 
 bees to remain in during the daytime to 
 keep the hive warm. 
 
 When you super a colony for extracted 
 honey, it is generally good practice to 
 place in the center of the super the two 
 outside combs of the brood chamber — 
 provided these contain honey and no 
 
 brood — and to furnish two empty combs 
 in their place. In hives without a queen 
 excluder these combs, if filled with honey, 
 will discourage the queen from coming 
 up into the super. When the bees have 
 started to whiten the combs near the top 
 bars of the first super, a second super can 
 be placed beneath or on top of it. If 
 supers are added near the close of the 
 nectar flow, they should always be placed 
 on top. 
 
 Many beekeepers favor a shallow or 
 half-depth super because the amount of 
 super space can be controlled better than 
 with a full-depth super. A shallow super 
 may also be used as a chamber in which 
 the bees can store a reserve supply of 
 honey. 
 
 Some large-scale beekeepers in Cali- 
 fornia use only 3- or 4-story hives 
 throughout the year and visit each colony 
 often enough to remove the frames of 
 surplus honey and add combs. It is good 
 crop insurance, however, to have enough 
 equipment to keep a little storage space 
 ahead of the bees at all times, especially 
 in years of heavy nectar production. 
 
 The simplest method of producing ex- 
 tracted honey is to provide each colony 
 with a 2-story brood chamber, a queen 
 excluder, and at least two full-depth 
 supers, each containing nine combs. Bees 
 will store as much honey in nine combs, 
 evenly separated, as in ten placed closer 
 together ; and combs with cells extending 
 beyond the wood of the frame are easier 
 to uncap. Colonies should be requeened 
 annually with vigorous queens to reduce 
 swarming and to insure strong colonies. 
 Requeening may take place in the fall or 
 during the nectar flow in the spring. If 
 colonies are wintered in 1-story hives, 
 the second brood chamber should be 
 added when the bees cover eight or nine 
 combs. When the combs of the second 
 brood chamber are being whitened 
 around the top bars with new wax, the 
 queen can be placed in the lower brood 
 chamber, below an excluder, with two or 
 three frames of sealed brood. A super of 
 
 [39] 
 
Left. A super of honey ready for extracting. The bees were removed from the combs by the 
 bee-escape board still on the hive. Center. An almost perfect extracting comb of honey. Right. An 
 
 combs should be added on top of the sec- 
 ond brood chamber which contains most 
 of the unsealed brood. 
 
 This manipulation will greatly reduce 
 swarming and may give the colony ample 
 room for a period of 2 or 3 weeks. Under 
 favorable conditions, all of the worker 
 brood above the queen excluder will 
 emerge and the cells will be filled with 
 honey within 3 or 4 weeks. The colonies 
 may build queen cells in this super. These 
 can be destroyed 10 days after putting on 
 the excluder, or the virgin queens can be 
 left to die on the excluder. If these virgin 
 queens can get out of the hive through a 
 crack, they may fly, mate, and return to 
 start a second brood nest above the queen 
 excluder. 
 
 Unless enough supers are available for 
 the entire honey crop, each super can be 
 extracted when the combs are one-half to 
 three-fourths capped over. Then the 
 combs can be replaced for storing addi- 
 tional surplus. During early spring or 
 late fall, unless most of the cells are 
 
 sealed, there is some danger that the un- 
 capped honey will be unripened. 
 
 Removal of the honey crop. In the 
 
 days of box hives and immovable combs, 
 colonies were either driven out or killed 
 with fumes of burning sulfur before the 
 honey was removed; but with the mov- 
 able frame hive, these practices are no 
 longer necessary. The bees may be freed 
 from the combs of honey by shaking and 
 brushing, by use of the bee escape, or by 
 use of carbolized boards. Most commer- 
 cial beekeepers use the first or last 
 methods, for the bee-escape board is not 
 practical in most outapiaries because an 
 extra trip is necessary to take off the 
 honey. The bee-escape board is useful 
 for the back-lot beekeepers. 
 
 The majority of bees can be shaken 
 from an extracting comb with a quick 
 downward and upward movement, and 
 the remainder brushed off with the bee 
 brush. This method may not be practical 
 when bees are robbing. Honey should not 
 be taken off by this — or by any other — 
 
 [40] 
 
acid board placed on top of a super of honey that is ready for removal. (It is best to remove the 
 queen excluder beneath the super before putting on the acid board.) 
 
 method when it is so thin that it can be 
 shaken readily from the combs. It should 
 be left on the hive to ripen. Sealed honey 
 is usually well-ripened and ready to be 
 extracted. When removing individual 
 frames of honey, you should use an 
 empty hive body to hold the combs as 
 fast as they are freed of bees. 
 
 The bee escape is a device so con- 
 structed that bees may go through it one 
 way only; they cannot return because of 
 one or two sets of springs. When this de- 
 vice is placed under a super of honey in 
 the center of an inner cover or a venti- 
 lated bee-escape board, with the entrance 
 up, the super will generally be free of 
 bees by the following morning. Bee- 
 escape boards are much used in removing 
 sections or shallow-frame honey. They 
 cause little disturbance to a colony. If a 
 bee escape is placed in one or more cor- 
 ners of the escape board, with the exit to 
 the outside of the hive, the supers will be 
 rapidly freed of bees. Unless the super 
 above the bee-escape board is bee-tight, 
 
 the combs are likely to be robbed by 
 other bees. The bee-escape board should 
 not be left on during hot weather, for the 
 combs may melt down. 
 
 The fumes of carbolic acid are repel- 
 lent to bees and may be used to drive 
 them from supers of honey that are to 
 be taken off. Special covers, called acid 
 boards, are used for this purpose. This 
 board is made with the same dimensions 
 as the top of the hive body and about 1 
 inch deep. Across the top of the frame- 
 work is tacked a piece of hardware cloth, 
 then several thicknesses of cheesecloth; 
 over all is placed a piece of tar paper and 
 a cover of tin. The cheesecloth is sprin- 
 kled with a 50 per cent solution of pure 
 carbolic acid. To prevent the odor from 
 getting into the honey, care must be used 
 to keep the acid cloth from touching 
 any part of the frames. Remember, too, 
 that carbolic acid is highly corrosive to 
 the skin. 
 
 When honey is removed by this 
 method, the acid board is left on a hive 
 
 [41] 
 
A handy source of steam for a single 
 uncapping knife. 
 
 only a few minutes or just long enough 
 to free the top super of bees. Such boards 
 work best on hot days when the heat of 
 the sun will drive the fumes down into 
 the hive. If the covers are left on too 
 long, the b^es will cluster on the outside 
 
 of the hive, and the colony will remain 
 disorganized for a considerable length of 
 time. 
 
 Before the combs are extracted, the 
 supers of honey should be placed cross- 
 wise in stacks in the honey house and 
 left until the fumes of the carbolic acid 
 have evaporated. If the work is carefully 
 done, the honey will not absorb any of 
 the odor. An electric fan to circulate air 
 through the combs hastens the removal 
 of the fumes from the supers. In hot 
 weather, supers of honey can be removed 
 faster by this method than by any other. 
 When bees are prone to rob, honey can 
 be taken off with the acid board with less 
 disturbance in the apiary than by shak- 
 ing and brushing. 
 
 Process of extracting. The honey 
 extractor is a machine which removes 
 honey from the comb by centrifugal 
 force. These extractors are manufactured 
 with a capacity of 2 to 50 or more frames. 
 A 2-frame extractor, with baskets that 
 
 The 45-frame radial honey extractor 
 Courtesy A. I. Root Company. 
 
 [42] 
 
can be reversed without removing the 
 combs, is large enough to take care of at 
 least 20 colonies. The combs are first un- 
 capped on both sides with an uncapping 
 knife, which is heated by steam, elec- 
 tricity, or hot water, and then are placed 
 in the baskets of the extractor. At first 
 the baskets are turned slowly until part of 
 the honey is removed on one side; then 
 they are reversed and the process is re- 
 peated. To get all the honey out, the 
 speed must be increased, but not to such 
 an extent that it breaks the combs. New 
 combs are easily broken. The 8-frame 
 Lifetime extractor and the 45-frame 
 Radial extractor are most commonly used 
 by commercial beekeepers. Honey is easi- 
 est to extract before it loses the warmth of 
 the hive. The extracted honey runs from 
 the extractor into a sump, which allows 
 the larger particles of comb to be sepa- 
 rated from the honey before it goes 
 through the honey pump or into the 
 storage tanks. Sometimes the honey is 
 run through a coarse strainer to remove 
 
 these particles when a pump is not used. 
 To avoid getting air bubbles into the 
 honey through pump action, the honey 
 should flow into the pump in a manner to 
 keep the pump full of honey. The pump 
 should operate slowly at all times, mak- 
 ing no more than 50 r.p.m. In cool 
 weather or with heavy honey, the liquid 
 honey must be heated in a water- jacketed 
 tank to facilitate straining. The most suit- 
 able cloth for this purpose is 86-mesh 
 bolting cloth or nylon. Double thickness 
 of cheesecloth will remove most but not 
 all of the foreign particles. If heated to 
 110° F, the honey will strain readily. 
 
 Most of the bubbles introduced dur- 
 ing extracting and straining will rise to 
 the top if the warm honey is allowed to 
 stand in a tank overnight; then the honey 
 should be poured into suitable contain- 
 ers. If honey is canned or bottled imme- 
 diately after being extracted, the small 
 bubbles will form a white, unsightly scum 
 on the surface. Honey will discolor if 
 kept hot for too long a period. 
 
 The Lifetime 8-frame honey extractor. 
 
 Courtesy Superior Honey Company, Los 
 Angeles. 
 
 [43] 
 
A good type of solar wax extractor for melting cappings. Left, corrugated aluminum bottom 
 drains into a honey and wax separator placed in a glass box (right) in front of the melter. The honey 
 runs into the tins, and the wax into a large mold from which it can be dipped, if desired, into 
 wooden molds. 
 
 Cleaning the combs. If the nectar 
 flow is still in progress, the combs can be 
 placed back in the hives to be refilled; 
 but if it is at an end, the combs can either 
 be stored as they are removed from the 
 extractor or given to some colonies to be 
 cleaned. If there is danger of robbing, 
 the wet combs should be put on the hives 
 in late afternoon, left for a few days, and 
 then removed with bee-escape boards or 
 
 A compact arrangement for extracting honey 
 in which the Brand cappings melter rests on a 
 honey clarifier. The whirl-around holds the un- 
 capped combs of honey before they go into the 
 extractor. The honey runs from the clarifier into 
 tanks located on the floor below. 
 
 in the cool of early morning when few 
 bees are in the supers. Three or four 
 supers can be stacked on each hive. 
 
 Care of the cappings. The cappings 
 cut from the combs should be drained of 
 honey, then melted and molded into solid 
 blocks for sale. Cappings are often melted 
 in a solar wax extractor — a glass-covered, 
 metal-lined box heated by the sun's rays. 
 The melted wax and honey can be sep- 
 arated as they run from the solar ex- 
 tractor. After the cakes of wax are 
 scraped free of foreign materials on the 
 bottom, they are ready for sale to bee 
 supply firms. Cappings may also be 
 melted in a copper boiler or tank, the 
 remaining honey separated from the wax. 
 and the liquid wax run into molds. 
 The wax should not be melted in an iron 
 receptacle since contact with iron darkens 
 the wax. The inside of the wax molds 
 should be wet with soapy water to pre- 
 vent the wax cakes from sticking. The 
 wax will not crack if it is poured into the 
 molds at only a few degrees above the 
 melting point — around 143° to 145° F- 
 and then allowed to cool slowly. 
 
 Many beekeepers extract the honey 
 from their cappings by means of a whirl- 
 
dry extractor. Special wire baskets to 
 hold the cappings can be made to fit this 
 extractor. If the whirl-dry is operated for 
 an hour or so, practically all of the honey 
 will be thrown out and can be added to 
 the general supply. Honey that comes 
 from the solar extractor or from melted 
 cappings is generally dark and off-flavor. 
 It should be kept in separate cans. 
 
 There are also various devices on the 
 market, heated by hot water or steam, 
 that melt the cappings during the un- 
 capping process. In each method the 
 melted wax and hot honey may be sep- 
 arated by gravity. One make of cappings 
 melter operates on the principle of apply- 
 ing the heat to melt the cappings above 
 the general level of the honey. As the 
 cappings from the combs fall into the 
 melter, they float on top of the honey 
 and are melted as they come in contact 
 with the steam-heated coils. The honey 
 and melted wax drain off at different 
 levels into separate receptacles. 
 
 Comb honey production 
 
 The production of comb honey is con- 
 sidered to be more difficult and exacting 
 than the production of extracted honey 
 because the colonies have to be crowded 
 almost to the swarming point, and the 
 nectar flow has to be more constant and 
 of sufficient intensity to produce combs 
 of good quality. Further, all combs have 
 to be completely sealed in order to be 
 marketable. The initial cost in sections, 
 equipment, and labor is also greater than 
 for the production of extracted honey. 
 (Consult bee supply catalogs for the 
 equipment required to produce section 
 comb honey.) 
 
 In preparing the sections, you can use 
 the split sections and avoid the need of 
 equipment with which the sheets of comb 
 foundation would otherwise have to be 
 fastened to the sections. The sheets of 
 foundation should not be placed in the 
 split sections much before they are 
 needed because the foundation frequently 
 
 A super filled with section honey, with four split sections filled with this super foundation 
 
 in the foreground. 
 
 [45] 
 
buckles when exposed to changes in tem- 
 perature. The tops of the sections should 
 be painted with hot paraffin after they 
 have been placed in the supers in order 
 to prevent the bees from staining the 
 wood with propolis. 
 
 Colony management for comb 
 honey. Only the strongest colonies 
 should be used for the production of sec- 
 tion honey, and supers should not be 
 placed on the hives until after the nectar 
 flow from a major source has started. 
 For best results, the colony should be 
 strong enough in numbers to occupy not 
 less than two full-depth hive bodies. Some 
 beekeepers unite two colonies to insure 
 greater strength in their comb honey 
 builders, later contracting the brood 
 chamber to a single story and using the 
 extra brood to make up for the colony 
 lost through uniting. 
 
 The colony is reduced to one story at 
 the time the section supers are to be 
 added, thus forcing the bees into the sec- 
 tion supers. The brood chamber is filled 
 with combs of sealed brood which will 
 provide adequate space for the queen as 
 the bees emerge from their cells. If queen 
 cells are present, they are cut down. If 
 the colony persists in building queen 
 cells, it may be necessary to kill the queen 
 
 A 1 Vi-story hive with the shallow super filled 
 with honey. Shallow supers of honey are easier 
 to handle than full-depth supers. 
 
 and to introduce a young laying queen 
 5 to 7 days later, at which time all re- 
 maining queen cells are broken down. 
 One or two section supers can be added 
 at the first manipulation, depending on 
 the strength of the colony and the inten- 
 sity and duration of nectar flow. 
 
 After the bees have started to build 
 combs in the first super, the second super 
 can be added on top. When the first super 
 is about half filled with honey, the two 
 supers can be reversed so the bees will 
 continue to finish the sections in the first 
 super but will have the added space in 
 which to work. This system can be re- 
 peated as long as the nectar flow con- 
 tinues and as often as needed to give the 
 bees more room in which to work with- 
 out providing more sections than the 
 nectar flow warrants. The idea is to get 
 all sections completely filled with mar- 
 ketable honey before the end of the nec- 
 tar flow. The supers of sections should 
 be removed as soon as the sections are 
 completely filled and sealed in order to 
 prevent travel stain. Comb honey supers 
 can be removed with the acid board or 
 by the bee-escape method previously de- 
 scribed. 
 
 Near the close of the nectar flow, the 
 second story should be returned to the 
 hive, after the section supers are re- 
 moved, in time to permit the colony to 
 store enough honey for the winter period. 
 Where several colonies are used in comb 
 honey production, the second stories, 
 with combs of extra brood, are stacked 
 on a few colonies to secure winter stores 
 for the section-producing colonies. 
 
 Queen excluders are not required when 
 comb honey is produced in sections but 
 are needed when honey is produced in 
 shallow frames or in sections larger than 
 the "pound" boxes. Supers of brood 
 combs should not be placed above section 
 supers or shallow frames in which comb 
 honey is being produced, as the bees 
 store some cells of pollen in the comb 
 supers and the amount of travel stain on 
 the surfaces of the combs will be greater. 
 
 [46] 
 
The honey house 
 
 Honey should be produced and han- 
 dled in a sanitary manner at all times. 
 The honey house should contain certain 
 fundamental features designed to elimi- 
 nate unsanitary conditions and to save 
 unnecessary labor in handling honey, 
 supers, and general beekeeping equip- 
 ment. 
 
 If the contour of the land permits, the 
 honey house can be built with upper and 
 lower ground-floor levels. This arrange- 
 ment will make possible the extraction of 
 honey on the upper floor and its transfer 
 by gravity to tanks on the floor below. If 
 the honey house is built on one level, 
 honey pumps must be used to transfer 
 the honey from the extractor to the stor- 
 age tanks. 
 
