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 for information on the current situation with respect to mites, laws, and bee disease treatments. This version Beekeeping in California (a revision of an earlier edition) was once available through the California Cooperative Extension Service offices located through out the state of California. When it became dated it was dropped from their publication list. 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 or modify its content. 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

Beekeeping in California

The Authors Eric C. Mussen, Extension Harry H. Laidlaw, Emeritus Apiculturist, University of Professor of Entomolog and California, Davis; editor and reviser Apiculturist, Retired, diversity of of all sections. California, Davis. Maintaining Genetic Stock Len Foote, Chief, Control and Eradication, Division of Plant Robbin W. Thorp, Professor of Industry, California Department of Entomology and Apiculturist, in the Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, Experiment Station, University of California. California, Davis. State Laws Relating to Beekeeping Pollinating Crops with Honey Bee Diseases Bees Other Disorders Sources of Nectar and Pollen Pests of Bees Lee H. Watkins, Emeritus Apiarist (deceased), University of California, Norman E. Gary, Professor of Davis. Entomology and Apiculturist, in the Experiment Station, University of Beekeeping in California California, Davis. Front and back cover photos An Observation Beehive by Paul Rosenfeld Fore word 1 Contents Beekeeping in California 2 Value of the industry Keeping bees for fun and profit Becoming a Beekeeper 4 Beekeeping organizations State laws relating to beekeeping The Colony 6 The queen bee The drone bee The worker bee Annual colony cycle Choosing Bees 9 Buying a colony in a hive Buying a nucleus Buying and installing packages Hiving a swarm Choosing Equipment 1 1 Hive components Personal equipment Managing Bees 17 Colony examinations Spring management Preventing swarming Summer management Preventing robbing Fall and winter management Feeding Bees 22 Supplemental feeding-pollen Supplemental feeding-sugar Supplemental feeding-pollen supplements and substitutes Maintaining Genetic Stock 25 Environment and heredity Stock maintenance Care of queens Requeening Queen introduction Pollinating Crops with Honey Bees 27 Deploying colonies CoIony strength Distribution Plant competition Other considerations Moving hives Producing and Marketing Honey 30 Small-scale harvesting Large-scale harvesting Honey products Honeydew honey Commercial Queen Rearing 36 Rearing queens Packaged bee production Other Enterprises 39 Beeswax Royal jelly Harvesting pollen Sources of Nectar and Pollen 42 Bee Diseases 45 Brood diseases Adult bee diseases Honey bee parasitic mites Diagnosing diseases Materials registered for bee disease control Other Disorders 51 Poisoning Brood disorders Other problems Pests of Bees 54 Wax moth Ants Bears Materials registered for wax moth control Skunks Mice Livestock Vandalism An Observation Beehive 57 Construction and mounting Establishing the colony Maintaining the hive Problems and solutions Glossary 62 References 67 For information about ordering this publication, write to:

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Publication 21422 ISBN 0-931876-79-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 87-71574

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5m-pr-12187-HSIFB Formerly Publication 4026

Beekeeping in California

The first known evidence that shipment of honey bees ever early man robbed honey from bees is attempted. In 1869 Harbison moved a primitive drawing on a cave wall in his bees from Sacramento to the eastern Spain dating from 7000 B.C. newly discovered sage and wild Throughout recorded history hon- buckwheat ranges of San Diego ey's importance as a food and as County, and by 1873 San Diego medicine has been realized. English County had produced more honey settlers brought the honey bee (Apis than any other county in California. mellifera L.) to North America in By 1876, Harbison had 3,750 colonies about 1622. Thomas Jefferson, in his of bees in 12 apiaries and was recog- Notes on the Stateof Virginia, observed nized as the largest honey producer that American Indians called the in the world. Since that time, Cali- honey bee "the white man's fly." In fornia has been one of the nation's California, honey bees were intro- principal honey-producing states. duced in 1853 by Christopher A. Twentieth century beekeeping has Shelton, who established an apiary its own unique problems, mostly the of 12 colonies just north of San Jose. result of increased urbanization and Of the 12, only one survived, but it the consequence that nectar sources cast three swarms that summer and are widely scattered. Fortunately, by 1858 there were at least 150 colo- small numbers of colonies often can nies directly descended from the do well in or near cities because of Shelton hive. the diversity of flowering plants California's first professional bee- within their flight range. The ama- keeper, JohnS. Harbison, imported teur beekeeper may often profit from 57 colonies from Pennsylvania to this fact. Sacramento in December 1857; of these 50 survived. He increased them by artificial division to 136 Value of the industry hives and sold 130 for $100 each. Harbison then imported 114 colo- From an economicstandpoint, nies, lost 11, and in 1859 sold nearly honey bees make their greatest con- $30,000 worth of bees, keeping 138 tribution to California agriculture as colonies for himself for the next sea- pollinators of commercial crops. The son. Harbison's sensational success following crops, realizing more then started a "bee rush" to California, $1 billion annually, require bee polli- and in 1859 and 1860 more than nation: alfalfa seed, almonds, most 8,000 colonies were imported from apples, avocados, Bartlett pears, the East Coast via the Isthmus of bushberries, cherries, cucumbers, Panama, the largest long-distance flaxseed, kiwi, Ladino clover seed, 2 melons, plums, prunes, pumpkins, crops can be quite good in coastal, rape seed, safflower seed, squash, urban, or suburban areas where sunflower seed, tangelos, tanger- weeds, trees, flowers, and shrubs ines, 22 vegetable seeds, and flower are apt to bloom most of the year. seeds. Many of these crops, as well However, where lack of rainfall cre- as ornamental plants, are grown in ates long nectar and pollen dearths home or community gardens where during summer, colonies must be bee pollination is equally as essential examined often and frequently must for producing seeds, fruits, or vege- be fed to avoid malnutrition or tables. Bees also pollinate weeds, starvation. which provide food for wild birds and mammals and prevent erosion of watersheds and wilderness areas. Keeping bees for fun and profit Bee pollination has an enormous impact on our diets and on the stabil- Interest in keeping bees increased ity of our environment. during the 1970s, largely because of Some California beekeepers spe- the conviction that natural foods are cialize in producing queens and preferable to processed foods. Thus, packaged bees for sale for starting honey appeared to be an ideal sub- new colonies or requeening function- stitute for sugar. The aesthetic values ing units. More than 450,000 pack- of beekeeping are also often impor- ages (each with a queen) are shipped tant. Observing bee behavior at the annually to northern honey pro- hive (reglationof population size ducers to restock hives that are emp- and use of space within the hive) or tied in winter. Another 150,000 outside the hive (foraging for water, queens are sold for installation in nectar, pollen, and propolis, plus overwintered hives or to quick start pollination ecology) is a leisurely recently divided colonies. The way to relax and enjoy life. The demand for queens and packages rewards for successful colon,y man- produced by reputable bee breeders agement and the consequences of is great, because commercially pro- unsuccessful management are duced stocks are most likelv to be apparent. mild-tempered, good producers. Everv beekeeper can realize a Commercial honey production in profit, if that is a goal. Locally pro- California varies from good to poor, duced honey usually sells quickly at, depending upon weather conditions. or slightly above, supermarket prices Most beekeepers equipped to move when hobby beekeepers advertise its bees take at least a portion of their availability. Beekeepers who wish to bees to potential honey-producing augment their incomes substantially areas each vear. When the nectar must overate between 50 and 500 flow is heavy in certain areas, thou- colonies. Most commercial bee- sands of hives may be moved in. The keepers operate between 1,000 and California honey crop averages about 2,000 colonies, often with one or 20 million pounds per year, not more permanent helpers and part- enough to meet the state's consumer time employees for extracting honey demand. Honey packing and import- or shaking bees. Most commercial ing are important segments of the beekeepers in California engage in California beekeeping industry. crop pollination during the year, Hobby beekeepers often keep from which they earn a significant their bees in one location. Honey portion of their annual income. 3 Becoming a Beekeeper

Persons considering keeping bees (4) Locate your apiary close to can learn through self education and home, away from pedestrians and experience. Classes and short auto traffic, and where the bees will courses in beekeeping are also help- not disturb people or livestock. ful, and many good books and other (5) Provide a permanent, functional literature are available (see Refer- watering device if a natural source of ences). However, no amount of read- water is not readily available. ing can substitute for actual experi- ence with colonies. Local beekeeping (6) Avoid placing hives in areas clubs often willingly share informa- where pests (ants, skunks, bears) or tion, and many will show beginners poisonous plants (California buck- how to manage a colony and what to eye, locoweed, corn lily, or death expect through the year. Those seek- camas) may damage the colony. ing financial profit should apprentice (7) Protect your bees from strong themselves to a commercial bee- winds and hot summer sunshine. keeper for a year or two to learn the ropes. Names of beekeepers often are available from county agricultural commissioners,county farm advi- Beekeeping organizations sors, local police and fire depart- ments, and animal control units. Groups of California beekeepers If you decide to start keeping have been meeting for nearly a cen- bees: tury. At the state level, the California State Beekeepers' Association repre- (1) Check state and local laws for sents the interests of the commercial possible restrictions on keeping bees beekeepers, although a number of (see below). noncommercial beekeepers attend their annual meeting in November. (2) Determine your sensitivity to bee Many local clubs have formed on stings-your doctor can test this. a county basis. These clubs tend to (3) Purchase, assemble, and paint represent commercial, hobby, or standard-size equipment well in mixed interests depending upon the advance of the anticipated arrival of makeup of the group. Club members the bees. know best how to keep bees in their local areas, and they are willing to Cooperative Extension apiculturist, share that information. county agricultural commissioners, Names and addresses of contact or Cooperative Extension farm advi- persons for these organizations tend sors should be able to steer you to a to change over time. However, the local group.

STATE LAWS RELATING TO BEEKEEPING

California laws regulating beekeeping are enforced by county agricul- tural commissioners and provide the basis for an effective apiary inspec- tion program that helps beekeepers protect honey bee colonies from dis- ease, pesticide damage, and theft. Excerpts from the California Agricultural Code relating to bees and apiary inspection can be purchased from: Office Services, California Department of Agriculture,1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-8164. Beekeeping in some localities is also governed by city or county ordinances. Beekeepers should consult local authorities about this.

Apiary registration. All apiaries must be registered each January with the agricultural commissioner of the county in which the colonies are located. Registration fee is $10 and involves listing the location of each apiary and the number of colonies at each location. Newly acquired api- aries and apiaries brought from out of state must be registered within 30 days of establishment.

Apiary movements and identification. Details of laws pertaining to movement and identificationof apiaries can be obtained from county agricultural commissioners or Supervisor of Apiary Projects, California Department of Agriculture,1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Apiary assessment. Resident and nonresident beekeepers operating 40 or more colonies in California are required to pay an annual assess- ment fee on their colonies. The rate has varied for several years, so the Supervisor of Apiary Projects (address above) should be contacted for current rates. The Colony

