NOTICE “This publication is copyrighted by the Regents of the University of California and is reproduced with

permission.”

WARNING! Some material presented in this publication is dated and the reader must consult a more recent publication on the current

situation with respect to mites, laws, and bee disease treatments.

Fundamentals of California Beekeeping (Manual 42) was once available through the California Cooperative Extension Service offices located through out the state of California. When it became dated it was revised and republished as Beekeeping in California. However, considering that many aspects of beekeeping have not changed in over a century, all current publications are written for places where it is much colder in the winter than most of California, and books of this type are of historical interest to beekeepers permission was granted for this electronic version to be freely distributed through the web site of the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild. You are free to distribute this electronic form and/or printed versions of this electronic form as long as you do not do so for a profit. ANR Communication Services is a service branch of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) of the University of California has many publications that might be of interest to one interested in bees. You are invited to visit their web site at either of these URL’s.

http://anrcs.ucdavis.edu/ http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/

More information on the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild, serving the beekeepers of “Silicon Valley”, can be obtained at

http://www.beeguild.org

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Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild http://www.beeguild.org

THIS MANUAL is one of a series published by the University of California College of Agriculture and sold for a charge which is based on returning only a portion ofthe production cost. By this means it is possible to make available publications which, due to relatively high cost of production or limited audiences, would otherwise bebeyond the scope of the College publishing program.

FUNDAMENTALS OF CALIFORNIABEEKEEPING

THE AUTHORS:

Ward Stanger, Extension Apiculturist, University of California, Davis. Editor, andauthor of all sections except those written by:Len Foote, Supervisor of Apiary Inspection, State Department of Agriculture, Sac-ramento, California.

DiseasesBee DisordersPoisoningBee PestsLaws RegulatingBeekeeping

Harry H. Laidlaw, Professor of Entomology, and Apiculturist in the Experiment Sta-tion, University of California, Davis.Queen Care, Requeening,and Queen Introduction Maintaining Bee Stock

Robbin W. Thorp, Assistant Apiculturist in the Experiment Station, and Lecturer inEntomology, University of California, Davis. Pollen HarvestingSources of Pollen and NectarWild Plant Sources of both Pollen and NectarManaging Bees for Pollination

Norman E. Gary, Associate Professor of Entomology, and Associate Apiculturist in theExperiment Station, University of California, Davis.An Observation Bee Hive

LeeH. Watkins, Apiarist, Emeritus, University of California, Davis.Beekeeping in California

DECEMBER, 1971

CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .HOW TO BECOME A BEEKEEPER 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .THE COLONY 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MANAGING BEES 12

. . . . . . . . . . .PREVENTING ROBBING AND SWARMING 15. . . . . . . . . . . .MANAGING BEES FOR POLLINATION 17

QUEEN CARE, REQUEENING, AND QUEEN INTRODUCTION . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MAINTAINING BEE STOCK 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .QUEEN BEE PRODUCTION 22

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PACKAGED BEE PRODUCTION 22

HONEY: HARVESTING, SPECIALPRODUCTION. TYPES . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HONEY MARKETING 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRODUCING BEESWAX 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ROYAL JELLY PRODUCTION 31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POLLEN HARVESTING 32

SOURCES OF POLLEN AND NECTAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34WILD PLANT SOURCES OF BOTH POLLEN AND NECTAR . . . . . 35

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DISEASES 38. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BEE DISORDERS 42

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POISONING 43

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BEE PESTS 44. . . . . . . . . . . . .LAWS REGULATING BEEKEEPING 45

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AN OBSERVATION BEE HIVE 46. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .REFERENCES 49

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GLOSSARY 52

FUNDAMENTALS OF CALIFORNIABEEKEEPING

BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA

A primitive drawing dating from 7000B.C. found on a cave wall in easternSpain is the first known evidence thatearly man robbed honey from bees. Honey's importance as a food and as a medicine has been realized throughoutrecorded history. The honey bee (Apismellifera L.) was first brought to NorthAmerica by English settlers about 1622.In his Notes on the State of Virginia,Thomas Jefferson observed that AmericanIndians called the honey bee, "The whiteman's fly." California saw its first success-ful introduction of honey bees early in1853 when the botanist Christopher A.Shelton established an apiary of twelvecolonies just north of San Jose. Only onesurvived, but it cast three swarms thatsummer and by 1858 there were at least150 colonies directly descended from theShelton hive.

John S. Harbison, California's first pro-fessional beekeeper, imported 57 coloniesfrom Pennsylvania to Sacramento in De-cember, 1857, and of these 50 survived.He increased them by artificial division to136 hives, of which he sold 130 for $100 each. Harbison then imported 114 morecolonies with a loss of only eleven, andin 1859 he sold nearly $30,000 worth ofbees, keeping 138 colonies himself forthe next season. Harbison's sensationalsuccess started a "bee rush" to Californiaand in 1859 and 1860 more than 8,000colonies of bees were imported from theeast coast via the Isthmus of Panama.This was the largest long-distance ship-ment of honey bees ever made u p to thattime. Another bee rush began in 1869 when Harbison moved his bees from Sac-ramento to the newly discovered sage andwild buckwheat ranges of San Diegocounty. San Diego county produced more honey than any other county in the statein 1873; by 1876, Harbison had a total of

3,750 colonies of bees in twelve apiaries and was recognized as the largest honey producer in the world. Since that time,California has been the nation's principalhoney-producing state.

Twentieth century beekeeping has its own unique problems, most of themarising from greatly increased urbaniza-tion and the consequent fact that nectarsources are widely scattered. Fortunately, however, small numbers of colonies can sometimes do well in or near cities be-cause of the diversity of flowering plants within flight range of the bees. The ama-teur beekeeper may often profit from this fact.

Importance of beekeepingto California agricultureBeekeeping in California is an integralpart of California agriculture because itis highly important in the pollination ofvegetable, fruit, and nut crops, and vege-table and forage seed crops. The totalannual value of all crops pollinated is ap-proximately $300,000,000. The annualgross income to beekeepers from pollina-tion services, packaged and queen beeproduction, and sale of honey and bees-wax is about $7,000,000. Total produc-tion of honey in California averages 25,-000,000 pounds yearly.

California's climate makes commercialbeekeeping a migratory industry. It usu-ally does not rain in most of the statefrom June through August, so unculti-vated nectar and pollen plants bloom atvarious times, depending-on the amountof rainfall in winter and early spring andon the soil's ability to hold water. These factors vary greatly over the state, andtherefore bees must be moved to the bestpasture each year to produce a maximumhoney crop. Additionally, honey bees are

moved to approximately 25 different types of crops throughout the state that re-quire pollination; California ranks first nationally in the production of 15 of thesecrops. An apiary (see "Glossary," page52) may be moved three to five times or more annually by commercial bee-keepers, and even part-time beekeeperssometimes move their bees. In irrigatedregions and in many mountain locations, the amateur non-migratory beekeeper can often find nectar sources that will provide enough food for his bees and a surplus ofhoney.

Keeping bees forpleasure or profitBeekeeping has many attractions-amongthem are the production of honey for home use and the extra income derived from surplus honey. For those interested in botany, beekeeping provides an excel-lent opportunity for studying bee-pastureplants and the relationship of honey bees to flowers when bees are collecting pollen

and nectar and when they are acting aspollinators.

Beekeeping offers many income-pro-ducing opportunities, either as a hobby, as a part-time occupation, or as a full-time commercial enterprise. The hobbyistmay have a few colonies, but the part-time beekeeper may have as many as 500.(A commercial beekeeper is defined by theCalifornia State Department of Agricul-ture as one who has 640 or morecolonies.)Two thousand colonies are the upper limitfor a one-man commercial operation. Inlarger operations, one man may function not only as manager of his own coloniesbut also as contractor and manager for other professional beekeepersas providingpollination service.

Because of increased orchard plantings in California there is a growing demand for bees for pollination. An example is thecontinual annual increase in acreageplanted to almonds which is creating a shortage of bees for almond pollination. On this basis alone it is reasonable to pre-dict a greater need for bees and bee-keepers in the years ahead.

HOW TO BECOME A BEEKEEPER

Begin by talking to a beekeeper who hasbeen in your area for several years andwho has local beekeeping experience-with his advice you can better decidewhether you want to keep bees. If youcan work with him before you get yourown bees, you will learn many valuableskills. To locate beekeepers in your county ask the Agricultural Commissioner orFarm Advisor.

If you are going to keep bees:�Check local laws regarding keeping

bees.� Determine your reaction to bee stings

-your doctor can test this. � Use only standard equipment.� Locate your apiary close to home,

away from pedestrian and auto traffic, andin an area where the bees will not dis-turb people or livestock.

� Supply the apiary with its own water source.

� Make certain bees have adequate food to sustain them until nectar flow.

� Protect bottom of hives from wetground and termites.

� Do not locate where bees can collect pollen from California buckeye blossoms,as its pollen is toxic to them.

What kind of bees are best? TheCaucasian and Italian races of bees aremost popular. Of these, the Italian is found in most apiaries.

Italian bees have three to five yellowbands on the abdomen. The five-yellow-banded Italians are often called golden Italians, and the darker or three-yellow-banded bees are called leather-coloredItalians. Italian bees winter well and aregood producers.

Caucasians are black with a grayishpubescence which gives an over-all gray appearance. They usually are consideredgentler than Italians. Caucasians do notswarm frequently, but they do build moreburr comb and bridge with wax betweencombs.

Bees can be obtained by:buying a colony in a hive purchasing them in packageshiving a swarm

Buying colonies in hives. This is theeasiest way to get started. With beesalready in the hive it is not necessary tohive them, as must be done when pack-aged bees or swarms are used. The colonyshould be inspected by the county beeinspector to be sure it is free of disease.

Buying and installing packaged bees.Packaged bees with queen can be pur-chased from a beekeeper or from a bee-supply company. Such packages containthe queen in a separate cage inside thepackage itself. Order the bees earlyenough for them to arrive in spring 8 to12 weeks before the principal nectar-producing plants bloom in your neighbor-hood-this gives the bees time to build a colony population large enough to takefull advantage of the nectar and pollenwhen it becomes available.

When the packaged bees arrive, a syrup made of equal parts of water andsugar should be sprayed or shaken onto the bees through the wire sides of thepackage, giving them all that they willtake but not so much that they becomestuck together in a mass. The bees can be installed immediately into the waiting

hive if it is a cool and cloudy day. If it isnot, put them into a cool room until justbefore dark and then-after sprayingthem with syrup again-install them inthe hive. The queen is introduced into the hive immediately after the workersare installed. Her cage must be lightlysprayed with sugar syrup, then its coveris removed so she can move in with theworkers.

Hiving a swarm. Hiving a swarm(catching bees and putting them in hives)is difficult for a beginner, so it is best toget the help of an experienced beekeeper.However, this may be the cheapest wayto get started in beekeeping, as swarms can usually be obtained by contacting the agricultural commissioner, fire depart-ment, police department, sheriff, farm ad-visor. or animal control center.

After bees are hived from packages orswarms, do not disturb them for severaldays. The queen will lay eggs in a weekor less and the colony will start its work.Abundant pollen is necessary for thecolony to use as food for rearing the brood(eggs, larvae and capped cells containingpupae), and this should be supplied fromflowers growing nearby. If nectar and pollen are not available in the field, itmay be necessary to feed the bees (seepages 13 and 15.

BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

These items are needed to keep bees:One 2-story 8- or 10-frame hive Spur or electric embedder Smoker Spool of #26 wireHive tool Frame wiring jigQueen excluder (optional) Frame nailing jigGloves (optional) Additional supers, frames, and waxWhite coveralls (optional) foundationVeil and hat

The hive: may be "full depth" (95/8inches deep),"three-quarter" (65/8inches deep), "shal-supers and frames low"(53/4inches deep), or "comb honey"

Use only standard hive equipment so (45/8inches deep). The type of super usedthat all parts will fit together: A 2-story, depends on whether the beekeeper de-8- or 10-frame hive will be needed. Supers sires a smaller super to reduce the weight(see "Glossary," page 52, for terms used of the units he may have to lift, or on thein beekeeping) placed on the hive body type of honey he wishes to produce. A

Equipment for beginning beekeeping. Upper left, left to right: (A) wire-grid queen excluder; (B)hive frame; (C) sheet of beeswax foundation with vertical wires for support. Lower left: (D) hatand wire veil; (E) spool of wire for wiring frames, and spur embedder. In front of spool: (F) hivetool, bee brush, gloves. Upper right: (G) 1-story 10-frame hive. Lower right: (H) smoker, withbellows. All these items are available commercially.

single full-depth super is usually used tobegin a colony; later, when the queen needs more space for laying eggs, anotherfull-depth super can be placed on top ofthe hive body.

Each hive body and super should have8 or 10 frames and each frame shouldhave a sheet of wax foundation to sup-port the beeswax comb the bees willbuild later. Commercial foundationcomesin three weights:

Heavy brood and medium brood. Broodfoundation is used in frames where thequeen may lay eggs. Medium brood foundation will be suitable for the be-ginning beekeeper. Heavy brood is best when frames receive much handling.Thin. Thin foundation is used only forproduction of comb honey.Because the weight of brood, pollen,

and honey stored in combs can cause thecombs to sag (sagged combs enlarge thehoney cells, and such cells produce onlydrone bees), additional support for thecombs is needed. This is provided by

cross-wiring frames, as described onpage 6.

Either one of two types of frames maybe used, and the choice is largely one ofpersonal option. The types are:

Groove-top-bar with solid or split bot-tom bar. These are easiest to preparefor installation when they are usedwith foundation whose ends are metal-bound, or with foundation bound onall four sides and vertically wired. Iffoundation without bound ends is used,one end of the foundation must bewaxed into the top-bar groove (top barshown on photo bottom page 7). If the bottom bar is solid, the frame itselfmust be cross wired to secure the otherend of the foundation if the bottombar is split, the other end of the founda-tion may simply be tacked into the split.This type of frame is the more expen-sive of the two types used.

Wedge-top frames with solid or splitbottombar. These have a wooden stripwhich is nailed into place to hold foun-

BEE HIVE - OPTIONAL PARTSComponent Parts, Depending on Management

COVER

COMB-HONEY SUPER AND COMB-HONEYSECTION BOXES

THREE-QUARTERSUPER AND FRAMES

QUEEN EXCLUDER

TWO FULL-DEPTHSUPERS AND FRAMES

BOTTOM

Bee hive detail, showing optional parts used in different types of bee management.

[ 5 ]

BEEHIVE CONSTRUCTION

Beehive--California plan.

dation in the frame. With this type, it isnecessary to cross wire the frame unlessthe foundation to be used has a plasticbase, or is vertically wired, or hasmetal-bound ends.