 It is desirable to unload supers of 
 
 honey and to load empty supers of combs 
 inside an enclosure away from robbing 
 bees. This can be accomplished efficiently 
 by including in the back of the honey 
 house a sunken driveway into which the 
 truck can be backed to unload or to load. 
 The comb receiving room can be located 
 on one side of this driveway, the extract- 
 ing room at the end, and the honey room, 
 workshop, and office on the other side. 
 A loading space at the end of the drive- 
 way should connect all rooms, with the 
 floor level even with the truck bed. Sturdy 
 drip trays under the supers of honey will 
 permit the use of a warehouse truck in 
 handling the supers for unloading or 
 loading and prevent honey from dripping 
 on the floor or truck bed. Supers of honey 
 can be unloaded in the comb room and 
 left there until free of all bees. The circu- 
 
 A compact arrangement of honey extracting equipment. The capping-s are melted in the steam- 
 jacketed cappings melter and the honey and wax separated as they run out. The uncapped 
 frames are stacked in the comb table while the honey extractor is operating. The honey is 
 pumped from a sump to the tanks. Steam comes from a boiler in the small building seen through 
 the window. 
 
 [47] 
 
lation of warm, dry air in this room will 
 remove excess moisture from the honey, 
 especially if the supers are crisscrossed 
 in the stacks. The floors should be made 
 of concrete and provided with drains to 
 facilitate frequent cleaning. The comb 
 receiving room and the honey extracting 
 room should be fitted with screens hav- 
 ing bee escapes to permit the escape of 
 any bees that might be carried in with 
 the combs. 
 
 While beekeepers try to remove all bees 
 from the combs before hauling them to 
 the comb receiving room, a considerable 
 number of bees may still cling to the 
 combs. They generally fly to the windows 
 of the receiving room and are attracted 
 to any hive which may be located at win- 
 dow level to catch them as they escape 
 through bee escapes placed in the screens. 
 
 The comb room can be divided and 
 used for fumigation as well as temporary 
 storage purposes. All windows and doors 
 should be thoroughly screened. For 
 greatest convenience, the extracting room 
 should be provided with water, electric- 
 ity, and steam. In some extracting rooms 
 a small steam generator is located near 
 the uncapping box; in others the steam 
 is piped in from a larger boiler located 
 in another room where the boiler may 
 also serve the wax-rendering or honey- 
 processing equipment. The extracting 
 room need be no larger than is adequate 
 to house the extractor, the uncapping 
 equipment, and a few stacks of supers. 
 
 The honey is generally pumped or run 
 by gravity to settling tanks. The tanks 
 should be of sufficient capacity to allow 
 the honey to stand for several days be- 
 fore it is drawn off into wholesale con- 
 tainers. As honey comes from the ex- 
 tractor, some beekeepers heat it suffi- 
 ciently to permit straining through a fine 
 60- or 36-mesh wire strainer. The honey 
 need not be heated to more than 110° F 
 for this purpose. A honey sump located 
 between the extractor and the honey 
 pump or gravity outlet is desirable for 
 every extracting setup. This permits the 
 
 coarse particles of comb to be separated 
 from the honey by baffle plates before 
 the honey is run or pumped into the 
 tanks. 
 
 Some beekeepers have constructed effi- 
 cient portable extracting outfits to extract 
 honey at each apiary; they then transfer 
 it to clarifying tanks at a central plant 
 at night. Generally, however, most bee- 
 keepers prefer to haul their honey supers 
 to a central extracting plant where they 
 can have access to greater conveniences. 
 
 If you operate less than 100 colonies 
 you should make suitable arrangements 
 to include as many of the standards for 
 honey house sanitation in smaller quar- 
 ters as are needed by a commercial oper- 
 ator. You may need to take greater care 
 to remove all bees from the supers of 
 honey before they are taken to the honey 
 extracting room. However, this room 
 should have well-screened windows, 
 clean walls, and a washable floor which 
 should be kept clean. Honey tanks should 
 be located in clean rooms with screened 
 windows and kept covered with a finely 
 porous cloth or a solid cover. 
 
 The hobbyist or small beekeeper might 
 find it convenient to cooperate with a 
 large beekeeper, having suitable extract- 
 ing equipment, for the extraction of his 
 honey. 
 
 Fire hazards in the honey house. 
 When a honey house and general work- 
 shop for a beekeeping enterprise is built, 
 the possibility of eliminating all fire 
 hazards should be one of the first con- 
 siderations. Beeswax, super combs, and 
 dry hives are highly combustible, and 
 frequently the results of years of labor 
 have been destroyed within a few minutes 
 by an "unexpected" fire. Careful atten- 
 tion should be given to all wiring and 
 electrical devices, gas outlets, flues, and 
 sparks from furnaces or steam and heat- 
 ing plants. Wax-rendering and steam 
 plants should be separate from the main 
 honey house and workshop. 
 
 Lighted bee smokers have caused many 
 fires in trucks as well as in warehouses. 
 
 [48] 
 
They should be emptied into a can of 
 water kept in each apiary for that pur- 
 pose, or smothered by closing the funnel 
 opening and then carried in a fireproof 
 metal box. A lighted or smoldering 
 smoker should never be carried into a 
 building. 
 
 Bottles, which magnify the heat of the 
 sun's rays, may cause fires if adjacent to 
 dry grass. It is, therefore, desirable to 
 keep dried grass and weeds cleaned away 
 from the outside of buildings in which 
 beekeeping equipment is stored. This 
 practice also aids in ant control. 
 
 A PORTABLE HONEY EXTRACTING PLANT 
 
 Passenger bus modified into a portable extracting plant. This outfit is complete enough 
 for a 5-man crew to extract 150 60-lb. tins of honey in a 7-hour day. Above, floor plan 
 showing capping press (1, 2), comb table (3), super entry (4), 8-frame extractor (5), gravity 
 clarifier (6), air blower (7), 2Vfe-h.p. gasoline engine (8), honey pump (9), tools (10), gas tank 
 (1 1), wash water tank (12), butane tanks (13). Courtesy W. C. Miles, San Bernardino, Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 [49-] 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS . . . ones that may 
 
 or may not be necessary during any given year 
 
 but will occasionally become quite important 
 
 Moving hives of bees 
 
 Migratory beekeeping is an established 
 practice in California. This practice is 
 made necessary by the short duration of 
 the average nectar flow from any one 
 source and the long season when bees can 
 fly actively. This practice is also an essen- 
 tial part of providing colonies of honey- 
 bees for the pollination of various farm 
 and orchard crops. This type of beekeep- 
 ing has been well adapted to the many 
 nectar sources available in various parts 
 of the state. Excellent roads and fast 
 motor equipment make it possible for a 
 beekeeper to pick up 200 or more col- 
 onies at nightfall and move them many 
 miles within a short time. Migratory bee- 
 keeping is not simple, however; it is hard 
 work and, in large-scale operations, re- 
 quires expensive equipment. 
 
 When colonies are to be moved from 
 one apiary to another, the different parts 
 
 A 2-story hive with screens on top and over the 
 entrance. 
 
 of the hive may be securely fastened to- 
 gether with hive staples or lath. The bees 
 may be confined by top and entrance 
 screens. The top screens can be nailed on 
 the hives while the bees are still flying, 
 but the entrance screens should be put 
 on at the close of the day when the bees 
 are all in from the field. The top screen 
 should be deep enough to provide ample 
 clustering space during hot weather. The 
 entrance screen should permit bees to 
 cluster between the screen and the front 
 of the hive above the entrance. Because 
 of the traffic on main-traveled roads and 
 the fear of the average motorist that a 
 bee will get into his car, bees should be 
 securely confined during transport over 
 the highway or should be hauled at night. 
 Some beekeepers enclose the truck bed 
 with screened panels or even with plastic 
 cloth. Despite precautions in fastening 
 up bees and in loading, some strays will 
 cling to the outside of the hives. Since 
 these bees will be attracted to street 
 lights, it is advisable to avoid stopping 
 for fuel. It is better, in general, to detour 
 around congested city streets. 
 
 Since it is often necessary to move 
 colonies in hot summer weather, many 
 commercial beekeepers in California 
 move their bees without screens. While 
 this practice is not recommended for the 
 careless beekeeper, it is essential to 
 migratory beekeeping in this state. When 
 colonies are to be moved without screens, 
 loading should start just in time to com- 
 plete the operation before dark. Each 
 colony is smoked at the entrance as it is 
 loaded. Some hives are left in each row 
 to catch the returning bees. When all bees 
 are in, these few hives are loaded, all 
 securely roped on, then the truck is kept 
 moving until it reaches its destination. 
 
 [50] 
 
Wind pressure and the vibration of the 
 truck apparently keep the bees from fly- 
 ing out of their hives, although they may 
 cluster on the outside between the hives 
 on hot nights. If the weather is warm, a 
 fine spray of water over the hives will 
 cool the bees and make them more con- 
 tent to remain in their hives. 
 
 Mechanical hive hoists 
 
 Mechanical hoists for loading hives 
 and supers of honey are being perfected 
 by various beekeepers, and their use 
 greatly facilitates the loading and un- 
 loading of hives without the heavy work 
 needed when only manpower is used. 
 Lights are also attached to the hoists so 
 that loading and unloading can be done 
 at night. By their use, one man can do 
 the work of two and thus reduce the cost 
 of production as well as make the work 
 easier. 
 
 Unloading of the hives is frequently 
 delayed until daylight by which time the 
 bees have quieted considerably from the 
 disturbances of moving. This delay is 
 avoided when mechanical hoists are used 
 because they can also provide a source 
 of light, and the bees on the outside of 
 hives are no problem. The hives are 
 usually smoked at their entrances before 
 they are unloaded. 
 
 Bees orient to new surroundings 
 
 Though bees orient themselves to their 
 surroundings, they will return to their 
 former location unless taken entirely out 
 of the area where they have been accus- 
 tomed to work. Colonies which are to be 
 moved only a few yards should be 
 changed a few feet at a time on successive 
 days. If these bees are anesthetized with 
 nitrous oxide and then moved, few will 
 return to the old location. The nitrous 
 oxide can be made by adding one or two 
 tablespoons of ammonium nitrate ferti- 
 lizer to well-lighted smoker fuel in the 
 smoker. 
 
 Sometimes many bees will return to 
 their old location when moved a mile or 
 
 so in the same general territory. Many 
 field bees may also be lost at the time of 
 their first flight in new surroundings. 
 When they leave for the field the day after 
 they are moved, many apparently fail to 
 note the landmarks of their new location. 
 Such losses can be minimized if the hive 
 entrances are partially impeded by brush 
 or weeds to prevent uninterrupted flight. 
 
 Uniting colonies 
 
 When two colonies are to be united, 
 the easiest method is to kill the poorer of 
 the two queens and to set the queenless 
 colony on a single thickness of newspaper 
 over the colony with which it is to be 
 united. In hot weather the colonies should 
 be united late in the afternoon. One or 
 two small holes should be punched 
 through the paper. The bees will gnaw 
 the paper into bits and carry it out of the 
 hive. When this method is used, the bees 
 become acquainted with one another 
 without fighting, and few will return to 
 their former location. 
 
 Transferring bees from 
 trees or walls 
 
 Many people ask how to kill or to 
 transfer bees that have become estab- 
 lished in trees or in the walls of buildings. 
 They may be killed readily by spraying 
 or dusting into their entrances such 
 poisons as chlordane, lindane, and 
 dieldrin. These poisons are much safer 
 to use than Cyanogas which has previ- 
 ously been recommended. Two applica- 
 tions of these poisons at intervals of 10 
 days may be necessary to effect a com- 
 plete kill. The entrances should then be 
 closed to prevent other swarms from 
 entering later. The chlordane has a long 
 residual action. 
 
 An inexperienced person should not 
 try to transfer a colony of bees from the 
 walls of a house or from a box or a tree 
 because the danger of being seriously 
 stung is too great. A person experienced 
 in removing bees from such inaccessible 
 places can control the bees while ex- 
 
 [51] 
 
A mechanical hive hoist used in 
 loading hives. 
 
 Close-up of the power unit of hoist shown 
 above. 
 
 A heavier type of hive hoist that includes an auxiliary gasoline generator and two electric motors. 
 
 [52 1 
 
posing their nest; then the combs can be 
 cut away, the portions containing brood 
 fastened into frames with cotton string, 
 and the bees enticed into a hive. Usually 
 the hive must remain near the entrance 
 to the wall or tree for a day or two. This 
 is done even though all traces of the 
 combs have been removed from the cav- 
 ity and the opening has been closed 
 against the re-entrance of the same bees 
 or others. With the necessary equipment 
 and with patience, bees can be trapped 
 from a wall or tree by means of a bee 
 escape so arranged that they can leave 
 but cannot re-enter their old abode. A 
 frame of brood placed in a hive in front 
 of their old entrance is generally neces- 
 sary to induce the bees to accept the hive 
 as their own. A queen should be intro- 
 duced after a few days and the hive left 
 in position until most of the brood in the 
 combs has emerged. Then the remainder 
 of the bees in the cavity should be killed, 
 the entrance closed permanently, and the 
 hive taken away. In such instances, wax 
 moths will destroy the combs left in the 
 walls and thus release any honey stored 
 in them. Some reports have indicated the 
 presence of enough honey to seep through 
 the plastering of the walls. This can be 
 avoided by leaving the entrance into the 
 walls open for a few days, or until robber 
 bees can carry out the honey. 
 
 Apiary records 
 
 Most successful beekeepers keep suffi- 
 cient records to indicate their profit and 
 loss from beekeeping operations, and 
 such records are necessary to satisfy in- 
 come tax returns. If production records 
 kept over a period of years include data 
 on temperature and rainfall, forecasts 
 can be made with greater certainty of the 
 possibilities of honey production some 
 weeks or months ahead of the producing 
 seasons. 
 
 In addition, it is important to keep 
 hive records of the origin and age of the 
 queen of each colony as well as of the 
 outstanding colonies if you are interested 
 
 in improving your stock. Beekeepers fre- 
 quently keep records on the hives or in 
 notebooks, using abbreviations to save 
 time. 
 
 A periodic record of the variations in 
 weight of a hive, together with the bloom- 
 ing dates of the various flowering plants 
 yielding nectar and pollen, will reveal 
 many factors which influence the be- 
 havior and production of colonies in the 
 area. These records will enable the bee- 
 keeper to plan his work ahead during the 
 winter months. 
 
 Food requirements 
 
 Bees must be fed when they lack suf- 
 ficient stores for their own maintenance. 
 Colonies may be robbed too closely of 
 their surplus stores; and when, for an 
 unexpected or extended period, no nectar 
 is available, artificial stores must be sup- 
 plied if their natural stores are insuffi- 
 cient. Colonies sometimes obtain a qual- 
 ity of honey that will cause dysentery 
 during long periods of winter confine- 
 ment; then artificial food must be sup- 
 plied in the fall to offset this. Under Cali- 
 fornia conditions, bees are not confined 
 for long periods by cold or inclement 
 weather. Colonies in high mountain loca- 
 tions can be moved to the valleys or foot- 
 hills for the winter and spring. 
 
 Some beekeepers feed their colonies 
 for extended periods between nectar flows 
 in order to maintain brood rearing and 
 colony strength. As long as bees have suf- 
 ficient pollen in their combs, or are bring- 
 ing in fresh pollen from the field, they 
 may rear brood under the stimulus of 
 such feeding, but they cannot rear brood 
 on sugar syrup alone. Most apiarists now 
 prefer to leave an abundance of honey in 
 the hives, 30 to 60 pounds — enough for 
 the most prolonged dearth of nectar — - 
 and thus avoid the expensive and trouble- 
 some practice of feeding. - 
 
 Honey supplements. If feeding is 
 necessary, the best substitute for honey 
 is a heavy syrup made of white granu- 
 lated sugar and water. For winter stores- 
 
 [53] 
 
Side feeder for a cell-building colony. The bees enter the tunnel from the hive. 
 
 the syrup should be made by dissolving 
 2 parts of sugar in 1 part of water. In 
 feeding the colonies in cold weather, in- 
 crease the ratio of sugar to 2% parts to 
 1 part of water, adding 1 teaspoon of 
 cream of tartar to every 20 pounds of 
 sugar to keep the syrup from granulating. 
 In making this heavy syrup, use boiling 
 water to dissolve the sugar, and add the 
 cream of tartar to the boiling syrup. Stir 
 constantly until all sugar is dissolved. 
 Sugar syrup that has fermented, espe- 
 cially in tin or iron containers, should 
 not be fed to bees, for it is often poison- 
 ous to them. 
 
 If a beekeeper desires to feed his col- 
 onies extracted honey instead of sugar 
 syrup, it is advisable to dilute the honey 
 from one-fourth to one-half with water. 
 Honey syrup incites robbing more quickly 
 than sugar syrup. For the greatest safety 
 in feeding honey of an unknown origin, 
 it is desirable to add % gram of sodium 
 sulfathiazole to each gallon of syrup (see 
 American foulbrood, page 64). 
 