A colony of bees consists of a ing the eggs she lays. The queen bee queen, worker bees, drones, and develops from a fertilized egg that various stages of brood (immature hatches 3 days after being laid. bees) living together as a social unit. Nurse bees, a class of worker bee, There are between 10,000 and 50,000 feed developing queen larvae a spe- bees in a colony. The brood nest is cial diet consisting mostly of the spherical in shape, increasinglyfill- royal jelly that they secrete from ing more cells in each comb and cov- their glands. This special diet ering more combs as it expands in shortens the time spent to reach size. Partially digested pollen, called maturity to 16 days, compared with bee bread, is stored adjacent to cells 21days for the worker bee and 24 for containing brood. Honey or nectar is the drone. The result is a bee larger stored around the outer edges of, than any others, with fully devel- and above, the brood nest. oped ovaries and a very large abdo- A honey bee egg looks like a tiny men. The queen lacks the specialized grain of white rice standing on end, body parts of worker bees that help centered at the base of a cell. To facil- them accomplish their tasks. The itate seeing eggs and other larval queen's task is to produce bees and stages, shake or gently brush the the constant diet of royal jelly fed to bees off the comb (use a bee brush) an adult queen supplies the nutri- and stand with your back to the sun. ents necessary for development of Tilt the comb so that the light shines the large ovaries that swell the directly into the cells. With a little abdomen. experienceit is not difficult to recog- The queen is reared in a large cell nize larval bees or to distinguish resembling a peanut shell that hangs capped brood (pupae) from capped vertically from the comb (PlateI), honey (ripened honey covered by a and about 10 days after emerging thin layer of wax). See Plate I. she becomes sexually mature. The virgin queen takes one or more brief mating flights during which she The queen bee mates with 10 to 20 drones to ensure complete filling of the spermatheca. Each colony normally has only Large amounts of sperm are neces- one queen (Plate I), which is the only sary, since the queen will be laying bee in the colony capable of fertiliz- more than1,000 eggs a day for many months and will never mate again. age (about 5 weeks after emerging) The queen begins laying eggs shortly or immediately after mating with a after mating. virgin queen. Even though the queen has a The drone can be distinguished larger thorax, longer abdomen, and from the workers by its large size, less hair than the workers, she can blocky shape, and very large eyes be very difficult to find in a populous which cover most of his head. He colony. Clipping and marking the makes more noise when flying than queen is worth much more than the does the worker, but he is harmless few cents it costs when she has to be because he has no sting. located in the colony. To ensure the potential for having a populous and productive colony, beekeepers The worker bee should requeen their colonies annu- ally with young vigorous queens (see All the rest of the bees in the col- Maintaining Genetic Stock). ony are workers. The worker bee develops from a fertilized egg that hatches 3 days after it is laid. Nurse The drone bee bees feed the developing larva royal jelly, honey, and pollen during the At their peak population (early next 5 to 6 days, then cap the cell. summer), drones rarely exceed 600 Each larva spins a cocoon and per colony. Their sole function, as changes to a prepupa, then a pupa. male bees, is to mate with the queen. The pupa is not physically active, When virgin queens are no longer but undergoes extensivechemical being produced (in the fall), the and structural changes that convert it drones are forced out of the colony into a functioning adult. (Adult to die of starvation, and no drones workers are always female.) On the are reared until the following spring. 21st day after the egg has been laid, Drones develop from unfertilized the adult chews through her wax cap eggs that hatch 3 days after they are and emerges from the cell to groom laid. Nurse bees feed the developing herself and to start eating honey and larvae royal jelly, honey, and pollen pollen. Her exoskeleton hardens and over a 7-day period; the cells are she is ready to begin her many then covered with air-permeable wax chores. (capped). A drone pupa is longer The workers, endowed with spe- than a worker pupa; thus, its cap- cialized body parts to accomplish ping is raised above the surface of their tasks, supply all the labor of the the comb. This is especially apparent colony. Young worker bees clean if the drone is reared in a worker cells, feed larvae (through food cell, where the capping rises way glands in the workers' heads), above the capped worker brood and remove debris from the hive, evapo- sometimes is referred to as a "bul- rate water from nectar to produce let." The drone emerges 24 days after honey, secrete wax (through wax the egg is laid and spends the next glands in their abdomens), build the 10 days maturing sexually and learn- comb, guard the colony (by means of ing to fly. A drone must be fed by their inbuilt chemical alarm system), worker bees from the time he and ventilate the hive. When they emerges until the day he dies of old are about 3 weeks old, worker bees begin to forage for water and nectar, honey than they need for a year, if carrying their finds in a honey sac. nectar is abundant. This excess is the Worker bees live only 6 weeks or so beekeeper's reward for proper col- during periods of active brood rear- ony management. ing and foraging, but they can sur- Nectar and pollen become scarce vive for several months over winter. at the end of summer. Brood rearing decreases markedlv. Drones are evicted and the worker population Annual colony cycle begins to decline. Foraging bees col- lect extra propolis to close up hive The yearly cycle of the colony entrances for the winter. The bees begins in January when the queen become much less active as cool starts to lay eggs in response to an weather sets in. In areas where tem- increasingly longer day. The popula- peratures fall below 57 F, the bees tion of the brood nest continues to cluster or form a large ball. Bees in increase as long as there is an ade- the center of the cluster eat honey quate supply of honey and pollen and produce heat; bees on the out- stored in the hive. Fresh pollen col- side of it act as insulation, keeping lected by foraging workers from the heat in the cluster. The rest of the early spring flowers signals the hive and combs not in contact with beginning of a great increase in the cluster are nearly as cold as the brood rearing. Newly emerged outside air. The cluster, moving over workers, well suited for producing the combs and consuming stored royal jelly and wax, accelerate the honey and pollen, slowly approaches population explosion. the cover of the hive. In January, the Rapidly becoming filled with bees increase the temperature in the bees, brood, and food, the hive may center of the cluster to around 95 F, become congested. Congestion often the temperature required to rear leads to swarming, especially when brood. The necessity of having an an old queen is in residence (see abundant supply of stored honey Managing Bees). Worker bees in colo- and pollen is readily apparent. Bees nies manipulated to discourage wintering in central and southern swarming collect nectar and pollen California frequently are not con- in surplus of their immediate needs. fined by cold weather and tend to fly This surplus is stored for use when much of the year, thereby requiring a food is not available in the field great deal of stored honey if nectar is (dearth). Honey bees store more not available to foragers. Choosing Bees

Most bees reared in California (put them into a hive), as must be today are Italian or "yellow" bees. done with packaged bees, nuclei, or Italian bees are noted for good win- swarms. Before it is purchased, the col- tering and for extensive brood rear- ony should be inspected by the county bee ing, which can be beneficial before a inspector to be sure it is free of disease. good honey flow or detrimental dur- ing a honey dearth. The Caucasian Buying a nucleus or "dark" race of bees is preferred by some beekeepers because these bees A nucleus generally consists of tend to be calmer and more gentle three to five frames with bees (6,000 when examined. However, Cauca- to 10,000 bees), including a laying sians tend to collect and liberally dis- queen and her brood. Nuclei are tribute large amounts of propolis (or transported to hives in mini-hive bee glue) throughout the hive, boxes. Frames and adhering bees are thereby making it more difficult to transferred from each nucleus, in pry the hive components apart. identical sequence, into the center of It is sound practice to purchase a hive body and surrounded by commercialqueens and bees from empty drawn combs or frames with reputable breeders. Avoid spending foundation. If stored food is in short extra money on exotic strains and supply, the bees should be fed (see expensive hybrids until enough Feeding Bees). experience has been acquired to ensure persistence of your colonies from year to year. Bees can be Buying and installing packages obtained by: (1) buying a colony in a hive, (2) buying a nucleus, (3)pur- Packaged bees consist of wire- chasing a queen and bulk bees in a screen cages in which are confined 2 package, and (4) hiving a swarm. or 3 pounds (7,000 to 10,000) of worker bees, a queen in a separate Buying a colony in a hive small container, and a feeder can of a syrup that is made up of equal parts This is the easiest way to get of water and sugar. Packages can be started. With the bees already in the purchased from a beekeeper or from hive, it is not necessary to hive them a bee supply company. Order packages to arrive in spring, 2 to 3 tool as soon as most of the bees have months before the principal nectar- been dumped out of the package. producing plants bloom in your (9) Spray or dip the queen in sugar neighborhood. This gives the bees syrup, wetting her wings so she can- time to build a population large not fly. enough to take full advantage of the nectar and pollen when it becomes (10)Without gloves, reach down into available. the hive and pull the screen off the When the packaged bees arrive, queen cage. sugar syrup should be sprayed or (11)Place the queen cage against a shaken onto the bees through the comb or sheet of foundation and screen sides of the package. Give watch the queen as she leaves her them all they will consume, but not cage. She should climb down and go so much that they become stuck around to the back side of the comb. together in a mass. The bees can be installed immediately into the wait- (12)Carefully replace the four frames ing hive if it is a cool and cloudy day. to avoid accidentally injuring the If it is warm and sunny, store the queen. The few bees left in the pack- bees in a cool, dark room until just age will rejoin the group in the hive before dark. Then, after spraying the as soon as the bees remove the grass bees with syrup again, install the from the entrance. bees in the hive. This procedure brings the bee- Packaged bees are best installed keeper very close to the bees. How- by the "direct release" method, as ever, packaged bees are quite young follows: and momentarily disoriented so they (1) Loosely obstruct the hive very rarely sting beekeepers while entrance with a small amount of they are being installed from grass. packages. (2) Remove four central frames from the hive body. Hiving a swarm (3) Pry off the board covering the feeder can on the package. Hiving a swarm (catching bees (4) Rap the package on the ground and putting them in a hive) is diffi- with sufficient force to knock the cult for a beginner without help from cluster to the bottom of the package. an experienced beekeeper. It is the least expensive way to start beekeep- (5) Remove the feeder can and the ing because swarms usually can be queen cage. obtained free simply by leaving your (6) Lightly spray the bees with name with the county agricultural syrup if you wish. commissioner, fire department, police department, sheriff, farm (7) Invert the package and roll and advisor, or animal control center. jounce the bees out through the Newly hived bees should not be round hole into the space between disturbed for several days, except to the frames in the hive. refill the syrup feeder. The queen (8) Gently spread out the pile of should begin to lay eggs in a week or bees on the bottom board with a hive less and the colony will start its work. Abundant pollen is necessary again, (2) the likelihood of collecting for the colony to use as food for rear- inferior stock (even Africanized bees, ing brood, feeding the queen, and eventually) is much greater with feeding the drones. Pollen normally swarms than with purchased bees, is collected from nearby flowers, but and (3)the possibility exists that the when pollen and nectar are not avail- swarm is carrying contaminated able, it becomes necessary to supply honey with it and a bee disease may colonies with nutrients. (See Feeding break out in the colony. Even though Bees.) swarming and swarms are intrigu- Catching swarms has inherent ing, they are not a very good source drawbacks: (1) The queen has a ten- of bees for your colonies. dency to swarm and is likely to do it

Choosing Equipment

Equipment needed for beekeep- Bee stock ing is available from national One 2-pound package with one beekeeping supply dealers and their queen per hive local representatives; consult the yel- Personal equipment (fig.2) low pages of the telephone book. Smoker You will need: Hive tool The hive (figs.1and 2) Bee veil Two deep hive bodies or equiva- Gloves (optional) lent White coveralls (optional) Bottom board Cover 10 frames, with foundation, per Hive components hive body L-shaped metal rabbets or frame Use only standard size 8- or 10- rests (optional) frame hive equipment (dimensions Honey supers, with frames and in fig. 3) so that all parts will fit foundation (optional) together properly and match com- Queen excluder (optional) mercially manufactured products. Honey extractor (optional) The basic unit of the hive is called a Fig. 1 Beehive detail, showing optional parts used in different types of bee management.

12 Fig. 2 Basic beekeeping equipment: (A) welded wire queen excluder; (B) frame; (C) vertically wired beeswax foundation; (D) hat and wire veil; (E) wire for frames and spur embedder; (F) hive tool, bee brush, and gloves; (G) 1-story, 10-frame hive; (H) smoker. All these items are available commercially.

hive body. A hive body is designed of ten (or eight) frames designed to to hold ten (or eight) full-depth fit the box. Each frame should have a (9 5/8 inches deep) frames on which sheet of the proper size and type the bees will rear their young and foundation firmly attached to the top store food. A colony eventually will bar. The bees will follow the pattern get large enough to cover all ten embossed on the foundation when frames and will require at least two building beeswax combs. After all hive bodies to hold all the brood and the combs are drawn out fully, one bees. Boxes placed above the brood frame can be removed from a ten- nest for storage of honey are called frame hive body and the remaining supers. Supers may be full depth, nine frames spaced evenly across the medium, or three-quarter depth box so that the frames can be manip- (6 5/8 inches deep), shallow ulated more easily. (5 3/4inches deep) or comb honey Foundation. Commercial founda- (4 5/8 inches deep). The type of super tion is sold in many sizes and types. selected depends upon the type of Toassure a proper fit, purchase the honey being produced (see Producing frames and foundation from the and Marketing Honey) and the ability same supplier. Generally, there are of the beekeeper to lift filled boxes. two types of foundation: wired and Each hive body and super origi- plastic. Wired is designed for nally should be filled with a full set strength and is used for brood combs and extracting combs. The founda- A jig can be modified to hold an tion is thick and reinforced with ver- insert that fills the space in the mid- tical wires or a plastic midrib. The dle of the frame. When a wired vertically wired foundation must be frame is placed over a sheet of foun- supported by additional horizontal dation lying on the insert, the insert wires to avoid sagging under the presses the foundation up against weight of brood and stored food. the wires. An electric train or door- Beekeepers can avoid the use of bell transformer should be used to wires, embedding tools, and other supply the electricity needed to heat problems by using a plastic founda- the wires and melt them into the tion, which snaps into place, or plas- wax. tic combs, which combine frame and Edible foundation. Beginning foundation. beekeepers who do not wish to Wiring jig. Beekeepers can pur- invest in extracting equipment can chase or make a jig for wiring frames produce, without further processing, and embedding wires in beeswax a class of honey in which portions of foundation (fig. 4). Best results comb will be eaten. require use of eyelets in endbar holes Special types of lighter weight to prevent the wire from cutting into comb foundation are used to pro- the wood. The jig holds a nailed duce cut comb, chunk, or comb frame under slight end-to-end pres- honey sections (see Producing and sure while No. 26 tinned wire is Marketing Honey).Since the founda- threaded through the holes and tion is intended to be eaten, it is around small svools. One end of the pressed very thin. The beekeeper wire is wrapped around a tack which should remember that replacing the is driven in. The wire is slipped off foundation each time the combs are the small spools, pulled tightly, filled increases the cost of producing wrapped around the other tack, and comb honey. Recovering the cost of driven tightly. Then it is snipped, the foundation when the honey is usually by bending it back and forth sold is justifiable. repeatedly.