Cross wiring frames for installation of foundation. The photo on bottom of nextpage shows a jig for cross wiring. Theframe in the jig is cross wired by thread-ing ##26 tinned wire through holes in theend bars, beginning at the end bar near the wire roll; the wire is laced through

holes in the end bars, back and forth,ending at the top right of the frameshown in the photograph. When the wireis pulled through this last hole, it iswound around a wire tack on the edgeof the end bar; the tack is then drivendown into the wood. TO tighten wire in the jig, the wire should be pulled firmlyback through the hole where it was firstinserted; once tight, the wire is woundaround a second wire tack which is thendriven into the wood of the end bar.

FRAME CONSTRUCTIONGrooved Top Bar Frame With Solid Bottom Bar

Frame for beehive.

Jig for wiring frame (frame in place) can be modified for embedding wires in foundation also.

Some jig as in preceding photo, but with board placed in center to support foundotion in whichwires will be embedded. (Here the frame has been removed to show board more clearly.)

Embedding foundationin frame. Place foundation on a board of the same sizeand place the wired frame over this (see the photo below). After doing this, runa heated spur-embedder over the wires,pressing heavily enough to embed wiresin the foundation.This should not be doneon foundation colder than 70°F. becausethe wax will warm up in the hive, andwill expand and pull loose from the wires.

An electric embedder is useful when many frames are to receive foundation. An electric train transformer of 6 to 10amperes capacity and adjustable voltagecan be used to power such an embedder; a door bell transformer can also be used-it should have a 6 to 13 volt secondary rated at no more than 5 amperes. Do notuse a cone heater in series with the em-hedder and plugged into a 120-volt power

Wired frame with foundotion ready to be embedded; the foundation is in place underneoth thewires of the frame. Electric cord for embedder is connected to transforrner on back of jig.

line-this is extremely dangerous becauseone of the electric contacts is electricallyalive and can cause severe shock.

Other equipment

Smoker. When bees are smoked theyhurriedly gorge themselves on honey andare then less inclined to sting. Smokerfuels used may be burlap sacking, coarse wood shavings, or other materials thatwill give a cool smoke and will not go outeasily. Only enough smoke to control thebees should be used.

Veil. Wire veils are commonly used be-cause they do not blow against the face.Meshed tulle veiling with a silk tulle face for better vision may also be used.

Gloves. Experienced beekeepers seldomuse gloves because they make the han-dling of frames more difficult, but a pairwould be handy for an amateur workingangry colonies.

Hive tool. This is an essential tool be-cause it has many uses, such as pryingsupers and frames apart, scraping hiveparts, and hammering.

Queen excluder. To insure that thequeen will lay no eggs in combs to beused for honey storage, a queen excludermay be used in each hive. This is a grid of perforated metal or a metal grill madeof round wire bars placed 0.163of an inchapart so that workers can pass through itbut drones and queens cannot. An ex-cluder is placed between supers to restrict the queen to those supers below the ex-cluder.

Honey extracting equipment. To ex-tract honey produced by the colonies, anextractor, uncapping knife, cappings re-ceptacle, strainers, and honey settlingtanks are needed. With a 2-frame ex-tractor honey from 25 colonies can beprocessed. Extracting processes andequipment used are described in moredetail, starting on page 25.

Hive body ready for packaged bees (four frames removed from center). The package of bees(left) has syrup can and queen cage in center-note top of can on package. Can and cage are removed before bees in package are shaken into hive body.

Shaking packaged bees into hive. Queen cage and syrup can have been removed.

THE COLONYThe well-established colony. A colonyshould have one queen, 20,000 to 60,000workers, and (in summer) about 600drones. A characteristic pattern is foundin healthy colonies: the outer frames ofcomb in each hive body are filled largely with honey and pollen, and nearer thecenter of the hive body, there will bethree or more frames of brood. By holdingone of these frames so that light willreach the bottom of the comb cells, youwill be able to see eggs or larvae in manyof the cells. (All honey bees go throughan egg, larval, and pupal stage beforebecoming adults.)

When cells are filled with honey,worker bees cap them with wax; cellscontaining pollen usually are only partlyfilled and not capped. Sometimes, how-ever, bees may place honey on top of thepollen and when these cells are cappedthey appear to be full of honey.

The queen. The life of the colony de-pends on the ability of the queen to layeggs. A good queen lays 1,000 or moreeggs a day in spring and summer. This isher chief function-she has no pollen

baskets for collecting pollen or wax glands to secrete beeswax.

The queen develops from a fertilizedegg as does the worker, but unlike theworker she is fed royal jelly during herlarval development and entire life. This jelly, a richer food produced by workerbees, produces an adult queen in a shorter time (16 days) than it takes for a workerbee to develop from egg to adult (21days). Unlike workers, the queen's wings are shorter than her body, which is longand tapered. About 6 to 12 days afterleaving her cell, the queen mates withnumerous drones during a brief matingflight. The sperm received is stored in a sperm sac and released when an egg is tobe fertilized. Within 10 to 14 days after leaving the cell, the queen begins to layeggs (if queens do not mate they will layunfertilized eggs, and these produce drones only). Productive, and populouscolonies need good, young vigorousqueens, and therefore many beekeepersput a new queen in each colony annually-this is known as requeening."

The queen has a sting, but she usuallyuses it only to destroy other queens in

Queen bee (center) and worker bees.

the hive when she first emerges from hercell.

The worker . Three days after the queenhas laid a fertilized egg it hatches. Toproduce workers, the larvae are fed onlyroyal jelly for their first 3 days of life;for the next 5 to 6 days they are fed amixture of honey and pollen. After this feeding period, the larvae are sealed intheir cells by porous wax caps placed over the cell by worker bees. The larvaethen line their cells with cocoons of silk-like threads and change to prepupae.During the pupal stage, larval organs are replaced by adult-like organs. Theadult workers, who are always female, emerge from the cells on the 21st dayafter chewing the caps off. Immediatelyafter this they groom themselves andstart to eat honey and pollen; the bodywall then hardens, and the new workersare ready to begin their many chores.

Workers do all the labor of the colonysuch as cleaning cells, feeding larvae,cleaning the hive, evaporating water fromhoney, secreting beeswax, building comb,guarding and ventilating the hive. Whenabout 3 weeks old, they begin to forage for pollen and nectar, water and propo-lis. Workers live for 4 to 6 weeks duringthe nectar and pollen-collecting season (spring and summer). Winter worker bees live several months.

The drone. The chief function of dronesis to mate with the queen and providesperm for fertilizing her eggs. Drones have no sting, pollen-collecting struc-tures, or wax glands. Drones developfrom unfertilized eggs to adults in 24days; they live for 6 to 8 weeks during thesummer, and are fed by the workers. Inqueenless colonies workers sometimes lay a few unfertilized eggs; these eggs pro-duce only drones. Drones have bodies shorter and more square than those ofworkers, and their eyes cover most oftheir heads.

Annual colony cycle. The yearly cycle of the colony begins when blossoms firstappear in spring and workers start togather pollen and nectar. The queen's egg-laying greatly increases, with consequent increase in colony population. When the colony becomes crowded with brood, pol-len, and honey (usually in late spring) thecolony may swarm. This is a process ofcolony reproduction (see page 16 forfurther discussion). Preparatory to swarm-ing, workers build queen cells along thebottom and sides of brood combs; workers also feed the old queen less, and shegradually reduces the number of eggsshe lays. Foraging is reduced as scout bees seek a home for the swarm. Shortly before the new queens emerge, most ofthe colony clusters into a group or swarm.The swarm usually leaves the hive in early afternoon, producing a sound whichis unique and heard only at this time. The swarm may cluster on a nearby limb from a few hours to a day or more before flying to its new home where it will againfunction as a colony. Swarms rarely stay outdoors for more than a few months, butoccasionally an open-air colony will sur-vive long enough to produce large clustersof comb.

The part of the colony left after aswarm departs has many frames of brood,a reduced population of worker anddrone bees, and queen cells with queens in different stages of development. Thefirst queen that emerges usually finds theother queen cells and stings the queensinside. The workers then finish the de-struction of the unemerged queens bytearing their cells down and discardingthem from the hive. In 6 to 10 days afteremerging, the new queen takes her mating flight and about 3 days after mating shebegins laying eggs.

While nectar and pollen are available,colonies gather and store as much as theycan. As the nectar flow wanes, drones usuallv are driven out of the hives (usuallythis is at the end of summer); brood rear-ing gradually declines and the colonypopulation dwindles from about 60,000to 20,000 or less. In late summer and fall

worker bees bring in more propolis to sealthe hive tight against winter weather, butas the weather gets colder the bees areless active. When temperatures reach ap-proximately 57ºF, they cluster in the hive;at lower temperatures they cluster more tightly and the insulation produced, plusthe activity of the bees within the cluster,maintains the temperature within thecluster. The cluster forms on combs ofhoney, and as the honey is used thecluster moves to new combs of honey.In central and southern California, bees fly during most of the mild winter; there-fore tight clusters are formed only duringa few days of colder weather.

Colonies wintered in 2-story hives eventually move onto the combs of honeyin the upper story during the winter. Inmid-spring, the beekeeper usually movesthe brood and the bees to the lower story to allow the bees to expand upward.

MANAGING BEES

Management practices vary according to time of year and the type of operationbeing followed: the production of honey,or of packaged bees and queens, or rentalof bees for pollination. The following sec-tion describes common factors of man-agement for all these operations.

Spring management. In early spring aninspection should be made to determinethe size and health and the food supplyof the colony. The colony should havefive frames covered with bees, and thereshould be at least three frames full ofhoney for food. Too few bees may indi-cate a queenless colony and therefore thecolony should be searched for presence of its queen. Queenless colonies should beunited with queenright colonies (colonies having a queen), or a laying queen shouldbe introduced. After the first majorspring-blooming period, a strong colonywill have six or more frames covered withbees in a 10-frame 1-story hive, or 12frames covered with bees in a 2-storyhive, and brood covering 75 to 100 square inches on both sides of four to five framesin the hive body. Under these conditions,

brood rearing will increase rapidly andthe colony will build up to a maximumpopulation for the beginning of the majorhoney flow period. Only a few days ofabundant spring honey flow are neededto crowd the brood chamber of a 1-storyhive with honey and pollen, so a superwith frames of empty combs should beadded to the hive when the flow begins.Frames with foundation alone should beprovided only if the bees are gatheringan abundant supply of nectar. The bestpractice is to place frames of drawncomb among those frames having founda-tion only.

Brood rearing puts a heavy demand onthe food supply and therefore, it is im-portant to keep a close check on all colo-nies during March, April, and May innorthern California, and as early as De-cember, January, and February in south-em California (south of the Tehachapimountains).

Summer management. Spring pastures may prove inadequate for summer, andfeeding may be necessary. Therefore,enough inspections should be made in

summer to ascertain if there is sufficientnatural food in the hive; at least 30pounds of honey at one time should bein the hive in summertime. (When in-specting hives it is also advisable to checkfor disease - see pages 38-42.)

Honey crops should be harvested whenframes in supers are full of honey andbefore queens are "blocked out," whichoccurs when too many brood-comb cells are filled and the queen has no egg-lay-ing space. Colonies need new pasture to remain productive, and in California this means moving commercial apiaries hun-dreds of miles to plant pasture. Therefore, the commercial beekeeper must know theannual blooming sequence of pastureplants to plan his season's moving sched-ule.

Fall and winter management. The idealcolony for fall and winter conditions isdisease free, contains a vigorous young queen, and has ten or more frames cov-ered with bees. If the fall population ofa colony is less than ten frames of bees,the hive should be reduced to a singlehive bodv and a super full of honev.Queenless colonies, or those sparsely populated, should be united with strongerqueenright colonies and each colony should start the winter with at least 50pounds of honey for its winter food supply (10 full-super frames filled with honeyweigh approximately 50 pounds). Sur-plus honey, pollen, and brood in a colonycan be transferred to needy colonies if nobrood diseases are present in the first col-ony. Transferred brood frames should beplaced together so that bees can cluster around the brood. Extra feeding may benecessarv. Each colonv should have a vigorous young queen and should be in-spected for disease.

Winter beekeeping chores in Californiainclude repairing, painting, building new equipment, and fumigation of frames ofcomb in storage. In autumn, colony en-trance openings should be reduced indiameter to 1 to 2 inches across, and inwinter they should be checked to be sure they are open. Hive covers should be fast-ened to the hive so they are water- andwind-tight. Entrances should not faceprevailing winter winds.

Feeding bees. Pollen, honey, and waterare the basic ingredients in the naturaldiet of honey bees. Pollen contains pro-tein, and carbohydrates are found inhoney; bees require water as do otheranimals, and they also use it to cool theirhives. Only adult worker and drone beescan live mainly on honey or on sugar syrup; they require little pollen, but whenfunctioning as nurse bees workers needhoney, pollen, and water to secrete royaljelly.

Many California beekeepers use vari-ous mixtures of pollen, sugar, and artifi-cial foods to increase colony population. Bees are fed to:

build-up population to compensatein part for pesticide losses.

build-up population for winter.build-up population for spring polli-

nation of almonds.build-up population in the spring for

shaking bees for packages.compensate for nectar dearths occur-

ring at various times every year, espe-cially in early spring. Colonies may need to be fed at these times unless honey (30 to 50 pounds) is kept in the hive. Colonies occasionally are fed sugar syrup betweennectar flows in order to maintain activebrood rearing and colony population. This is successful as long as the bees alsohave sufficient pollen in their combs or are collecting it. They cannot raise brood on sugar syrup alone.

worker bees may consume a frame ofhoney and pollen for each frame of broodthey rear; a colony having a prolificqueen (1000 eggs daily) may need 10pounds of pollen a month to rear larvae.

To increase the queen's egg-laying ratein spring, colonies should be given combs of honey or sugar syrup, or dry sugar withpollen or pollen substitute - one or twoframes of honey may be placed adjacent to frames holding brood. (Unlessa colonyhas been free of American foulbrood dis-ease for at least 2 years, combs of honeyfrom it should not be fed to other coloniesbecause this disease can be carried as spores in honey.) Sugar syrup can be fedfrom a jug, a friction-top can, or from Boardman or division-board feeders. If a

Left: a Boardman feeder. The wooden bottom below jar is inserted into hive entrance andsyrup flows from jar through holes in its cap. Right: the Doolittle wooden division board feedercan be filled with sugar syrup and inserted in hive after removing a frame to make room for it.

jug is used, its cap should have an 1/8 inchhole punched in it; the jug is placed cap-down in a cap-sized hole on top the hive.If a can is used it should be placed sothat its top (punched with six or eight holes) rests on the top bars of the framesand an empty super and cover should beput on the hive to keep the can warmenough for the syrup to flow well. Board-man feeders are placed on the front en-trance of the hive, and division boardfeeders are placed inside the hive in place of a frame.