 Some beekeepers prefer to feed their 
 colonies candy instead of syrup because 
 it does not stimulate robbing and re- 
 quires less equipment. The following 
 
 recipe makes a satisfactory candy for bee 
 feed: 50 pounds of sugar, 4 quarts of 
 water, % cup of vinegar, % teaspoonful 
 cream of tartar, and 6 pounds of honey. 
 Bring the liquids to a boil and add the 
 sugar slowly, stirring constantly to pre- 
 vent burning. Boil to 239° on a candy 
 thermometer and cool in tubs of water, 
 stirring until the mixture begins to show 
 a creamy color. Then pour into molds, 
 using shallow or deep frames, or lath, 
 lined with waxed paper. If the candy is 
 creased as it cools, it can be broken into 
 blocks of suitable size when cold. A 
 colony can be fed by inserting a frame 
 containing this candy in place of a comb. 
 Method and time of feeding. 
 There are many systems of feeding col- 
 onies on sugar syrup, some of which are : 
 entrance feeders, open-pan feeders, divi- 
 sion-board feeders, filling the combs di- 
 rect with heavy syrup, and open-air 
 floats. The type of container most often 
 use in recent years is the 5- or 10-pound 
 friction-top pail. The lid is punctured 
 with a number of holes made by a three- 
 penny wire nail; the number of holes, as 
 well as the strength of the colony, deter- 
 mines the speed with which the pail is 
 
 [54] 
 
emptied by the bees. For slow feeding 
 only one or two holes are needed; but for 
 winter feeding there should be 20 to 30 
 holes. The pails are filled with the syrup 
 and inverted over the bee-escape hole of 
 the inner cover or placed directly on top 
 of the frames or on a special board lead- 
 ing into the hive from the back or side. If 
 the pail is inverted directly on top of the 
 frames in cool weather, the frames should 
 be covered with canvas to preserve heat. 
 A still better method in cool weather is to 
 cut a hole in a piece of heavy tar paper, 
 place it over the frames, and invert the 
 pail over the hole. In all such methods, 
 an empty hive body should be placed 
 around the feeder; but if this is impos- 
 sible, the feeder may be inverted over a 
 %-inch hole bored through the outer 
 cover. 
 
 If apiaries are so isolated that open- 
 air feeders can be used, the feeders 
 should be located a short distance from 
 the apiary to reduce robbing. Syrup can 
 be poured into open pans, trays, or 
 
 troughs, all of which should be provided 
 with suitable floats to prevent drowning. 
 The stronger colonies will, of course, se- 
 cure the most syrup. A simple system for 
 quickly feeding many colonies of bees is 
 to plow a trench, line it with tar paper, 
 fill it partially with straw, and pour in 
 the syrup. This is obviously a "charita- 
 ble" method of feeding if other colonies 
 are within flying distance. 
 
 To avoid robbing in an apiary, colo- 
 nies should be fed late in the afternoon so 
 that by morning the bees will have lost 
 much of the excitement aroused by ac- 
 quiring the syrup. The best results from 
 stimulative feeding are secured if the 
 colony feeds on a small amount of syrup 
 continuously over a long period. Friction- 
 top pails can be used for this purpose 
 if the lids are perforated with only two 
 to four holes; the lids will not leak if the 
 pail is level. Colonies being fed for win- 
 ter stores should receive the syrup soon 
 after the close of the fall nectar flow. If 
 this is done, the bees may have time to 
 
 '/4'//>ck 
 
 S mesh screen 
 
 * 
 
 6 mesh screen 
 
 Top View 
 
 -S mesh screen 
 
 P~PONT Elevatioh 
 
 ftl ffl. W 
 
 16 '/4- 
 
 DerA/LS op Tpap Gate 
 
 24 mesh screen rend /at or 
 
 fiemoYob/e poi/en box 
 
 m 
 
 t-x 
 
 r- 
 
 rm 
 
 t±: 
 
 Screen on opposite sides of trap gate, 
 si Offered ds shotvn above 
 
 Trdpgote (5 mesh screen) 
 
 Cl/r-AWAY ISOMETPIC VlEtY 
 
 3E 
 
 S'oe iiEYAriort sitomvG Poueh Tpap 
 on SrAHPAto BorroMBOAHO mm Hive dm top 
 
 Detail of a pollen trap for collecting pollen from the legs of returning fielders. Courtesy 
 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, U.S.D.A. Bee Culture Investigation, Davis. 
 
 [55] 
 
Heavy loads of pollen in the pollen baskets on 
 the hind legs of worker bees. 
 
 invert the sugar syrup before cool 
 weather sets in. In this way, they avoid 
 unnecessary labor in generating heat to 
 evaporate the excess moisture. 
 
 Pollen supplements. There is no 
 substitute for pollen in the diet of the 
 colony. In regions where there are oc- 
 casional shortages of pollen, needy colo- 
 nies should be moved to new locations 
 where pollen is available, or combs of 
 pollen should be stored for just such 
 emergencies and given in time of need. 
 
 Pollen traps have been devised to 
 scrape pollen pellets from the legs of bees 
 as they go through a screen grid on enter- 
 ing their hives. This pollen can be dried 
 and stored for use during a pollen scar- 
 city. When the dried pollen is mixed with 
 soybean flour — produced by the extrac- 
 tion process to contain only a low per- 
 
 centage of fat — and made into a soft cake 
 by the addition of a heavy sugar syrup, 
 the bees will consume it readily and in- 
 crease the amount of brood. Less efficient 
 pollen supplements, in the absence of pol- 
 len, are soybean flour in combination 
 with brewers' yeast, or soybean flour 
 alone, mixed with heavy sugar syrup and 
 made into cakes. Each of these pollen 
 supplements should be placed on top of 
 the frames, immediately over the brood 
 nest, and covered with paper to prevent 
 drying out. The material should be just 
 thick enough not to run down between 
 the frames. 
 
 In securing pollen, take care to place 
 the traps only on disease-free colonies. 
 
 In making up the mixtures, the follow- 
 ing formulas can be used: 
 
 Pollen and soybean flour: 3 pounds 
 of pollen, mixed with just enough warm 
 water to loosen the pollen grains thor- 
 oughly from the pellets, 12 pounds of 
 soybean flour, 20 pounds of granulated 
 sugar, and 10 pounds of water. A strong 
 colony will use a pound or more of the 
 pollen-soybean mixture within a week 
 or 10 days. 
 
 Soybean flour and brewers' yeast: 
 2 pounds of powdered yeast, 18 pounds 
 of soybean flour, 30 pounds of sugar, and 
 15 pounds of water. The yeast can be 
 mixed in the water to insure thorough 
 blending. The debittered brewers' yeast 
 is the most satisfactory, while the active 
 and nondebittered yeasts are less accept- 
 able to the bees. 
 
 Cake of pollen paste placed on top of the combs and space left for division board feeder. 
 
THE REARING OF QUEENS ... is a highly 
 
 technical and extremely important operation 
 
 that requires special equipment and experience 
 
 The importance of good queens cannot 
 be overemphasized. In order to appreci- 
 ate the amount of work involved in rear- 
 ing them, every beekeeper should requeen 
 some of his colonies with queens he him- 
 self has reared. To rear queens success- 
 fully on a commercial scale takes a con- 
 siderable amount of equipment, special 
 environmental conditions, and years of 
 experience. 
 
 During the swarming season, under 
 natural conditions, the queen will de- 
 posit an egg in one or more queen-cell 
 cups ; also the bees will build queen cells 
 around young worker larvae, from which 
 queens will be produced. These naturally 
 built queen cells can be cut off and trans- 
 ferred to combs in other colonies or to 
 queenless nuclei where they will produce 
 queens. This method is desirable only 
 when the original queen is purely mated 
 and is fully satisfactory. Such cells are 
 seldom produced except during the 
 swarming season, and the practice of 
 rearing queens from a swarming colony 
 is questionable because the tendency to 
 swarm may be increased by such selec- 
 tions. 
 
 The use of artificial 
 queen cell cups 
 
 Instead of using naturally built cell 
 cups, the commercial queen raiser makes 
 his own by dipping molds into melted 
 beeswax. The artificially formed cell cups 
 are then fastened to a bar with melted 
 wax, or are placed in small wooden cups, 
 which in turn are fastened to a bar with 
 wax or with a small tack. A modified 
 Hoffman frame can be made to hold 
 three bars, on each of which are fastened 
 about 15 cell cups. A small drop of royal 
 jelly, taken from natural queen cells, 
 
 about 3 days old, diluted half with warm 
 water, may be placed in the bottom of 
 each cell cup ; then a young worker larva, 
 12 to 24 hours old, is transferred into 
 each cup by means of a transfer needle. 
 The transferring should be done in a 
 warm, humid room free from drafts. The 
 cell bars are then placed in the frame with 
 the cells inverted, and the frame is given 
 to a strong queenless colony previously 
 prepared. Experienced queen breeders 
 can transfer larvae to dry cell cups and 
 secure as good acceptance as when di- 
 luted royal jelly is used as a cushion and 
 food for the young larvae. 
 
 The cell-building colony 
 
 To get a few cells built, a strong colony 
 can be made queenless 24 hours before 
 the larvae are transferred; the colony 
 should be strong enough to occupy two 
 stories. It should be fed sugar syrup con- 
 tinuously for 3 days before it is made 
 queenless and during the time it is build- 
 ing the cells. One story, containing the 
 queen and two or three frames of brood 
 and bees, should be placed on a stand 
 beside the old location. Its entrance 
 should be turned in the opposite direc- 
 tion from the original hive so that most 
 of the bees will return to their former 
 location. Place the rest of the brood and 
 bees in the queenless part, where enough 
 space should be left for the frame holding 
 the cell bars. This colony will accept a 
 majority of the cells given if the larvae 
 were not injured when transferred. 
 Twenty-four hours after the cells are 
 placed in this hive, the hive body con- 
 taining the queen can be placed on its 
 original stand, a queen excluder put on, 
 and the body containing the queen cells 
 placed over the excluder. Ten days after 
 
 [57] 
 
A frame holding three bars of queen cells; the top bar has cells only 24 hours old, while the 
 
 other cells are sealed. 
 
 the larvae are transferred, the cells 
 should be removed and placed separately 
 in nuclei or colonies that have been 
 queenless for at least one day. The young 
 queens will emerge on about the twelfth 
 day after grafting if the larvae trans- 
 ferred to the cell cups were 24 hours old. 
 
 A stock improvement program 
 
 While many beekeepers rear some or 
 all of their own queens, others prefer to 
 get their queens from commercial queen 
 raisers. In either case, you should re- 
 queen often enough to keep prolific 
 queens of a good strain of honey pro- 
 ducers at the head of each colony. Avoid 
 inbreeding by rearing queens from unre- 
 lated queen mothers in alternate years. 
 
 In testing queens for prospective 
 breeders, it is desirable to rear several 
 queens from a number of purebred 
 queens selected for their desirable quali- 
 ties and to keep records on the colonies of 
 the daughter queens to determine which 
 queen mother produces the best queens. 
 If you do not have a number of colonies 
 of well-bred bees from which to select 
 
 prospective breeders, it is best to get a 
 number of untested queens from a queen 
 raiser and rear queens from each for 
 testing purposes. 
 
 The commercial queen raiser is better 
 equipped to do this testing then the av- 
 erage commercial honey producer, but 
 any beekeeper who raises queens for his 
 own colonies should practice this selec- 
 tive rearing of queens in order to main- 
 tain colonies of good temper, disease re- 
 sistance, and productivity. If you re- 
 queen your colonies with queens from 
 the same queen mother for two successive 
 seasons, a large proportion of the young 
 queens the second season will mate with 
 their sisters' drones. 
 
 Handle the ripe queen cells carefully, 
 because injury to the developing bees 
 will produce deformed queens. The bees 
 that adhere to the frame containing the 
 cells should be brushed off — never shaken 
 off. Not more than 45 cells should be 
 given to a strong cell-building colony at 
 a time, but after the first transfer addi- 
 tional bars of cells can be given every 4 
 days. To insure proper development of 
 
 [58] 
 
Top. Eggs of the 
 queen honeybee, much 
 enlarged. Left. Queen 
 cells cut open to show 
 young queen pupa. 
 Right. Opened queen 
 cell with larva at the 
 spinning stage, showing 
 the silk fibers and the 
 surplus food at the bot- 
 tom of the cell. Bottom. 
 Queen cells from which 
 queens have emerged. 
 
 [59] 
 
Queen-right cell-building colonies with the feeder jars inverted over holes in the lids. A queen 
 excluder separates the hive body containing the queen cells from the queen-right brood chamber. 
 
 the young queen larvae, the cell-building 
 colony should be overflowing with bees, 
 should have an ample supply of pollen, 
 and should be fed, slowly but constantly, 
 a heavy sugar syrup. Young bees or 
 combs of emerging brood should be 
 added every 7 to 10 days. 
 
 The young queens will generally mate 
 within 10 days after their emergence and 
 can be caged or introduced into colonies 
 a few days after they have started to lay. 
 Sometimes young queens are unable to 
 mate because of physical injury or be- 
 cause unfavorable weather conditions 
 prevent it. Under such circumstances un- 
 mated queens may begin to lay. They are 
 then called drone-layers because their 
 eggs can produce only drones. This sel- 
 dom occurs naturally until the unmated 
 queen is 3 weeks old. 
 
 Federal laws regulate 
 importation of bees 
 
 Tn 1922 a federal law was passed pro- 
 hibiting the importation of honeybees 
 
 and queens into the United States except 
 under the supervision of the United 
 States Department of Agriculture, Wash- 
 ington, D.C., in order to forestall the in- 
 troduction of certain bee diseases that 
 have proved destructive in various Euro- 
 pean countries. This law was revoked, 
 effective August 27, 1947. Another fed- 
 eral law was substituted which now pre- 
 vents all importations of honeybees from 
 European countries except such as may 
 be brought in by the United States De- 
 partment of Agriculture for its own ex- 
 perimental or scientific purposes or by 
 a special permit issued by the Depart- 
 ment. Under this system queen bees are 
 received and examined by the U.S.D.A. 
 before they are released to a bee- 
 keeper. Queens and bees may be shipped 
 either way across the Canadian border. 
 (Inquiries concerning these regulations 
 should be directed to United States De- 
 partment of Agriculture, Division of Bee 
 Culture, Agricultural Research Center, 
 Beltsville, Maryland.) 
 
 [ 60 | 
 
DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES . . . how to 
 
 reduce losses from these sources to a minimum, 
 
 by remedial and/or preventive methods 
 
 The honeybee, like most other insects, 
 is subject to diseases and enemies which 
 continually menace its survival. In ter- 
 ritories with no organized methods of 
 control, brood diseases in particular may 
 make beekeeping uncertain or impos- 
 sible. Fortunately, this condition is de- 
 creasing in the more important beekeep- 
 ing regions of California when county in- 
 spection of apiaries is carried out in 
 an efficient manner. The destructive- 
 ness of the different diseases, however, 
 and the uncertainty of entirely eradicat- 
 ing them from any particular area compel 
 every beekeeper to study the more impor- 
 tant diseases, their methods of spread, 
 and their control. 
 
 The diseases may be divided into two 
 classes: those affecting the brood and 
 those attacking the adults. Brood diseases 
 are generally more serious and more dif- 
 ficult to control than diseases of the 
 adults, except, possibly, the Isle of Wight 
 disease, which has not so far occurred 
 in this country. Brood diseases are usu- 
 ally specific in character and can be dis- 
 tinguished by their gross and microscopic 
 symptoms. Some cause offensive odors 
 and are therefore generally called foul- 
 brood; but this term more rightly ap- 
 plies to two of world-wide distribution — 
 American and European foulbrood. A 
 summary of symptoms of brood diseases 
 is given in table 3. 
 
 To prevent and 
 control bee diseases 
 
 Apiary inspection laws. Beekeep- 
 ers can do much to eradicate bee dis- 
 eases by frequently inspecting their own 
 colonies and by obeying the regulatory 
 measures on registration, used equip- 
 ment, and moving of hives. 
 
 Apiary laws are subject to change, and 
 the latest regulations on beekeeping 
 should be obtained from the State Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, Sacramento. 
 
 The California Apiary Inspection Act 
 of 1927, with its subsequent amendments, 
 deals with the control and eradication of 
 bee diseases in California. It pertains 
 particularly to foulbrood diseases. Its en- 
 forcement is directed by the California 
 State Department of Agriculture through 
 the county agricultural commissioners, 
 and their deputies. Almost every county 
 in California in which beekeeping is rec- 
 ognized as an important agricultural in- 
 dustry has some apiary-inspection serv- 
 ice. In the remaining counties, beekeepers 
 may secure apiary inspection by applying 
 to the State Department of Agriculture, 
 Sacramento. 
 