Fig. 4 A wiring jig is used to fasten taut horizontal wires to frames and to embed the wires into sheets of beeswax foundation. Paint. Hives should be protected alarm system used by bees to alert from the elements with an ample each other of foreign intruders. Judi- coating of a good grade outdoor oil, cious use of cool smoke generated latex, or aluminum-based paint. from smoldering burlap sacking, Paint all surfaces of bottom boards, wood chips, or other slowly combus- but only the outside surfaces of tible materials, enables beekeepers to boxes and covers. A hive stand (fig. examine their bees with little chance 3) will prolong by many years the of being stung. Oversmoking bees useful life of bottom boards. Painting can cause as much agitation as not hives different pastel colors signifi- smoking them at all. cantly reduces the tendency of bees Hive tool. This tool is specifically. to drift from one colony to another. designed for prying apart boxes, Queen excluder. This metal or loosening frames, scraping excess plastic screen is designed with 0.163- wax, and so forth. The hive tool is inch spaces to prevent passage of a essential when manipulating hives queen (and drones), while allowing because bees collect propolis and use worker bees to pass through (fig. it to seal all cracks between the top 2A).Usually, a queen excluder is box and cover, adjoining boxes, and placed between the upper hive body frames and boxes. and lower super to keep the queen Bee veil. Wire veils commonly are out of the honey storage area. Queen used because they do not blow excluders often become clogged with against the face. Meshed tulle veiling wax, propolis, or drones that can is available in various styles, also. interfere significantly with passage Veils are worn over wide-rimmed of worker bees to and from the helmets and usually have strings to honey storage area. keep them tied to the body. Zipper L-shaped metal rabbets. These styles are available for use with strips of lightweight metal are fas- matching coveralls. tened along the edges upon which Gloves. Experienced beekeepers the frames rest in each box. The seldom use gloves because their use metal surface protects the wooden tends to make handling of frames rabbets from damage by the hive tool awkward. However, a pair of kid when frames are being pried from leather beekeeper's gloves definitely the hive or when propolis and wax is handy for an amateur working are being scraped from the ledges. with agitated bees. Honey extractor. Honey extract- Coveralls. White, full-length, zip- ing equipment and procedures are pered cotton coveralls are used by described in detail in the section on many beekeepers to keep propolis, Producing and Marketing Honey. honey, wax, and smoker exudates from soiling their regular clothes. nal Additionally, the long pants are Perso equipment tucked into boots and the long (fig. 2 D, F, H) sleeves are covered by glove gaunt- lets to keep the beekeeper nearly Smoker. This combustion cham- stingproof. Avoid wearing dark-col- ber with attached bellows is used to ored or fuzzy, heavy-woven fabrics, smoke the colony. Smoke puffed into which seem to stimulate stinging. a hive interferes with the chemical Managing Bees

Conscientious beekeepers exam- but check anyway before setting it ine their colonies every 10 days or so down. Very gently stand the frame from the period of rapid spring pop- on edge on the ground, leaning it ulation buildup until the beginning against a shaded side of the hive. of the honey flow, again after each The space created by the missing honey flow, and when preparing for frame should be adequate to allow winter. Attention must be focused on the other frames to be pried loose, different concerns during the year, examined, and replaced out of posi- but the basic procedures are the tion in the empty space, until all same. The smoker should be lighted frames of interest have been exam- and burning well, bee veil and other ined. During these procedures, protective apparel should be in glance at the top bars of the frames place, and hive tool should be in in the hives to see whether many hand before approaching the hive. It bees have lined up. If they have, it is is best not to stand in front of the time to use a little puff of smoke to hive while "working the bees," send them back down inside. When because it will obstruct returning the inspection is completed, the dis- foragers. placed frames are returned to their original positions, the removed frame is replaced, and the hive is Colony examinations closed. Examinations conducted on warm, calm, sunny days interfere Smoke the entrance and any very little with colony functions and holes to the outside, and wait for the are met with little resistance. smoke to move through the hive's Beekeepersshould assess criti- ventilation system. With the hive cally the following points when they tool crack the cover and puff a little examine a colony: smoke beneath it. Remove the cover and place it on the ground, to act as (1) Good queen. This is based on a a stand for boxes that may be solid, good-sized brood pattern and/ removed from the hive. Carefully or presence of eggs. There is no rea- remove the outermost frame from son to find the queen unless the bee- keeper intends to requeen. the nearest side of the hive body and check it quickly for the queen. The (2) Adequate stores of food. The queen usually is not on this frame, bees should have a minimum of four deep frames (filled on both sides) of and honey if bees are kept in areas honey or sugar syrup and the equiv- with potentially heavy honey flows. alent of one full frame of pollen available to them. Generally, there is more honey, which is essential for Spring management overwintering. An overwintering colony should (3) Freedom from disease. Brood consist of enough bees to cover at diseases cause discoloration of lar- least five frames. If there are fewer, vae, or patchy brood with scattered the beekeeper may suspect problems (see Bee Diseases). with the queen, disease, or poor late (4) Properly arranged hive. The summer and fall pollen supplies, brood should be kept in the lower which can commonly occur in Cali- hive bodies with empty combs fornia. There should be at least four moved to the proper location to frames of honey or syrup and ade- allow upward expansion of the quate space for brood rearing and brood nest. There should be ade- storage of nectar. Very weak or quate space above the brood nest for queenless colonies may be united storage of large volumes of nectar with more populous colonies.

Swarming is the natural means of colony reproduction. Colonies with an adequate population size rear new queen cells (Plate I), slim down the laying queen, and eventually about half the bees and the old queen leave to seek a new hive and start a new colony. Swarming usually coincides with relatively good foraging periods and tends to occur from late March to July, with a peak in mid-April in the Davis area. Late summer swarm- ing can also be a problem. Beekeeperswho desire maximum productivity from their bees cannot afford to allow half the bees to fly away with a concurrent break in brood rearing of up to 2 weeks. A number of steps may be taken to reduce the chances of swarming, but routine inspections at 10-day intervals and destruction of every queen cell are the only methods by which swarming reliably can be prevented. Swarming generally is linked to colony congestion. Congestion can be relieved by: (1) Reversing boxes. Bees tend to move their brood nest up to the top of the hive. When young brood fill most of the top box of the brood cham- ber, put that box on the bottom and allow the bees to move up through other, less filled boxes. (Consult a textbook for procedures.) combs should be added to the hive Following the early spring bloom- when the flow begins. Frames with ing period, a colony should have six foundation should be provided only or more frames covered with bees in when the bees are gathering an a ten-frame, one-story hive. In a abundant supply of nectar. Worker two-story hive, there should be12 bees reluctantly will draw out a frames covered with bees with brood super of foundation placed directly on both sides of four to five frames above the brood. Inserting a frame of (200 to 400 square inches). Under foundation at the edge of an expand- these conditions, brood rearing will ing brood nest usually assures increase rapidly, and the colony will acceptance of the comb. build up to a maximum population Brood rearing puts a heavy for the beginning of the major honey demand upon the food supply. It is flow. important to keep a close check on Only a few days of abundant all colonies during March, April, and spring nectar flows are needed to May in northern California and as crowd the brood-rearing chamber of early as December, January, and Feb- a one-story hive with honey and pol- ruary, in southern California south of len, so a super with frames of empty the Thachapi Mountains.

(2) Adding boxes. Bees will move into new boxes to clean the combs, draw foundation, or manipulate honey, thus relieving congestion in the brood chamber. (3) Dividing colonies. When colonies have eight to ten frames of brood, they can be divided into two colonies. It is best to have a young, mated queen ready for the queenless half. (The Demaree method is similar, but division is uneven and both colonies are kept, one above the other, in the same hive. See text books for a full explanation.) (4) Using young queens. First-year queens are much less apt to swarm, while second-year queens and queens from captured swarms are very likely to leave. Clipped (wings) queens are not able to fly; however, this does not preclude swarming. The queen will walk out of the hive, get lost on the ground, and the swarm is very apt to leave later with a virgin queen, leaving the original colony hopelessly queenless. Despite all advertising to the contrary, no special devices meant to be placed in or on the hives can adequately prevent swarming. If a colony is preparing to swarm, there will be a number of queen cells on the combs. To requeen, select a well-developed queen cell and remove all others. Also find the old queen and kill her by pinching her head. The new queen will emerge from her cell in a few days and thus requeen the colony (unlessit swarms!). Good spring pastures often prove Extracted honey may be har- to be inadequate sources of pollen vested as soon as the combs are full and nectar in summer. Feeding bees of honey and are three-fourths both syrup and pollen is essential in capped in regions with low relative some locations for continued brood humidities. Honey should be fully rearing, maintaining bee popula- capped and processed quickly in tions, insuring adequate winter areas with high relative humidities. stores, and successful overwintering. Equipment and techniques for han- Commercial beekeepers move their dling honey are explained in Produc- hives hundreds of miles to locate ing and Marketing Honey. their bees in areas with ample for- age. Knowledge of the annual blooming sequence and locations of Summer management good forage plants is essential for economicallysuccessful moves. It is Because spring pastures are often also important to provide adequate inadequate for summer foraging, space for incoming nectar. Excess enough inspections should be made open combs have been shown to in summer to ascertain whether increase honey production; inade- there is sufficient natural food in the quate space leads to honey in the hives; at least 30 pounds of honey brood nest, which hampers brood should be in each hive all summer. production and leads to population (When inspecting hives, also check decline. for disease.)

A few bees probably rob some honey from other colonies most of the time, but during nectar dearths robbing can become severe and colonies can be destroyed. Robbing bees usually can be recognized by their "dan- gling feet" flight at the hive entrance and by their attempts to enter cracks between supers. Taking the followingsteps will help minimize robbing: (1) When examining colonies during dearth periods, do not keep hives open any longer than is absolutely necessary and place frames of honey in a super covered with wet burlap during inspections. (2) If feeding is necessary, start feeding in late afternoon. When bees are fed in the morning, the excitement can trigger robbing behavior. (3) Colonies are best protected by a robber screen (fig. 5), which reduces the entrance considerably while allowing adequate ventilation on hot days. Fall and winter management honey often is consumed faster than it is produced. A prudent beekeeper If they are going to build up should start the winter with 50 quickly the next spring, colonies pounds (onecompletelyfull, full- should go into winter with large, depth super) of honey or syrup on well-fed populations of young fat the bees. Colonies with this amount bees. In many locations in California of food usually will not require win- there is not enough pollen to sustain ter feeding and will do well during a adequate brood rearing through rainy spring. August and September and colonies "Robbing," an activity evident in should be fed pollen, pollen supple- apiaries during the absence of a nec- ment, or a substitute. (See Feeding tar flow, can lead to the destruction Bees.) An ideal colony for wintering of colonies. (See section on robbing.) contains a vigorous young queen, is As temperatures cool, entrances disease-free, has10 or more frames can be reduced to a couple of inches, covered with bees, and has an ade- but check during winter that quate supply of stored food. Queen- entrances have not become clogged less colonies, or those very sparsely with dead bees. Precautions should populated, should be united with be taken to fasten covers to the hives stronger, queenright colonies. Colo- and to turn entrances away from nies with less than 10 frames of bees prevailing winter winds. can be overwintered, but they Winter is the slowest season for should be forced into a single hive bees and beekeepers, although win- body beneath a super of honey. ter feeding of bees is common in Cal- The colony actually begins con- ifornia. This is the time to prepare suming winter stores after the final equipment, paint hives, and renew major honey flow and continues supplies of materials to be used the until the spring flows start in earnest next season. Once February arrives many months later. Even in areas in California, the new beekeeping where brood is reared year-round season begins. and bees attempt to find food daily,

Fig. 5 A robber screen reduces the size of the entrance, which must be protected against robbing bees, while providing a means for hive ventilation. Feeding Bees

Honey, pollen, and water com- (3) for pollination of almonds, and prise the natural diet of honey bees. (4) for shaking bulk bees for Honey is their carbohydratelenergy packages. source. Pollen provides protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals to the nurse Instructions for formulating and bees, essential for producing the dispensing various types of feeds to royal jelly that is fed to the queen, bees follow. drones, and young larvae. Royal Care should be taken to feed pol- jelly is fed in overabundance to lar- len trapped only from colonies val queens. Worker bees consume a known to be free of chalkbrood and frame of honey and pollen for each American foulbrood disease. frame of brood they rear. A colony Although bees can be induced to rearing 1,000 new bees a day rear brood year-round by continually requires nearly 10 pounds of pollen supplying combs with pollen packed and nectar a month. Simply to sur- into the cells immediately adjacent to vive, various estimates suggest, a the larvae on the next frame, pollen colony requires approximately 100 is usually fed to bees as patties dur- pounds of honey and 50 pounds of ing a season of normal brood pro- pollen each year. Water, the major duction. Pollen pellets can be mixed component of bee tissues, is required directly into sugar syrups (after to dilute concentrated foods, main- being soaked in water for a few min- tain humidity in the brood nest, and utes) and mixed until a smooth, air-condition the hive on hot days. heavy paste is formed. The mixture Beekeepers must examine their should be allowed to sit for 24 hours colonies frequently to assess the con- before feeding to be sure that it has dition of the food supply. During not become too dry, since pollen periods of nectar or pollen dearth, absorbs quite a bit of the moisture the beekeeper must supply substi- from the syrup. The mixture should tutes, if continued brood rearing is be dry enough to prevent oozing desired. Supplemental feeding is between the frames, but moist also used to build up populations: enough so that the bees can chew it. The to pound patties are (1) to compensate in part for pesti- placed in the hive on top of the cide losses, frames, in direct contact with the (2) for winter, cluster of bees. Supplemental Feeding-Pollen

Product Major components Comments

Air-dried pollen Extremely varied: mols- Acceptable to bees if air-dried, then frozen; stores well frozen; products ture- 25%; protein- 6 mixed pollens better than single source. Soften pellets with water to 40%. before feeding as paste or mixing into pollen supplement. Has proven ability to spread chalkbrood if trapped from infected col- ony; can possibly be contaminated by pesticides. Supplemental Feeding-Sugar

Product Major components Type of feeder Comments

Honey comb fructose (38%) + None Requires availability of water to be glucose (31 %) + utilized; proven ability to spread sucrose (1%) + American foulbrood (AFB) when other sugars (9%) taken from a contaminated hive. + water (18%) extracted Same as light sugar Usually diluted by one-fourth or one- syrup half with water. Ferments rapidly; feed only the amount that will be removed from feeder within 48 hours. Sugar granulated sucrose None 1to2 Ib poured toward back of bot- tom board only to prevent starva- tion; requires availability of water to be utilized. Not recommended.

confectioner's sucrose + 3% corn- None Used for diluting antibiotic mixes; (powdered) starch can be made into syrup. Baker's Drivert sucrose + 4% glucose None Very attractive as dry feed; used for (powdered) and fructose diluting antibiotic mixes; used in dry pollen supplements or substitutes; used in production of queen cage candy. Syrups light 1 sucrose: 1 water Friction top can lor bot- Stimulates oviposition, encourages tle) through hole in brood rearing, ensures drawing cover best; frame-type combs from foundation. Used during feeder with footholds; nectar dearths or to increase colony bottle at entrance least populations; used in pollen supple- effective ments and substitutes. heavy 2 sucrose: 1 water or Same as light syrup Fed in late fall, to be manipulated 2 1/2 sucrose: 1 water + and stored as winter feed when 1 tsp cream of tartar/20 honev is short. Ib sugar-boiled Type 5 0 sucrose (381/2%) + glu- Same as light syrup Delivered as 77% solids and does not cose (19 1/4%1 + fruc- ferment or crystalize out of solution; tose (19 1/4%1+ water very attractive bee food full strength (23%)-acid inverted or diluted any time of year; used in pollen supplements and substitutes; available only by tank truckloads. -continued 23 Supplemental Feeding-Sugar (continued)