Sugar syrup for feeding between nec-tar flows consists of one part sugar andone part water by volume or weight. For winter feeding, syrup of two parts ofsugar and one part of water by weight orby volume is used. When colonies are fed in cold weather sugar may be increased to 21/2parts to one part water, with a tea-spoon of cream of tartar added to every20 pounds of sugar to keep the syrupfrom granulating. Boiling water is neededto dissolve the sugar.

Extracted honey may be fed instead ofsugar, but it must be from disease-free

colonies, and it should be diluted 1/4 to 1/2with water. Feed a quantity of dilutedhoney that can be consumed quickly (24hours) before it begins to ferment.

Dry table sugar can be liquefied bybees if they have access to water. Usually1 to 2 pounds is poured into the entranceso that the sugar flows to the back of thehive and the entrance is not closed. Ordi-nary table sugar or confectioners sugar,or both, can be used-the latter contains9 per cent of simple or invert sugars which absorb water from the air andmake the sugar more attractive and edi-ble for bees.

To build up a population by artificialfeeding, a supply of pollen in the colonyor an adequate pollen substitute is essen-tial-sugar alone will stimulate the queento lay, but she will not be able to sustain her laying. Additionally, bee larvae willnot obtain complete nutrition if there isno source of protein. Combs of pollenmay be stored and placed in hives asneeded. If pollen is not available, a sup-plement or substitute must be given tosustain egg-laying by the queen.

Mixtures of sugar, soybean flour, pollen and a dried concentrate of whey-grownyeast and milk albumin (Wheast®) areused by California beekeepers. Combina-tions of these are made into dry or moistcakeforms containing about 8 to 10 percent protein (although some beekeepersuse mixes containing as much as 24 percent protein).

Examples of mixtures used: �One hundred pounds of Drivert®

sugar (91 per cent sucrose-table sugarand 9 per cent levulose and dextrose sug-ars); 10 pounds of Wheast; 5 pounds ofsoybean (expeller processed) flour. This isapproximately a 9 per cent protein mix-ture. It is usually fed as a dry mixture atthe rate of 1 pound to each colony perweek.� Drivert and Wheast combined-80

per cent Drivert and 20 per cent Wheast.This is approximately an 11 per cent pro-tein food; it is usually fed dry at the rateof 1 pound to a colony per week.

�Three pounds of pollen; 5 pounds type-50 warm sugar syrup (77 per cent sugar and 23 per cent water-this sugaris one-half sucrose and one-half levuloseand dextrose); 8 ounces (one-half pint) ofwarm water. Mix together and added tothe following ingredients after they havebeen mixed: 30 pounds of type-50warmed sugar syrup, and 25 pounds ofWheast. This 24 per cent protein mixturewill be a semi-liquid mass which can be formed into 1-pound cakes. A 1-poundcake of the mixture is usually fed to eachcolony per week.

� Five pounds pollen, 55 pounds oftype-50 sugar syrup, 39 pounds of Wheastand approximately 1 pint (1 pound) ofwater to prepare 100 pounds of mixture.The pollen, water, and 8 pounds of type-50 sugar syrup are mixed first. To this isadded the remaining sugar syrup andWheast to form a semi-solid mix that canbe formed into cakes, which are then placed on the top bars of the frames inthe hive body.

Pollen grains are living cells and there-fore require the following special harvest and storage treatments to prevent loss ofnutritive value.

Freshly trapped pollen may be mixedwith half its weight of fine granulatedsugar, tamped down tightly into pails ordrums and tightly sealed.* To guardagainst surface mold forming, it is best tosprinkle a 1/2-inch layer of additional sugar on top of the pollen before sealing. Thismixture can be stored at 70°F. The pollenremains soft and moist and can be formedinto cakes and fed directly to the bees,or mixed to form a pollen supplement.

Fresh pollen may also be placed in con-tainers and stored directly in the deep freeze at approximately 0°F. The pollenkeeps its nutritional value for at leastseveral years, but should be used imme-diately upon removal from the freezer.Such pollen is moist and crumbly, and isreadily mixed with other ingredients toprepare a pollen substitute or food sup-plement. Pollen used as bee food should be free of disease and pesticide residues.

PREVENTING ROBBING AND SWARMING

Robbing. Bees occasionally rob honeyfrom other colonies and may even destroythe colonies in doing so. Robber bees canusually be recognized by their attemptsto enter cracks between supers. To pro-tect colonies, use robber screens (photo,page 16) over hive entrances; these screens provide more ventilation thanwould be obtained when entrances arepartly closed by solid objects. When ex-

* This method of pollen storage was developed byof Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

amining colonies for possible robbers donot keep them open any longer thannecessary, and put the frames of honeyin a super covered with wet burlap during inspection.

The risk of robbing can be reduced by feeding bees in the afternoon-if bees arefed in the morning, the excitement offeeding lasts all day and this may attractrobber bees.

G. F. Townsend and M. V. Smith of the University

Robber screen at hive entrance. Board at left (arrow) closes most of the entrance not coveredby the screen. Entrance to hive (extreme right) is now about 1 inch long.

Swarming. Swarming reduces the col-ony population, so it should be preventedor controlled. To minimize swarming:

� Provide plenty of storage room for surplus honey by adding supers withframes of drawn comb or foundation be-fore the colony becomes too crowded.

� Provide the queen with ample egg-laying space by addin frames of disease-free drawn comb, or by using two hive bodies, one above the other-these shouldbe reversed when the queen is in the topbody and when its frames are filled withbrood and covered with bees.

� Head the colonies with young, vig-orous queens.

� Provide sufficient shade for the hiveduring the hottest part of the day. Indesert areas, total shade is needed during heavy honey flows.

� Provide adequate watering places.

Swarm control can be combined withrequeening. If a colony is ready to swarm, there will be at least one queen cell on the comb. To requeen, select one queen cell that is well developed and destroythe others. Also find the old queen in thecolony and kill her by pinching her head. The new queen will emerge from her cellin a few days and thus requeen thecolony.

Demaree swarm control method. Many special methods are used to controlswarming. The Demaree method is asfollows:

�Destroy all queen cells.� Place one comb of unsealed brood

with the queen on it into a hive body.Fill the remaining space with frames ofempty comb.

� Place a queen excluder on top of hivebody.

Queen cells on bottom and side of comb. In spring, the queen cells are usually found on thebottom of combs.

� Place super or supers on top of(above) excluder on hive body.

� Place remaining combs with broodand bees in super or supers on top of(above)excluder.

� After 10 days, examine supers ontop of (above) excluder for queen cellsand destroy any found.

In 3 weeks all of the brood will haveemerged from the comb in the supersabove the excluder, and the comb will beused for honey storage. Bees will begin to emerge from new brood in the hivebody, and a continuous supply of bees isproduced. It is not often necessary toDemaree more than once.

MANAGING BEES FOR POLLINATIONPollination is essential to most flowering plants for producing fruits and seeds, andin California the honey bee is the mostimportant pollinator of commercial crops. Beekeepers rent their colonies for this purpose by placing them in or aroundcrops, and highly developed transporta-tion techniques have been worked out formoving colonies from area to area as theyare needed.

Many beekeepers have legal contractswith growers for pollination services. Awritten contract between beekeeper andgrower should:

� Set times when bees will be movedin and out of fields or orchards.

� Assure that no pesticides harmful to bees will be used. (If it is necessary to usepesticides, notice should be given to bee-keeper.)

� Assure beekeeper of reimbursementfor extra movement of colonies in and out of the field.

� Define population of colonies interms of numbers of frames covered with bees; or of number of frames covered with bees and number of frames with brood; or of number of frames covered with bees and having a certain amount of square inches of brood.

�Describe distribution of colonies infields or orchards.

� Include agreement that the bee-keeper will maintain bees in good condi-tion, provided they are not damaged bypesticides while under contract.

� State rental fee to be paid.� State who is responsible for supply-

ing adequate water to bees.Some of the most important factors af-

fecting pollination are:

A strong colony for almond pollination. Bees cover at least six frames in hive body and four insuper.

Number of colonies per acre. The num-ber of colonies of bees used per acre de-pends on the kind of crop, the populationof the colonies, the weather, and the amount of competing blooms in the areaof the crop. Two colonies per acre in most crops are enough to insure optimum numbers of bees during the most un-favorable conditions for pollination. Foralfalfa seed crops, approximately three

colonies per acre are commonly used; however, alfalfa seed yield has sometimesbeen increased by using four to five colo-nies per acre. In melon pollination, onecolony per acre is often used, but twocolonies per acre is considered better.

Colony strength. The California StateBeekeeper's Association has set its officialminimum standard for almond pollinationat four frames of bees with a laying queen

per colony and two colonies per acre; foralfalfa pollination there must be 600square inches of brood and five framescovered with bees. Because honey beecolonies in alfalfa seed fields usually de-cline in population, its is good practice to employ supplemental feeding before beesare introduced into the field and whilethey are in it.

Distribution of colonies. Because bees tend to work close to their hives, in at-tractive pasturage, hives should be dis-tributed at 1/10- to 1/4-mile intervals. Ifthe field is less than 100 acres, or the or-chard is less than 40, colonies may beplaced in two or more groups around theedge of the crop. For long-sided, narrow,rectangular fields groups of colonies oneach long side give better distribution.

Plant competition. Honey bees may visitplants other than those to be pollinated ifsuch plants provide more attractive pollen or nectar. To prevent bees from visiting competing flowers, coloniesshould be moved into the field or orchardafter the beginning of bloom when thereis sufficient forage to hold bees in thecrop. It may be advisable to destroy cover crops in orchards to reduce competition.

Weather. Bees begin to fly at tempera-tures of about 55°F. They do not fly inrain or in wind of more than 15 miles per

hour. Temperatures of over 100°F. re-duce flight activity.

Pesticides. Bees provided for pollina-tion service need maximum protection from damage by pesticides. Colony pop-ulations reduced by losses caused bypesticides applied to the crop during bloom may not be able to regain theiroriginal population during the relativelybrief pollination period. Their effective-ness as pollinators may be impaired for several weeks or months before they re-cover from such damage.

Bees in orchards or fields are some-times exposed to pesticides from adjacentareas; therefore, colonies should bemoved as soon as possible after pollina-tion to avoid pesticide damage. The bee-keeper should check with managers ofcrops adjacent to where his bees arepollinating to make sure that foragingbees will not be injured by pesticides on those crops.

Maximum protection can be obtainedby using pesticides that are least toxic tohoney bees and applying them at nightwhen bees are in their hives. Beekeepers should suggest that the grower use mate-rials least harmful to bees, and that hepick safest times for application.

Bees usually receive maximum protec-tion when the beekeeper, the grower andhis neighbors, and the pesticide salesman and applicator work closely together.

QUEEN CARE, REQUEENING,AND QUEEN INTRODUCTION

Care of queens. Frames should alwaysbe handled carefully so that the queenis not injured. The first frame removedfrom the hive during any inspection ofqueen and brood should be the secondone in from the hive wall (outer framesseldom have brood or queen cells). Al-ways set this frame against the side ofthe hive and out of the sun. Never setthe frame with the queen on it outside thecolony without protecting it with another frame.

Do not examine colonies if they con-tain virgin, newly introduced, or recently mated queens. These queens and their

attendant bees are nervous and the dis-turbance caused by opening a hive may cause the workers to harm her.

As a rule the queen should not be han-dled. If it is necessary to pick her up, catch her from behind by all four wings with the index finger and thumb. Queenscan be seen more easily if marked witha color, and by using a different coloreach year the queen's age can be readilydetermined. Fingernail polish or otherquick-drying paint may be applied on topof the thorax between the base of thequeen's wings.

Requeening. Requeening is done to re-place a queen of poor stock or one whichis getting old. The colonies can be re-queened at any time in the active season,but usually are requeened during a nectarflow because the new queen is morereadily accepted then. Before introducinga new queen, the old queen should beremoved and any queen cells presentshould be destroyed.

Queen introduction. Queens may bepurchased from bee-supply houses, andthey are usually shipped in a cage whichalso contains a few attendant bees. Thecage has an opening which is pluggedwith bee food known as "candy"; the at-tendant worker bees will use the candyto feed the queen during time of ship-

ment. To introduce a queen from a cageinto a hive body, the cork which coversthe opening containing the candy plugmust be removed, after which the entirecage is placed in the hive body. The cageshould be placed between the top bars oftwo frames by pressing the bars gently to-gether so that they hold the cage in place,with the screen side of the cage facing down. The bees in the hive will consumethe remaining candy, thus releasing thequeen and her attendants. This will takelong enough, however, for the bees al-ready in the hive to grow accustomed tothe new queen's presence.

Instructions for introducing a queenshipped in a cage in a package of beeswill be found on page 3.

MAINTAINING BEE STOCK

Good stock is essential to successfulbeekeeping. Such stock can be obtainedfrom manv of the commercial aueenbreeders, and can be maintained if careis used in propagation. However, produc-tion of stock which is better than that currently available is usually beyond theresources of the beekeeper, because breeding requires the use of artificial in-semination and a working knowledge ofgenetics.

In maintaining his stock, the beekeepermust decide which characteristics aremost important to him, and he must con-fine his efforts to preserving these. Hemust also decide on how a colony can be described, so that he has some way of comparing colonies and measuring theresults of his efforts.

Importance of environmentand heredity

High per-colony-yield of honey is a de-sirable goal of bee breeding, but it is nota simple genetic characteristic. Yield isinfluenced not only by management andhoney flows but also by the number and activities of bees in the colony. The pop-ulation, in turn, is determined by theegg-laying rate of the queen, the viabilityof eggs and larvae, and the longevity of

adult bees. In stock maintenance, as inbreeding, each of these must be consid-ered. Other characteristics which should be considered are gentleness, and resist-ance to disease; each of these is prob-ably dependent upon several hereditaryfactors.

The characteristics referred to areproducts of the development of bees from germ (reproductive) cell to adult, and re-sult from the interaction of environmentand the determining factors in the bodycells. The germ cells of the queen bee develop into eggs, and the germ cells ofthe drone develop into spermatozoa. Theeggs and spermatozoa are known collec-tively as gametes. The determining fac-tors (genes) are transmitted from parentto off-spring through eggs and sperma-tozoa. Genes are located in the chromo-somes of cell nuclei and are arranged onebeside the other like beads on a string.

Maturation of germ cells. Germ cellsof both sexes increase in number by celldivision, but before they become gametes and are functional they must undergo a process called maturation. The body cellsand the immature germ cells of a queen honey bee have 32 chromosomes which are paired-that is, each chromosomehas a mate of identical size and shape.

One member of the pair comes from thequeen bee through the egg, and the othermember comes from the father throughthe spermatozoon that fertilized the egg.The two members of each chromosomepair are homologous (like-chromosomes);each chromosome of the pair is the homo-lope (copy) of the other. Thus, there are16 pairs of homologous chromosomes inthe cells of the female bee and they formtwo sets of 16 chromosomes each, a set consisting of one member of each pair. An organism with paired chromosomesis said to be diploid. The drone, whichhas one set in each cell, is said to behaploid (total chromosomes, 16). When the egg matures, which occurs about thetime it is laid, one member of each pairof chromosomes is eliminated from thenucleus, leaving the egg with one set-that is, 16 chromosomes. This is accom-plished by a special process of divisionof the nucleus of the egg called meiosis.