 To facilitate the inspection of apiaries 
 and to be notified if poisons are to be 
 applied in the vicinity of your colonies, 
 the location of each apiary must be reg- 
 istered with the County Agricultural 
 Commissioner before November 1 of 
 each year. The present law requires that 
 each apiary must be registered and must 
 have its identifying number or letter in 
 some conspicuous place — on a sign near 
 the apiary, on the front of a hive, or on 
 a hive cover. The brand number or an 
 identifying letter must be obtained from 
 the State Department of Agriculture. 
 
 When an apiary is moved within the 
 state, the county agricultural commis- 
 sioners of the counties involved must be 
 notified of the change in location within 
 5 days. The description of the apiary 
 location must be specific. It is unlawful to 
 move colonies infected with American 
 foulbrood without the written permission 
 of the county apiary inspector. 
 
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Before moving hives of bees or used 
 equipment across state borders, inquire 
 about the regulations governing such 
 traffic. Some states prohibit the impor- 
 tation of used bee equipment, while 
 others require each shipment to be ac- 
 companied by an inspection certificate 
 indicating that the colonies were in- 
 spected and found free of disease. 
 
 The state or county inspectors are al- 
 ways ready to aid the beekeeper in disease 
 control. If you have any doubt concern- 
 ing the gross symptoms of any disease, 
 consult the county inspector or send a 
 sample of the diseased brood to the State 
 Department of Agriculture in Sacra- 
 mento or to the Apiculturist, University 
 of California, Davis, for diagnosis. The 
 sample can be a smear of a diseased larva 
 on a piece of paper or on a toothpick en- 
 closed with a letter. 
 
 Symptoms of brood infected with American 
 foulbrood: A, normal capping over healthy 
 larva; B to F, stages in the discoloration and 
 removal of cappings; G, capping removed to 
 show healthy larva; H to L, stages in the decay 
 and drying of larvae killed by American foul- 
 brood, front view. From U.S.D.A. Cir. 392. 
 
 Diseases affecting the 
 brood of bees 
 
 American foulbrood. This disease 
 is by far the most destructive and most 
 generally distributed brood disease. 
 Once attacked, a colony seldom recovers 
 if it is left alone. The disease is persistent. 
 It is caused by a spore-forming bacte- 
 rium, Bacillus larvae, which kills the lar- 
 vae shortly after the cells are sealed. For 
 this reason the beekeeper seldom dis- 
 covers the disease until occasional cells 
 of sealed brood have sunken, greasy- 
 looking cappings, often with irregular 
 perforations. The dead larvae vary from 
 brownish yellow to coffee brown, ac- 
 cording to the degree of putrefaction; 
 they are always stretched lengthwise of 
 the cell and retain their shape for only a 
 short time after death. In the final stages 
 of decay, they lose all traces of segmenta- 
 tion and become a flattened mass, the 
 contents of which are tenacious or ropy. 
 If, at this stage, a match stem is used to 
 stir the contents of a diseased cell and 
 then slowly withdrawn, the decayed ma- 
 terial will rope for a distance of 1 to 4 
 inches before breaking. The offensive 
 odor is similar to that of heated glue. The 
 final remains, or scale of the larva, usu- 
 ally adhere tightly to the lower side and 
 bottom of the cell. In advanced cases, 
 pupae are also killed; remains will be 
 found with the pupal tongue extending 
 upward, sometimes attached to the top 
 of the cell. Most cells containing these 
 scales are uncapped entirely by the bees. 
 The disease attacks the worker brood 
 primarily — but in rare instances drone 
 and queen larvae become infected. 
 
 The spores of B. larvae can survive 
 in honey for an indefinite period. For 
 this reason, the disease is spread pri- 
 marily by bees robbing honey from dis- 
 eased combs and by the use and inter- 
 change of infected equipment. Swarms 
 that emerge from diseased colonies may 
 transmit the disease, especially if they 
 are hived on drawn combs. 
 
 Various methods to control American 
 
 [64] 
 
Left. Pupa infected with American foulbrood frequently dies with the tongue extended upward 
 across the cell opening. Right. A comb of brood showing typical symptoms of American foulbrood. 
 
 foulbrood have been based on the fact 
 that the disease can be transmitted by 
 honey from infected colonies. The bacil- 
 lus causing the disease is also highly re- 
 sistant to drying. Attempts have been 
 made to save the bees by shaking them 
 from an infected hive onto frames con- 
 taining sheets of foundation; but this 
 practice often causes the disease to be 
 spread by robbing bees and by bees 
 drifting from the infected colony during 
 the procedure. Consequently, the quick- 
 est effective treatment is to kill the colony 
 and thoroughly destroy all bees and in- 
 fected combs by burning. 
 
 During the past few years, some strains 
 of bees resistant to American foulbrood 
 have been produced by private, federal, 
 and state agencies. Evidence has been 
 established that this resistance is an 
 inherited character and that the great 
 destructiveness of the disease may be re- 
 duced or controlled through the breeding 
 of strains selected for this factor. Since 
 the mating of the queen cannot be con- 
 trolled on a practical basis, the introduc- 
 tion of this disease-resistant character 
 into all California strains could not be 
 an accomplished fact for many years 
 even if it were attempted. 
 
 The most practical method of killing 
 
 the colony is to place a tablespoon of 
 powdered calcium cyanide (Cyanogas) 
 on a piece of paper and slip it on the 
 bottom board 2 or 3 inches behind the 
 entrance. 
 
 This deadly poison should be 
 handled with extreme care so that 
 the fumes will not be inhaled by 
 the operator. 
 
 After killing the bees, carry the hive 
 to one side of the apiary. Any field bees 
 which later return will drift into adjoin- 
 ing hives without any danger of spread- 
 ing this disease. The present (1954) Cali- 
 fornia regulations require that all frames, 
 combs, and bees be burned in a hole deep 
 enough to keep any honey or wax from 
 running out on the ground. After the fire 
 has burned out, the remains must be cov- 
 ered with soil to a depth of 24 inches. 
 Save the bottom board, hive bodies, and 
 covers, but scrape them clean and scrub 
 all parts thoroughly with a strong soap 
 solution to remove all comb and traces of 
 honey. 
 
 Sulfat hiazole and American foul- 
 brood. The potential value of sulfathia- 
 zole in the control of American foul- 
 brood was first explored by Haseman 
 
 [65] 
 
and Childers in 1942 and the results 
 published in 1944. Since then numer- 
 ous articles have appeared in scientific 
 journals and beekeeping literature for 
 and against its use. Investigations with 
 sulfathiazole in the treatment of colonies 
 infected with American foulbrood were 
 started at the University of California in 
 1945, and results have since been re- 
 corded on approximately 100 colonies 
 infected with American foulbrood. The 
 following comments are designed to an- 
 swer some of the questions regarding the 
 use of sulfathiazole but do not constitute 
 a recommendation of its general use.* 
 
 In line with the results of other re- 
 search workers, it has been found that 
 when sulfathiazole is present in sufficient 
 concentration in the food fed by nurse 
 bees to bee larvae, the sulfathiazole in- 
 hibits the growth of B. larvae and thus 
 prevents the development of the disease. 
 It also stimulates or enables the bees 
 in some manner to clean the scales of 
 American foulbrood from the cells when 
 they prepare the cells for additional 
 brood. The sulfathiazole does not act as 
 an antiseptic. 
 
 It is well known that the spores of B. 
 larvae can live indefinitely in honey, al- 
 though no other organism can sustain 
 itself in this way. American foulbrood is 
 spread from colony to colony, frequently 
 by the bees of one securing infected honey 
 from another. In the interchange of 
 combs between the brood nest and supers 
 in the normal management of colonies, 
 cells containing scales of larvae dead of 
 American foulbrood may be covered up 
 with honey or pollen in any part of the 
 hive. These hidden scales or the spores 
 in the honey are not affected by the sul- 
 fathiazole unless the honey and pollen 
 are used for brood rearing while the 
 nurse bees have access to the sulfathia- 
 zole. For these reasons, it was found de- 
 sirable to include two fundamental ma- 
 nipulations in the use of sulfathiazole in 
 the treatment of colonies infected with 
 American foulbrood: (1) all the honey 
 
 and pollen in the combs should either be 
 removed or used by the bees while they 
 have access to sulfa-syrup; and (2) the 
 combs and bees should be so manipulated 
 as to cause the bees to clean out every 
 cell for the production of brood while 
 the bees are feeding on the sulfa-syrup. 
 
 This thorough treatment involves re- 
 moving the honey from all the combs in 
 each infected hive,f diluting the honey 
 one-third to one-half with water, and ad- 
 ding y<2, gram or % teaspoon of sodium 
 sulfathiazole dissolved in warm water 
 and mixed thoroughly in each gallon of 
 the syrup before it is fed back to the 
 bees. Sugar syrup can be used instead of 
 honey. During the feeding process the 
 combs have to be manipulated at inter- 
 vals from the sides of the brood chamber 
 toward the center of the brood nest so 
 that brood will be reared in each cell. It 
 was found that the bees in treated colo- 
 nies would not clean out the diseased ma- 
 terial from cells unless the cells were in 
 the immediate brood area. To hasten the 
 cleaning-up process, 2- and 3-story col- 
 onies were divided and laying queens 
 were introduced into each division even 
 when bees had to be added to increase 
 the strength of each division. Feeding 
 was continued, at intervals, until all the 
 disease had disappeared when brood had 
 been reared in all the combs. 
 
 As a precaution against the spread of 
 the disease, the colonies under treatment 
 were isolated and kept under quarantine 
 
 * Sulfadiazine has been found to be equally 
 effective and can be substituted where sulfa- 
 thiazole is mentioned in this discussion. 
 
 f The extractor should be washed thoroughly 
 afterwards with hot water or kept solely for 
 this purpose. 
 
 Under the 1954 provisions of the Agricul- 
 tural Code of California, it is held illegal for a 
 beekeeper to maintain colonies diseased with 
 American foulbrood or to extract honey from 
 any combs in a diseased hive. The Agricultural 
 Code directs that the bees in a diseased colony 
 be killed and burned and the combs with their 
 contents either burned in a prescribed manner 
 or melted in an approved wax-salvage plant 
 and the equipment sterilized. 
 
 [66] 
 
for the balance of the first year. During 
 the second year, the colonies were again 
 induced to rear brood in all their combs 
 but were not fed sulfa-syrup. Colonies 
 that went through the second season 
 without the aid of sulfa-syrup and with- 
 out showing any evidence of AFB were 
 considered cured of the disease and put 
 into production. 
 
 Each comb that had originally con- 
 tained diseased brood was marked with 
 an "A" on the top bar and also painted 
 with a spot of blue paint so each could 
 be recognized later. It was considered un- 
 
 wise to extract any honey for sale from 
 a colony that had any sulf athiazole in its 
 combs. The honey they produced was 
 used to feed other colonies. Colonies 
 treated in the above manner have since 
 shown no evidence of AFB after two to 
 eight years. 
 
 Many beekeepers throughout the coun- 
 try have advocated using sulfathiazole 
 as a preventive to the spread of the dis- 
 ease by feeding a gallon of sulfa-syrup in 
 the fall and early spring when bees do 
 most of their robbing, and then burning 
 all colonies found infected with AFB. 
 
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 Combs of brood showing (top) the symptoms of American foulbrood and (bottom) the results 
 obtained by proper treatment with sodium sulfathiazole. 
 
 [67] 
 
The typical symptoms of brood infected with 
 European foulbrood: A, ventral view of ex- 
 tended larva recently dead of European foul- 
 brood; B, extended larva partly decayed; C, 
 scale of extended larva; D, another recently 
 dead larva; E and F, scales of dead larvae 
 irregularly twisted; G, H, and I, front view of 
 A, B, and C, respectively. From U.S.D.A. Cir. 
 392. 
 
 When this practice is followed, no more 
 sulfa-syrup should be fed than the bees 
 can use in brood rearing in order to elim- 
 inate the possibility of contaminating 
 marketable honey. We have not experi- 
 mented with this procedure because it is 
 inexact for experimental purposes. Our 
 results have indicated, however, that the 
 bees will mix the sulfa-syrup with any 
 incoming nectar and store it with the 
 honey in both the brood and super combs. 
 The danger of adulterating honey with 
 sulfathiazole is ever present when sulfa- 
 thiazole is used during or just before a 
 nectar flow, and great care should be ex- 
 ercised to avoid this possibility. 
 
 The antibiotics. The general effect of 
 other antibiotics on the prevention or con- 
 
 trol of brood diseases is being investi- 
 gated in various states and Canada with 
 the aim of reducing losses from bee dis- 
 eases. Space will not permit a discussion 
 of these drugs, some of which appear to 
 have considerable promise in the preven- 
 tion and control of both American and 
 European foulbrood. The results of such 
 experiments are carried in the bee jour- 
 nals. 
 
 European foulbrood. This form of 
 brood disease attacks the larvae still 
 coiled in the bottom of the cell, usually 
 at a very early stage. The infected larva 
 generally turns a light yellow ; it loses its 
 well-rounded form and becomes so trans- 
 lucent that the tracheae can be seen 
 through the body wall. In some instances 
 the diseased larvae become light brown 
 to dark brown. As the disease progresses 
 in the colony, older larvae are attacked, 
 and a small percentage of the diseased 
 larvae then occur in sealed cells. The 
 dead larvae are generally found in al- 
 most any position in the cell — on the 
 sides, on the bottom, or near the front. 
 The final scale formed is removable from 
 the cell by the bees. The ropiness of the 
 decayed larval remains is less noticeable 
 than in American foulbrood; often no 
 ropiness can be found. Both ventral and 
 longitudinal views disclose extended, re- 
 cently dead larvae and scales of dead 
 larvae which are twisted irregularly. 
 
 European foulbrood seems to be 
 caused by a mixed bacterial infection of 
 the brood of bees rather than by a single 
 organism. Bacillus alvei, B. pluton, Strep- 
 tococcus apis, B. orpheus, and Bacterium 
 eurydice have all been associated with 
 this disease by various investigators. For 
 these reasons, the gross symptoms of Eu- 
 ropean foulbrood may vary considera- 
 bly with the type of bacteria present, and 
 sometimes are confused with certain 
 stages of American foulbrood and para 
 foulbrood. 
 
 This disease does not occur in all sec- 
 tions of California. Apparently it is as- 
 sociated in some sections with the ab- 
 
 [68] 
 
sence of an early spring nectar flow. 
 Many experienced beekeepers believe 
 there is some correlation between the in- 
 cidence of the disease and the kind of 
 pollen the bees gather in summer. Usu- 
 ally the disease does not occur in either 
 strong or weak colonies until the second 
 or third cycle of brood in the spring; 
 then it gradually weakens the colony 
 until there are not enough bees to store 
 a maximum amount of honey. The dis- 
 ease may disappear with the beginning 
 of a nectar flow, it may continue in some- 
 what abated form throughout the season, 
 or it may result in the death of the colony. 
 
 Before the introduction of Italian bees 
 into the United States, European foul- 
 brood was very destructive to the German 
 blacks commonly used. Strong colonies 
 of Italian bees are generally immune; 
 but under adverse circumstances, even 
 they are sometimes reduced by its in- 
 roads. Beekeepers, in fact, state that this 
 disease does not "play fair," but appears 
 when least expected. 
 
 Since the bees are able to remove the 
 diseased material, treatment is based on 
 at least four fundamentals: 1) strength- 
 ening the infected colonies by the addi- 
 tion of more bees; 2) dequeening for a 
 time to break the brood-rearing cycle, in 
 order to give the bees time to clean dis- 
 eased material from the cells; 3) re- 
 queening with a resistant strain; and 4) 
 treating the infected colony with an anti- 
 biotic to hasten its cure or to prevent the 
 disease from becoming established in 
 spring. There has been no positive preven- 
 tion of European foulbrood, except in 
 some instances with resistant strains, 
 until the discovery that terramycin or 
 streptomycin could be used for this pur- 
 pose. The use of antibiotics in Colorado 
 and elsewhere has been made necessary 
 by the failure of the other methods men- 
 tioned here to prevent the disease from 
 developing to a point where the infected 
 colonies either die or become nonproduc- 
 tive. Since the research is still in prog- 
 ress, the reader should consult current 
 
 bee literature for recommendations. If 
 the colony is strong, the queen should be 
 killed and a ripe queen cell given, or a 
 virgin queen from a resistant strain of 
 bees can be introduced as soon as the 
 colony has discovered that it is queenless. 
 If a nectar flow is in progress, this treat- 
 ment will generally be effective. If no 
 nectar is available, it may be necessary 
 to allow a queenless period of 10 days, 
 after which the colony can be given a 
 young queen from a resistant strain. Feed- 
 ing during this queenless period to in- 
 crease colony morale and to stimulate 
 brood rearing aids in the control of this 
 disease. Sulfathiazole has no beneficial 
 effect in the treatment of European foul- 
 brood, but such antibiotics as terramycin, 
 aureomycin, and streptomycin, have been 
 found to be of considerable value. 
 
 Parafoulbrood. In 1930 a brood 
 disease was discovered in Georgia and 
 Florida which had some symptoms that 
 differed from those of other known dis- 
 eases. Subsequently, the disease was 
 found in North and South Carolina and 
 occasionally in other states. It was dis- 
 
 r 4f 
 
 
 A section of a brood comb almost 100-per-cent 
 infected with parafoulbrood. 
 