Product Major components Type of feeder Comments

Liquidose sucrose (38 1/2%) + glu- Same as light syrup Delivered as 77% solids and does 50 cose (20%) + fructose not ferment; will crystalize out of (16%) + other sugars solution below 80°F; very attractive (2 1/2%) + water full strength or diluted; used in pol- 123%)-inverts from len supplements and substitutes; high fructose corn syrup available in tank truckloads, drums, or 5-gallon pails. Nulomoline 50 to 90% inverted None Very heavy syrup used in preparing sucrose + glucose crys- queen cage candy. tals or micropulverized sucrose + water + invertase

queen cage candy Nulornoline + a little None Let stand overnight and check con- Drivert + a couple drops sistency before use; reconstitute if of glycerine kneaded to hard and dry or soft and sticky; proper consistency stores for long periods in airtight containers. Corn syrup high fructose corn fructose (26%) + glu- Same as light syrup Available in various percent solids; no syrup (HFCSl) cose (31%) + other detrimental effects on free-flying sugars (5%) + water bees; may become major bee food if (38%)-acid hydration sugar prices increase significantly. of cornstarch to glucose; enzyme conversion of glucose to fructose

SupplementalFeeding-Pollen Supplements and Substitutes

Product Major components Comments

Pollen supplement pollen (5 to 25%) + Used similarly to pollen substitutes, but added pollen makes mix- pollen substitute ture more attractive to bees and may be superior nutritionally. Pollen substitutes Dry ingredients: Maintain brood rearing in colonies during periods of pollen a) brewer's yeast dearths. (Do not stop feeding until pollens become available.) b) Torula yeast Inclusion of some sort of yeast supplies substantial vitamins. c )Torutein-10 d) lactalbumin; or mixtures of these Moist ingredients: Can be fed dry, but are consumed better as moist patties on the a) light syrup top bars of frames containing brood. Formulated to consistency of b) diluted honey thick paste. Should not harden or run down between combs c ) Type 50 syrup (partially inverted sugars or honey maintain consistency best); d) Drivert syrup consumed rapidly only when bees are rearing brood in absence of pollen; diluted honey can spread AFB if produced in a contami- nated hive. Products to avoid: untoasted soyflour Destroys bees' digestive enzymes. salt Only use ingredients with < 2% salt content. Maintaining Gene tic Stock

Good stock is essential to success- determined by the egg-laying rate of ful beekeeping. Such stock can be the queen, the viability of eggs and obtained from many commercial larvae, and the longevity of adult queen breeders and can be main- bees. In stock maintenance, as in tained, if care is used in propagation. breeding, each of these must be con- However, production of stock better sidered. Other sought-after charac- than that currently available is usu- teristics are gentleness and resistance ally beyond the resources of the bee- to disease. Each trait probably keeper. True bee breeding requires depends upon heredity. use of artificial insemination and a working knowledge of genetics. In maintaining specific stock, the Stock maintenance beekeeper must decide which char- acteristics are most important and Critical selecting of parents, pro- confine selection to preserving them. viding good queen rearing, and The beekeeper also must decide how assuring an abundance of mature to compile traits in order to compare drones from selected mothers are colonies and measure the results of essential. Careful selection of drone selection. Selection for high honey mothers is as important as careful production would automatically selection of virgin-queen mothers. select for colony population size and The same characteristics are essen- its components, as well as for vigor- tial: solid brood pattern, gentleness, ous worker bee foraging. and resistance to disease. If bees are to be used primarilyfor pollination, pollen-gathering ability may be pre- Environment and heredity ferred to honey yield. Ten or more queen mothers High per-colony yield of honey is should be used to produce queens; a desirable in bee breeding, but it is similar number of drone mothers is not a simple genetic characteristic. required to produce drones. Drones Yield is influenced not only by man- in queen-mother colonies should be agement and strength of nectar kept to a minimum; drone-mother flows, but it is also influenced by the coloniesshould be given frames numbers and activities of bees in the drawn from drone foundation to colony. The population, in turn, is encourage production of an abun- dance of drones. Queens mate with ducing a new queen, the old queen 10 to 20 drones on a single mating must be removed and any queen flight, so it is important to have a cells must be destroyed. great surplus of drones to assure that virgins will mate with unrelated or distantly related drones. Mating with Queen introduction close relatives can lead to inviable brood. Queens may be purchased from bee suppliers and are usually shipped in a cage containing a few Care of queens attendant bees. The cage has an opening that is plugged with bee Frames should always be handled food known as "candy." Attendant carefully so that the queen is not worker bees use the candy to feed injured. (See Managing Bees.) Never themselves and the queen during set the frame with the queen on it shipment. outside the colony without protect- Tointroduce a queen from a cage ing it with another frame. Do not into a hive body, remove the cork examine a colony if it contains a vir- covering the opening containing the gin, a newly introduced, or a candy plug. If most of the candy recently mated queen. Such queens remains, ream a small hole through are nervous, and the disturbance it with a matchstick or small nail. caused by opening a hive may cause The entire cage is placed in the hive the workers to harm them. body just below the top bars of two As a rule, the queen should not brood frames by gently pressing the be handled. If it is necessary to pick bars together so that they hold the her up, catch her from behind by all cage in place, with the screen side of four wings with the index finger and the cage exposed between the thumb. Queens can be seen more combs. The bees in the hive will con- easily if marked with a color and, by sume the remaining candy, releasing using a different color each year, the the queen and her attendants. This queen's age can be readily deter- process will take long enough, how- mined. Fingernail polish, typewriter ever, for the bees in the hive to grow correction fluid, or other quick-dry- accustomed to the new queen. ing paint may be applied to the top of the thorax between the base of the queen's wings.

Requeening

Requeening occurs when a queen of poor stock or one that is aging must be replaced. Colonies can be requeened at any time during the active season, but they usually are requeened during a minor nectar flow because the new queen is more readily accepted then. Before intro- Pollinating Crops with Honey Bees

Pollination is essential to most of frames with brood or numbers of flowering plants for producing fruits square inches of brood. and seeds, and in California the (5) Describe distribution of colonies honey bee is the most important pol- in fields and orchards. linator of commercial crops (fig. 6). Beekeepersrent their colonies for (6) Include agreement that the bee- this purpose and place them in or keeper will maintain bees in good around crops. Highly developed condition, provided they are not transportation techniques have been damaged by pesticides while under worked out for moving colonies from contract. area to area as they are needed. (7) State rental rate to be paid to Many beekeepers have legal con- beekeeper. tracts with growers for pollination services. A written contract between (8) State who is responsible for sup- beekeeper and grower should: plying adequate water to bees. (1) State times (in relation to bloom) when bees will be moved in and out of fields or orchards. (2) Assure the beekeeper that no pesticides harmful to bees will be used. (If pesticides are to be used, notice must be given to the bee- keeper.) (3) Assure the beekeeper of reim- bursement for extra movement of colonies in and out of the field. (4) Define population of colonies according to numbers of frames cov- Fig. 6 Worker bee gathering pollen from a plum ered with bees and either numbers blossom. Some of the most important fac- the bees, and beekeepers should be tors affecting pollination follow. ready to employ supplemental feed- ing when necessary.

Deploying colonies Distribution The number of coloniesof bees used per acre depends on the kind of Because bees tend to work close to their hives in attractive pasturage, crop, the population of the colonies, / the weather, and the amount of com- hives should be distributed at 1 4 - peting bloom in the area of the crop. mile intervals throughout the fields. Two colonies per acre in most crops If the field is less than 100 acres or are enough to insure optimum num- the orchard is less than 40 acres, the bers of bees during the most unfa- colonies may be placed in six to eight vorable conditions for pollination. groups around the edges of the crop. For alfalfa seed crops, approximately For long-sided, narrow, rectangular three colonies per acre are commonly fields, colonies should be grouped used for long-season crop produc- along each long side, with heaviest tion; however, alfalfa seed yields in concentrations near the center of the areas of short-season production are field, to provide the best pollinator maximized when growers rent five distribution. to ten colonies per acre. In melon pollination, one colony per acre is Plant competition often used, but two to three colonies per acre are considered better. Honey bees may visit plants other than those to be pollinated, if such plants provide more attractive pollen Colony strength or nectar or if other fields of the same crop are more attractive due to In the mid-1960s representatives understocking. Toprevent bees from from the beekeeping and agricultural visiting competing flowers, colonies crop-producing industries agreed to should be moved in after the begin- standardize colony strength for polli- ning of bloom, when there is suffic- nation purposes: For almond pollina- ient forage to hold bees in the crop. tion four frames of bees and a laying It may be advisable to destroy cover queen per colony were accepted as crops in orchards to reduce competi- the minimum needed, and for alfalfa tion and pesticide hazard. seed production the minimum acceptablelevel was at least nine frames of bees and 600 square inches Other considerations of brood. Growers and beekeepers realize that larger units accomplish Weather. Bees begin to fly when more pollination, and recently new temperatures reach about 55°F. They pricing structures have been devised do not fly in rain, heavy fog, or in that offer a beekeeper bonuses for wind of more than15 miles per hour. supplying colonies above these mini- Temperatures above 100°F reduce mum strengths. Saturation pollina- flight activity for nectar and pollen, tion often means semistarvation for but water collection is increased. Pesticides. Bees provided for pol- Moving hives lination services need maximum pro- tection from damage by pesticides. There are very few places in Cali- Loss of a portion or all of the forag- fornia where colonies can be main- ing bees reduces the amount of tained year-round without encoun- incoming food; decreased brood pro- tering prolonged periods of lack of duction results. Pollen demand is forage. Therefore, in California many reduced and pollination decreases. migratory beekeepers have devel- Economic losses to the grower and to oped efficient methods for handling the beekeeper are certainties. Dam- and moving large numbers of colo- aged colonies may not really recover nies. Generally, bees are moved dur- for months, even if they survive the ing the night with little or no special initial effects of insecticide precautions taken to confine bees to poisoning. their hives. Bees placed in orchards or fields Beekeeperswho must spend time sometimes are exposed to pesticides loading and unloading hives usually applied directly to the bloom upon modify their equipment to ease the which they are supposed to be work- strain on their backs. Beekeepers ing. Often, too, an application is with small numbers of hives may use made to adjacent crops where a com- powerlift tailgates or small booms on peting crop or weed bloom is attract- small flatbed or pickup trucks. Many ing bees. Beekeepers can avoid or larger operators have large mechani- reduce loss by becoming familiar cal or hydraulic booms capable of with area pesticide use practices and lifting two hives at a time (Plate I). placing their bees when they feel it is Booms that can be leveled hydrauli- safe. The grower may have to talk to cally or that are hinged along the several pesticide-using neighbors if boom add flexibility to the system. the beekeeper believes that nearby In the other major method of pesticide use is endangering the crop moving large groups of hives, four to be pollinated. or six hives are fastened to a pallet The California Department of that also serves as a bottom board for Food and Agriculture has formulated the hives. Pallets of hives can be regulations to aid bee protection, but stacked two-high and loaded with a maximum protection can be obtained forklift onto a large flatbed truck. only when beekeepers, growers and Forklifts are used for distributing their neighbors, pest control advi- hives in and around fields for polli- sors, and applicators work closely nation services. Small forklifts are together. Information concerning hauled on trailers. Large forklifts, comparative toxicities of pesticides to modified from four-wheel drive honey bees, residual effects, best for- trucks, can handle four pallets at a mulations, and proper timing of time and can be towed by flatbed applications is available from the trucks. Diesel equipment is used Universityof California Cooperative when it can be afforded. Extension. Producing and Marketing Honey

The 1967 Agricultural Code of tant in determining the market value California defines honey as: ". . .the of honey-lighter colors usually nectar of floral exudations of plants bring higher prices. Color varies gathered and stored in the comb by from nearly colorless through shades honey bees. It is levorotatory, con- of yellows, amber, and brown with tains not more than twenty-five one greenish tinges, to deep red (Plate I). hundredths (0.25)of 1percent ash, Honey from the same floral sources not more than eight (8) percent of may vary in color, and variation in sucrose, its specific gravity is not less color may result from overheating in than1.412, its weight not less than processing; for example, honeys eleven (11) pounds, twelve (12) darken if heated too much or too ounces per standard gallon of 231 long. Color is measured by the cubic inches at sixty-eight degrees Pfund grader or the USDA Color Fahrenheit." comparator. These graders tell bee- Honey is composed largely of two keepers the commercial color classifi- simple sugars (glucose and fructose) cation of honey: water white, extra and enzymes, vitamins, minerals, white, white, extra light amber, light and substances producing character- amber, amber, or dark. istic flavors. California honeys aver- Honey is classified according to age about 17 percent water. Most floral source, method of production, honey sold in California is one of and USDA grades. The two most three types: extracted (liquid), comb popular floral honeys produced in section, or crystallized (creamed or California are sage and orange spun). honey. Other maior floral sources Tobe sold in California, honey are: cotton, lima beans, alfalfa, yel- must meet certain standards as low starthistle, wild buckwheat (of defined in the Agricultural Code the genus Eriogonum), manzanita, (obtainable from California Depart- eucalyptus, and bluecurls. In recent ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Fruit years safflower honey has been pro- and Vegetable Standardization, Sac- duced in quantity. ramento, CA 95814). Color is impor- of honey to handle individually, bees Marketing will remove themselves from supers of fully capped honey in a day or Beekeepers can sell their honey two through bee escape (one-way from their homes, from roadside exit) boards (fig. 7). Place the honey stands on their property, directly to a supers above the escape board and customer, to a wholesaler in 5-gallon smoke the bees gently to get them containers or 55-gallon drums, or moving. Two precautions: through a co-op. Cooperative mar- keting offers certain advantages to (1) Be sure all cracks and holes are beekeepers because a cooperative sealed or the honey will be robbed. can control a certain proportion of (2) Be sure outdoor temperatures the total crop and thus increase will stay below 100°F or unattended members' chances for fair prices. combs may melt in the hive. The U.S. Price Support Program (through1989) includes a minimum Beekeeperswho wish to remove base price for honey at the wholesale large amounts of honey rapidly level. Support prices vary from year should refer to the section on large- to year. For information on this pro- scale harvesting. gram, inquire at the county offices of Preparing honey for storage. Bee- the Agricultural Stabilization and keepers without access to extracting ConservationService (ASCS). The equipment can still prepare their state marketing order for honey is honey in manners attractive to con- administered by the California Direc- sumers. With thin foundations, tor of Food and Agriculture through combs can be cut (called"cut comb the California Honey Advisory Board honey") easily with a warm, sharp whose chief function is promoting knife into shapes that can be placed the use of honey. into special honey cartons or clear plastic bags after draining on each Small-scale harvesting