Maturation of male germ cells does not reduce the number of chromosomes, as the germ cells have only one set ofchromosomes (one member of each pair) to begin with.

Restoration of the diploid conditions results from union of male and femalegametes. As it is laid, the micropyle ofan egg destined to become a female beeis pressed against the opening of thespermathecal duct until one or more sper-matozoa enter the egg. The cell resulting from this union is a zygote, from which the bee develops.

If the egg is destined to become a malebee, it does not receive spermatozoa as it is laid. The egg divides by mitosis(splitting of chromosomes) to begin thedevelopment of the drone. The maturedegg nucleus has only 16 chromosomes,and since no sperm has been introduced the drone has only 16 chromosomes. Thedevelopment of an egg without uniting with a sperm is known as parthenogen-esis.

Basic requirements ofstock maintenance

Critical selection of parents, goodqueen-rearing methods, and an abun-dance of mature drones from selected mothers are essential. Selection of drone

mothers is as important as selection ofvirgin-queen mothers. The same charac-teristics are essential: solid brood pattern,gentleness, and resistance to disease. Ifbees are to be used primarily for pollina-tion, pollen-gathering ability may be pre-ferred to honey yield.

Breeding. One or more queen mothersshould be used for production of queens,and several drone mothers for production of drones. Drones in queen-mother colo-nies should be kept to a minimum, while drone-mother colonies should be givendrone comb to encourage the productionof an abundance of drones. Queens matewith 10 or more drones on a single mat-ing flight, so it is important to have agreat surplus of drones to assure that thevirgins mate with the proper drones.

Almost any colony can be induced tobuild queen cells, but the quality ofqueens produced will vary with the carethe developing larvae receive. To producegood queens, the colony must have an abundance of nurse bees and of pollenand honey or sugar syrup. Nurse bees can be provided by making sure the col-ony has a comb of emerging brood a week before grafted cells are given to it,and an ample supply of royal jelly can beassured by removing much of the youngbrood a few hours before grafting. (Grafting is the transfer of young larvaefrom worker cells to queen-cell cups-see text, page 22). A day or two prior tografting, a comb with pollen should beplaced in the colony next to the space tobe occupied by grafted cells. Sugar syrup can be fed in a Boardman feeder, or by inverting a friction top pail with several small holes in the lid over the frames andinside an empty body. The queen cellsshould be distributed to mating nuclei orto colonies to be requeened on the 10thday following grafting, and the virginqueens should emerge the following day.

Queens usually mate when about 7days old, and begin laying 3 to 4 dayslater. When the queen mates (in flight), the semen from the drones is depositedin her oviducts. The sperm move into thespermatheca during the next 15 hours,approximately, and remain there until used or for the life of the queen. Themovement of the sperm from the oviducts

to the spermatheca is slowed by tempera- strong enough to maintain a temperaturetures below 80°F. Therefore, it is im- at least this high in the brood area afterportant that the nuclei or colonies be the queen returns from her mating flight.

QUEEN BEE PRODUCTION

This is an industry within the beekeep-ing industry which, in the SacramentoValley, produces approximately 400,000 queens and 550,000 pounds of packagedbees annually for U. S. and Canadianmarkets-a $1,500,000 yearly business. Skilled beekeepers with many years of ex-perience maintain the queen-productionindustry, but the following common commercial procedurecan be modifiedto suit smaller operations.

Queens are produced by placing(grafting) 1-day-old larvae into cell cupsmade of pure beeswax, and then putting the cups into a cell-builder colony. (This is a colony having a dense population ofworker bees.) In such a colony worker bees will feed royal jelly to the larvae un-til they become pupae-this assures thatthey develop into queens, not workers.

To start this procedure, empty cell cupsare attached to bars long enough to fitbetween the end bars of a standard frame.The cell cups on the bars are then taken to a room suitable for the grafting opera-tion. The temperature of this room shouldbe at least 75°F. and the humidityaround 50 per cent to prevent larvae androyal jelly from drying out; good brightlight is important to help locate and re-move larvae from the combs. A supply of royal jelly and a comb of day-oldlarvae should be in the room. A drop ofroyal jelly is placed in the bottom of acell cup and a larva is put on the dropimmediately afterwards (photo, page 23).

This operation is repeated until all cell cups are full. The royal jelly keeps larvaemoist and well fed (the jelly is usuallydiluted with an equal volume of warmwater and stirred until it is an even con-sistency). Grafted cell cups are then placed in the cell-builder colony, which should be well supplied with sugar syrup, honey, and pollen.

After about 9 days in the cell-buildercolony the cell-cups, which are now com-plete cells with queens, are put into anincubator (a modified chicken-egg incu-bator will do) kept at about 91 to 93°F.and a humidity of about 50 per cent. Tendays after grafting, the queen cells aretaken from the incubator and cut fromthe bar. Each queen cell is placed in asmall hive (nucleus or "nuc" hive) con-taining about a quarter-pound of bees;these will take care of the cell until thequeen emerges. A few days after emerg-ing, the queen flies out and mates withdrones after which she then returns to the nucleus and in 3 or 4 days begins tolay eggs. The beekeeper then removes thequeen from the nucleus and cages herfor shipping.

When shipping queens to buyers, thequeen can be shipped in a cage alongwith a few attendant bees and a supply offood. When shipping queens and enoughbees for a colony, the queen is sent in acage placed in a package full of beeswhich also has a container of sugar syrup-the bees will feed the queen throughthe wires which enclose her cage.

PACKAGED BEE PRODUCTION

This is an enterprise for experienced bee- to lay eggs early and thus results in largekeepers, but the procedures described be- populations per colony to take maximumlow can be modified for hobbyist opera- advantage of early spring blooms. Withtions. such strong colonies the beekeeper may

The bees should be fed well in January place his bees in almonds in February and and February. This stimulates the queen in manzanita in March. By following this

Grafting larvae from comb into queen-cell cups. Bright light and right temperature are neededhere.

Frame with grafted queen-cell cups after removal from cell-builder colony. Incubation is thenext step

procedure the beekeeper will be able tomaintain colony population even thoughhe removes many bees for packaging.

Removal of bees is done by what isknown as "shaking." To shake bees, oneor two frames are removed from eachhive and shaken with a downward jerkover a funnel which empties into a"shaker box." The filled box is then car-ried to where the packages are beingweighed; here the bees are shaken fromthe shaker box into a funnel that empties

the bees into packages built for bee ship-ping. Two to four pounds of bees may beshipped in the packages, each of whichcontains a can of sugar syrup (exceptwhen shipping by air). The packages arenailed together with laths in groups offive; this makes them easier to handleand provides space for adequate ventila-tion when they are stacked. A 2-poundpackage is considered the minimum for anew colony; a 4-pound package may bedivided into two colonies.

Below, left: shaking bees from super into funnel-the shaker box with screened sides (bottom)collects the bees; right: packages for shipping being filled from shaker box.

Loading packages of bees. Note that packages are nailed together with wooden strips.

HONEY: HARVESTING, SPECIAL PRODUCTION,TYPES

The definition of honey in the 1967Agricultural Code of California reads: "Honey means the nectar of floral exuda-tions of plants gathered and stored in thecomb by honey bees. It is levorotary, con-tains not more than twenty-five onehundredths (0.25) of 1%ash, not morethan eight (8) percent of sucrose, its spe-cific gravity is not less than 1.412, its weight not less than eleven (11) pounds,twelve (12) ounces per standard gallonof 231 cubic inches at sixty-eight degreesFahrenheit."

Honey is composed largely of twosimple sugars, dextrose and levulose; en-zymes, vitamins, minerals, and substancesproducing characteristic flavors. Theaverage water content of California honey is about 17 per cent. Common forms ofcommercial honey are: extracted (liquid), comb, and crystallized (creamed or gran-ulated).

Harvestingand extractinghoney; comb-honeyproduction; crystallized honeyproduction; types of honey

Harvesting honey. When all combs in a super have been filled with capped honey(each comb should show two-thirds of itscells capped), the beekeeper may removethe super, after seeing that the hive has atleast one super of pollen and honey for food. To harvest honey, bees have to beremoved from frames, either by usingescape boards or acid boards, or by using blowers, or by brushing bees off frameswith a bee brush (when it is a small op-eration).

Bee-escape boards which allow the beesto leave but not to return to the hive, are

adequate for 50 or less hives. They aretoo slow and require too much costlylabor for larger operations, although beesare disturbed much less with this methodthan with any other. Additional escapedevices, which may be purchased frombee supply stores, may be placed in open-ings in one or more corners of the boardto hasten removal of the bees. An escapeboard, placed under a super of combsfilled with honey, will usually free thesuper of bees in 1 day. To prevent rob-bing, the super from which the bees areremoved must be tight. If escape boardsare left on in hot weather (100°F. or more) the combs may melt.

Acid boards are often used in larger commercial operations. These boards aremetal hive covers each having a woodenframe 1-inch thick; a piece of hardwarecloth is tacked across the top of the frameon the side opposite the metal cover; on top of this several layers of cheesecloth,muslin, burlap, or canvas are secured. A50 per cent solution of pure carbolic acidor of 100 per cent benzaldehyde is then

lightly sprinkled on the cloth surface. When these chemicals are used, the boardis left on the hive only a few minutes (justlong enough to drive the bees out of thetop super). Carbolic acid works best on hot days in sunny weather because fumesare driven into the hive. Benzaldehydeworks best at temperatures below 80°F-at higher temperatures it confuses andscatters them. In handling these chemi-cals, all safety rules should be observedin order to avoid their contacting the o p -erator's body.

A bee blower saves time and money forthe commercial beekeeper. Supers to beharvested are removed from the hive andplaced on a stand; the bees are then blown onto the ground in front of thehive, but they are not injured nor angered.A bee brush can be used to remove thelast few bees.

Extracting honey. In the honey house (where honey extraction takes place) combs containing honey must be movedthrough an uncapping machine, or un-capped with a hand-held knife, before

Left: bee escape board; note how bee escape (far left) fits into hole in board. Right: Top andbottom views of acid board, showing burlap lining on bottom section.

[ 26 I

the honey can be extracted. (Damage tocombs should be avoided so that they canbe returned to hives for further use.) Inthe extractor, honey is removed from thecells by centrifugal force and flows down-ward to the bottom where it can be col-lected. The honey produced by 20 colonies can usually be handled with a 2-to 4-frame extractor, which can be op-erated by hand or by a small electric motor. F'or larger operations, extractors of up to 50-frame-capacity are available.

In operations requiring only a 2- to 4-frame extractor, honey is collected from the extractor in a container after passingthrough a sandwich strainer (made of twocoarse wire screens with a fine strainer ofnylon material between them) placed overthe top of the container. The honeyshould be taken from this container assoon as possible and poured onto a flatsurface extending to the bottom of thefinal containers. Flowing the honey over

such a surface reduces the number of airbubbles trapped in the honey and givesit a clearer appearance.

In commercial operations, extracted honey flows from the extractor by gravity into a sump from which it is pumpedinto settling tanks where it usually losesair bubbles. A uniform flow of honeyshould be maintained to keep the pumpfull so that it will not beat air into thehoney. If honey is thick and slow to flow,it may be heated to approximately 110°F.When honey is heated, some of its prop-erties may be destroyed, so heating shouldbe as brief as possible and the honeyshould then be cooled as quickly as pos-sible. Wax particles in the honey willusually move to the top of the honeywhere they can be removed. The honeyis drawn off from the bottom of the set-tling tank into drums, bottles, or cans. Ex-tracted honey stores best at room tem-perature (70°F.+-).

Bee blower driving bees from a super prior to harvesting honey from frames.

Working set-up for extracting small quantities of honey. A: 4-frame extractor; B: frame of honeyready for uncapping cells; C: electric uncapping knife; D: box with strainer to collect cappingsand honey; E: sandwich-type filter for final straining. Four frames yield about 20 pounds.

Comb-honey production. Comb honeyis produced in wooden square-sectionboxes sized 41/4 x 41/4 x 17/8 inches, or inrectangular boxes 4 x 5 x13/8 inches which are placed in special comb-honey supers(frames are not used in these supers). Thebox tops should be painted with hot par-affin after they have been placed in the

supers in order to prevent bees from stain-ing the boxes with propolis. Overlappinghoney flows of light and dark honeyshould be avoided for comb honey pro-duction because combs partly filled withdark and light honey are less attractiveto consumers.

The production of comb honey is dif-

ficult because nectar flow has to be con-stant and abundant to produce combs ofgood quality, and because colonies haveto be crowded almost to the swarmingpoint before bees will go into the comb-honey boxes. For best comb-honey re-sults there should be enough bees in thecolony to fill at least a hive body and afull-depth super; a super of empty comb-honey section boxes should then be addedso the bees can deposit honey in the boxes.After the bees have started to build comb in the super containing comb-honeyboxes, a second comb-honey super can beput on top. When the first comb-honeysuper is about half filled with honey, thetwo supers can be reversed (this usuallyincreases honey production) and a thirdcomb-honey super put on top in case thebees need more space. This can be re-peated as long as the nectar flow con-tinues, and as often as needed to give thebees more room in which to work withoutproviding more sections than the nectarflow warrants. (If queen cells are presentin such a colony they should be removedto prevent swarming; if the colony con-tinues to produce queen cells it may in-dicate that the colony does not accept thequeen. Therefore it may be necessary tokill the queen and introduce another queen.)

Supers full of comb-honey boxes shouldbe removed as soon as the sections arecompletely filled and the cells are sealed.Near the end of the nectar flow the comb-honey supers should be removed in timeto permit the colony to store enough honey in the hive for winter. Comb boxes

Comb-honey super filled with section

boxes for comb-honey production.

(Top boxes pulled up to show wax

foundation.)

full of honey should be separated into groups by weight and appearance andthe weight and grade of each sectionmust be stamped on top. The boxesshould then be individually wrapped inplastic wrappers and sealed against dustand insects (plastic wrappings are avail-able from bee-supply houses). Combhoney is graded according to weight, con-dition of cell-caps, cleanliness and full-ness of combs. Federal standards dividethe grades into U. S. Fancy, U. S. No. 1,and U. S. No. 2. Descriptions of thesegrades are available from the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture. (See references under "Honey and Beeswax"page 51.)

Producing crystallized (cream or granu-lated) honey. Beekeepers having only afew colonies can produce this attractivehoney if they have an adequate supplyof good extracted honey. A small invest-ment may be required to purchase mix-ing equipment.