 [69] 
 
covered in a single colony for the first 
 time in California by Eckert in 1948. 
 One additional colony and two nuclei 
 were found infected with the disease in 
 1951, two colonies in 1952, and two more 
 in 1953. It seems probable that the dis- 
 ease might have been present previously 
 and the symptoms confused with those of 
 European foulbrood. 
 
 This disease generally attacks the lar- 
 vae before the cells are sealed, but oc- 
 casionally it kills late larvae in sealed 
 cells and also young pupae. The color of 
 the dead brood is first grayish white, 
 then becomes light brown, brown, red- 
 dish brown, or dark brown. Scales are 
 easily removed from the cells, as in Euro- 
 pean foulbrood. 
 
 If there is any doubt as to the actual 
 type of disease found, it is advisable to 
 send a sample of the dead larvae to the 
 Apiculturist, University of California, 
 Davis, for microscopic diagnosis. While 
 the symptoms of parafoulbrood may be 
 confused in the hive with either Ameri- 
 can or European foulbrood, they can be 
 differentiated under the microscope. The 
 present recommended control is the same 
 as that for colonies infected with Euro- 
 pean foulbrood although nothing is 
 known at this time as to its reaction to 
 the antibiotics. Sulfathiazole was ineffec- 
 
 Symptoms of brood infected with sacbrood: 
 A, front view of healthy larva at the age when 
 death usually occurs from sacbrood; B to F, 
 stages in the decay and drying of diseased 
 larvae. From U.S.D.A. Cir. 392. 
 
 tive in one case in which it was fed to a 
 colony infected with this disease. The 
 causative organism is known as Bacillus 
 para-alvei. 
 
 Sacbrood. Occasionally a colony will 
 have a few or many cells containing dead 
 larvae showing symptoms different from 
 those described for the other diseases. 
 The larvae are generally attacked in the 
 late larval or pupal stages, as in Ameri- 
 can foulbrood, and so are found pri- 
 marily in sealed cells or in cells which 
 have been uncapped by the bees. The 
 skin of the infected larva remains in- 
 tact; it does not adhere to the cell wall. 
 The body contents are watery and flow 
 to the posterior portion of the larva when 
 it is held in a vertical position outside 
 the cell; this gives rise to the name sac- 
 brood. The dead larva remains with the 
 dorsal, or upper, side along the lower 
 wall, the head lying outward and extend- 
 ing upward. The tip of the head is gen- 
 erally black, while the rest of the body 
 varies from gray to brown. The disease, 
 which is caused by a virus, is mildly in- 
 fectious. Although it sometimes reduces 
 the strength of a colony, it is seldom 
 serious. No definite treatment is recom- 
 mended. Since some strains of bees seem 
 more susceptible to sacbrood than others, 
 it is advisable to change to queens of a 
 different strain whenever the disease be- 
 comes prevalent. Queens should not be 
 reared from a colony containing sac- 
 brood. Sulfathiazole has no effect on this 
 disease. 
 
 Diseases of adult bees 
 
 Nosema apis. Nosema disease is 
 caused by a protozoan, Nosema apis 
 (Zander) . This organism attacks the epi- 
 thelial lining of the midintestine and fi- 
 nally kills the adult so attacked. Little is 
 known of its life history outside the 
 honeybee or of its method of spread. 
 Although it generally does not destroy a 
 colony, it may reduce colony strength 
 considerably. It is most common during 
 the late spring period and usually dis- 
 
 [70] 
 
appears with settled warm weather. Bees 
 affected with this parasite are often found 
 in numbers in front of a hive, where many 
 will be trembling and crawling about 
 somewhat aimlessly. Many others will re- 
 main within the colony, badly affected. 
 Often the wings become disjointed. In the 
 later stages of infection, the bees are 
 unable to fly, and the dead may lie in 
 quantities for some distance before the 
 entrance. The midintestine of an infected 
 bee is frequently swollen and is usually 
 a dull grayish white. The tissues are 
 softer and more easily crushed than in 
 healthy bees. 
 
 Recent investigations in Canada by 
 Katznelson and in the U. S. by Farrar in- 
 dicate that fumagillin may be an effective 
 treatment for Nosema disease. The refer- 
 ences on page 86 should be consulted for 
 further information. Nosema disease has 
 not been serious in California. 
 
 Paralysis. Very little is known about 
 the cause of this disease, nor have its 
 symptoms been sufficiently defined for 
 any particular ailment of the adult bee 
 to be called paralysis. The same symp- 
 toms may be present in Nosema disease 
 and in buckeye poisoning and in in- 
 stances where neither of these two ail- 
 ments is present. In symptoms generally 
 associated with paralysis, the bees may 
 become almost devoid of hair. They ap- 
 pear shiny and greasy, and their bodies 
 are sometimes swollen with fecal mate- 
 rial. The bees shake and shiver; their 
 wings are often flattened and disjointed. 
 Such bees are found before the entrances 
 and on the bottom boards and combs of 
 the colonies affected. The lighter strains 
 of Italians seem to be more susceptible 
 to paralysis than the darker strains. The 
 disease seldom kills a colony, but it may 
 reduce its numerical strength until the 
 amount of honey stored is greatly cur- 
 tailed. 
 
 In some instances, the disease appears 
 to be caused by a virus infection. Sus- 
 ceptibility also is an inherited character- 
 istic, which indicates that treatment can 
 
 be effected by requeening infected colo- 
 nies with less susceptible strains of bees 
 and by not rearing queens from any 
 queen mother whose bees exhibit any 
 symptoms of this disease. The symptoms 
 generally disappear if the affected colony 
 is given emerging brood from other colo- 
 nies and is then requeened with a young, 
 vigorous queen. Reduction in the number 
 of infected bees in a colony is frequently 
 obtained by dusting sulfur liberally on 
 the ground in front of the hive and also 
 over the alighting board. Additional sul- 
 fur can also be dusted lightly over the 
 tops of the frames and along the 
 shoulders of the hive on which the frames 
 hang. 
 
 Poisoning and other losses 
 
 Pesticides. Honeybees and other ben- 
 eficial insects are killed, frequently, by 
 many of the pesticides which are ap- 
 plied for the control of crop pests, and a 
 serious loss of bees may result unless 
 precautions are taken. Since some chem- 
 icals are more injurious to honeybees 
 than others, those that are less toxic 
 can be used when the control secured is 
 approximately the same. 
 
 Honeybees are killed in several ways 
 by these different poisons. Some of the 
 chemicals kill on contact, or when taken 
 internally, or as f umigants. Certain others 
 make the bees so abnormal in their re- 
 actions that they lose much of their sense 
 of coordination and orientation and thus 
 get lost or die. Bees that are killed by 
 dusts or sprays in the field do not en- 
 danger the bees in the hive. Nectar gath- 
 erers collecting contaminated nectar die 
 in the field or before the nectar can be 
 deposited as honey in the cells, thus safe- 
 guarding the purity of honey stored in 
 the combs. Pollen bearers, however, can 
 collect poisoned pollen, carry it back to 
 their hives, and store it in the cells where 
 it constitutes a serious danger to the hive 
 bees as long as it remains in the hive. 
 
 The most highly toxic poisons are the 
 arsenicals, parathion, malathion, hepta- 
 
 [71] 
 
A colony weakened by spray poisoning. The colony strength has been reduced about 75 per cent, 
 
 and the brood was injured by neglect. 
 
 chlor, benzene hexachloride (BHC), 
 EPN, lindane, chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin, 
 metacide, and TEPP. Less toxic pesti- 
 cides are systox, DDT, toxaphene, and 
 DDD. Methoxychlor, aramite, and sul- 
 fur cause practically no injury. The ex- 
 tent of injury is frequently determined 
 by the time of application, amounts ap- 
 plied, and total acreage covered. Dusts 
 that drift over adjacent fields are far 
 more dangerous than sprays. DDT and 
 toxaphene will kill bees and reduce the 
 colony populations below an economic 
 level when they are applied frequently or 
 when bees are in the field, but neither is 
 as dangerous as several of the more toxic 
 poisons. 
 
 The hazards of chemical poisoning to 
 beneficial insects can be reduced to an 
 economic level if : 1) least toxic materials 
 are substituted for the more toxic com- 
 pounds; 2) poisons are confined to the 
 
 fields treated; 3) applications are made 
 before or after the blooming period, or 
 when the bees are not working in the 
 field; 4) poison applications in diversi- 
 fied agricultural areas are limited to 
 equipment which will apply minimum 
 quantities of the pesticides in spray form 
 during early morning or late afternoon. 
 
 Beekeepers should register the location 
 of their apiaries with the Agricultural 
 Commissioner each year, before Novem- 
 ber 1, and then notify the Commissioner's 
 office immediately after any loss from 
 chemical poisoning is observed. They 
 should become familiar with the pesticide 
 program used in the area occupied by 
 their colonies and avoid areas where the 
 highly toxic pesticides are used. 
 
 Orchardists, seed growers, and farmers 
 are becoming increasingly aware of the 
 services rendered by bees in the pollina- 
 tion of a majority of agricultural crops 
 
 [72] 
 
and are insisting on the use of protective 
 measures where possible. 
 
 Poisoned brood. Poison dusts broad- 
 cast by airplane are particularly danger- 
 ous to bees. Whatever method of appli- 
 cation is used, however, bees may secure 
 sufficient poison on pollen to cause the 
 death of nurse bees and larvae. Usually 
 the poisoned larvae die in all stages, and 
 the trouble should not be confused with 
 European foulbrood. Poisoned brood 
 generally occurs all at once and may be 
 present over an extended period. A chem- 
 ical analysis of the dead larvae, adult 
 bees, and pollen in the combs will indi- 
 cate the kind of poison present. 
 
 Plant poisoning. The nectar or pol- 
 len of a very small number of plants 
 causes intestinal, reproductive, or meta- 
 bolic disturbances in the honeybee. In 
 this state, the California buckeye and 
 Veratrum (corn lily) are known to pro- 
 duce pollen or nectar injurious to the 
 adult or larval stages of the honeybee. 
 Locoweed has also caused serious losses 
 of bees and brood in several instances. 
 The California buckeye, however, is the 
 most notable plant of this type because 
 of the vast acreage it covers. It is par- 
 ticularly injurious in dry years in loca- 
 tions where it is abundant. In the foot- 
 hills and up to 4,500-feet elevation, sur- 
 rounding the Central Valley of Cali- 
 fornia, beekeeping is extremely hazard- 
 ous while this plant is in bloom. 
 
 The first injurious effects of buckeye 
 pollen on the colony are noted within 7 
 to 10 days after the bees have started 
 work on the blossoms. The brood be- 
 comes irregular in appearance because 
 of the death of many young larvae. The 
 egg-laying rate of the queen is greatly 
 reduced; and after a few weeks an in- 
 creasing number of her eggs do not hatch, 
 or a majority of the young larvae die 
 within 3 days after hatching. Some larvae 
 produce adults with crippled wings or 
 malformed legs and bodies. The queen 
 may cease to lay entirely or may lay only 
 drone eggs. At times the combs are de- 
 
 void of brood except in the egg stage, 
 and many of the eggs appear shriveled. 
 The malformed bees crawl out of the hive, 
 and the dead pile up in front of the hive. 
 Some of the field bees show symptoms of 
 paralysis; bees with black, shiny bodies 
 are common. After a few weeks, the col- 
 ony may become greatly weakened or die. 
 
 If a colony is removed from the buck- 
 eye location, the queen may resume lay- 
 ing in a fairly normal manner. The effects 
 of the poisoning linger, however, as long 
 as the buckeye pollen remains in the 
 combs. 
 
 Honey produced from the California 
 buckeye is edible, however, and produces 
 no harmful effects when used for human 
 food. In fact, no poisonous honey has 
 ever been found in California; and this 
 statement applies generally to most sec- 
 tions of the United States. 
 
 Danger from other sources 
 
 Chilled or starved brood. Some- 
 times in early spring a colony will expand 
 its brood area beyond its ability to keep 
 the brood warm during a sudden cold 
 spell. If the cluster is forced to contract, 
 the exposed larvae may die of chilling or 
 starvation. Such conditions are generally 
 distinguishable from the symptoms of the 
 diseases described, and they should clear 
 up quickly with a change in the weather, 
 with feeding, or with the beginning of a 
 nectar flow. 
 
 Dead drone brood in worker cell. 
 Whenever a colony becomes hopelessly 
 queenless, and the worker bees assume 
 the egg-laying habit, many of the result- 
 ing larvae are neglected and allowed to 
 die. This condition should be recognized 
 readily because of the great amount of 
 drone brood in worker cells at the time. 
 
 The wax moth. The larval forms of 
 the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella, 
 destroy combs by burrowing through the 
 cells, constructing silken tunnels as they 
 go. The larvae feed on the pollen and 
 waste materials found in the cells and 
 spot their tunnels with excreta. The adult 
 
 [73] 
 
Stages of the greater wax moth: A, larvae; 
 B, pupae in their cocoons; C, pupae removed 
 from their cocoons; and D, adults. 
 
 female commonly lays 400 to 800 eggs, 
 depositing them in small crevices about 
 the hive, generally after dark. These 
 hatch within 5 or more days, according 
 to the temperature; and the larvae be- 
 come ravenous feeders, reducing unpro- 
 tected combs to a mass of webs and waste 
 material within a short period of time. 
 After the feeding period, the larvae spin 
 their pupal cases in the comb, or migrate 
 to the frames or walls of the hive. There 
 they eat a depression in the wood before 
 spinning their cocoons. In California, 
 with favorable food and temperature, 
 
 two or more generations may be pro- 
 duced within a single season. 
 
 Although combs in strong colonies of 
 Italian bees are seldom affected by this 
 pest, combs in storage are soon destroyed 
 unless properly protected. Combs in 
 weakened colonies are likewise attacked, 
 but the wax moths are seldom the cause 
 of the weakened condition of the colony. 
 On the contrary, the wax moths are able 
 to attack the combs because of the col- 
 ony's weakened condition. Then, after 
 the colony dies, the wax moth larvae de- 
 stroy the combs. 
 
 Care of combs in storage. Storage 
 combs can be protected by being placed 
 in an airtight room and fumigated with 
 burning sulfur. To make doubly sure that 
 all larvae are killed, fumigate the combs 
 twice, 10 days apart, to kill any larvae 
 that may hatch after the first fumigation. 
 If combs are left in the hives of strong 
 colonies until cold weather, then are re- 
 moved, fumigated, and stored in a cool 
 place, there will be little danger of injury 
 from wax moths during the winter. 
 
 Paradichlorobenzene, or Paracide, will 
 repel the wax moths and kill their larvae. 
 This chemical can be placed upon a piece 
 of paper over each super of combs as the 
 combs are stacked for storage. About a 
 
 Remains of a comb ruined by the wax moth. 
 
 [74] 
 
tablespoon for each super will be enough 
 if the supers are made airtight. Cyanide 
 gas, Cyanogas, and methyl bromide are 
 also used as fumigants in killing the wax 
 moth and other insect forms found in 
 stored combs. Since cyanide and methyl 
 bromide are extremely poisonous to peo- 
 ple and animals, the gases must not be 
 inhaled. Cyanide does not kill the eggs of 
 the moth ; therefore, two fumigations are 
 necessary. Methyl bromide is sold in cans 
 or cylinders in liquid form. It evaporates 
 readily at 40° F, with maximum effi- 
 ciency in fumigation above 60°. It kills 
 all stages of the wax moth, including the 
 eggs. Exposures of 12 to 24 hours are 
 recommended at the rate of % pound per 
 1,000 cubic feet. For greatest safety to 
 the operator, the cans of methyl bromide 
 should be chilled in a refrigerator before 
 they are perforated to release the gas in 
 the comb room. Fumes of burning sulfur 
 are effective in killing adults and larvae 
 but do not kill eggs. For this reason, two 
 fumigations, about 10 days apart, are 
 necessary to kill all stages when sulfur 
 fumes are used. It is one of the safest 
 fumigants if precautions are taken to 
 prevent fire. 
 
 Where only a few supers of combs are 
 to be fumigated, carbon disulfide may 
 be used. This is a heavy liquid which 
 evaporates when exposed to air. One 
 tablespoon of carbon disulfide should be 
 used for each 10-frame body. As the 
 fumes are heavier than air, the liquid 
 should be placed in a pan inside a hive 
 body on top of a stack of supers. The 
 stack should not be more than five or six 
 supers high for best results, and all joints 
 should be made gastight with gummed 
 paper for at least 12 hours. This gas is 
 highly explosive, so any likelihood of 
 ignition by spark or flame should be pre- 
 vented. The gas is also poisonous to peo- 
 ple and to animals and should be handled 
 with care. 
 
 In all cases of fumigation, the room 
 should be gastight. Ventilators should be 
 arranged so that they can be opened from 
 
 the outside to secure cross drafts in clear- 
 ing the room of gas. 
 
 Other insects attacking combs. 
 