When combs in a super have been filled and capped (two-thirds of cells capped is adequate in a low-humid- ity environment), the beekeeper may remove a comb or super(s)of combs for harvesting. Be sure to leave the bees one full super of honey and stored pollen for winter feed. Bees may be removed from each frame by shaking and brushing the bees (with a special bee brush) back into the hive. Frames should be placed in an empty super, sitting on a pallet to keep the combs clean, and Fig. 7 Left: Top and bottom of bee escape board; bees enter round hole in bee escape and exit covered with a damp cloth to through narrow ends. Right: Top and bottom exclude robbing bees. view of acid board, showing burlap lining on When there are too many combs bottom section. side for 24 hours. These pieces of cut nies usually can be handled by a comb or comb sections (that are pro- two- to four-frame extractor operated duced in special square or round by hand or by a small electric motor. compartments placed in the hives- Before centrifugation in the see the section on honey products extractor, cappings must be shaved below)and whole frames of honey from the combs with a heated knife. can be held without granulation in a Thermostatically controlled electric deep freezer for long periods. Pieces knives are availible. The cappings, of cut comb can be placed in bottles half wax and half honey, may be bot- and surrounded with extracted tled and consumed as is (reported honey; these are called "chunk useful by some people for hay fever honey" packs. relief) or rendered to save the wax. Beekeeperswho wish to extract Honey flowing from the extractor liquid honey from combs should use should be strained first through a an extractor (fig. 8). Other methods coarse mesh, and then througha involving chopping, squeezing, or fine mesh (such as a clean nylon heating combs to the melting point stocking) to remove visible particles of beeswax usually are considered of wax, propolis, or other matter. For too messy and wasteful to be worth- best appearance, the honey should while. Honey produced by 20 colo- flow along a flat surface leading to

Fig. 8 Honey extracting equipment for a small- to moderate-sized beekeeping operation. (A) uncapping tray: (B)uncapping basket; (C) extractor; (D) clarifier; (El)float switch; (F) pump; (G) filter unit; (H) bottling tank; (I) plastic pipe-pump to filter; (J)filtered honey to bottling unit; (K) overflow from filter, and (L)pipe from tray to clarifer. the bottom of the containers. Honey being extracted. Thick, western hon- that flows as a stream or drips into eys flow much better when extracted itself incorporates air and appears at temperatures between 90°and somewhat cloudy. Honey handled 100 ° F. Nearly all beekeepers use properly has a clean appearance, full mechanical uncappers of one type or flavor, and all its nutrients intact. another. Uncapped frames are Rendering beeswax. For small moved by chains to the vicinity of operations, a solar wax melter is the the extractors. Radial extractors, simplest and most economical way which spin in a horizontal or vertical of rendering wax from well drained plane and hold 100 to 350 frames, are cappings and chunks of comb that most common. accumulate over time. Proceeding from this point in the process, "variety" best describes how the cappings and extracted Large-scale harvesting honey are handled. With one method, all the wax and honey are Most beekeepers in California combined and pumped through a who remove large quantities of heater and honey separator, which honey use "acid boards," named for spins the honey away from the wax. carbolic acid which no longer may be Knives in the spinner shave the wax used for that purpose. Now, ben- into bits that fall into a barrel. zaldehyde (oil of bitter almonds) or In many operations, the cappings diluted butyric anhydride is used to are routed one way by augers, con- moisten the acid board (fig. 7) that is veyor belts, or gravity, while the placed directly on top of the super to honey is strained and pumped be emptied. Benzaldehyde is said to through a second system into set- work better at lower temperatures tling tanks. The honey is left in the (60° to 80°F); butyric anhydride is tanks a day or two to allow wax and better on hot days (80°to 100 °F). bubbles to rise to the surface; then it Five minutes should clear the super. is drawn off from the bottom of the Stupified bees signal overdosing; settling tanks into drums, cans, or residual bees indicate under-dosing. bottles. Honey stores best at temper- Be sure to follow label directions and atures around 70°F. All types, except avoid contacting the chemicals or sage, will granulate in containers allowing them to contaminate the over time, especially at temperatures honey. around 55°F. A few beekeepers prefer to use Cappings contain valuable bees- bee blowers to empty the supers of wax, so various methods are used to bees. A large volume of low velocity separate the wax from the honey and air is used to blow bees down a slumgum. One method is to uncap chute onto the ground by the hive the combs directly into a cappings entrance. Very few bees take flight, melter, a water-jacketed tank with become injured or angered, and fully heating coils inside and sometimes capped supers are cleared very heating coils in the cover. The object quickly. is to melt the wax at about the same Extracting honey. Supers of speed it is being uncapped. The wax honey frequently are stored in a "hot floats above the honey and room" in the warehouse before slumgum, and the levels of honey and wax are adjusted by opening Commercial beekeepers should and closing taps leading from the use stainless steel equipment to melter. process honey. Honey is acid, even if Most of the honey can be it does not taste acidic, and can rap- removed from cappings by a cap- idly corrode many metals and unpro- pings spinner, which is similar to a tected cement floors. radial extractor but contains a wire- mesh basket. Cappings are added gradually, until the wax builds up to Honey products the point that it has to be removed. Lining the basket with pieces of Comb honey. This product is pro- nylon fabric eases wax removal. duced in basswood square-section A number of beekeepers just col- boxes sized 41/4 x 41/4 x 17/8 inches, in lect the cappings in barrels and even- rectangular boxes 4 x 5 x 13/8 inches, tually move them into the oven, a or in round plastic rings that are thermostatically controlled, large, placed in special comb-honey supers insulated box built in the ware- (normal frames are not used in these house's hot room. The temperature supers). The exposed surfaces of is maintained at about 150°F and the wooden sections should be painted wax and honey separate in the bar- with hot paraffin after they have rels. The beeswax can be ladled off in been positioned in the supers to pre- a relatively pure state. vent bees from staining the boxes A few commercial operations with propolis. Overlapping honey have heated wax presses to extract flows of light and dark honey should wax that otherwise would adhere to be avoided for comb honey produc- cocoons in brood combs. Area bee- tion because combs partly filled with keepers bring barrels of slumgum dark and light honey are less attrac- and old wax to these operations peri- tive to consumers. odically for processing.

HONEYDEW HONEY

Honeydew honey, which is not true honey, originates from a sweet liquid excreted by scale insects and plant lice or aphids. In California, one kind of honeydew honey is derived from a scale insect on incense cedar. Another honeydew honey in California is derived from galls on valley oaks. These galls secrete a sugary material on their exterior walls that is collected by honey bees and stored in the same manner as honey. Major honeydew honey crops have been recorded periodically from valley oaks in the foothills on the west side of the Sacramento Val- ley for50 years. Germany is the major market for this hive product. Comb honey production is diffi- full of honey should be separated cult because the nectar flow has to be into groups by weight and appear- constant and abundant to produce ance, and the weight and grade of combs of good quality, and because each section must be listed on its colonies have to be crowded to the label. The boxes should then be indi- swarming point before bees will go vidually wrapped in plastic wrappers into the comb-honey boxes. For best and sealed against dust and insects results, there should be enough bees (plasticwrappings are available from in the colony to fill at least a hive bee suppliers). Comb honey is body and a full-depth super, but all graded according to weight, condi- should be shaken into a single box; a tion of cell caps, cleanliness, and super of empty comb-honey section fullness of combs. Federal standards boxes should then be added so that divide the grades into U.S. Fancy, the bees can deposit honey in the U.S. No. 1, and U.S. No. 2. Descrip- boxes. After the bees have started to tions of these grades are available build comb in the super containing from the United States Department comb-honey boxes, a second comb- of Agriculture. honey super can be put on top. Creamed or spun honey. The When the first combs are about objective in producing creamed or half filled with honey, the two supers spun honey is to induce honey to should be reversed to finish the first granulate into such fine crystals that combs (this usually increases honey they are undetectable when eaten. production). A third comb-honey Light-colored honeys appear even super may be placed on top, if the lighter when processed by this honey flow is extremely good and method, so removal of all particulate the bees need more space. This can contamination is mandatory. be repeated as long as the nectar For best results, adjust moisture flow continues and as often as is level of honey to 17 or 17.5 percent. needed to give the bees more room Heat honey in a water bath to 140°F in which to work without providing to dissolve any natural sugar crystals more sections than the nectar flow and to destroy naturally occurring warrants. (If queen cells are present yeasts. Pour the honey through a in such a colony, they should be fine-mesh strainer (equivalent to a removed to prevent swarming; the nylon stocking's mesh) and cool colony that continues to produce quickly to 80°F to avoid darkening queen cells may be indicating that it the honey. Add 10 percent starter, is attempting to supersede the old which is good creamed honey, and queen. Therefore, it may be neces- stir to blend evenly. Try to avoid sary to kill the old queen and intro- incorporating air into the mixture duce a new one.) because bubbles will cause craters on Supers full of comb-honey boxes the surface of the creamed honey should be removed as soon as the later. Pour into containers, cover, sections are completely filled and the and let stand at 55 °F. In a week the cells are sealed. Near the end of the honey will become very firm. To nectar flow the comb-honey supers soften, place at 80°F. To store for a should be removed to permit the col- length of time, refrigerate or freeze ony to store enough honey in the creamed honey. hive for winter. Comb section boxes Commercial Queen Rearing

Rearing queens assured by removing much of the current young brood a few hours Rearing queen bees on a commer- before grafting. A day or two before cial scale is centered primarily in the grafting, a comb with pollen should Sacramento Valley, which produces be placed in the colony next to the approximately 600,000 queens and space to be occupied by grafted cells. 900,000 pounds of packaged bees Sugar syrup can be fed in a Board- annually for U.S., Canadian, and man feeder or by inverting a friction foreign markets. Skilled beekeepers top pail with several small holes in with many years of experience rear the lid over the occupied frames and queens, but the following common inside an empty hive body. commercial procedures can be modi- Tostart this procedure, up to 15 fied to suit smaller operations. empty cell cups are attached to Queens are produced by placing wooden bars approximately 171/4 (grafting) 1-day-old larvae into queen inches in length, which fit into cell cups made of beeswax or plastic 3/16-inchslots cut in the interior sides (fig. 9), and then putting the cups into a functionally or literally queen- less cell-builder colony. Young worker bees will feed royal jelly to the larvae until they become pupae, thus assuring that they will develop into queens, not workers. Almost any colony can be induced to build queen cells, but the quality of queens depends on the care the developing larvae receive. Toproduce good queens, a colony must have an abundance of nurse bees, pollen, and honey or sugar syrup. Nurse bees can be provided by making sure the colony has a comb of emerging brood a week Fig. 9 Grafting larvae from comb into queen-cell before grafted cells are given to it. cups. Good lighting, temperature, and humidity An ample supply of royal jelly can be control are required. of end bars of a standard frame. The chicken-egg incubator will do) kept cell cups on the bars then are taken at about 91° to 93°F and a relative to a well lit room with environmental humidity of about 50 percent. Ten conditions suitable for the grafting. days after grafting, the queen cell is Room temperature should be at least placed in a small mating hive 75°F and the humidity around 50 (nucleus or "nuc") containing at percent to prevent larvae and royal least a quarter pound of bees. The jelly from drying out. Bright light is bees will take care of the cell until important to locating and removing the queen emerges. About 7 days larvae from the combs. A supply of after emerging, the queen flies out royal jelly (diluted with an equal vol- and mates with at least ten drones. ume of warm water and stirred until When the queen mates (in flight), it has an even consistency)and a semen from the drones is deposited comb of day-old larvae should be in her oviducts. The sperm migrate available. A small drop of diluted into the spermatheca during the next jelly is placed in the bottom of each 15hours and remain there until used cell cup and a larva is placed on the or until the queen lives out her life. drop. Be sure not to roll the larva The movement of the sperm from over. This operation is repeated until the oviducts to the spermatheca is each cell cup contains a larva. The slowed by temperatures below 80°F. diluted royal jelly keeps the larva Therefore. it is important that the moist and well fed. Up to 45 grafted nuclei or colonies'be strong enough cell cups are placed in the cell- to maintain a temperature at least builder colony, which should be well this high in the brood area after the supplied with sugar syrup or honey, queen returns from her mating and pollen. flight. Newly mated queens begin to After 9 days in the cell-builder lay eggs in 3 or 4 days. The bee- colony, the cell cups, containing keeper then removes the queen from capped queen pupae (fig. 10), are the nucleus and cages her for ship- placed in an incubator (a modified ment to a customer. During shipment to a customer, the queen can be in a cage, along with a few attendant bees and asup- ply of queen "candy" for food. In a shipment of a queen and enough bees for a colony, the queen is sent alone in an empty cage placed in the packagefull of bees. The package contains a can of sugar syrup. The bees will feed the queen through the wires that enclose her cage.