Heat extracted honey to be creamed to160 to 175° F. to destroy yeast that maycause fermentation. This should be donein a water bath to avoid overheating. Cool the honey to 75 or 80°F.,then add crys-tallized honey in the ratio of 10 to 20per cent-for example, if 10 pounds ofextracted honey are to be creamed, add1 to 2 pounds of crystallized honey at thispoint, stirring carefully so that no air ismixed in. Pour honey into containers down a glass rod (or other solid surface) to eliminate bubbles of air in the honey.Store at 54 to 60°F.; the honey should cream in a week.

Creamed honey will become watery and less attractive if kept for long periods at room temperature (about 70°F) andif it is watery for too long it will ferment.The most favorable temperature for start-ing the crystallization of honey is 41 to45°F. Storing creamed honey at about40°F. will maintain it as an attractivefood. If honey granulates (turns sugary) it can be liquefied by heating it in a con-tainer placed in 140 to 150°F. water.

Types of honey. Honey is classified ac-cording to floral source, method of pro-duction, and U.S.D.A. grades. The twomost popular floral honeys produced inCalifornia are sage honeys and orangehoney. Other major floral sources are:cotton, lima beans, alfalfa, yellow star-thistle, wild buckwheat (of the genusEriogonum), manzanita, eucalyptus, andbluecurls. In recent years safflower honeyhas been produced in quantity.

Honeydew honey, which is not a truehoney, is usually made from a sweet liquid excreted by scale insects and plantlice or aphids. In California, one kind ofhoneydew honey is derived from a scaleinsect on incense cedar. Another honey-dew honey in California is derived fromgalls on valley oaks; these galls produce

a sugary material on their exterior that iscollected by honey bees and stored in thesame manner as honey. Major honeydewhoney crops have been recorded fromvalley oaks in the foothills on the westside of the Sacramento Valley for 50years.

Honey standards. Honey sold in Cali-fornia must meet certain standards as de-fined in the Agricultural Code (obtainablefrom State Department of Agriculture,Bureau of Fruit and Vegetable Standardi-zation, Sacramento 95814).

Color is important in determining themarket value of honey-lighter colorsusually bring higher prices. Color varies from nearly colorless through shades ofyellow, amber, and brown with greenishtinges, to deep red. Honey from the samefloral sources may vary in color, and varia-tion in color may result from overheatingin processing- for example, honeys darken if heated too much or too long. Color is measured by the Pfund graderor the U.S.D.A. Color Comparator. These graders tell beekeepers the commercialcolor classification of honey: water white,extra white, white, extra light amber, light amber, amber, or dark.

HONEY MARKETINGThe beekeeper can sell his honey from aroadside stand, from his home, directlyto a retailer, to a wholesaler in 5-galloncans or 55 gallon drums, or through a co-op. Cooperative marketing offers cer-tain advantages to beekeepers because acooperative can control a larger propor-tion of the total crop and thus increasemembers' chances for better prices.

Federal and state market programs.The U. S. Price Support Program includes

a minimum base price for honey at thewholesale level. The support price variesfrom year to year. For information on thisprogram, inquire at the county offices ofthe Agricultural Stabilization and Con-servation Service (ASCS). The state mar-keting order for honey is administered by the California Director of Agriculturethrough the Honey Advisory Board, whose chief functions are research andpromoting the use of honey.

PRODUCING BEESWAXBeeswax is an important commodity used Beeswax, which is secreted by waxmainly by the cosmetics and candle- glands located on the underside of themaking industries. California produces bee's abdomen, is used by the bees to con-approximately 600,000 pounds yearly- struct combs. For maximum beeswax pro-about 10 per cent of the total produced in duction, large quantities of honey must bethe U. S. (the U. S. imports more beeswax present in the colony-bees have to con-than it produces). sume 10 pounds of honey to produce 1

pound of wax. In preparation for waxproduction the bees gorge themselveswith honey and hang in chains in thehive; about 24 hours after they do this,wax secretion begins.

Rendering beeswax. For small opera-tions the solar wax extractor is the sim-plest and most economical way of render-ing wax. Commercial beekeepers use steam-heated tinned copper, galvanizediron, aluminum, or stainless-steel con-

ROYAL JELLY

Royal jelly can be produced the yeararound in some areas in California. Good production requires the strongest colonythat can be produced, adequate nectarand pollen flow, and feeding of colonieswhen natural sources of food are lacking.A queenright colony is usually used inroyal jelly production, because queenless colonies require more labor to keep col-ony population high. For best production,any one of three types of hive set-upsis preferred.

Hive set-ups for royal jelly productionA 1-story hive with nine frames usually isused. This must be divided so that there are five frames for brood rearing and fourframes for royal jelly production. To doso, a sheet of insect-screen wire and asheet of plastic are fastened to a piece ofwood so that the wood is between them.Screen and plastic should each be longenough to extend the length of the hivebody inside. The screen should be wideenough to cover the side of a frame, andthe plastic should be wide enough to cover the top bars of five frames. Thelong side of the screen and the plasticshould be fastened to the wood, which should be 1/8-inch thick, 1-inch wide, andas long as the long side of screen andplastic.

The screen is placed between the fifthand sixth frame, and the plastic sheet islaid over the five frames where the queenis to be placed-this keeps her from mov-ing to the adjacent four frames whereroyal jelly is to be produced. The four

tainers for rendering-they may also use a heated wax press to render wax thatwould otherwise adhere to the cocoons inbrood combs. (For more information onbeeswax processing, see R. A. Grout, C.S. Bisson, or W. T. Kelly references listed under "Honey and Beeswax,"page 51.)

Some beekeeper-supply dealers will buy raw wax, or will exchange it for foun-dation. Wax from comb-cappings yields the higher market prices.

PRODUCTION

frames on the royal jelly side consist oftwo outer frames of honey and pollen, one inner frame with uncapped (open) brood,and another inner frame containing a barwith 15 to 20 regular cells which have been grafted with larvae (see grafting in-structions, page 22). The nurse bees ofthe colony will be stimulated to secreteroyal jelly to feed the larvae in the cellsas well as the uncapped brood in theadjacent frame. The frame holding thegrafted cells should be removed on thefourth day after it is placed in position.The cells are then trimmed down to thelevel of the royal jelly they contain andthe larvae removed. After this a vacuumis used to remove the royal jelly fromthe cells. The jelly is packaged in 1-pound, air-tight Opalite ointment jars andrefrigerated at 40°F. Usually, jelly is shipped to the buyer as soon as possibleafter harvest and by the fastest transpor-tation possible.

Another set-up consists of a 2-storyhive, with the 1-story set-up used as thesecond story (or super) above an excluder;each story should have its own queen.

The third hive set-up consists of a 2-story hive with the queen and colony ofbees in the hive body, which is separatedfrom the super by a queen excluder. Awooden rectangle (made of 1inch stock) with outside dimensions equal those ofthe hive body and the super is placedover the queen excluder and the super isplaced on it. This holds the bottom of theframes in the super an extra inch above the top bars of the frames in the hivebody, and thus reduces the probability ofcrushing bees when frames are placed in

the super. Nine frames are used in the super. The center frame has a bar with15 to 20 grafted cells on it for jelly pro-duction. On each side of this frame is aframe of uncapped brood. The other sixframes are for honey and pollen.

Regardless of the set-up used, the col-ony must be managed in certain ways formaximum production:

� Frames of open brood on either side of the frame holding the bar of graftedcells must be replaced with new framesfull of open brood at least every 14 days,or after every fourth graft, to get newbrood, frames with empty brood cells areplaced in the brood area in the queen-right portion of the hive.

� A residue of jelly is left in each cellwhen the jelly is harvested. A drop of one-half jelly and one-half water mixed is placed on the residue of jelly,in the cellbefore grafting because the larva is moreeasily placed onto this drop. A grafting

needle (see photo, top of page 23) is usedfor grafting; various designs are obtain-able.

� The royal jelly producing cells shouldbe grafted again as soon as possible afterjelly has been harvested.

� Grafting larvae are obtained from frames of brood taken from royal jellyproducing colonies.

� The queen sometimes cannot produce enough nurse bees, but this can be cor-rected by requeening for a more prolificqueen. Additional bees can be added by placing combs of emerging bees fromother colonies into weak colonies.

� Each colony should be harvestedevery fourth day; 1 pound of royal jellyper 200 colonies is usually producedunder the best conditions. The best con-ditions for royal jelly production are thesame as those for honey production.

For best quality, jelly should beshipped as quickly as possible after pro-duction.

POLLEN HARVESTING

Pollen, a by-product of honey bee col-onies, is used commercially as food for bees and other animals, for research on allergenics, and for use in helping evalu-ate the efficiencyof colonies used for pol-lination services. Only pollen from dis-ease-free colonies should be used forthese, and pollen from plants toxic tobees (such as California buckeye) or pol-len likely to be contaminated with pesti-cides should also not be used.

Pollen is carried to the hive in ball-likemasses on the hind legs of foraging bees,and so it is harvested by placing traps atthe hive entrance. These traps can be purchased, but beekeepers usually make their own. The main features of traps area cover, a pollen-trap screen, and a collec-tion tray with a bee-screen over it. Thepollen-trap screen (which should be re-moved for a while every few days to give the colony a chance to store pollen inthe hive) can be made from perforatedmetal strips with holes about 5 mm indiameter, or from two layers of 5-mesh

hardware cloth separated by about aquarter of an inch. The double layers ofhardware cloth should be offset so thatthe holes do not line up and the bees haveto wriggle through; this increases thechance that pollen pellets will be knockedloose from their hind legs. The collectiontray should be large enough to hold 2 ormore days harvest, and its bottom can becloth to allow air circulation and to re-duce moisture in the pollen pellets. Theentire trap should be covered to protectthe contents of the collection from rain. The screen over the collection tray shouldhave apertures small enough to preventbees from entering the tray but largeenough to allow pollen to drop througheasily. A 6- or 7-mesh hardware cloth isbest, but 8-mesh with thin-diameter wiremay suffice and is easier to obtain.

Pollen should be trapped principallyduring good pollen flows. Pollen from thetraps should be harvested at least every2 to 3 days, and should be immediatelystored at about 0°F.

Left: pollen trap on beehive. A: trap-supporting board; B: pollen collection tray; C: trap cover.Right: details of trap. A: supporting board; B: pollen-trapping screen: as bees pass throughthis screen, pollen scraped off them falls through a screen below into collection tray C.

Worker honeybee gathering pollen from an almond flower.

33 I

SOURCES OF POLLEN AND NECTARHundreds of species of California plants yield pollen or nectar, but the most im-portant plants for commercial nectar arealfalfa, oranges, cotton, beans, sages(black, sonoma, white and white leaf),yellow starthistle, wild buckwheats, man-zanita, eucalyptus, and bluecurls. Exten-sive use of herbicidest to control yellowstarthistle has decidedly reduced its pas-turage in California. Alfalfa, oranges, cot-ton, and beans present a hazard for bees because of pesticides used on them.

California buckeye, Aesculus califor-

nica (Spach) Nutt., deserves a special noteof caution because of its toxic nature tobees and its wide distribution and abun-dance. The tree is found throughout thefoothills of cismontane (see "Glossary")California from Siskiyou and Shasta counties to Kern County and northern Los Angeles County below 4,000 feet. Itblooms in May and June and is very at-tractive to honeybees, but bees feeding on its pollen are believed to produce lar-val food (pollen and honey) which results in malformed adults.

Cismontaneand transmontane regions ofCalifornia.

WILD PLANT SOURCES OF BOTH POLLEN AND NECTAR*

Plant Wher e found Time of bloom Color of honey

Bluecurls (Tricho-sterna lanceohturnBenth.)

Buckwheats, Wild (Eriogonumspp.)

Buttonbush(Cephalanthusoccidentalis L.)

Clover, Brewer (TrifoliumbreweriWats.)

Deervetch: broom;wild alfalfa (Lotusscoparius [Nutt.]Ottley)

Eucalyptus(Eucalyptusspp.)

Filaree(Erodiumspp.)

Goldenweed fleece (Haplopappusarborescens[Gray] Hall)

Dry open fields,below 3500 feet;most of cismontaneCalifornia.

ThroughoutCalifornia

Along streams andlake shores, below 3000 feet; through-out Central Valleyand adjacentfoothills.

Wooded slopes below 6500 feet;in Sierra Nevada from MaderaCounty north;Trinity, Siskiyou,andDel Norte counties.

Dry slopes, often following burnsbelow 5000 feet; most of cismontaneCalifornia.

Central Valley andCoast Ranges south to San DiegoCounty.

Stock forage plantof open grassy areas, below 3500 feet; throughoutcismontaneCalifornia.

Dry foothills below4000 feet (to 9000feet in SierraNevada); cismontane Sierra from Nevada County to TulareCounty; Coast Ranges from Del Norte County to VenturaCounty.

August to October

April to November

June to September

May to August

March to August

December to July

February to August

August to November

White

Light amber

White to light

White

White

Light amber

Light amber

Amber

* See California Flora, Munz and Keck, 1959. Berkeley: University of California Press.

35 I

Wild Plant Sources of Both Pollen and Nectar (continued)

Plant Where found Time of bloom Color of honey

Jackass clover (Wislizenia refractaEngelm.)

Alkali plains in SanJoaquin Valley. Limited distributiondue to landreclamation.

Mesquite (Prosopisglandulosa Torr. var. torreyana[L. Benson]M. C. Jtn.)

Mountain misery (Chamaebatiafoliolosa Benth.)

Mustard(Brassica spp.)

Poison oak (Rhusdiversiloba T. & G.)

Rabbit brush (Chrysothamnusnauseous [Pall.]Britt.)

Washes below 3000feet; Colorado andMojave deserts, San Joaquin Valley andinterior valleys from Santa BarbaraCounty to SanDiego County.

Open forest, 2000 to7000 feet; ShastaCounty to Kern County.

Weeds of orchards,open grassy slopes, and waste places;throughout cismon-tane California.Limited by weed control.

Low places, thickets and wooded slopes, below 5000 feet; throughout cismon-tane California.

Dry, open plainsand mountain sides,2500 to 9500 feet. Mostly in trans-montane California.

April to November Water white

April to June Light amber

May to July Amber

January to May Light amber

April to May White

September to Light amberOctober

Wild Plant Sources of Both Pollen and Nectar (continued)

Plant Wher e found Time of bloom Color of honey

Sage, Black (Salviamellifera Greene)

Sage, Sonoma[creeping] (Salviasonomensis Greene)

Sage, White (Salviaapiana Jeps.)

Sage, White leaf[Purple] (Salvialeucophylla Greene)

Sages other than black, sonoma, andwhite leaf(Salvia spp.)

Spikeweed andtarweed(Hemizonia spp.)

Dry slopes, below April to July Water white2000 feet; CoastRanges from Mon-terey Bay to SanDiego County.

Dry slopes, below May to June White6500 feet; foothillsof Sierra Nevadafrom Shasta County to Calaveras County,and Coast Rangesfrom Siskiyou County to NapaCounty, plus Mon-terey, San Luis Obispo and SanDiego counties.