 The lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, is 
 of little importance in California. Small 
 forms of the greater wax moth are fre- 
 quently mistaken for the lesser species. 
 The Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia 
 Kiihniella, and the Indian meal moth, 
 Plodia inter punctella, sometimes attack 
 the pollen of combs in storage ; the larvae 
 feed on the pollen but do not destroy the 
 combs. The silken webs, confined pri- 
 marily to the individual cells, are easily 
 distinguished from the silken tunnels of 
 the greater wax moth. The almond moth, 
 Ephestia cautella, has also been reported 
 to breed in the pollen of stored combs. 
 The larvae of these insects work at lower 
 temperatures than wax-moth larvae but 
 can be controlled by the same methods. 
 
 Animal pests 
 
 Mice may be very destructive to combs 
 in storage or on the hive in winter. Combs 
 both on and off the hive should be pro- 
 tected from such depredations. Mice can- 
 not injure the combs of a colony if a 
 queen excluder is placed between the 
 brood chamber and the bottom board 
 during the fall and winter. A wire guard 
 of %-inch mesh placed over the entrance 
 also effectively protects a hive against 
 mice during the fall and winter periods. 
 
 Skunks, although usually beneficial, 
 may become a serious pest in an apiary 
 during the dry seasons when other food 
 is scarce. They visit the hives at night, 
 scratch in the dirt in front of the hive or 
 at the entrance, and eat the bees that in- 
 vestigate the disturbance. 
 
 Skunks may be controlled by trapping 
 or poisoning. They do not detect small 
 quantities of strychnine in inch-square 
 pieces of drone brood placed beside the 
 hive they have molested. In small apiaries 
 they can be fenced out with 4-foot poultry 
 netting, the bottom foot of which is 
 folded along the ground on the outside 
 of the fence. 
 
 [75] 
 
Bears. Many reports have been re- 
 ceived of the destruction of bee equip- 
 ment by bears in mountain locations. 
 Bears are very fond of the brood, as well 
 as the honey, and often destroy small 
 apiaries in unprotected places. This de- 
 struction can be prevented by the erec- 
 tion of a specially designed electric fence. 
 Some beekeepers construct their bear 
 fences differently from the one illustrated. 
 They place the posts 6 feet apart and use 
 8 barbed wires, tightly stretched, 6 inches 
 apart, the first starting at ground level. 
 Every other wire is electrified and the 
 others are well grounded. Some bear 
 fences have every wire electrified for 
 greater efficiency. 
 
 Miscellaneous pests. Toads, birds, 
 dragonflies, ants, spiders, yellow jackets, 
 and other enemies prey on bees and, 
 under certain conditions, may seriously 
 damage a colony. The amount of injury 
 varies in different locations. Remedies 
 
 should be applied according to the nature 
 of the trouble. Sometimes it may be ad- 
 visable to move colonies to more favor- 
 able locations. 
 
 Of these miscellaneous pests, ants are 
 undoubtedly the most injurious. Indi- 
 vidual colonies can be protected by set- 
 ting the hives on stands or benches with 
 legs in cans of oil. Frequent inspections 
 are necessary to see that leaves or grass 
 have not made bridges over the oil. DDT 
 dusts or sprays, chlordane, or various 
 fumigants can be injected into ant hills 
 or runways. Waste oil can be applied be- 
 neath the hives to deter ants from build- 
 ing their nests. Poison baits can also be 
 used to reduce the ant populations in and 
 near the apiary, but in using such 
 poisons, you should remember that bees 
 are attracted to and poisoned by most 
 poison baits used in controlling ants. 
 Therefore, the poison containers should 
 be made inaccessible to bees. 
 
 n>. Output /eao'3 
 
 Iron ground stoke 
 
 One type of electric fence installation used 
 to protect an apiary from the depreciations of 
 bears and other large animals. The battery and 
 "controller" are housed in an empty hive or 
 weatherproof box inside the enclosure. A fence 
 of four wires and a ground of poultry netting 
 are connected to the controller output and to 
 a ground stake. The fence wires (on insulators) 
 are connected in parallel to the output wire of 
 the controller. From Journal of Wildlife Man- 
 agement, vol. 2, no. 4. 
 
 [76] 
 
HONEY AND BEESWAX ... are two of the 
 
 major sources of income for many beekeepers. 
 
 Here are instructions for obtaining them 
 
 Chemical and physical 
 properties of honey* 
 
 Honey is the sweet, viscid secretion 
 which is gathered by bees from the nec- 
 taries of flowers to be elaborated and 
 stored in their combs for food. It is pri- 
 marily a carbohydrate food, consisting 
 principally of a solution of two invert 
 sugars, dextrose and levulose. Its mois- 
 ture content is generally less than 20 per 
 cent. It contains, besides the two sugars 
 mentioned, a small quantity of sucrose 
 (seldom more than 8 per cent) , aromatic 
 bodies, minerals, enzymes, vitamins, 
 plant pigments, acids, and other com- 
 ponents as given in table 4.f 
 
 * The American Honey Institute, Madison, 
 Wisconsin, will supply additional information 
 about honey on request. 
 
 t Data in this table were taken from: Eckert, 
 J. E., and H. W. Allinger. Physical and chemi- 
 cal properties of California honeys. California 
 Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 631. 
 
 In the chemical analysis of the honeys 
 in table 4, a total of 4.7 per cent of un- 
 determined components was found. These 
 substances, which may be present in 
 minute amounts, include the following: 
 
 Beeswax 
 
 Pollen grains, partial sources of minerals, 
 
 amino acids, and vitamins 
 
 Compounds that contribute to the color of 
 
 honey: 
 
 Chlorophyll decomposition products 
 Plant pigments: 
 Carotin 
 Xanthophyll 
 Anthocyanin 
 Tannin or tannic acid 
 Colloidal particles 
 Aromatic bodies : 
 
 Terpenes, aldehydes, methyl anthranilate 
 Higher alcohols: 
 
 Mannitol, dulcitol, etc. 
 Maltose, rare sugars (sometimes melezitose) 
 Enzymes : 
 
 Invertase (converts sucrose into dextrose 
 
 and levulose) 
 
 Diastase (converts starch to maltose) 
 
 Table 4. Composition of Common California Honey 
 
 s 
 
 Floral source 
 
 Num- 
 ber of 
 sam- 
 ples 
 ana- 
 lyzed 
 
 Mois- 
 ture 
 
 Total 
 solids 
 
 Total 
 sugars 
 
 Levu- 
 lose 
 
 Dex- 
 trose 
 
 Su- 
 crose 
 
 Ash 
 
 Dex- 
 
 trins 
 
 Acid 
 
 Alfalfa 
 
 California buckwheat 
 
 Cotton 
 
 4 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 7 
 5 
 8 
 8 
 3 
 11 
 
 106 
 
 15.9 
 15.1 
 16.0 
 18.7 
 15.6 
 16.8 
 16.3 
 16.0 
 16.7 
 15.8 
 
 16.4 
 
 82.4 
 83.3 
 82.5 
 79.9 
 82.8 
 81.7 
 82.2 
 82.4 
 81.8 
 82.7 
 
 82.1 
 
 79.7 
 77.2 
 80.5 
 76.2 
 82.2 
 76.5 
 78.5 
 77.1 
 76.6 
 78.1 
 
 77.5 
 
 40.3 
 42.0 
 41.8 
 40.0 
 40.7 
 38.9 
 40.9 
 42.8 
 40.4 
 39.5 
 
 40.4 
 
 37.1 
 36.6 
 37.6 
 33.0 
 35.3 
 34.9 
 34.2 
 31.8 
 34.9 
 34.4 
 
 34.5 
 
 2.3 
 1.9 
 1.1 
 0.9 
 3.5 
 2.7 
 4.1 
 2.4 
 1.2 
 4.3 
 
 2.5 
 
 0.16 
 0.14 
 0.29 
 0.22 
 0.13 
 0.26 
 0.08 
 0.11 
 0.28 
 0.10 
 
 0.21 
 
 0.19 
 0.99 
 0.68 
 0.62 
 0.23 
 1.17 
 0.31 
 0.72 
 0.78 
 0.77 
 
 0.91 
 
 0.16 
 0.17 
 0.19 
 0.15 
 0.15 
 0.12 
 0.12 
 0.11 
 0.25 
 0.17 
 
 0.16 
 
 Eucalyptus 
 
 Lima bean 
 
 Manzanita 
 
 Orange 
 
 Sage 
 
 Spikeweed 
 
 Yellow star thistle 
 
 Average composition of 
 California honeys 
 
 
 [77] 
 
Catalase (decomposes hydrogen peroxide) 
 Inulase (converts inulin to levulose) 
 Vitamins: 
 Vitamin A 
 
 Vitamin B complex (needed in sugar me- 
 tabolism) : 
 
 Bi — Thiamine (antineuritic factor, anti- 
 beriberi) 
 
 B2 — Riboflavin or vitamin G (antidenu- 
 dation factor) 
 
 Be — Pyridoxin (growth and health) 
 Biotin — Vitamin H (nutrition, some re- 
 lation to dermatitis) 
 Folic acid (growth and nutrition) 
 Nicotinic acid (cure and prevention for 
 pellagra) 
 
 Pantothenic acid (growth and weight) 
 Vitamin C — Ascorbic acid (antiscorbutic 
 factor, cure and prevention of scurvy) . 
 
 The chemical and physical properties 
 of a honey depend chiefly on its floral 
 source, but they are also influenced by 
 such factors as climate, soil, altitude, 
 method of production, and preparation 
 for market. The honeybee generally 
 works on only one source at a time. A 
 colony, however, may gather nectar from 
 two or more sources before the surplus 
 is extracted by the beekeeper, and thus 
 produce a natural blend of two or more 
 distinct flavors. 
 
 Honey is generally sold in liquid form 
 or in the comb, as section or chunk 
 honey; but an increasing demand is 
 being developed for the granular or 
 creamed form as well. Granulated honey 
 of very small crystals is preferred by 
 many people. Liquid honey will granu- 
 late fairly rapidly if a quantity of finely 
 granulated honey (about 5 per cent) is 
 thoroughly mixed with it, and the prod- 
 uct stored in a cool place (57° F). In 
 mixing the fine crystals in the liquid 
 honey, great care should be taken to pre- 
 vent the incorporation of excess air bub- 
 bles. These will rise to the top and make 
 an undesirable froth on the granulated 
 product. The speed of normal granulation 
 in honey apparently depends upon the 
 levulose-dextrose ratio. Sage honey, high 
 in levulose, will remain liquid for years 
 without any trace of granulation. If it is 
 
 blended with a honey that granulates 
 readily, the blend will also granulate. 
 
 Determining the weight and mois- 
 ture content. The weight of honey is 
 directly proportional to its moisture con- 
 tent. This, in turn, depends on the floral 
 source, ripeness at the time of extraction, 
 and subsequent evaporation. In Cali- 
 fornia, honey that is completely capped 
 before the combs are extracted will gen- 
 erally contain 17 per cent or less of mois- 
 ture and will weigh 11.85 pounds or more 
 per gallon. The moisture content and 
 weight of honey can be determined by 
 using a refractometer or a hydrometer, or 
 by weighing a definite measure of honey. 
 Available tables give the equivalents of 
 weights, moisture content, and total 
 solids, which are principally sugars. The 
 refractometer requires only a single drop 
 of honey and is the quickest and most 
 accurate method of determining weight 
 and moisture content. The refractive in- 
 dex can be used to indicate the total 
 solids, moisture content, and weight of 
 the honey examined. The cost of the in- 
 strument, however, is often prohibitive 
 for the small producer or bottler. The 
 moisture content of a honey may be de- 
 termined by sending a sample for mois- 
 ture analysis to the Apiculturist, Univer- 
 sity of California, Davis. The sample 
 should be in a screw-capped container, 
 carefully packed. 
 
 Effect of heat on honey 
 
 Granulated honey can be liquefied by 
 heating it in a water-jacketed container. 
 Honey darkens and loses some of its 
 aroma when held too long at a high tem- 
 perature. Generally, a temperature of 
 145° to 160° F for one hour will cause 
 little change in color or flavor, and this 
 heat is suitable for all purposes of strain- 
 ing or liquefying for retail containers. 
 Honey heated in this manner, bottled or 
 canned while hot and then quickly cooled, 
 will remain liquid longer than unheated 
 honey. 
 
 [78] 
 
Causes of fermentation in honey 
 
 Practically all honeys contain sugar- 
 tolerant yeasts, derived chiefly from the 
 nectar and pollen of flowers. Honeys 
 that are not well ripened in the hive be- 
 fore extraction contain a higher moisture 
 content and are, therefore, more readily 
 attacked by the action of yeasts. 
 
 Honey is generally thought to keep in- 
 definitely, but recent investigations indi- 
 cate that only when it is stored at 50° F 
 or below will it keep for a long period. 
 At this temperature the sugar-tolerant 
 yeasts are practically inactive. At tem- 
 peratures around 60° granulated honey 
 in particular is subject to fermentation 
 and especially so if it has a moisture 
 content of 19 per cent. This happens be- 
 cause in granulation the dextrose crystal- 
 lizes while the levulose remains as a 
 liquid film around the crystals. The for- 
 mation of the dextrose crystals leaves a 
 liquid phase favorable to the develop- 
 ment of sugar-tolerant yeasts which may 
 occur in honey that has not been pasteur- 
 ized by heat. Fermentation results. A 
 temperature of 60° F favors crystalliza- 
 tion as well as fermentation, whereas 80° 
 F is said to be less favorable to both 
 changes. Evidently, then, fermentation is 
 tied up rather closely with granulation, 
 moisture content, and temperature. 
 
 How to prevent fermentation. 
 Honey should be extracted only when 
 well ripened in the comb to assure a low 
 moisture content. Yeasts in honey are 
 killed by a temperature of 160° F, and 
 honey heated to this point will not fer- 
 ment if kept in airtight containers. Honey 
 will give off moisture in a dry, warm 
 atmosphere but will absorb moisture 
 under humid conditions. 
 
 Change in color of 
 honey in storage 
 
 Honey will become darker when stored 
 over a period of years. This change is 
 hastened at the higher temperatures of 
 many valley locations; too, some honeys 
 are less stable than others in this respect. 
 
 Honeys which were originally white may 
 thus become light amber or dark amber 
 within five years, and the color will 
 change to darker shades with the passage 
 of time. Much of the original aroma and 
 flavor will also be lost with increase in 
 color. Actual chemical changes are un- 
 known. 
 
 To avoid this destructive color change, 
 honey should be stored in a cool place 
 and consumed within three or four years 
 of its production. 
 
 Food value of honey 
 
 Honey deserves a preferred place 
 among sweets because the sugars, being 
 in invert form, are readily assimilated. 
 The presence of minerals, although in 
 minute quantities, adds further to its de- 
 sirability as a food. Honey also has a 
 flavor and sweetness that tend to satisfy 
 a craving for sweets without the use of 
 large quantities of sugar. Its slightly lax- 
 ative effect, when used to modify cow's 
 milk in infant feeding, is considered a 
 valuable point. Honey is used by manu- 
 facturers of bakery, confectionery, and 
 preserving products, and in various me- 
 dicinal formulas, skin lotions, and beauty 
 creams. Its most familiar use, of course, 
 is as a food in the home. 
 
 Although it is difficult to compare the 
 food value of honey with unlike foods, 
 such an attempt is made in the U.S.D.A. 
 Agricultural Handbook No. 8, June, 
 1950, and the results are given in table 5. 
 In this table the moisture content of 
 honey is listed as 18 when it is 18 per cent 
 or below, and that of table syrup as 25 
 per cent moisture when most such syrups 
 usually run 30 per cent moisture. The 
 quantity used in each case is 100 grams 
 or 3.52 ounces. One tablespoon of honey 
 contains 100 calories. 
 
 Honey adds flavor as well as sweetness 
 when used in food. One cup of honey 
 weighs 12 ounces, of which 9 1 /i ounces 
 are sugar. In substituting honey for sugar 
 in cakes or cookies, three factors should 
 be considered — flavor, extra sweetness, 
 
 [79] 
 

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 and moisture. A cup of honey is about 
 one-sixth moisture. Since honey is hygro- 
 scopic — that is, it absorbs and retains 
 moisture — honey cookies and cakes re- 
 main moist over a long period. 
 
 Honeydew 
 
 Honey dew is the sweet viscid excretion 
 of plant-sucking insects, such as aphids 
 and scale insects (Coccidae) . That por- 
 tion of the plant juice or sap which these 
 insects cannot utilize is ejected in the 
 form of a sweet liquid. It has a high sugar 
 content and therefore is attractive to bees 
 when sources of nectar are not available. 
 The bees gather and elaborate these liq- 
 uids in the same way they do nectar. The 
 product looks like honey in many respects 
 and is stored by the bees in exactly the 
 same manner. 
 