Packaged bee production Packaging bees is an enterprise Fig. 10 Capped queen cells are kept in an for experienced beekeepers, but the incubator overnight for protection and ease of procedures described below can be handling. modified for hobbyist operations. Colonies expected to produce laths in groups of five; this makes bulk bees should be fed well in late them easier to handle and provides summer, fall, and early spring. This space for adequate ventilation when stimulates longer and better brood they are stacked. A 2-pound package production, which results in large is considered the minimum for start- bee populations that can take maxi- ing a new colony; a 4-pound package mum advantage of early spring with two queens may be divided into blooms. With such strong colonies a two potential colonies. beekeeper who places bees in almonds in February and near wildflowersin March can maintain strong colony populations even though many pounds of bees may be removed for packaging. Removal of bees is referred to as "shaking."To shake bees, one or more frames are removed from each hive and shaken with a downward jerk over a funnel that empties into a "shaker box." However, beekeepers now smoke the bees up through a queen excluder into a screen-topped box with vertical panels on which the bees cluster. The clusters are jolted down through the funnel into the shaker box. The filled box is then carried to where the packages are weighed; here the bees are shaken from the shaker box into a weighing vessel that transfers the bees into packages built for bee shipping (fig. 11).Two to 4 pounds of bees may be shipped in the packages, each of Fig. 11 Bulk bees are weighed and poured into wire-screen boxes containing caged queens. With which contains a can of sugar syrup a can of sugar syrup in the hole, the packaged (except when shipped by air). The bees are sent to beekeepers to populate empty packages are nailed together with hives. Other Enterprises

Beeswax containers to render beeswax. A few operations use a heated wax press to Beeswax, used mainly for comb extract wax that otherwise would foundation, is an important com- adhere to the cocoons in brood modity to the cosmetics industry, combs. candlemaking, and other manufac- Most beekeeping supply dealers turing. California produces approxi- buy raw wax or will exchange it for mately 600,000 pounds annually- foundation. Clean light wax from about 10 percent of the total comb cappings yields the highest produced in the U.S. (The U.S. market price. imports more beeswax than it pro- duces, a fact that might influence a beekeeper's goals.) Royal jelly Beeswax, secreted by wax glands located on the underside of the bee's Royal jelly, used to prime queen abdomen, is used bv worker bees to cell cups, raise bee brood in the labo- construct combs. To achieve maxi- ratory, and by some individuals for mum beeswax production, large medicinal or cosmetic purposes, can quantities of honey or sugar syrup be produced year-round in some must be present in the colony areas in California. Good production because bees must consume about 8 requires the strongest colony that pounds of honey to produce 1 can be produced, adequate nectar pound of wax. In preparation for and pollen flow, and feeding of colo- wax production, bees gorge them- nies when natural sources of food selves with honey and hang in are lacking. A queenright colony is chains called "festoons." In about 24 usually used in royal jelly produc- hours wax secretion begins. tion, because queenless colonies For small operations a solar wax require more labor to keep colony melter is the simplest and most eco- populations high. Any one of the fol- nomical way of rendering wax. (See lowing three types of hive setups is UC publications listed in References.) effective. Commercial beekeepers use steam- (1) Customarily, a one-story hive heated tinned copper, galvanized with nine frames is divided so that iron, aluminum, or stainless-steel there are five frames for normal

39 brood rearing and four frames for jars and refrigerated at 40°F. Usually, royal jelly production. Tocreate a jelly is shipped to the buyer as soon division, a sheet of window-screen as possible after harvest and by the wire and a sheet of plastic are fas- fastest transportation possible. tened to a strip of 1/8-inch by 1-inch wood so that the wood is between (2)Another setup consists of a two- them. The wooden strip, screen, and story hive, with the previously plastic each should be long enough described one-story hive used as the to extend the complete length upper story (or super) above a queen between the front and back walls of excluder; each story has its own the hive body. The screen should be queen. Under these conditions addi- long enough to reach the bottom tional nurse bees can move up from board, and the plastic should be long the bottom hive to help rear the cells. enough to cover the top bars of five (3)A two-story hive has a queen and adjacent frames. The long side of the a colony of bees in the lower hive screen and the plasticshould be fas- body, separated from the super by a tened to the wood. queen excluder. An open wooden After the frames are moved to the rectangle (madeof 1-inch stock) with appropriate positions and the worker outside dimensions identical to the bees have an opportunity to reposi- hive body is placed above the queen tion themselves, the screen is excluder and a super is placed on it. inserted between the fifth and sixth This holds the bottom of the frames frames, and the plasticsheet is laid in the super an extra inch above the over the five frames upon which the top bars of the frames in the hive queen is allowed to roam. This keeps body, and thus reduces the probabil- her from moving to the adjacent ity of crushing bees when frames are group of four frames where royal placed in the super. Nine frames are jelly is to be produced. The four used in the super. The center frame frames on the royal jelly side consist has a bar with 15to 20 grafted cells of two outer frames of honey and on it for jelly production. On each pollen, one inner frame of open side of this frame is a frame of open (young, uncapped) brood, and brood and nurse bees. The other six another inner frame containing a bar frames are for honey and pollen. upon which have been grafted 15 to Regardlessof the setup used, the 20 queen cells. colony must be managed in certain The nurse bees of the colony will ways for maximum production: be stimulated to secrete royal jelly to feed the larvae in the queen cells as Frames of originally open brood well as the uncapped brood in the on either side of the frame holding adjacent frame. The frame holding the bar of grafted cells must be the grafted cells should be removed replaced with new frames of open on the fourth day after the grafts brood at least every 14 days, or after have been placed in position. The every fourth graft. Toproduce open cells are then trimmed down to the brood, frames with empty cells are level of the royal jelly they contain placed in the brood nest area of the and the larvae removed. An aspira- queenright portion of the hive. tor is used to remove the royal jelly A residue of jelly is left in each from the cells. The jelly is packaged cell when the jelly is harvested. A in 1-pound, airtight Opalite ointment drop of royal jelly diluted by one- half with water is placed on the resi- bees as are pollens that are contami- due of jelly in the cell before grafting nated with pesticide residues. because the larvae float off the graft- Pollen is carried to the hive in ing tool more easily onto this diluted ball-like pellets on the hind legs of drop. foraging bees. A portion of the pol- len pellets may be harvested by plac- The cells producing royal jelly ing a pollen trap on a hive. Gener- should be grafted again as soon as ally, the hive is rearranged so that possible after the previous jelly has the pollen trap serves as the been harvested. entrance; it may be located at the Larvae are grafted from frames of bottom, middle, or top of the hive. brood borrowed from the queenright After the bees become accustomed to section of the royal jelly producing the new entrance, a sieve of two lay- colonies. ers of 5-mesh hardware cloth, sepa- The queen sometimes cannot pro- rated by inch and with holes off- duce enough nurse bees, but this can set, or a perforated (3/16-inch holes be corrected by requeening with a on staggered centers) metal plate, is more prolific queen. More bees can positioned in the trap. The sieve be added by placing combs of emerg- knocks off some of the pellets that ing bees from other colonies into fall into a collection tray. The tray weak colonies. should be equipped in some manner to reduce the moisture content of Each colony should be harvested incoming pellets (often a screen or every fourth day. One pound of cloth bottom) and should have an 8- royal jelly per 200 colonies is usually mesh, thin wire, hardware cloth produced under the best conditions, cover to prevent bees from entering which are the same as those for and recovering the pollen. Pollen honey production. traps may be purchased from suppli- For best quality, royal jelly should ers of beekeeping equipment, but be shipped as quickly as possible many individuals prefer to design after production. their own. Pollen traps should be used only during heavy pollen flows. At the hive, bees will increase emphasis on Harvesting pollen pollen collecting to make up for what is lost, but this is possible only when Bee-collected pollen has a number there is spare pollen within flight of uses besides providing nutrients range. to bees. Pollen has become a perma- Pollen pellets should be removed nent supplement in many peoples' from the traps every 2 or 3 days. The diets. Extracts of pollens are impor- pellets should be spread out and tant in desensitization to hay fever. allowed to air dry for 24 hours to Pollen-collecting activities of bees reduce the potential for mold can be monitored to determine effi- growth. Then the pollen can be ciencies of colonies used for pollina- placed in containers and stored at tion services. It should be noted, O°F. Freezing increases the storage however, that any pollens that con- life of the product well over a year tain toxicants should be avoided. and eliminates all stages of stored California buckeye pollen is toxic to product insects, which can become a serious problem. Frozen pollen ture to within a 1/2-inch layer of the becomes moist and crumbly when top of the storage container, cover thawed and should be used immedi- the mixture with a 1/2-inch layer of ately upon removal from the freezer. sugar, and seal airtight. Pollen stored An alternative method for storing mixed with sugar remains soft and pollen, developed at the University moist and can be formed into cakes of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, is to and fed directly to bees or mixed into mix the pollen with half its weight of a pollen supplement. fine granulated sugar. Pack the mix-

Sources of Nectar and Pollen

Hundreds of species of California because of the pesticides used on plants yield pollen or nectar, but the them. most important plants for honey pro- California buckeye, Aesculus cali- duction are alfalfa, oranges, cotton, fomica (Spach) Nutt., deserves a spe- lima beans, sages (black, sonoma, cial note of caution because of its white, and white leaf), yellow toxic nature to bees and its wide dis- starthistle (fig. 12), wild buckwheats, tribution and abundance. The tree is manzanita, eucalyptus, and found throughout the foothills of cis- bluecurls. Extensive use of herbi- montane (see Glossary) California cides to control weeds has decidedly from Siskiyou and Shasta counties to reduced bee pasturage in California. Kern County and northern Los Beekeepers should actively encour- Angeles County below 4,000 feet. It age the use of plants beneficial to blooms in May and June and is very bees for plantings along roadsides attractive to honey bees, but when and other rights of way, revegetation buckeye pollen becomes predomi- of disturbed lands, and ornamental nant in the diet of larval bees, mal- plantings. formed nonfunctional adults result. Alfalfa, oranges, cotton, corn, and (See complete discussion in Other beans present a hazard for bees Disorders.) Fig. 12 Yellow starthistle, a highly prized honey plant of northern California.

Wild Plant Sources of Bath Nectar and Pollen* Time of Color of Plant Where found bloom honey Bluecurls (Trchostema Drv open fields below 3.500 feet: most of cismontane August to White lanceolatum Benth.) Caiifornia. October Buckwheats, wild Throughout California April to Light amber (Eriogonum spp.) November Buttonbush Along streams and lakeshores, below 3,000 feet; June to White to (Cephalanrhus throughout Central Valley and adjacent foothills. September light occidenrals L.) Clover, Brewer (Tifolum Wooded slopes below 6,500 feet; in Sierra Nevada from May to White brewer; Wats.) Madera County north; in Trinity, Siskiyou, and Del Norte August counties. Deervetch: broom; wild Dry slopes, often following burns below 5,000 feet; most March to White alfalfa (Lotusscoparius of cismontane California. August [Nutt.] Ottley) Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Central Valley and Coast Ranges south to San Diego December Light amber spp.) County. to July Filaree (Erodum spp.) Stock forage plant of open grassy areas, below 3,500 February to Light amber feet; throughout cismontane California. August Goldenweed fleece Dry foothills below 4,000 feet (to 9,000 feet in Sierra August to Amber (Haplopappus Nevadal; cismontane Sierra from Nevada County to November arborescens [Gray] Hall) Tulare County; Coast Ranges from Del None County to Ventura County. Jackass clover Alkali plains in San Joaquin Valley. Very limited April to Water white I(Wishzenia refracta distribution due to land reclamation. November Engelm.) -continued

43 Wild Plant Sources of Both Nectar and Pollen* (continued) Time of Color of Plant Where found bloom honey

Mesquite (Prosopis Washes below 3,000 feet; Colorado and Mojave deserts, April to Light amber glandulosa Torr. var. San Joaquin Valley, and interior valleys from Santa June torreyana (L. Bensonl Barbara County to San Diego County. M. C. Jtn.) Mountain misery Open forest, 2,000 to 7,000 feet; Shasta County to Kern May to Amber (Chamaebatia foliolosa County. July Benth.) Mustard (Brassica spp.) Weeds of orchards, open grassy slopes, and waste January to Light amber places; throughout cismontane California. Limited by May weed control. Poison oak (Rhus Low places, thickets, and wooded slopes, below 5,000 April to White diversiloba T. & G.) feet; throughout cismontane California. May Rabbit brush Dry, open plains, and mountainsides, 2,500 to 9,500 September Light amber (Chrysothamnus feet. Mostly in transmontane California. t o October nauseosus [Pall.] Britt.) Sage, black (Salvia Dry slopes, below 2,000 feet; Coast Ranges from April to Water white mellifera Greene) Monterey Bay to San Diego County. July Sage, Sonoma [creeping] Dry slopes, below 6,500 feet; foothills of Sierra Nevada May to White (Salvia sonomensis from Shasta County to Calaveras County, and Coast June Greene) Ranges from Siskiyou County to Napa County, plus Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego counties. Sage, white (Salvia Dry slopes, below 5,000 feet; Santa Barbara County April to Water white apiana Jeps. ) south to San Diego County July Sage, white leaf [purple] Dry slopes, below 2,000 feet; Orange County north to May to Water white (Salvia leucophylla Monterey and Kern counties. July Greene) Sages other than black, Mountain ranges and foothills throughout California, Spring and Water white Sonoma and white leaf mostly below 5,000 feet. summer (Salvia spp.) Spikeweed and tarweed Dry, open slopes and grassy fields below 3,000 feet; April to Light amber (Hemizonia spp.) throughout cismontane California. November to amber Starthistle, yellow Widely distributed weed. Limited by extensive weed May to White to ( Cenraurea solstirialis L. ) control program. Was widely spread in Sacramento Valley. October extra light amber Sumac, laurel (Rhus Dry slopes, below 3,000 feet; cismontane southern June to Amber laurina Nutt.) California from Santa Barbara County to San Diego July County. Toyon (Hereromeles Brushy slopes and canyons below 4,000 feet; foothills June to Amber arburifolia M. Roem. ) and mountains of cismontane California. July Wild lilac (Ceanothus Dry slopes, often rocky or wooded, mostly below 6,000 March to White spp.) feet; foothills and mountains of cismontane California. July Willow (Salk spp.) Streambanks, meadows, and wet places; throughout January to Amber California. July "See California Flara, Munzand Keck, 1959. Berkeley: University of California Press. Bee Diseases