Dry slopes, below April to July Water white5000 feet; SantaBarbara County south to San Diego County

Dry slopes below May to July2000 feet; Orange County north toMonterey andKern counties.

Water white

Mountain ranges Spring and Summer Water whiteand foothillsthroughout Califor-nia, mostly below 5000 feet.

Dry, open slopes April to November Light amberand grassy fields, to amberbelow 3000 feet;throughout cismon-tane California

Wild Plant Sources of Both Pollen and Nectar (concluded)

Plant--

Where found Time of bloom Color of honey

Starthistle, Yellow(Centaureasolstitialis L.)

Sumac, Laurel(Rhus laurina Nutt.)

Toyon (Heteromelesarbtifolia M. Roem.)

Wild lilac(Ceanothus spp.)

Willow (Salix spp.)

Widely distributed May to October White to extraweed. Limited by ex- light amber tensive weed con-trol program. Was widely spread inSacramento Valley.

Dry slopes, below June to July Amber 3000 feet; cismon-tane southern Cali-fornia from SantaBarbara County toSan Diego County

Brushy slopes and June to July Ambercanyons below 4000feet; foothills andmountains of cismon-tane California.

Dry slopes, often March to July Whiterocky or wooded,mostly below 6000feet; foothills andmountains of cis-montane California.

Stream banks, January to July Amber meadows and wet places; throughoutCalifornia.

DISEASESBee diseases are divided into two groups:those which affect the brood, and thosewhich affect adult bees. Brood diseasesgenerally are the more serious of the two.No disease of bees affects man.

Before attempting to diagnose disease, the beekeeper should become familiar with the appearance of healthy brood inall stages. In healthy colonies there isregularity in the arrangement of eggs, un-sealed larvae, capped brood, and emerg-ing bees. Healthy larvae in open cells areplump, glistening, and pearly white. Brood cappings normally are uniform andraised slightly above the comb surface. Once in place over the larvae, the cap-

pings remain free of visible holes untilemerging bees cut their way out of thecells.

Brood diseases Symptoms of brood disease generally first become noticeable in combs containingmature brood where young bees areemerging, or in combs containing morethan one cycle of brood. Symptoms also may be found in brood combs of the hivein which a colony has died of a brooddisease.

A comb being examined should be soinclined that direct sunlight illuminates

the lower side walls and bottoms of thecells. This makes it possible to see anydisease "scale" which might be present.If no dead brood is found in open oruncapped cells, it is advisable to removeany sunken, discolored, or puncturedcappings and examine the cell contents.When dead brood is found, the followingshould be noted: position of dead brood,age and type of brood affected, color, con-sistency, odor of dead brood in variousstages of decay, and position and tight-ness of scales.

The consistency of decaying larvae isimportant in disease diagnosis. Consist-ency can be determined by stirring thelarger end of a toothpick into a decaying larva and slowly withdrawing the adher-ing mass, observing the texture and not-ing whether the material can be drawnout into a fine thread. This thread-likeproperty is termed "ropiness."

Brood diseases most likelyto be encountered American foulbrood (AFB).This, the mostserious bee disease in North America, isfound in California, and at times hasmade commercial beekeeping unprofit-able in some areas. Colonies should beinspected periodically for this disease.

Larvae dead of AFB lie fully out-stretched on the lower cell walls. Pupaealso may be killed and usually die withtheir "tongues" stretched across the cells.Diseased larvae or pupae graduallychange color from white to dark coffeebrown, and finally dry to become thinscales tightly adhering to lower cell walls. Decaying brood is slimy and ropy; theodor is mildly putrid.

American foulbrood is caused by a bac-terium, Bacillus larvae White. Sporesenter the bee larva in contaminated food,and bacteria resulting from these sporesmultiply and produce a toxin which kills the larvae in its cell, usually just after thecell has been sealed. The bacteria con-tinue to multiply in the dead tissues andcause decay. As the decaying mass dries,the bacteria form into highly infectious spores, billions of which may be con-tained in a single dried scale. Spores ofB. larvae are extremely resistant to high

and low temperatures, to chemical disin-fectants, and to the dehydrating action ofhoney which normally kills bacteria. Thespores can remain alive and infectious foryears in honey, in combs, and on used equipment.

AFB is spread within the colony by adult bees whose mouthparts are con-taminated from working nectar or honeycontaining spores, or from attempts toremove diseased brood. Disease may bespread through larval food which has been secreted by bees having contami-nated mouthparts. Nectar and honey be-come contaminated by being stored incells containing diseased scale.

AFB is persistent, and infected colo-nies soon become unable to rear enoughhealthy brood to maintain colony popula-tion. As infection progresses, honey andcombs in a diseased colony become heav-ily contaminated with spores, and the dis-ease is spread to neighboring colonies ifthey rob the disease-weakened colony. Thus, diseased colonies constitute a seri-ous menace in any area where bees arekept.

To control AFB and prevent its spread,colonies must be inspected regularly anddiseased colonies must be destroyed.After the disease has been discovered inan apiary the remaining colonies shouldagain be thoroughly examined in 30 to60 days. A beekeeper not experienced inAFB abatement who finds signs of thisdisease in his apiary should immediately contact his County Agricultural Commis-sioner to obtain assistance.

Drugs may be fed to colonies not show-ing AFB disease symptoms as an aid inpreventing the disease. Sodium sulfathi-azole and Terramycins® are registered for such use and have appropriate directionson the container label. It is unlawful inCalifornia to treat or otherwise maintain an AFB-diseased colony of bees.

European foulbrood (EFB). This dis-ease. which occurs in some parts of Cali-fornia, can seriously cripple a colony.Strong colonies usually recover.

Larvae dead of EFB are coiled in thecell bottoms, or twisted across the lowercell walls; occasionally, they die in anoutstretched position. Diseased larvaefirst turn yellow, then brown, and finally

Dried remains (scale) of American foulbrood diseased larvae in bottom of cells.

Ropiness test for American foulbrood. Larvae killed by this disease are slimy and ropy.

dry to form dark, irregularly-shapedscales which are easily removed from thecells. Decaying larvae have a wet, paste-like consistency, sometimes exhibit a de-gree of ropiness and dry to form scales closely resembling those of AFB disease,and give off a sour odor. Pupae rarely areaffected. Rarely, a larva dead with EFBis found with the head upstretched to resemble the tongue mentioned in the dis-cussion of American foulbrood.

Sometimes EFB disease appears sud-denly and spreads rapidly through colo-nies-this is most likely to occur in spring after the first or second brood cycle. Atother times, it may spread slowly and do little damage. A good nectar flow seemsto hasten recovery. The disease usually subsides by midsummer, but occasionallyremains active during summer and fall;or it may seem to disappear and then re-appear in the fall. Terramycin is regis-tered for use in treating EFB-diseasedcolonies. Sulfa is not effective. Label di-rections must be followed closely to avoidinjury to brood or contamination ofhoney.

The disease usually can be controlledby dequeening the diseased colony for 10days to break the brood-rearing cycle andto give the bees an opportunity to cleandiseased brood from the cells. The colonycan then be requeened and more bees added, or it can be united with a stronger colony after the 10-day period. This treatment is also effective against para-foulbrood.

Parafoulbrood. Parafoulbrood is occa-sionally found in California and is com-parable to EFB in its effect. Larvae deadwith parafoulbrood typically lie twisted across the lower cell walls, althoughsometimes those lying in a normal coiled position may also be dead. Occasionallyolder larvae in sealed cells are killed andlie outstretched. The decaying mass hasa reddish-brown color, and the textureusually is moist and pasty, or gummy;occasionally there is ropiness. This diseaseis easily confused with either AFB or EFBand sometimes appears to be a mixture ofthe two.

Sacbrood. Sacbrood seldom results inmore than slight damage to colonies.Larvae killed by the disease lie fully out-

stretched on the lower cell walls, and are usually gray or brown and darker at thehead end. The larval skin remains intact,and the body contents become watery,making it possible to remove diseased larvae intact as a fluid-filled sac. The odoris sour. Scales are brown and wrinkled,and they are easily removed. Sacbrood ismore prevalent in spring but usuallyclears up with a good nectar flow. Colo-nies in which the disease persists can be requeened with resistant stock, or unitedwith stronger colonies after killing thesusceptible queen.

Adult bee diseasesThere are two major diseases of adultbees-nosema and paralysis. The firstsigns of these are an abnormal number of dead or dying bees at the entrance ofa colony, or the presence of crawling or paralyzed bees.

Nosema. This disease, which is causedby a minute parasite, seldom causes no-ticeable loss in California. The only reli-able way to determine if nosema is pres-ent in a colony is to submit a sample ofbees for laboratory examination. It usu-ally occurs in bad weather when bees areconfined to hives. An infected colony maybecome seriously weakened during thecritical population buildup in spring. In-fected bees may have their lives short-ened as much as 40 per cent, even thoughthey appear to forage normally untilshortly before death. Just before dying the bees become greatly distressed andare unable to fly; such bees may be foundcrawling about on the ground near anaffected colony making unsuccessful at-tempts to fly. They sometimes drag theirlegs, and their wings may seem to be dis-located. Their bodies often appear shinyand greasy, with the abdomen distended;dysentery symptoms may be present.Dying bees may stay in one place andtremble.

Loss from nosema is not always imme-diately apparent, as it is common for in-fected bees to die away from the hive.It usually is too late to apply effective control when signs of the disease are seen,so prevention is the only control. (Fumi-dil-B@is registered as an aid in preven-

tion.) The disease can best be preventedby keeping colonies strong, and by over-wintering them in locations shelteredfrom wind and open to maximum sun-shine. Confinement of bees, pollen short-age, queenlessness, chilling, and frequent handling can cause rapid buildup ofnosema.

Paralysis. Paralysis disease is widelydistributed in California. It seldom causes serious damage, except occasionally insouthern California, and affected colonies usually recover.

Diseased bees may be seen on top bars,or at the colony entrance. Typically, theyare weak, they shiver or tremble and are unable to fly or walk in a coordinated manner. Frequently their legs are widelysprawled, their wings disconnected, andtheir bodies hairless, with a dark greasyappearance. They have a distinct and re-pulsive odor.

Paralysis is mildy infectious, beingtransmitted directly from sick to healthy bees. Colonies in which the disease seems to persist can be requeened with resistantstock.

BEE DISORDERS Healthy colonies do not tolerate the pres-ence of dead brood and will remove it asquickly as possible. Seriously weakened colonies should be strengthened orunited with stronger colonies to hasten removal of dead brood from the combs.

Chilled or starved brood. Chilling usu-ally occurs in early spring when a severedrop in temperature follows warm weather-this causes the bee cluster inthe hive to contract and to neglect feed-ing brood in outer portions of the brood-rearing area. Chilling can also result fromseparating brood combs from the mainbrood areas, or from neglect if too many

bees are lost to pesticides or other causes.Brood dead from chilling or starvation will be found in a clearly defined area,not scattered among healthy brood. Allstages of brood in the affected area willbe dead. Dead brood is gray or brown,and has a slightly sour odor; it is easilyremoved from cells. Symptoms usually disappear with warmer weather, duringfeeding, or with the beginning of a nectar flow.

Overheated brood. Brood dead fromoverheating resembles brood dead fromchilling or starvation. When such brood is found at the same time that older larvae

DIAGNOSING DISEASESIf there appears to be a mixture of symptoms, or if symptoms do not appeartypical, it is advisable to submit samples to: Apiary Inspection, California Department of Agriculture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento, California 95814.Diagnosis is free.

To take samples of diseased brood, a smear should be made by stirring thecell contents with a clean toothpick.Transfer the smear to a small piece ofpaper along with the toothpick, fold the paper to prevent contamination, andplace into an envelope along with a letter requesting diagnosis. Samples ofscale pried loose from cell walls may be submitted in the same manner.

Samples of adult dead bees should be fresh; dried specimens are of littlevalue. Samples should be carefully selected and made up of bees which appearto be affected. They should be mailed in a container that will protect them from crushing. Live bees may also be sent provided they are properly caged.Satisfactory diagnosis can be made from a sample of 10 to 20 bees.

Comb samples are difficult to handle and are unnecessary in laboratorydiagnosis for AFB determination.

are observed outside their cells, overheat-ing has occurred. To prevent this bees should have adequate ventilation, anample supply of water, and shade.

Dead drone-brood in worker cells. Ifa queen bee lacks sperm, she will lay onlydrone-producing (unfertilized) eggs. If noqueen is present worker bees will some-times lay eggs but these will be unfer-tilized. This drone brood, which occurs inirregular patches with dome-like caps, is often allowed to die. It may be found in various stages of decay, usually in moist,pasty, brown patches having a sweet-rotten odor.

Queenless colony. A colony withoutbrood during the active season usually isqueenless. Queenless colonies usually show greater disturbance when the hiveis opened. Scattered cells of pollen witha glossy appearance found in the areanormally occupied by brood are typicalof a queenless colony.

Dysentery. This is a functional disorder which may result from eating indigestiblefood during a prolonged period of con-finement. The most noticeable sign ofdysentery is fecal matter in the hive, as bees normally void their body wastes

while in flight outside the hive. Honey-dew, unripened honey, or overheatedhoneys are unsuitable as feed if bees areunable to make frequent flights to voidbody waste (as is common in winter).

Starvation. Starvation is the majorcause of colony loss in winter and spring.Conclusive proof of starvation is thepresence of clusters of dead bees headfirst in comb cells where they have diedin search of food. Often, colonies whichhave produced a large amount of earlybrood deplete their stores and die of star-vation during confining weather in spring.Colonies also may starve later in the sea-son if subjected to a prolonged dearth be-tween nectar flows.

The most obvious sign of approachingstarvation is loss of hive weight, or ab-sence of sealed honey during a nectar dearth. Starving bees are restless andcrawl slowly about the comb as thoughcold even though the weather may bewarm. Egg-laying is retarded or ceasesentirely, and brood is neglected and al-lowed to die. Cappings sometimes areremoved and the brood eaten. Starvingbees occasionally cluster in a "hunger"swarm, usually on or near the hive.

POISONING

The first sign of poisoning usually is theappearance of a large number of dead ordying bees at colony entrances through-out the apiary. A knowledge of localpesticide programs, and of bloomingplants which may be toxic to bees, is im-portant in avoiding poisoning.

Pesticide injury. Most pesticides kill larvae in all stages as well as adult bees.Pesticide dusts are particularly hazardous because of their greater tendency to drift.If pesticide damage is suspected, the bee-keeper should immediately file a report ofloss with the Agricultural Commissionerof the county in which the damage oc-curred so the loss can be properly re-corded and investigated. Beekeepers can request the Commissioner's Office to no-

Bees killed by pesticides.

tify them when pesticides they considerparticularly dangerous to their coloniesare going to be applied in their area-they will be given a 48-hour warning. Alist of pesticides showing their relativetoxicity to bees can be obtained at anyFarm Advisor's office.