 Honeydew honey varies from water 
 white to very dark. It is usually more vis- 
 cid than honey from a floral source, con- 
 tains a lower percentage of invert sugars, 
 and is higher in dextrins. It is rather 
 variable in flavor, being more suitable for 
 the bakery trade than for table use. In 
 some years honeydew is more plentiful 
 than in others and is produced in such 
 quantities that it covers the leaves of trees 
 and the ground underneath. In such sea- 
 sons colonies have been reported to 
 gather from 100 to 300 pounds of honey- 
 dew from this source. It usually sells at 
 a lower price than floral honey, and pro- 
 ducers should attempt to keep it sepa- 
 rated from floral honeys. It is usually 
 turbid in appearance and depreciates the 
 quality and appearance of floral honey 
 when blended with it. 
 
 The incense cedar, Libocedrus decur- 
 rens, is one of the principal sources of 
 honeydew in California; the insect in- 
 volved is Xylococcus macrocarpae (Cole- 
 man). It occurs on mountain slopes at 
 elevations between 2,000 and 7,000 feet 
 but yields most honeydew above 4,500 
 feet. The valley oak, Quercus spp., is an- 
 other source of honeydew in northern 
 California. 
 
 [80] 
 
A portion of a branch from an incense cedar 
 tree infested with Xylococcus macrocarpae, 
 showing the accumulated drops of honeydew 
 formed in the vicinity of the insects. The scales 
 usually occur under pieces of bark and have a 
 protective coating of silk. The honeydew is ex- 
 pelled through fine silken tubes. Courtesy of 
 G. H. Vansell. 
 
 Grading and processing honey 
 
 Comb honey. Comb honey is graded 
 according to the weight, cappings, clean- 
 liness, and fullness of the combs. The 
 federal standards divide the grades into 
 U.S. Fancy, U.S. No. 1, and U.S. No. 2. 
 The minimum weights are 12, 11, and 10 
 ounces, respectively. All combs must be 
 firmly attached to all four sides of the 
 section, free from granulation and fer- 
 mentation, and the combs must not ex- 
 tend beyond the sides of the sections. The 
 principal difference in the three grades is 
 in appearance as it is affected by travel 
 stain on the wood or cappings and the 
 fullness of the combs. 
 
 To insure maximum cleanliness, the 
 paraffin is scraped from the tops of the 
 sections and all paraffin or burr combs 
 are scraped from the edges and sides. 
 The sections should be separated into 
 groups by weight and appearance, and 
 
 the weight and grade of each section must 
 be stamped on its top. The address of the 
 producer can be stamped on at the same 
 time, if desired. 
 
 The sections can then be wrapped in 
 cellophane wrappers and sealed against 
 dust and insects. Sometimes boxes with 
 cellophane openings are used. Such 
 wrappings are available from bee supply 
 houses. Comb honey sections are usually 
 packed in cartons or wooden boxes 
 clearly labeled as to their contents. 
 
 Considerable comb honey is produced 
 in shallow frames or in sections larger 
 than the "pound" sections, and grades 
 should conform with those for comb 
 honey sections, except for individual 
 weights. Frame honey is sold frequently 
 in special cartons or wrappings to a spe- 
 cial trade. 
 
 Extracted honey. Federal standards 
 for grades of extracted honey are based, 
 primarily, on a score that includes con- 
 sideration of flavor, absence of defects, 
 clarity, and percentage of soluble solids 
 (or moisture content) . The grades speci- 
 fied are "U.S. Grade A" or "U.S. Fancy" 
 — one that has not less than 81.4 per 
 cent soluble solids (moisture content not 
 more than 18.6 per cent) and scores not 
 less than 90 points for flavor, absence 
 of defects, and clarity; "U.S. Grade B" 
 or "U.S. Choice" — one that has not less 
 than 81.4 per cent soluble solids and 
 scores not less than 80 points; "U.S. 
 Grade C" or "U.S. Standard" — one that 
 contains not less than 80 per cent soluble 
 solids (moisture content not more than 
 20 per cent) and scores not less than 70 
 points; and "U.S. Grade D" or "Sub- 
 standard" is the quality of honey that 
 fails to meet the requirements of "U.S. 
 Grade C" or "U.S. Standard." 
 
 Extracted honey need not be filtered 
 when sold wholesale but must be as free 
 from foreign particles as if strained 
 through standard No. 80, No. 50, or No. 
 18 sieves for "U.S. Grade A," "U.S. 
 Grade B," or "U.S. Grade C," respec- 
 tively. 
 
 [81] 
 
As stated previously, honey cannot be 
 filtered readily when cold but will run 
 through the above sieves when heated to 
 110° or 120° F. This temperature will 
 not discolor honey over a period of sev- 
 eral hours. Since processors have to heat 
 and strain honey to insure the cleanliness 
 of their pack and to liquefy and blend 
 different flavors, they prefer to have un- 
 heated honey in order to be assured that 
 it has not been injured by heat. Air 
 bubbles and a majority of the particles of 
 wax and other foreign substances incor- 
 porated in honey during the extracting 
 process will rise to the surface if the 
 honey is allowed to stand in tanks for 
 several days before canning. Large, squat 
 tanks permit quicker clarification than 
 deeper tanks. Honey that has been 
 warmed to between 110° and 120° F will 
 clarify more quickly than colder honey. 
 
 Honey containers should be new, clean, 
 and free from rust, especially on the in- 
 
 side of the wholesale containers, as a 
 small amount of old honey or rust in used 
 containers can lower the grade. 
 
 When honey has started to granulate in 
 the comb, the granules will cause the bal- 
 ance of the liquid honey to granulate 
 more readily and will also retard its clari- 
 fication. In such cases, it may be desirable 
 to warm the honey as it leaves the ex- 
 tractor in order to facilitate clarification 
 in the honey sump and in the tanks be- 
 fore granulation sets in. 
 
 Honey to be heated for processing is 
 heated indirectly by placing the whole- 
 sale containers in a hot room, or in an 
 oven heated by hot air, with the contain- 
 ers so placed that the honey will run 
 from them as soon as it becomes fluid. It 
 then is generally run or pumped to 
 double- jacketed containers where it is 
 completely liquefied by being heated to 
 160° F, after which it is strained or 
 bottled at a temperature of about 135° F. 
 
 A view of a portion of the honey storage, filtering tanks and canning equipment located on the 
 floor below the extracting equipment shown on page 44. The arrangement emphasizes compact- 
 ness, efficiency and cleanliness. 
 
 mm 
 
 
 
 """Wl™.^^ SNlHiMKii 
 
 - :■:■ i ." &'•■■'■ ~~ ■:>■-... 
 
 
The containers may also be placed in a 
 water bath which is heated directly by 
 flame or by steam coils. The amount of 
 heat should be controlled so that the 
 water will not be heated above 160° F. 
 It usually takes 4 hours or more to liq- 
 uefy honey in 5-gallon containers by 
 this method. The honey is strained, al- 
 lowed to clarify, and then bottled or 
 canned at around 135° F. 
 
 Some honeys are more easily injured 
 by heat than others, and only experience 
 will indicate to what temperature a honey 
 can be heated for a given length of time 
 without being injured in color and flavor. 
 
 While color plays no part in the grad- 
 ing of honey, the lighter-colored honeys 
 usually bring higher prices than the 
 darker colors. The color of honey is usu- 
 ally graded on the Pfund Color Grader 
 and is divided into the following stand- 
 ards : water white, 8 or less ; extra white, 
 between 8 and 17; white, between 17 and 
 34; extra light amber, between 34 and 
 50; light amber, between 50 and 85; 
 amber, between 85 and 114; and dark 
 amber, over 114 millimeters. 
 
 Marketing honey 
 
 Commercial quantities of honey are 
 sold usually to honey buyers who either 
 process the honey for the retail or man- 
 ufacturing trades, or who sell direct to 
 processors either in the domestic market 
 or in foreign countries. There is gen- 
 erally a surplus of honey available during 
 the producing seasons or shortly after the 
 honey has been extracted. Unless the 
 price is controlled by subsidies, as is pres- 
 ently the case, the wholesale price is usu- 
 ally lower when there is a plentiful sup- 
 ply than later in the season when the 
 offerings are slower. Even at present the 
 price is higher for the lighter colors of 
 table honey than for the darker colors 
 having stronger flavors. 
 
 Beekeepers can secure loans on their 
 honey either from local sources or from 
 P.M.A. Commodity Credit Corporation 
 (at present) if the honey meets a Grade C 
 
 standard and is stored under approved 
 conditions, which can be met by beekeep- 
 ers in their own warehouses. These loans 
 enable the beekeeper to secure cash to 
 carry on his business without selling be- 
 low market prices. Banks will advance 
 loans on honey on the presentation of 
 warehouse receipts showing the quantity 
 and grades in storage. 
 
 Much honey is sold by the beekeeper 
 direct to the consumer. This is especially 
 true when the beekeeper manages fewer 
 than 500 colonies as it provides an occu- 
 pation during the time when he is not 
 actively engaged in beekeeping. 
 
 Containers and labels. All contain- 
 ers and labels should be new and clean 
 and conform in every respect with state 
 and federal regulations. Present state 
 marketing regulations can be secured 
 from the State Department of Agricul- 
 ture, Sacramento, upon request. They re- 
 quire that each label on a retail package 
 should include the name of the contents, 
 net weight, grade, color (when in opaque 
 containers), and the name and address 
 of the packer. If the floral source is men- 
 tioned, the contents of the container must 
 be true to that source. 
 
 Cooperative marketing. There are 
 a number of cooperative marketing or- 
 ganizations in the United States and some 
 are located in California, enabling the 
 producer to benefit by this type of mar- 
 keting. Some processors and packers 
 make contracts with producers which ap- 
 proximate some of the advantages of co- 
 operative selling. 
 
 The California Honey Marketing Order 
 has been adopted by California producers 
 and handlers of honey and constitutes 
 one form of cooperative marketing that 
 influences a greater number in the indus- 
 try than if it were simply a selling organi- 
 zation. The purpose of the present Honey 
 Marketing Order is to assess and collect 
 a uniform assessment from producers and 
 honey handlers to promote the sale of 
 honey through research and advertising. 
 This marketing order for extracted honey 
 
 [83] 
 
limits assessments for both the producer 
 and the handler to 5 cents per 60 pounds 
 for the first year; in succeeding years 
 they pay the maximum of 10 cents 
 per 60 pounds. It is a type of self-help 
 program that does not involve payment 
 for its support from any other source 
 than the industry itself which will share 
 the benefits. 
 
 The various cooperative honey market- 
 ing organizations in the United States 
 sold approximately 30,000,000 pounds of 
 honey in 1952, or about 8.5 per cent of 
 the total production. 
 
 Production and uses of beeswax 
 
 Beeswax is produced from the diges- 
 tion of honey or sugar syrup and the 
 elaboration of the wax in four pairs of 
 special wax glands located on the under- 
 side of the abdomen of the young worker 
 bee. The virgin wax appears in the eight 
 wax "pockets" as small white scales. The 
 bees make their combs of these scales, 
 working the cells in shape with their 
 mandibles. 
 
 Wax production can be stimulated by 
 feeding the bees sugar syrup or diluted 
 honey. Commercial beeswax is produced 
 by melting old or broken combs and the 
 cappings removed during the extracting 
 process. You should save the burr combs 
 and pieces of broken combs, for the 
 amount of wax thus secured is consider- 
 able. 
 
 At the close of the active season, it is 
 a good policy to sort over all drawn 
 combs and melt those that have too many 
 drone cells or are broken or injured. 
 Many beekeepers save their cappings 
 and render all wax at the same time. 
 The combs may be cut out of the frames 
 and melted in boiling water in a copper, 
 aluminum, or stainless steel container. 
 Where many combs have to be rendered, 
 a wax press will save much wax that 
 would otherwise adhere to the cocoons in 
 brood combs. A description of the vari- 
 ous wax presses may be found in bee 
 supply catalogs. The wax presses gener- 
 
 ally use hot water or steam with pressure 
 on the melted combs to remove the liquid 
 wax. Cappings should be melted sepa- 
 rately from darker brood combs, since 
 they produce a lighter-colored wax. 
 
 Some commercial beekeepers use vats 
 in which to melt the combs from the 
 frames by steam. The melted wax falls 
 into boiling water, from which it can 
 then be dipped and strained into molds. 
 The comb refuse is run through a press 
 to remove the remainder of the wax. The 
 boiling water washes out much of the 
 color from the old combs and produces 
 cleaner and lighter-colored wax. If the 
 wax cakes are melted a second time in 
 water in copper, aluminum, wooden, or 
 stainless-steel vats, the liquid should be 
 allowed to stand for some hours at a tem- 
 perature just above the melting point. 
 Many of the remaining impurities will 
 settle to the bottom, and the clear wax 
 can then be poured off into suitable buck- 
 ets or molds. 
 
 The color of crude beeswax is attrib- 
 uted to extracts of pollen or propolis, and 
 to the chemical action of iron oxides 
 when the melted wax comes in contact 
 with iron containers. It is not advisable 
 to add burr combs or frame scrapings 
 containing propolis to cappings or old 
 combs for melting; even a small amount 
 of propolis will reduce the value of bees- 
 wax for many purposes. Beeswax is used 
 as an agent in pharmaceutical formulas, 
 such as salves, ointments, cerates, cam- 
 phor, ices, and pomades; for church 
 candles, comb foundations, and dental 
 impressions; in floor, furniture, stove, 
 and shoe polishes; in electrical insula- 
 tion, weather-proofing compounds, and 
 in many other ways. 
 
 Beekeepers' organizations 
 
 Beekeepers have formed county or re- 
 gional associations in different parts of 
 California and hold periodic meetings to 
 exchange ideas of mutual interest. The 
 members frequently pool their efforts in 
 setting up exhibits at state and county 
 
 [84] 
 
A large supply of commercial beeswax ready for market. 
 
 fairs, in improving equipment and meth- 
 ods of producing honey, and in consider- 
 ing county, state, and federal programs or 
 legislation pertaining to beekeeping. 
 These organizations and their members 
 affiliate with the California State Bee- 
 keepers' Association, which was organ- 
 ized in Los Angeles on January 7, 1892. 
 
 There is also the National Beekeeping 
 Federation to which individual beekeep- 
 ers and associations can belong to further 
 the interests of beekeeping on a national 
 basis. 
 
 The California State Beekeepers Asso- 
 ciation holds an annual convention, usu- 
 ally during the early part of December, 
 and rotates the meetings to different por- 
 tions of the State for the convenience of 
 the members. 
 
 The honey industry is served nation- 
 ally by the American Honey Institute as 
 a medium for honey publicity, the head- 
 quarters being located at Madison, Wis- 
 consin. It is supported by voluntary con- 
 tributions and memberships from bee- 
 keepers, bee supply manufacturers, the 
 bee journals, honey cooperatives, and 
 
 others interested in the bee and honey 
 industries. 
 
 California bee supply 
 manufacturers 
 
 The following bee supply manufac- 
 turers in California produce practically 
 all of the beekeeping equipment the ama- 
 teur or commercial beekeeper needs : 
 
 Diamond Match Company, Apiary Depart- 
 ment, Chico or Los Angeles (General bee- 
 keeping supplies*) 
 
 Knorr Comb Foundation, Del Mar (Founda- 
 tion and candles) 
 
 Miller Honey Company, Colton (Comb 
 foundation) 
 
 Superior Honey Company, Los Angeles and 
 Alhambra (General beekeeping supplies* 
 and wax candles) 
 
 Other bee supply manufacturers with na- 
 tional distribution include the following: 
 
 Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, 111. 
 
 Walter T. Kelley & Co., Clarkson, Kentucky 
 
 G. B. Lewis Co., Watertown, Wis. 
 
 A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio 
 
 Woodman Bee Supplies, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 Many of the products of these manufacturers 
 are handled by the California manufacturers. 
 
 * Illustrated bee supply catalogs are available 
 on request. 
 
 [35] 
 
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING 
 
 There is a wealth of good reading on bees and beekeeping in various libraries in 
 the form of books, magazines, bulletins, and extension circulars. The Printing Office, 
 U.S.D.A., Washington, D.C., will send a list of available bee publications, for sale at 
 nominal cost. The magazines attempt to keep their readers informed of advances and 
 discoveries relating to beekeeping as well as the seasonable operations in different 
 parts of the country. Every beekeeper can well afford to have one or more textbooks 
 on beekeeping and to subscribe to one or more of the bee journals. 
 
 Beekeeping periodicals published monthly: 
 American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois 
 The Bee World, Salisbury House, London Wall, England 
 Gleanings in Bee Culture, Medina, Ohio 
 Modern Beekeeping, Clarkson, Kentucky 
 
 Books 
 
 Grout, Roy A., and others 
 
 1949. The hive and the honey bee. 652 p. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, Illinois. 
 
 Killian, Carl 
 
 1951. Honey in the comb. 130 p. Journal Print Co., Carthage, Illinois. 
 
 Laidlaw, Harry H., and J. E. Eckert 
 
 1950. Queen rearing. 147 p. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, Illinois. 
 
 Lovell, John H. 
 
 1926. Honey plants of North America. 408 p. A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 
 
 Pellett, Frank C. 
 