Bee diseases are specific to either readilv only after the adult bees have the brood or adult bees. Brood dis- been shaken off the comb. eases generally are considered more A comb being examined should detrimental to the colony than are be tilted so that direct sunlight illu- adult diseases. No disease of bees minates the lower side walls and bot- affects humans. toms of the cells. This makes it possi- Before attempting to diagnose ble to see any disease scale that brood diseases, the beekeeper might be present. If no dead brood is should become familiar with the found in open or uncapped cells, it is appearance of healthy brood in all advisable to remove any sunken, dis- stages (Plate II). In healthy colonies colored, or punctured cappings and there is regularity in the arrange- examine the cell contents. When ment of eggs, open larvae, capped dead brood is found, the following brood, and emerging bees. Healthy should be noted: position of dead larvae in open cells are plump, glis- brood, age and type of brood tening, and pearly white. Brood cap- affected, color, consistency, odor of pings normally are uniform and dead brood in various stages of raised slightly above the comb sur- decay, and position and tightness of face. Once in place over the larvae, scales. the cappings remain free of visible The consistency of decaying lar- holes until emerging bees cut their vae is important in disease diagno- way out of the cells. sis. Consistency can be determined by stirring the decaying larva with the larger end of a toothpick and Brood diseases slowly withdrawing the adhering mass, observing the texture and not- Symptoms of brood disease gen- ing whether the material can be erally first become noticeable in stretched out into a thick thread. combs containing mature brood This threadlike property is termed where young bees are emerging or in ropiness. Used toothpicks should be combs containing more than one burned in the smoker or wrapped in cycle of brood. Symptoms also may wax paper and sent to the California be found in brood combs of a hive in Department of Food and Agriculture which the colony has died of a brood for analysis, if American foulbrood is disease. Symptoms can be observed suspected. American foulbrood (AFB).This, brood food and the larvae become the most serious larval bee disease in infected. Nectar, honey, and pollen North America, is found in Califor- collected from hives in which the nia and at times has made commer- bees are infected with AFB are con- cial beekeeping unprofitable in some taminated with spores and may areas. Colonies should be inspected cause disease if given to a healthy periodically for this disease. colony. Larvae dead of AFB lie fully out- American foulbrood is persistent, stretched on the lower cell walls and infected colonies soon become (Plate II) Pupae also may be killed unable to rear enough healthy brood and usually die with their "tongues" to maintain colony populations. As stretched vertically across the cells. infection progresses, the colony is Diseased larvae or pupae gradually weakened, honey and combs in a change color from white, through diseased colony become heavily con- butterscotch, to dark coffee brown, taminated with spores, and the dis- and finally dry to become thin scales ease is spread when robbing bees that adhere tightly to lower cell bring contaminated honey back to walls. Decaying brood is slimy and neighboring colonies. Thus, diseased ropy, and a burned odor is often colonies constitute a serious menace noticeable. in any area where bees are kept. American foulbrood is caused by To control AFB and prevent its a bacterium, Bacillus larvae White. spread, colonies must be inspected Spores enter the bee larva in contam- regularly and diseased colonies must inated food, and bacteria resulting be destroved. After the disease has from these spores multiply and kill been discovered and abated in an the larva in its cell, usually just after apiary, the remaining colonies the cell has been capped. The bacte- should be thoroughly examined ria continue to multiply in the dead again in 30 to 60 days. A beekeeper tissues and cause decay. As the not experienced in AFB abatement decaying mass dries, the bacteria who finds signs of this disease transform into highly infectious should contact the county agricul- spores, billions of which may be con- tural commissioner immediately to tained in a single dried scale. Spores obtain assistance. of B. larvae are extremely resistant to Drugs may be fed to colonies not high and low temperatures, to chem- showing AFB disease symptoms as ical disinfectants, and to the dehy- an aid in preventing the disease. Ter- drating action of honey that nor- ramycin is registered for such use mally kills bacteria. The spores can and has appropriate directions on remain alive and infectiousfor dec- the container label. It is illegal in Cal- ades in honey, in combs, and on ifornia to medicate or otherwise used equipment. maintain an AFB-diseased colony of The disease is spread within the bees. colony by adult bees whose European foulbrood (EFB).This mouthparts are contaminated from disease, which occurs in some parts working with nectar or honey con- of California, can seriously cripple a taining spores, or by attempts to colony. Strong colonies can usually remove diseased brood. Spores from recover. contaminated mouthparts of nurse Larvae dead of EFB are coiled in bees are incorporated into larval the cell bottoms or are twisted across the lower cell wall; occasionally, they vae dead with parafoulbrood typi- die in an outstretched position. Dis- cally lie twisted across the lower cell eased larvae first turn yellow, then walls, although sometimes those brown, and finally dry to form dark, lying in a normal coiled position may irregularlyshaped scales that are also be dead. Occasionally, older lar- easily removed from the cells. vae in sealed cells are killed and lie Decaying larvae have a wet, paste- outstretched. The decaying mass has like consistency; sometimes exhibit a a reddish brown color, and the tex- degree of ropiness; dry to form ture usually is moist and pasty or scales closely resembling those of gummy; occasionally, there is ropi- AFBdisease, and give off a sour ness. This disease is easily confused odor. Pupae rarely are affected. It is with either AFB or EFB and some- rare that a larva, dead of EFB,is times appears to be a mixture of the found with the head upstretched to two. resemble the tongue mentioned in Sacbrood. Sacbrood seldom the previous discussion of American results in more than slight damage to foulbrood. colonies. Larvae killed by the disease Sometimes EFB appears suddenly lie fully outstretched on the lower and spreads rapidly through colo- cell walls and are usually yellow or nies. This is most likely to occur in brown and darker at the head end. spring after the first or second brood The larval skin remains intact, and cycle and during a pollen dearth. At the body contents become watery, other times, it may spread slowly making it possible to remove dis- and do little damage. A good nectar eased larvae intact as a fluid-filled flow seems to hasten recovery. The sac. The odor is sour. Scales are disease usually subsides by midsum- brown and wrinkled with turned-up mer, but occasionally remains active ends, and they are easily removed. during summer and fall; or it may Sacbroodis more prevalent in spring seem to disappear and then reappear but usually clears up with a good in fall. Terramycin is registered for nectar flow. Colonies in which the use in treating EFB-diseased colo- disease persists can be requeened nies. Label directions must be fol- with resistant stock or united with lowed closely to avoid injury to stronger colonies after killing the brood or contamination of honey. susceptible queen. European foulbrood often can be controlled by dequeening the dis- eased colony for 10 days, which Adult bee diseases breaks the brood-rearing cycle and gives the bees an opportunity to There are two major diseases of clean diseased brood from the cells. adult bees, nosema disease and The colony then can be requeened paralysis. Nosema disease is and more bees added, or it can be endemic in many colonies, but its united with a stronger colony after detrimental effects are very subtle. the 10-day period. This treatment Paralysis occurs sporadically with frequently is also effective against symptoms very similar to insecticide parafoulbrood. poisoning. Parafoulbrood. Occasionally Nosema. Caused by a microscopic found in California, parafoulbrood is protozoan, Nosema apis Zander, this comparable to EFB in its effect. Lar- disease seldom causes mortality. The only reliable way to determine Paralysis. Paralysis disease is whether Nosema is present in a col- widely distributed in California. It ony is to submit a sample of bees for seldom causes serious damage, laboratory examination. Nosema except occasionally in southern Cali- infections become much more severe fornia, and affected colonies usually during bad weather, when bees are recover. confined to hives. An infected col- Diseased bees may be seen on top ony may become seriously weakened bars or at the colony entrance. Typi- during the critical population cally, they are weak, they shiver or buildup period in spring. Infected tremble, and they are unable to fly or bees have their lives shortened as walk in a coordinated manner. Fre- much as 40 percent, even though quently their legs are widely they appear to forage normally until sprawled, their wings disconnected, shortly before death. More impor- and their bodies hairless, with a tantly, however, infected nurse bees dark, greasy appearance. They have rapidly lose the ability to produce a distinct and repulsive odor. the royal jelly required to feed the Paralysis is a mildly infectious queen, the brood, and the drones. virus disease transmitted directly Lack of royal jelly leads to popula- from sick to healthy bees. Colonies tion stagnation or decline during in which the disease seems to persist periods of anticipated population should be requeened with a less sus- explosion, even when there is an ceptible stock. abundance of spring pollen and nec- tar sources. These negative effects often are referred to as "spring Honey bee parasitic mites dwindling." Severe infections can lead to off-season (winter) superse- The federal Bee Importation Act dures that produce drone layers of 1922 prohibited further importa- (permanentlyvirgin queens) or tion of live honey bees into the U.S. queenlessness by the next spring. The Act was passed in response to Losses from Nosema are not concern about a devastating loss of always immediately apparent, as it is bees in Europe that was associated common for infected bees to die with the presence of microscopic away from the hive. It usually is too mites in the thoracic tracheae of the late to apply effectivecontrol when bees. The impact of infestation by signs of the disease are seen, so pre- the tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi, vention is the only alternative. which was detected in the U.S. in Fumagillin, sold under various trade 1984, appears to vary, depending names, is registered for preventive upon the stocks of bees and environ- treatments. The disease may be held mental conditions. In California, to a minimum by keeping colonies quarantine regulations are in effect strong and by overwintering them in to keep the tracheal mite out of locations sheltered from wind and northern California. Check with your open to maximum sunshine. Con- county agricultural commissioner finement of bees, pollen shortage, about regulations, because they unripened winter feed, chilling, and change periodically. frequent handling can accelerate Varroa jacobsoni, a larger external buildup of Nosema. parasitic mite of larval, pupal, and adult honey bees, has eventually tive to European bees than is Acara- made its way from the Far East (orig- pis woodi, particularly since it dam- inally hosted by Apis cerana) to South ages brood in addition to feeding on America. This reddish brown little adult bees. Every effort is being mite, shaped like a crab with no big made to keep this parasite out of the pincers, appears to be more destruc- U.S.

MATERIALS REGISTERED FOR BEE DISEASE CONTROL

Oxytetracycline hydrochloride (American foulbrood control)

Commonly purchased as Pfizer's product, Terramycin, and referred to as TM. A formulation strength of 25 grams of oxytetracycline in 1pound of mixture is referred to as TM 25. Other concentrations are available. It is recommended that the purchased formulation be diluted down to TM 5 (1part TM 25: 4 parts sugar) with powdered (confectionary or drivert) sugar and that 2 level tablespoons be applied carefully along the top bars of combs containing eggs and young larvae in a well established colony. Each treatment provides about 10 days of protection. The antibi- otic should be used only when brood is being reared and when there is a chance that foraging bees may be robbing sick, weakened colonies dur- ing a nectar dearth (spring, early summer, fall). Medication should be terminated 4 weeks before an anticipated nectar flow to prevent contami- nation of honey.

Fumagillin (nosema disease control)

Currently available under a variety of trade names. Sold as a powder, it gives reliable results only when administered to the colony in sugar syrup at the concentration recommended on the label. Colonies overwin- tered in cold areas should be fed 2 gallons of medicated sugar syrup in fall. Colonies overwintered in warmer regions can be fed 1gallon of medicated heavy sugar syrup in fall and the second gallon of medicated light sugar syrup in January when bees are being stimulated into early brood rearing. Fumagillin persists for a long time in sugar syrup, so it should not be fed when early nectar flows tend to be included in the harvested honey crop. If you see mites in your beehives, small piece of waxed paper along send samples, in alcohol, to the with the toothpick, fold the paper to Supervisor of Apiary Projects, Cali- prevent contamination, and place in fornia Department of Food and Agri- an envelope, along with a letter culture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento, requesting diagnosis. Samples of CA 95814. It is critical to find and scale pried loose from cell walls may eliminate mite pests before they be submitted in the same manner. cause irreparable damage to the Samples of adult dead bees state's beekeeping industry. should be fresh; dried specimens are of little value. Samples should be selected carefully and made up only Diagnosing diseases of bees that appear to be affected. They should be mailed in a sturdy If there appears to be a mixture of container that will protect them from symptoms or if symptoms do not being crushed. Live bees also may be seem typical, it is advisable to submit sent, provided they are properly samples to the Supervisor of Apiary caged. Satisfactory diagnosis can be Projects. Diagnosis is free. made from a sample of 10 to 20 bees. Totake samples of diseased Comb samples are difficult brood, a smear should be made by to handle and are unnecessary in stirring the cell contents with a clean laboratory diagnosis for AFB toothpick. Transfer the smear to a determination. Other Disorders