Poisonous plants. California plants pro-ducing nectar or pollen poisoncus to beesare: California buckeye (Aesculus cali-forina [Spach] Nutt.), Deathcamas (Ziga-denus venenosus), Cornlily (Veratrumcalifornicum), and locoweed (Astragalusspp.). Because of its wide distribution, buckeye is the most hazardous to bees.

Symptoms of buckeye poisoning usu-ally appear about a week after bees begin working the blossoms. Many young larvae

die, giving the brood pattern an irregularappearance. The queen's egg-laying ratedecreases or stops, or she may lay onlydrone eggs; after a few weeks an increas-ing number of the eggs fail to hatch, or amajority of the young larvae die beforethey are 3 days old. Some adults emerge with crippled wings or malformed legs and bodies. Foraging bees feeding onbuckeye blossoms may have dark, shinybodies and paralysis-like symptoms. Af-fected colonies may be seriously weak-ened or may die. However, the queenmay resume normal egg-laying if thecolony is moved from the buckeye area.

Honey produced from California buck-eye is not poisonous to humans. (Oddlyenough, neither is honey produced frompoison oak.)

BEE PESTS

Wax moths are widely distributed andtheir larvae can destroy a weak colony byburrowing through the cells and consum-ing the pollen and wax (strong coloniescan protect themselves). Combs kept instorage are also liable to attack by the larvae but the combs can be fumigatedto destrov moth larvae if thev do notcontain honey for human consumption.The simplest and safest fumigation pro-cedure is to stack five supers of emptycombs as tightly as possible on hive coverto prevent gas escaping from the bottomof the stack. Then put a piece of paperon the top bars of the top super and sprinkle 6 tablespoons of paradichloro-benzene (moth crystals) on the paper.Put a hive cover tightly in place on topof the paper. For long storage (as in over-winter) seal joints with masking tape and add more moth crystals every 2 to 3weeks if no crystals are present. Afterfumigation, air the combs for a few hoursbefore using.

Ethylene dibromide (EDB), a liquid which slowly fumes on contact with air, can also be used for fumigating. EDB isnon-flammable but toxic. Avoid skin con-tact and do not breath fumes. Stack supers to be fumigated out-of-doors. Putaluminum foil cover over the top bars ofthe uppermost super, leaving 3 inches

open space around edges, then place a folded paper towel or other absorbentmaterial on top of the foil and put 1tablespoon of EDB on this; edges of foilshould be turned up to prevent EDBfrom running into comb. Place a hivecover over the top of the super. No morethan eight full-depth supers should betreated in a stack. Fumigation should continue for at least 24 hours and shouldbe repeated if inspection shows waxmoth activity. If there are numeroussupers, 1 pound of EDB per 1000 cubicfeet should be used in a fairly airtightroom; fumigate for 20 hours.

Bears have a natural fondness forbrood as well as honey, and they may de-stroy hives in mountain locations (bee-keepers in such areas should consult thelocal farm advisor about the problem).

Large livestock sometimes damagecolonies located in the same field unless the apiary is fenced.

Skunks visit colonies at night toscratch the dirt in front of the hive (or at the entrance) and then eat bees thatcome out to investigate. Skunks molest-ing colonies can be trapped or poisoned.

Field mice can be destructive to combsin a hive during winter. An entranceguard of 3/8-inch-mesh hardware cloth pro-

Comb damaged by wax moth larvae. The thread-like material is webbing laid down by moth larvae.

vides effective protection against entry ofmice in fall or winter.

Ants of various kinds, especially theArgentine ant, may invade hives. Theycan be controlled by insecticides appliedto the ground surface before the bees aremoved into the apiary, or the hives canbe placed on stands made ant-proof by

placing the legs of the stands in cans filledwith oil.

Vandalism often is avoided by placingcolonies in clear view of passers-by andby posting a notice to the effect thatproperty molesters will be prosecuted.Some associations provide such posters for their members.

LAWS REGULATING BEEKEEPING

California bee laws, which are enforcedby County Agricultural Commissioners, provide the basis for an effective apiaryinspection program to help beekeepersprotect honey bee colonies from disease, pesticide, and theft.

Excerpts from California Agricultural Code relating to bees and apiary inspec-tion can be obtained from: Supply Ser-vice, California Department of Agricul-ture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento 95814.Beekeeping in some localities is alsogoverned by city or county ordinances so beekeepers should consult local authori-ties about this.

Apiary registration. All apiaries must be registered each November 1 with theAgricultural Commissioner of the countyin which the colonies are located. Regis-

tration is free and consists of listing thelocation of each apiary and the numberof colonies at each location. Newly ac-quired apiaries, and apiaries brought into the state, must be registered within 30 days of establishment.

Apiary movements and identification.Details of laws pertaining to movementand identification of apiaries can be ob-tained from County Agricultural Com-missioners. Beekeepers in Alpine, Inyo,Mariposa, Mono, and Trinity counties,which are without agricultural commis-sioners should send apiary registrations,movement notices, and inspection re-quests to: Supervisor of Apiary Inspec-tion, California Department of Agricul-ture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento, Cali-fornia 95814.

AN OBSERVATION BEE HIVEFew hobbies are as exciting and educa-tional as keeping a colony of bees in anobservation hive. The behavior of beesas a social unit, and their elaborate meansof communication, can be used to illus-trate basic biological concepts in teaching at all levels from kindergarten to college.Once the colony is established behindglass walls, anyone can visually enter theworld of the honey bee to observe the ac-tivities of an intriguing society; all of thehoney bees' life in the hive is unveiled,from egg laying by the queen to theemergence of new-born worker bees from cells in the comb. Some bees will be seenprocessing pollen into bee bread, otherswill be converting nectar into honey, andmany other worker bee activities such ascleaning the nest, building comb, and ex-changing food can be seen night and day.But perhaps the most fascinating sight isthat of worker bees returning from for-aging trips heavily laden with brightly colored pollen pellets as they enter the hive and perform dances that tell otherworkers where the pollen was gathered.(As an added bonus, bees in a 4-frameobservation colony may produce up to 20pounds of honey annually.)

To fully appreciate an observation hive, you should have some background knowl-edge about the biology and behavior ofhoney bees. Many excellent books on bees are available, and a few hours of readingsome of these will pay great dividends(see reference section at end of text).

The hive itself should be located so asto permit observation from both sides.Access must be provided from the hive to the outdoors so that the bees can foragefor food and water-a transparent run-way through the wall or a window will provide for this. Ideally, there should beno sidewalks or parking areas within ap-proximately 30 feet from the exit. Run-ways can be of considerable length andcan be built to turn corners or curves, although bees seem to orient better if theycan see light at the runway's exit.

Constructing and mounting the hiveObservation hives can be purchased, but

the hive shown below is economical andsimple to construct and will accommodatefour standard full-super frames. Bees needthis amount of space for clustering, rear-ing brood, and storing food reserves.

Ideally, the hive base should bemounted rigidly to a sturdy table or plat-form. Because all manipulations of thecolony must be made outdoors, themounting and runway attachments should be made in such a way that the hive canbe easily disconnected. Before the beesare installed, temporarily mount the hivein its permanent-position and then con-struct the runway to the outdoors. Run-ways can be made with parallel wooden strips on a wooden floor and covered withglass, Plexiglas, or plastic. Fibrous ma-terial such as cardboard, paper, or clothshould never be used; bees chew through these materials in a few days.

Sometimes there is a problem in mak-ing an opening through the window toaccommodate the exit runway. One solu-tion is to replace the window glass witha sheet of Plexiglas or plywood in whichan opening can easily be cut. For an at-tractive installation, paint all wood parts(except the frames) of the hive and run-way before the glass or plastic is mounted.White observation hives are most attrac-tive, but any color is satisfactory. Paintshould be dry before bees are placed inthe hive.

Establishing the observation colonyBees may be installed in the observationhive anytime between early spring andmid-summer. Worker bees may be pur-chased along with the queen; approxi-mately 3 pounds of bees are sufficient.

The quickest method to establish anobservation hive is to put frames of broodand a queen from a conventional hiveinto it. Once the queen is inside the ob-servation hive, the temporarily disorga-nized bees (including those outside thehive) will soon find the queen and clusteraround her.

Instead of purchasing packaged bees, a swarm may be captured and installed.

An observation hive, with construction details. Commercial observation hives are also available.

During the swarming season each spring various public agencies (police, fire de-partment, county agricultural agencies)receive numerous requests to removeswarms, and they frequently are willingto place applicant's names on a "swarmwaiting list.'

Installing a swam. Lay the observationhive (containing frames) on its side with the runway side up, propping the top ofthe hive on a box approximately 1-foothigh. Loosen the plastic mounting clampson the upper glass wall and slide theglass approximately 1 foot toward thehive top. Then shake the cluster of beesinto the opening and gently slide theglass wall into position, being careful toavoid crushing bees. Inevitably, a fewbees may not get into the hive, and theseshould be checked to see if the queen isamong them. If the queen is among them, she should be captured and placed in the hive

Installing packaged bees. Prepare the

hive as in the instructions immediately above. Now, lightly sprinkle water on thewires of the package - this will calm thebees. Rap the package so that workerbees will fall to the bottom, and then re-move the queen cage from the package.One end of the queen cage has a hole with a cork disk over it-remove thisdisk, exposing the "candy" beneath it. Place the cage inside the hive near thelower frame, making sure that the cage'sscreen can be reached by worker bees (who will have to feed the queen through the screen for a few days).

Now shake the bees into the hive andslide the glass wall shut. The bees will beattracted to the queen, and will eat thecandy which blocks her exit from thequeen cage, thus freeing her. If the cageis not supplied with candy, the queenshould be released immediately. Theempty cage can be removed whkn con-venient.

Transferr ing bees from conventionalhive to observation hive. Remove two

frames of capped brood, one frame ofhoney, and one frame of empty combfrom a conventional hive (all framesshould be covered with bees). Place themin that order, bottom to top, in the ob-servation hive. Shake additional bees from the conventional colony into the observa-tion hive. Make certain that the queenhas been transferred.

Maintaining theobservationhiveAfter the newly established hive ismounted, a feeder containing sugar syrup should be provided for the colony.Feeders can be made by punching ordrilling 20 to 50 small holes in the lidof a pint or quart glass jar; the jar shouldthen be filled with sugar syrup and in-verted over the feeding chamber. Sugar syrup should be available continuouslyuntil all the combs are filled with honey or brood. Thereafter, the colony should be fed only when its stored honey is gone.

Under normal conditions established colonies are self-supporting and requirelittle maintenance. However, colonies inobservation hives require special main-tenance because there are fewer foragersthan in the regular hive. When weather conditions permit foraging flights, andnectar and pollen are available, the ob-servation colony collects nectar rapidlyand accumulates an abundance of honey-this reduces need for maintenance.

Preparing the colony for winter . Unlessthe climate permits bee flight at leastonce a month, it is not advisable to try tomaintain an observation colony in winter.Without periodic flights, high mortality usually occurs, and the colony may die in mid-winter or early spring. Therefore, itis usually best to terminate the colony inautumn after brood rearing has ceased (the queen can be removed earlier if de-sired). This is done by shaking the beesoff the observation hive frames near the entrance of a normal outdoor colony. Thebees will soon be accepted into the col-ony. The frames of combs from the bee-less hive may then be wrapped and storedat 0°F.; this prevents granulation ofhoney and infestation by pests duringstorage. The following spring a colony

may be reestablished in the hive, usingthe stored frames of comb.

Special problems and their solutionsAlthough honey bees are largely self-sufficient, minor difficulties may arise oc-casionally. These are discussed below.

Sunlight. Observation hives shouldnever be exposed to direct sunlight.

Ventilation. Normally, the observationhive will have adequate ventilationthrough its runway to the outside andadditional ventilation ports will not benecessary. However, if the inside of thehive walls become fogged for a prolongedperiod, additional ventilation ports (3/4inch holes covered by 8-mesh wire screen) may be provided on the top or ends ofthe hives. Healthy colonies typically arefull of bees, and it is a mistake to suppose that bees need additional ventilation sim-ply because they appear to be crowded.

Swarming. In spring colonies increaserapidly in population, and swarming istherefore to be expected. The hobbyistmay wish to study this phenomenon, butif he wishes to prevent it the easiest con-trol method is to kill the old queen when the colony population reaches its peak inthe spring (she can be killed by pinchingher head). A new queen will be rearedautomatically by the bees, and the shortinterruption of brood rearing normallystops swarming tendencies for the re-mainder of the season.

Invasion by pests. In some areas antsare a serious pest of bees, and coloniesinvaded by ants are liable to become dis-organized enough to stop their normalactivities. Poisonous baits for ant controlmay be used near the colony, but accessby bees (or other animals) to baits mustbe prevented by covering bait containerswith 8-mesh wire screens which should be at least 1/2 inch from the bait itself sothat bees cannot reach through and eatthe bait. Do not use insecticides near thehive.

Population decline. Except for normalseasonal fluctuations, a decline in bee population usually is caused by insuf-ficient brood rearing. Usually, the hive

population is stable: hundreds of new beesemerge each day and compensate fornormal losses (bees live 6 to 8 weeks insummer, and up to 6 months in winter). If brood rearing decline is caused by anold and inferior queen, queen replace-ment is usually the best solution (see page 20).

Lack of food. The threat of starvationis greatest when rapid consumption ofhive food supplies occurs during the in-tensive spring brood rearing. If the hivecontains enough capped cells of honey,bees will not starve; if capped honey isnot present, sugar syrup should be fed to the colony.

Accidental bee escapes. Because theyare confused, bees accidentally releasedindoors usually do not sting. However, stinging may occur near the colony withina few seconds after bees escape, par-ticularly if thousands are liberated sud-denly. If this happens, permit the col-ony to settle a few minutes; after beeshave settled down, the hive and any ad-hering bees may be gently taken out-doors. (Any bees remaining in the build-ing may be easily caught with a vacuumcleaner). Whenever the colony is carried

outdoors, always remember to plug upthe runway at the point where it was dis-connected from the hive.

Orientation of bees. Observation hive bees can become disorganized (disori-ented) when they are installed, or afterany change in the arrangement of thecolony runway. Disoriented bees in a hive seem to be wandering about and do not perform any of the chores they usuallydo. Several days may be required forforager bees to adjust to a new location or runway arrangement. Young bees justlearning to fly may be seen in intensiveflight around the hive entrance in earlyaiternoons; this is their method of ori-enting themselves to the colony in prepa-ration for later foraging.

Use of smoker and protective clothing.To control bees a few gentle puffs ofsmoke should be blown into the hive en-trance just before the top of the hive isremoved. When smoke is applied skill-fully and in small amounts the risk of be-ing stung is minimized; however, oneshould always wear a bee veil and cloth-ing that protects the entire body. Alwaysmove slowly and carefully around bees-fast motion, loud noises, or any jarring ofthe hives excites them.