 1920. American honey plants. 297 p. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 
 1938. History of American beekeeping. 213 p. Collegiate Press, Ames, Iowa. 
 
 Root, E. R., H. H. Root, and M. J. DeyeU 
 
 1950. ABC and XYZ of bee culture. 717 p. A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 
 Root, H. H. 
 
 1951. Beeswax. 154 p. Chemical Publishing Co., Brooklyn, N.Y. 
 
 Shaw, Frank R., and Stanley R. Whitehead 
 
 1951. Honey bees and their management. 169 p. D. van Nostrand Co., Inc., N.Y. 3. 
 
 von Frisch, Karl 
 
 1950. Bees, their vision, chemical senses, and language. 119 p. Cornell University Press- 
 Ithaca, N.Y. 
 
 Articles on antibiotics 
 
 Eckert, J. E. 
 
 1953. The chemotherapy of foulbrood diseases of the honey bee. Gleanings in Bee Culture, 81 :12, 
 p. 718-758. 
 
 Farrar, C. L. 
 
 1954. Fumagillin for Nosema control in package bees. Amer. Bee Jour. 94:2, p. 52-60. 
 
 Katznelson, H., and C. A. Jamieson 
 
 1953. Recent developments in the control of American foulbrood and Nosema with antibiotics. 
 Amer. Bee Jour. 93:10, p. 404-405. 
 
 Moffett, Jos. O. 
 
 1954. Preventing and controlling EFB. Amer. Bee Jour. 94:1, p. 14-15. 
 
 [80] 
 
INDEX 
 
 Acid board, 41-42 
 
 Almond moth, 76 
 
 American foulbrood, 64-68 
 
 American Honey Institute, 85 
 
 Antibiotics, 68 
 
 Ants, 76 
 
 Apiary, arrangement, 7-8; inspection laws, 61; 
 location, 7, 10-11; registration and identifica- 
 tion, 61 
 
 Aureomycin, 69 
 
 Bears, 76 
 
 Bee, brush, 15; dances, 29; escape, 15, 40-41; 
 
 journals, 86; stings, 4; suit, 14-15; supply 
 
 manufacturers, 85 
 Beekeeping, amount of investment, 5; as a 
 
 hobby, 6; extent of industry in California, 1 
 Bees in trees or walls, 52-53 
 Beeswax, as a source of income, 2; production, 
 
 processing, and uses, 2, 84 
 Brood, arrangement, 24; cell color, 24; chilled, 
 
 73; cycle, 24-25; diseases, 62-70; poisoned, 
 
 73; rearing, 21, 26, 28; starved, 73 
 Buckeye (California) , 7, 73 
 
 Cages, queen, 33 ; package bee, 36 
 
 California Apiary Inspection Act, 61 
 
 California Honey Marketing Order, 83-84 
 
 California State Beekeepers' Association, 85 
 
 Calories in honey, 77 
 
 Candy, for bees, 54 ; for queen cage, 34 
 
 Cappings, 44-45 
 
 Carbolic acid, 41-42 
 
 Carbon disulfide, 75 
 
 Carniolan bees, 20 
 
 Caucasian bees, 19-20 
 
 Cell cups, artificial, 57 
 
 Chemical and physical properties of honey, 77- 
 78 
 
 Chemical poisoning, 71-72 
 
 Chilled brood, 73 
 
 Climate, effect on bees, 31 ; on nectar secretion, 
 7, 11; see also temperature, seasonal manage- 
 ment 
 
 Clothing, 14-15 
 
 Cluster, cold weather, 28-29 ; swarm, 26 
 
 Colonies, fall care, 34-35; in pollination, 7, 52; 
 in queen rearing, 57-58; number in an apiary, 
 10; spring care, 35 
 
 Colony, cell-building, 57 ; cycle of the year, 26- 
 29; food requirements, 24; increase, 38; in- 
 spection, 24, 30-31; morale, 22; nest arrange- 
 ment, 24-26; population, 20, 28; sales, 2-3; 
 social structure, 20-24; transferring from 
 buildings or trees, 52-53; uniting, 52 
 
 Colony management, in comb honey production, 
 46; in extracted honey production, 39-42; in 
 swarm control, 38 
 
 Comb, building, 24; color, 25; foundation, 15, 
 39 
 
 Comb honey, colony management for, 46; equip- 
 ment, 13-15; processing and grading, 81; re- 
 moval from hive, 40-42; sections, 45-46; 
 supers, 39-40 
 
 Combs, care in storage, 75; cleaning, 44; melt- 
 ing, 66, 84; uncapping, 43, 44-45 
 
 Communication among bees, 29 
 
 Containers, for comb honey, 81 ; for extracted 
 honey, 83 
 
 Cooking with honey, 79-80 
 
 Cooperative marketing, 83-84 
 
 Cyanide gas, 75 
 
 Cyanogas, 65, 75 
 
 Cycle of the year, 26-29 
 
 Dances of bees, 29 
 
 Dequeening, 32-33 
 
 Diseases, 61-71 ; of adults, 70-71 ; of brood, 62- 
 
 70 ; table of symptoms, 62-63 
 Drone-laying queen, 60, 73 
 Drone, 22-23; cells, 25; dead drone brood in 
 
 worker cells, 73; eggs, 21-22; killed by 
 
 workers, 28 
 Dysentery, 53 
 
 Eggs, attachment, 24; fertilization, 21; number 
 laid per day, 24 
 
 Egg-laying, fluctuations of, 21 
 
 Embedding wire, 15 
 
 Entrance screens, 50 
 
 Entrance size, for nucleus hive, 38; if robbing 
 prevalent, 37; in winter, 35 
 
 Enzymes of honey, 77-78 
 
 Equipment for beekeeping, 5, 13-17 
 
 Escape board, 41 
 
 Eucalyptus, 11 
 
 European foulbrood, 68-69 
 
 Excluders, see queen excluders 
 
 Extracted honey, grades, 81; granulation, 78; 
 marketing, 83; processing, 42^45; removal 
 from hive, 40-42 ; supering for, 39-40 ; whole- 
 sale containers, 82-83 
 
 Extracting equipment, 15; honey extractors, 42- 
 43; portable outfits, 48^9 
 
 Fall, activities of bees, 28; condition of colony 
 
 for wintering, 34-35 
 Feeders, 54-55 
 Feeding, in queen rearing, 60; of larvae, 24; of 
 
 package bees, 36; of queen, 21 
 Fermentation in honey, 79 
 Fidelity of bees to food sources, 30 
 Fire, apiary protection, 11 ; hazards in the honey 
 
 house, 48-49 
 Food, chamber, 35; of bees, 24; for package 
 
 bees, 36; queen-cage candy, 34; supplements, 
 
 53-54; winter needs of bees, 34-35 
 
 [87] 
 
Food value of honey, 79-80 
 
 Foulbrood, American, 64-68; European, 68-69; 
 
 parafoulbrood, 69-70 
 Foundation, for combs and sections, 15; of 
 
 hives, 7 
 Frames, assembling and wiring, 16; handling, 
 
 30-31 
 Friction-top pail, 54-55 
 Fumigation of combs, 73 
 
 Glands of worker bee, food, 24; wax, 84 
 
 Gloves, 15 
 
 Grades of honey, 81 
 
 Granulated honey, 78 
 
 Heat, effect on honey, 78-79; in processing, 82- 
 83 
 
 Heredity, 22 
 
 Hive, arrangement, 7, 10; assembling, 15-17; 
 covers, 14; entrance direction, 10; hoists, 51- 
 52; location, 7, 10-11; moving, 50-52; num- 
 ber in apiary, 10; tool, 14, 30; types, 13; 
 winter care, 35 
 
 Hive manipulations, for comb honey, 46; for 
 extracted honey, 38-42 ; for package bee pro- 
 duction, 36-37 
 
 Hoffman frame, 16, 57 
 
 Honey, as bee food, 24; average annual crop, 2; 
 cappings, 44-45; color, 43, 79, 83; composi- 
 tion, 77-78; containers and labels, 83; co- 
 operatives, 83-84; extractor, 42-43; flavor, 7, 
 78; food value, 79-80; grading and process- 
 ing, 81-83; granulated, 78; house, 47-48; in 
 queen-cage candy, 34; marketing, 83; mois- 
 ture content, 78; poisonous, 73; pump, 43; 
 section, 45-46; straining, 43; sump, 48; sup- 
 plements, 53-54; uses, 79; weight, 78; yeasts 
 of, 79 
 
 Honeydew, 80 
 
 Honey plants, see nectar and pollen plants 
 
 Importation of bees, 1, 60, 64 
 
 Inbreeding, 58 
 
 Incense cedar, 80-81 
 
 Income from bees, 2, 6 
 
 Increase, 38 
 
 Indian meal moth, 76 
 
 Inspection, after colony installation, 24; apiary 
 inspection laws, 61 ; certificate of disease re- 
 sistance, 5; fall and winter, 35; periodic ex- 
 aminations by beekeeper, 31 
 
 Introducing cages, 33-34 
 
 Introduction of queen, 32-34 
 
 Invert sugars in honey, 77 
 
 Investment for the beginner, 4-5 
 
 [gle of Wight disease, 61 
 
 Italian bees, 18-19 
 
 Labels for honey containers, 83 
 Langstrotfa hive, 13 
 Larvae, feeding of, 24 
 Laying workers, 73 
 
 Laws, apiary inspection, 61 ; importation, 60, 64; 
 
 AFB control, 65, 66; marketing, 83 
 Legume seed production, 3 
 Liquid honey, 43, 78 
 Liquefying granulated honey, 78 
 Loans for beekeepers, 83 
 Location of apiary, 7, 10-11 
 Locoweed, 73 
 
 Mailing cage, 32, 34 
 
 Manipulation of hives, for comb honey, 46; for 
 extracted honey, 38-42 ; for package bee pro- 
 duction, 36-37 
 
 Marketing honey, 83-84 
 
 Mating of queen, 21 
 
 Mechanical hive hoists, 51-52 
 
 Mediterranean flour moth, 76 
 
 Methyl bromide, 75 
 
 Mice, 76 
 
 Migratory beekeeping, 6, 50-52; regulations 
 governing, 61-64 
 
 Moisture content of honey, 78, 79 
 
 Moving hives, see migratory beekeeping 
 
 National Beekeeping Federation, 85 
 Nectar and pollen plants, 7-13; table of com- 
 parative values, 12; table of distribution, 8-9 
 Nectar, composition of, 24 
 Nest arrangement, 24-26 
 Nitrous oxide, 52 
 Nosema apis, 70-71 
 
 Nuclei, in increase, 38; in queen rearing, 57-58 
 Nurse bees, 21 ; diet of, 24 
 
 Opening a hive, 30-31 
 Organizations of beekeepers, 84-85 
 Orientation, flights, 29; to surroundings, 52 
 Outapiaries, 7, 10; winter stores for, 34 
 
 Package bees, feeding, installation, and care, 
 36-37; production, 3; sales, 2 
 
 Paradichlorobenzene (Paracide) , 75 
 
 Parafoulbrood, 69-70 
 
 Paralysis, 71 ; in buckeye poisoning, 73 
 
 Pesticides, 71-73 
 
 Pests, 76 
 
 Pfund color grader, 83 
 
 Plant poisoning, 73 
 
 Poisoning, 70-73; register hives for spray notifi- 
 cation, 61 
 
 Pollen, collection chart, 23; colony needs, 24 
 composition of, 24; for package bees, 36 
 stores for wintering, 34-35; supplements, 56 
 traps, 55-56; see also nectar and pollen plants 
 
 Pollination services, fidelity of bees to food 
 sources, 30; rentals, 3; locations, 7, 52 
 
 Population of colony, normal, 20; fall, 28 
 
 Portable extracting plants, 48-49 
 
 Processing honey, 81 
 
 Propolis, source, 20 ; uses, 28-30 
 
 Protection of hives, from flood and fire, 11 ; from 
 heat, 10-11 ; from cold, 35 
 
 [88] 
 
Queen, care of, 31-34; colony needs in fall, 35; 
 excluders, 13-14, 46; how to find, 31-32; in 
 comb honey production, 46; in swarm con- 
 trol, 38; in swarming, 26-28; introduction, 
 32-34; life cycle, 21-22; marking, 32; num- 
 ber of eggs laid by, 24; rearing, 57-60; 
 records, 31 ; sales, 3 ; testing, 58 
 
 Races of bees, 18-20 
 
 Rearing of queens, from swarm cells 38; from 
 artificial cells, 57 
 
 Records, hive, 31, 53; production, 39 
 
 Refractometer, 78 
 
 Registration of hives, 61 
 
 Rentals for pollination services, 3 
 
 Requeening, 32-34, 39, 58; with package bees, 
 37 
 
 Robbing, forestalled by nectar flow, 31 ; seasonal 
 occurrence, 35, 67 
 
 Robbing, protection from, during feeding, 54, 
 55; of extracted combs, 40, 44; of newly es- 
 tablished hives, 37 ; with acid board, 42 
 
 Royal jelly, 21, 24 
 
 Sacbrood, 70 
 
 Sales, of colonies, package bees, and queens, 2; 
 
 of honey, 83 
 Sanitation in the honey house, 48 
 Scout bees, 23-24, 29 
 Screens for hives, 15, 50 
 
 Seasonal activities, 26-29; management, 34-35 
 Shipping bees, in packages, 36; in queen cages, 
 
 34 
 Skunks, 76 
 
 Smoke, use in opening the hive, 30-31 
 Smoker, 14, 30, 48-49 
 Solar wax extractor, 44 
 Soybean flour, 56 
 Sprays, see pesticides 
 Spring activities, 26; examination, 35 
 Spur embedder, 16 
 Starved brood, 73 
 Stimulative feeding, 53-56 
 Stings, 4; of queen, 21, 22 
 Stock improvement, 58-60 
 Storage of honey, 79 
 Strainers for honey, 41, 81-82 
 Streptomycin, 69 
 
 Substitutes, for honey, 53-54; for pollen. 56 
 
 Sugars in honey, 77 
 
 Sulfathiazole, 65-68 
 
 Supering, 39-40 
 
 Supersedure, cells, 21 ; queen, 22, 28 
 
 Supplementary feeding, 53-56 
 
 Swarming, 26-28; pollen in relation to. 38: 
 prevention and increase, 37-38; queen in rela- 
 tion to, 57; reduced by requeening, 39—40 
 
 Syrups, 53-54 
 
 Temperature, effect on bees, 39; effect on combs, 
 30-31, 41; effect on fermentation, 81; effect 
 on foundation, 16; for honey storage, 79; for 
 brood rearing, 31; for liquefying honey, 78; 
 for melting cappings, 44; for package bees, 
 36; for straining honey, 48; in honey extrac- 
 tion, 43; in processing, 82-83; of bee, 10-11; 
 of normal brood nest, 31 
 
 Terramycin, 69 
 
 Transferring, bees from buildings or trees, 52- 
 53; larvae in queen rearing, 57 
 
 Uncapping knife, 43 
 
 Uniting colonies, 52 
 
 Untested queens, 3, 32, 58 
 
 Uses of honey, 79 ; of beeswax, 84 
 
 Veils, 14 
 
 Veratrum (corn lily) , 73 
 Vitamins in honey, 78 
 von Frisch, Karl, 29 
 
 Wax, see beeswax 
 
 Wax moth, greater, 73-74: lesser, 75-76 
 
 Weak colonies strengthened with package bees, 
 
 37 
 Weather, see climate 
 Weight, of colony, 20 ; of hives, 38 ; of honey, 78 : 
 
 of package bees, 36 
 Windbreaks, 10 
 Winter, cluster, 28-29; feeding, 53-54; losses, 
 
 11; preparation for, 34-35 
 Wire embedders, 16 
 Wiring frames, 16 
 Worker bee, 23-24; food requirements of, 24 
 
 Yeasts in honey, 79 
 
 In order that the information in our publications may be more intelligible, it is sometimes necessary 
 to use trade names of products or equipment rather than complicated descriptive or chemical iden- 
 tifications. In so doing, it is unavoidable in some cases that similar products which are on the market 
 under other trade names may not be cited. No endorsement of named products is intended nor is 
 criticism implied of similar products which are not mentioned. 
 
 [89] 
 
Co operative Extension work in Agriculture »nd Home Economics, College of Agriculture, University of California, and United States Department of Agriculture 
 co operating Distributed in furtherance of the Arts of CongresB of May 8, and June 30, 1914. J. Earl Coke, Director, California Agricultural Extension Service. 
 
 5m I, '5 1(A8637b)B.E.B. ., 
 
Amateurs and professionals alike will find 
 this manual helpful. Here, in one 
 booklet, are covered such subjects as: 
 
 The points to consider before going into 
 beekeeping as a hobby or profession. 
 
 The life story of the honeybee. 
 
 The rearing of queens. 
 
 Diseases and enemies of bees. 
 
 Manipulation of the hive. 
 
 Marketing the products. 
 
 For a list of manuals on other agricultural or floricultural subjects, write 
 to Agricultural Publications, 22 Giannini Hall, University of California, 
 Berkeley 4. 
 
 Net price 50c