REFERENCESBehavior FeedingFRISCH, KARL VON ANNUAL REPORTS

1950. Bees. Their vision, chemical 1950. United States Department ofsenses and language. Ithaca, Agriculture. Bureau of Ento-N.Y.: Cornell University Press. mology and Plant Quarantine. 119 pp. 58 PP.

1967. The dance language and orien- BURKE, P. W.tation of bees. Cambridge, 1963. Feeding bees. Ontario Dept. ofMassachusetts: Belknap Press. Agric. Publ. 131, Toronto. 8 p.566 pp. ECKERT, J. E.

RIBBANDS, C. R. 1942. The pollen required by a colony1953. The behavior and social life of of honey bees. J. Econ. Ent.

honey bees. Bee Research As- 35:309-11.sociation, London, reprinted in HAYDAK, MYKOLA H.1965 by Dover Publ., Inc., 180 1936. Value of foods other than pol-Varick St., New York, N.Y. len in nutrition of the honey-352 p. bee. J. Econ. Ent. 29(5):870-77.

D1937. Further contribution to the

iseases study of pollen substitutes. J.BAILEY, LESLIE Econ. Ent. 30(4):63741.

1963. Infectious diseases of the honey 1945. Value of pollen substitutes forbee. London: Land Books, Ltd. brood rearing by honey bees. J.176 pp. Econ. Ent. 38(4):484-87.

1961. Influence of storage on the nu-tritive value of pollens for newly emerged honeybees.American Bee Journal. 101(9):354-55.

1963. Influence of storage on the nu-tritive value of pollen for broodrearing by honeybees. J, of Api-cultural Research 2(2):105-7.

1965. Nutritive value of pollen for bees. Minn. Agric. Expt. Sta.,Misc. Journal Series. Paper No.1183. pp. 73-77.

HAYDAK, MYKOLA H. and M. TANQUARY

1943. Pollen and pollen substitutes inthe nutrition of the honeybee.Univ. of Minnesota, Agr. Expt.Sta., Tech. Bul. 160. 1-23.

LEVIN, M .D. and G. F. KNOWLTON

1956. So your bees need to be fed.Utah State Agric. College Ext. Service. Mimeograph Series 153.2p.

PARKER, RALPH L.1926. The utilization of pollen and pol-

len substitutes by the honeybee. J. Econ. Ent. 19(1):161-3.

SCHAEFER, C. W. and C. L. FARRAR

1946. The use of pollen traps and pol-len supplements in developinghoney bee colonies. Agr. Res.Administration. Bureau of En-tomology and Plant Quaran-tine, E-531. 12 pp.

SHEESLEY, ROBERT and BERNARD PODUSKA

1968. Supplemental feeding of honeybees . . . colony strength andpollination results. American Bee Journal. 108(9):357-9.

TODD, F. E.1941. The role of pollen in the econ-

omy of the hive. U.S.D.A. Mim-eograph Circ. E536:1-7.

TODD, F. E. and 0.BRETHERWICK

1942. The composition of pollen. J.Econ. Ent. 35:312-17.

GeneralAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE

1965. An appraisal of the beekeepingindustry. U.S.D.A. ARS 42-150.38 pp.

BUTLER, COLIN G.1962. The world of the honey bee.

Published by Collins, London.226 p.

CALIFORNIA HONEY ADVISORY BOARD,P. 0. Box 32, Whittier, California.ECKERT, JOHN E. and FRANK R. SHAW

1960. Beekeeping. The MacMillanCo., New York, 536 p.

GROUT, ROY A., ed.1963. The hive and the honey bee.

3rd ed. Dadant and Sons, Ham-ilton, Illinois. 556 p.

LAIDLAW, HARRY H., JR. and J. E. ECKERT

1962. Queen rearing. Univ. of Calif.Press, Berkeley. 165 p.

MCGREGOR, S. E., ed.1967. Beekeeping in the United

States. U.S.D.A. Handbook 335. U. S. Government Printing Of-fice, Washington, D.C. 147 p.

OWENS,CHARLES D. and S. E. MCGREGOR

1964. Shade and water for the honeybee colony. U.S.D.A. ARSLeaflet 530.

ROOT, A. I. and E. ROOT

1966. The ABC and XYZ of Bee Cul-ture. 33rd ed. A. I. Root CO.,Medina, Ohio. 712 pp.

SNODGRASS, R. E.1956. Anatomy of the honey bee.

Comstock Publ. Associates,Ithaca, New York. 334 p.

SINNOTT, EDMUND W., L. C. DUNN andTH. DOBZHANSKY

1950. Principles of Genetics. McGrawHill Book Co., New York, N.Y.505 p.

HistoryWATKINS, LEE H.

1968a. California's first honey bees. American Bee Journal 108(5):190-91.

1968b. Mr. Buck's importations of beesto California. American Bee Journal 108(6):232-33, 35.

1968c. Migratory beekeeping in Cali-fornia. Gleanings in Bee Culture96(12):732-34.

1969a. John S. Harbison. Pioneer San Diego Beekeeper. The J. of SanDiego History XV(4):17-27.

1969b. John S. Harbison: California'sfirst modern beekeeper. Agri.History XLIII(2):239-48.

I

Honey and beeswaxBAUER, FREDERICKW.

1960. Honey Marketing. Calif. Agric.Expt. Sta. Bul. 776. 71 p.

BISSON,CHARLES S., GEORGE H. VANSELL

and WALTER B. DYE

1940. Investigations on the physicaland chemical properties of bees-wax. Techical Bul. 716.U.S.D.A. 24 p.

GROUT, ROY A.1963. The hive and the honey bee.

3rd ed. Dadant and Sons, Ham-ilton, Illinois. Pp. 425-36.

KELLEY, WALTER T.1966. How to keep bees and sell

honey. Walter T. Kelley Co.,Clarkson, Kentucky. 112 p.

U.S.D.A. AGRICULTURAL MARKETING

SERVICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 202501951. U. S. standards for grades of

extracted honey. Apr. 16, 1951, 4th issue.

U.S.D.A., CONSUMER AND MARKETING

SERVICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250 1967. U. S. standards for grades of

comb honey. May 24, 1967.2nd issueamended.

WHITE, J. W., MARY H. SUBERS, andIRENE KUSHNIR

1963. How processing and storage af-fect honey quality. Gleanings inBee Culture. 91(7):422-25.

InsecticidesANDERSON, L. D., E. L. ATKINS, JR., H.NAKAIUHARA, and E. A. GREYWOOD

1971. Toxicity of pesticides and otheragricultural chemicals to honey bees-field study. Univ. ofCalif. Agric. Ext. Serv. AXT-251.

STANGER, WARD

1968. Why and how honey bees should be protected. Univ. ofCalif. Agric. Ext. Serv. AXT-268.

TODD, FRANK E. and S. E. MCGREGOR

1952. Insecticides and bees. U.S.D.A.Agric. Yearbook, "Insects" pp.131-34.

1961. Insecticides and honey bees. U.S.D.A. Agric. Yearbook, pp.247-250.

5 1]

Nectar and pollen plantsVANSELL, G. H. rev. G. H. VANSELL andJ. E. ECKERT

1941. Nectar and pollen plants ofCalifornia. Univ. of Calif.Agric. Expt. Sta. Bul. 517.

PeriodicalsAMERICAN BEE JOURNAL

51 North Second St., Hamilton, Illinois.Editor, Vern E. Sisson.

APICULTURAL ABSTRACTS

Bee Research Association, Hill House,Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross,Bucks, England.

BEE WORLD

Bee Research Association. Hill House,Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross,Bucks, England.

GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE

623 West Liberty Street, Medina, Ohio44256, Jack Happ, editor.

HONEY MARKET NEWS

Semi-monthly report. Calif. Dept. ofAgric.,1220 N Street, Sacramento, Cal- ifornia 95814.

HONEY MARKET NEWS

Monthly report. U.S.D.A. Dept. ofConsumer and Marketing Service,2503 South Agr. Bldg., Washington,D.C. 20250.

JOURNAL OF APICULTURAL RESEARCH

Bee Research Association, Hill House,Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross,Bucks, England.

Poisonous plantsVANSELL, G. H.

1926. Buckeye poisoning of the honeybee. U.C. College of Agric.Agric. Expt. Sta. Circ. 301.September 12p.

VANSELL, GEORGE H., WM. G. WATKINS,

and L. F. HOSBROOK

1940. Distribution of buckeye in theSierra Nevada in relation tohoney production. Univ. ofCalif. Expt. Sta. July.

Pollen traps and pollenHARP, EMMETT R.

1966. A simplified pollen trap for useon colonies of honey bees.Entom. Res. Div. Agric. Res.Serv., U.S.D.A. ARS 33-111.3p.

HODGES, D.1952. The pollen loads of the honey

bee. Bee Research AssociationLtd.

MAKAR,STANISLAW

1964. New concept for pollen trap-ping. Univ. of Wisconsin Bul.568.

NYE, W. P.1959. A modified pollen trap for

honey bee hives. J. Econ. Ent.52:1024-25.

SCHAEFER, W. C. and C. L. FARRAR

1946. The use of pollen traps and pollen supplements in develop-ing honey bee colonies. Bur. Entom. and Plant Quarantine, Agric. Res. Serv., U.S.D.A.E-531.

SMITH, M. V.1963. The O.A.C. pollen trap. Api-

culture Dept., Ontario Agric.College, Guelph, Canada. 2 p.

PollinationBOHART, GEORGE E. and FRANK E. TODD

1961. Pollination of seed crops by in-sects. U.S.D.A. Agric. Yearbookentitled "Seeds," pp. 240-46.

FREE, J. B.1970. Insect pollination of crops.

London and New York: Aca-demic Press Ltd. 544 pp.

MCGREGOR, S. E. and OTTO MACKENSEN

1968. Taylor-made bees do honey of ajob. U.S.D.A. Agric. Yearbook,pp. 110-14.

MUNZ and KECK

1959. California flora. Univ. of Calif.Press.

STANGER, WARD and ROBBIN W. THORP

1967a. Honey bees in alfalfa pollina- tion. Univ. of Calif. Agric. Ext.Serv. AXT-228.

1967b.Honey bees in almond pollina- tion. Univ. of Calif. Agric. Ext.Serv. OSA-196.

1969. Cantaloupe,cucumber, and wa-termelon pollination. Univ. ofCalif. Agric. Ext. Serv. OSA-231.

STANGER, WARD, ROBBIN W. THORP, and LEN FOOTE

1968. Honey bee pollination in Cali-fornia. Univ. of Calif. Agric.Ext. Serv. AXT-228.

TODD, FRANK E. and GEORGE H. VANSELL

1952. The role of pollinating insects and legume seed production.Proceedings of 6th Interna-tional Grasslands Congress. pp.835-40.

VANSELL, GEORGE H. and W. H. GRIGGS

1952. Agents of pollination. U.S.D.A.Agric. Yearbook entitled "In-sects," pp. 88-106.

Royal jelly JOHANSSON, TAGE S. K.

1955. Royal jelly. Bee World 36:3-13,21-32.

JOHANSSON,TAGE S. K. and MILDREDP.1959. Royal Jelly II. Bee World 39:

254-64,277-86.

GLOSSARYAbdomen: The section of the body behind the thorax containing the sting apparatus. Acid board: A specially designed board used to drive bees off the honey comb so the

honey can be harvested.Apiary: Acollectionof populated bee hives.Balling: Mass attack of worker bees on the queen. Beeswax: A wax secreted by the wax glands Iocated on the underside of four ab-

dominal segments of the bee. It is used by the bees to construct comb.Brood nest: The area inside the hive body devoted to brood rearing.Burr comb: Comb on top bars of frames.Cell: One of the hexagonal compartments of the honey comb in which the brood is

reared or the food is stored.Cismontane: Area west of Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern and central Califor-

nia, and area west of Mojave and Colorado deserts in southern California. (See also"transmontane.")

Cluster : Acolony of bees clinging together for warmth.Colony: A community of bees living in close association and contributing to their

mutual support by their labor. It is composed of a queen and worker bees, andduring spring and summer drone bees are present. The terms "colony" and "hive"are often used interchangeably.

Comb: A mass of hexagonal cells made of beeswax and containing brood and food.Bees build combs on foundations in frames.

Drawn comb: Comb constructed on a sheet of foundation.Drone layer : A queen that lays only unfertilized eggs, which produce only drones. Foundation: A thin sheet of beeswax imprinted with the hexagonal cell bases of the

honey comb; used as base f o rcomb when placed in frames.Frame: A rectangle usually made of wood that is hung inside the hive; it supports

the foundation and comb. Sometimes "frame" and "comb"are used interchangeably: a "comb of brood,"a "frame of brood."

Head: That area of the bee's body bearing eyes, mouthparts, and antennae.Hive: A container housing a colony of bees. Usually consists of a hive body below

and a super above. Hive body: The part of the hive containing frames of combs in which the queen lays

eggs. The hive body rests on the bottom board.Larva: The immature and worm-like form which develops from the egg.Larvae: Plural of larva.Meiosis: A process whereby the nucleus of the bee egg divides and leaves the mature

egg ready for fertilization by the sperm with one chromosome set (16 chromo-somes) in honey bees.

Nectar : A sweet liquid secreted by plants, mostly sucrose sugar and water.Nucleus ("Nuc"): A small colony in a small hive used to mate queens, composed of

worker bees only with an introduced queen. Pollen: Male sex cells produced in anthers of flowers. They are powder-like and are

composed of many grains. Gathered and used by honey bees for food-a source ofprotein.

Pollinator : An insect agent which pollinates flowers.Pollination: To place pollen on the stigma of a flower. In beekeeping, refers to the

service provided by honey bees in crop production. Propolis: Plant resins collected by bees and used by the bees as a cement to stick hive

parts together and to seal openings. Also called bee glue.Pupa: The preadult form of bees occurring after the larval stage and maintained

without evident change in size and structure until the adult bee emerges from thecell.

Queenr ight: A colony containing a queen. Queenless: Acolony without a queen. Slumgum: That which remains after all the wax has been rendered from old comb;

it consists mostly of pollen and brood cocoons.Super : A wooden box with frames containing foundation or drawn comb in which

honey and pollen are stored. The same type of box is referred to as a "hive body"when it contains brood as well as honey and pollen.

Supersedure: The replacement by the worker bees of an inferior queen bee by a new queen that they have produced.

Thorax: The middle area of the body of the honey bee. This part of the body bears the wings and six legs.

Transmontane: Area east of Sierra Nevada Mountains; includes Mojave and Coloradodeserts.

To simplify the information, it is sometimes necessary to use trade names ofproducts or equipment. No endorsement of named products is intended nor is criti-cism implied of similar products not mentioned.

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