Healthy colonies do not tolerate ularly dangerous to their colonies are the presence of dead brood and will going to be applied in their area - remove it as quickly as possible. they will be given a 48-hour warn- Seriously weakened colonies should ing. A publicationthat includes be strengthened or united with information on the potential hazards stronger colonies to hasten removal of specific pesticides to bees can be of dead brood from the combs. obtained at any farm advisor's office. Poisonous plants. California plants producing nectar or pollen Poisoning poisonous to bees are: California buckeye (Aesculuscalifornica [Spach] The first sign of poisoning usually Nutt.), death camas (Zigadenus is the appearance of a large number veneosus), cornlily (Veratrumcaliforni- of dead or dying bees at colony cum), and locoweed (Astragalus entrances throughout the apiary. A spp.). Because of its wide distribu- knowledge of local pesticide pro- tion, buckeye is the most hazardous grams and of blooming plants that to bees. are toxic to bees is important in Symptoms of buckeye poisoning avoiding poisoning. usually appear about a week after Pesticide injury. Some pesticides bees begin working the blossoms. kill larvae in all stages as well as Many young larvae die, giving the adult bees. Pesticide dusts are partic- brood pattern an irregular appear- ularly hazardous because of their ance. The queen's egg-laying rate greater tendency to drift and their decreases or stops, or she may lay propensity to stick to bee hairs. If only drone eggs; after a few weeks, pesticide damage is suspected (fig. an increasing number of eggs fail to 13), the beekeeper should immedi- hatch or a majority of young larvae ately file a Report of Loss with the die before they are 3 days old. Some agricultural commissioner of the adults emerge with crippled wings county in which the damage or malformed legs and bodies. For- occurred so that the loss can be aging bees feeding on buckeye blos- recorded and investigated properly. soms may have dark, shiny bodies Beekeepers can request the commis- and paralysislike symptoms. sioner's office that they be notified Affected colonies may be seriously when pesticides they consider partic- weakened or may die. However, the Fig. 13 Bees killed by pesticides. queen may resume normal egg lay- cluster in the hive to contract and no ing, if the colony is moved from the longer cover brood in peripheral por- buckeye area. tions of the brood-rearing area. Chill- Honey produced from California ing also can result from separating buckeye is not poisonous to humans. brood combs from the main brood- (Oddly enough, neither is honey rearing areas or from neglect by produced from poison oak.) worker bees if too many bees are lost to pesticides or other causes. Brood dead from chilling or starvation will Brood disorders be foundin a clearly defined area, not scattered among healthy brood. Chilled or starved brood. Chilling All stages of brood in the affected usually occurs in early spring when a area will be dead. Dead brood is severe drop in temperature follows gray, brown, or black and has a warm weather - this causes the bee slightly sour odor; it is easily removed from cells. Symptoms usu- indigestible food during a prolonged ally disappear with warmer weather, period of confinement. The most with supplemental feeding, or with noticeable sign of dysentery is fecal the beginning of a nectar flow. matter in the hive or around the Overheated brood. Brood dead entrance, as bees normally void their from overheating resembles brood body wastes while in flight outside dead from chilling or starvation. the hive. Honeydew, unripened When such brood is found at the honey, overheated honeys, or fer- same time that older larvae are menting sugar syrup are unsuitable observed crawling outside their cells, as feed and will cause dysentery if overheating has occurred. To prevent bees are unable to make frequent this, bees should have adequate ven- flights to void body wastes (as is tilation, an ample supply of water, common in winter). and shade. Starvation. Starvation is a major Dead drone brood in worker cause of colony loss in winter and cells. If a queen bee lacks sperm, she spring, but can occur at any time of will lay only drone-producing (unfer- the year. Conclusive proof of starva- tilized) eggs. If no queen is present, tion is the presence of clusters of worker bees sometimes will lay eggs, dead bees, stuck head first in comb but these will be unfertilized, also. cells where they have died in search This drone brood, which occurs in of food. Often, colonies that have irregular patches with domelike produced a large amount of early caps, is often allowed to die. It may brood deplete their stores and die of be found in various stages of decay, starvation during confining weather usually in moist, pasty, brown in spring. Colonies also may starve patches having a sweet-rotten odor. later in the season if subjected to a prolonged dearth between nectar flows. Other problems The most obvious sign of approaching starvation is loss of hive Queenless colony. A colony with- weight or absence of sealed honey out brood during the active season during a nectar dearth. Starving bees normally is queenless. Queenless are restless and crawl slowly about colonies usually become very dis- the comb as though cold, even turbed when the hive is opened. though the weather may be warm. Scattered cells of pollen with a Egg laying is retarded or ceases glossy appearance, found in the area entirely, and brood is neglected and normally occupied by brood, is the allowed to die. Cappings sometimes typical indication of a queenless are removed and the brood eaten. colony. Starving bees occasionally cluster in Dysentery.This is a functional a hunger swarm, usually on or near disorder that may result from eating the hive. Pests of Bees

Wax moth Other, smaller moths, commonly encountered as pantry pests, will The greater wax moth, Galleria invade stored honeycombs, also. rnellonella L., occurs in all areas of However, these moth larvae usually California and is active year-round in cause much less damage to the comb coastal and southern California. and are eliminated by most treat- Night-flying female moths (Plate 111) ments effective for greater wax lay eggs inside and outside beehives, moths (but not Certan). showing a preference for stronger colonies. Wax moth larvae tunnel through the combs chewing up the Ants wax and obtaining nutrients from pollen, cocoons, and other debris. Normally, a stong, healthy colony Without control, wax moths can of bees can repel an attack by most reduce combs to a mass of webbing types of ants. However, in Califor- and fecal pellets. nia, Argentine ants are capable of Fortunately, honey bees are capa- destroying nuclei and full-strength ble of locating and removing wax colonies. Often, the ants begin forag- moth larvae before they do much ing on nectar and honey. Lines of damage, as long as the colony is marching ants can be seen leading to strong and is not given too much the hole they use to enter and leave space to patrol. Any supers of combs the hive. Before long the bees brought in from the field for storage become demoralized by the ants and are very likely to be infested. If a fail to forage properly. This is detri- good-sized deep freeze is available, mental to the colony and to the exposure to freezing temperatures grower, if the bees are being rented for a day or two will kill all life stages for pollination. Left unchecked, the of the moth. Otherwise, beekeepers ants often move their headquarters rely on fumigation with various directly below the hive, continue to chemicals to kill wax moths. (Chemi- remove honey and pollen, and even- cals and biological control agents tually begin eating the brood. The currently registered for wax moth bee colony will perish. control and their use are explained in Beekeepers use two approaches to the box, Materials Registered for Wax ant control: physical barriers and Moth Control.) insecticides. Where practical, hives can be placed on low stands that remember that bees are susceptible have a can of water or oil at the base to the chemicals, also. Be sure to use of each leg. Water evaporates quickly insecticides cautiously around bees. without a thin layer of oil on it. (See also An Observation Beehive.) When cans go dry, become filled with floating dust or debris, or are circumvented by a grass-blade bridge Bears to the hive, the ants will be back in no time. Insects make up a substantial por- Various forms of ant baits are on tion of a bear's normal diet, so it is the market in small individual con- not surprising that bears will tear tainers and are more or less success- open beehives, wild or human- ful, depending upon what else is made, to seek out the brood for food. available to the foraging ants. A Bears also like honey. number of insecticides are labeled for Beekeepers can protect their hives controlling ants on the ground, but adequately with well-constructed

MATERIALS REGISTERED FOR WAX MOTH CONTROL

Certan. This is a wax moth-adapted strain of Bacillus thuringiensis that can be sprayed on combs. Coverage must be thorough and older larvae are much less susceptible to the bacterium than younger larvae. Bacterial spores should be effective for 12 months if temperatures remain reason- able. Bees clean the spores off the combs and contamination of honey is no problem.

Aluminum phosphide. A fumigant formulated as a slow-release, dry, solid pellet or tablet. Easy to use in a reasonably moist environment, it provides excellent penetration of supers and combs, killing all life stages of the moth, if fumigant concentration is held at adequate levels long enough. The highly volatile gas escapes quickly from tiny exit holes in fumigation chambers and has given poor results in a number of ware- houses that were not well sealed.

Paradichlorobenzene (PDB).Effective on larval and adult stages, but eggs survive. Covered stacks of five or six deep supers or ten shallow supers (empties, only) are treated with 3ounces of crystals. At least two treatments at 4- to 21-day intervals are needed to eliminate newly hatched larvae. Combs must be "aired" adequately before use to prevent problems with bees. electric fences in areas where native the cluster has moved up, are attrac- bears are known to roam. However, tive to mice. A mouse nest usually once a bear has become accustomed involves four or more combs hol- to destroying hives, it takes much lowed out to support dried grass, more than a fence to eliminate the leaves, and bits of cloth used to build habit. It is much easier to inquire the nest. By spring, the family has about bears at the local county increased in numbers and the odor offices before moving into an area has become unacceptable. than to try to deal with the problem Entrance guards of 3/8-inch mesh later. hardware cloth will protect hives in the field, and tight-fitting pallets and Skunks covers should protect stored combs. It does not take a skunk long to learn that bees crawl out of a hive Livestock entrance if the hive is scratched at night. The bees become tangled in Occasionally, cows and other live- the skunk's hair, and the skunk eats stock may push a hive to see what it them. Toenail scratches on a hive or, is or they will use it to scratch an sometimes, a hole being excavated itch. Normally, the hives are dis- under a side of the hive indicate turbed only once. It is best to avoid skunk activity. Repeated visits to the direct contact with horses since they same hive can detrimentally affect react violently to beestings, prompt- the population and colony morale. ing more stings and leading in some The latter effect will become very cases to severe self-injury. evident to the beekeeper when the hive is opened! Skunks can be trapped, but use of poisons for Vandalism skunk control in California is illegal. Vandalism often is avoided by placing the apiary in clear view of Mice passersby and by posting a notice to the effect that witnesses to vandal- As the weather becomes cooler in ism will receive a reward for supply- fall, field mice seek protected places ing evidence leading to the vandal's to overwinter. Stacks of stored bee prosecution. Various California combs, or even the lower, empty beekeeping organizations provide boxes of combs in hives from which such posters to their members.

56 An Observation Beehive

Few hobbies are as exciting and as ground knowledge about the biology educational as keeping a colony of and behavior of honey bees. Many bees in an observation hive. The excellent books on bees are available, behavior of bees as a social unit and and a few hours of reading some will their elaborate means of communica- pay great dividends. tion can be used to illustrate basic The hive itself should be located biological concepts in teaching at all so as to permit observation from levels from kindergarten to college. both sides. Access must be provided Once the colony is established from the hive to the outdoors so that behind glass walls, anyone can visu- the bees can forage for food and ally enter the world of the honey bee water. A transparent runway to observe the activities of an intrigu- through the wall or a window will ing society. All of the honey bee's life provide for this. Ideally, there should in the hive is unveiled, from egg lay- be no sidewalks or parking areas ing by the queen to the emergence of within approximately 30 feet of the newborn worker bees from cells in exit. Runways can be of considerable the comb. Some bees will be seen length and can be built to turn cor- processing pollen into bee bread, ners or curves, although bees seem others will be converting nectar into to orient better if they can see light at honey, and many other worker bee the runway's exit. activities, such as cleaning the nest, building comb, and exchanging food, can be seen night and day. But Construction and perhaps the most fascinating sight is mounting (fig. 14) that of the worker bees returning from foraging trips heavily laden Observation hives can be pur- with brightly colored pollen pellets chased, but the hive described in this as they enter the hive and perform text is economical and simple to con- dances that tell other workers where struct and will accommodate four the pollen was gathered. (As an standard full-super frames. Bees added bonus, bees in a four-frame need this amount of space for clus- observation hive may produce up to tering, rearing brood, and storing 20 pounds of honey annually.) food reserves. Tofully appreciate an observation Ideally, the hive base should be hive, you should have some back- mounted rigidly to a sturdy table or platform. Because all manipulations dow to accommodatethe exit run- of the colony must be made out- way. One solution is to replace the doors, the mounting and runway window glass with a sheet of Plexi- attachments should be made so that glas or plywood in which an opening the hive can be disconnected easily. can easily be cut. For an attractive Before the bees are installed, tempo- installation, paint all wood parts rarily mount the hive in its perma- (except the frames) of the hive and nent position and then construct the runway before the glass or plastic is runway to the outdoors. Runways mounted. White observation hives can be made with parallel wood are most attractive, but any color is strips on a wooden floor and covered satisfactory. Paint should be dry with glass, Plexiglas, or plastic. before bees are placed in the hive. Fibrous material, such as cardboard, paper, or cloth, should never be used; bees chew through these mate- Establishing the colony rials in a few days. Sometimes there is a problem in Bees may be installed in the making an opening through the win- observation hive anytime between

Fig. 14 An observation hive, with construction details. Commercial observation hives are available, also. early spring and midsummer. disk, exposing the candy beneath it. Worker bees may be purchased along Place the cage inside the hive near with the queen; approximately 3 the lower frame, making sure that pounds of bees are sufficient. the cage's screen can be reached by The quickest method to establish worker bees (they will have to feed an observation hive is to put frames the queen through the screen for a of brood and a queen from a conven- few days). tional hive into it. Once the queen is Now shake the bees into the hive inside the observation hive, the tem- and slide the glass wall shut. The porarily disorganized bees (including bees will be attracted to the queen those outside the hive) will soon find and will eat the candy that blocks her the queen and cluster around her. exit from the queen cage, thus free- Instead of purchasing packaged ing her. If the cage is not supplied bees, a swarm may be captured and with candy, the queen should be installed. During the swarming sea- released immediately. The empty son each spring, various public agen- cage can be removed when cies (police, fire department, county convenient. agricultural agencies) receive numer- Transferring bees from conven- ous requests to remove swarms, and tional hive to observation hive. they frequently are willing to place Remove two frames of capped applicants' names on a "swarm wait- brood, one frame of honey, and one ing list." frame of empty comb from a conven- Installing a swarm. Lay the tional hive (allframes should be cov- observation hive (containing frames) ered with bees). Place them in that on its side with the runway side up, order, bottom to top, in the observa- propping the top of the hive on a box tion hive. Shake additional bees approximately1foot high. Loosen from the conventional colony into the plastic mounting clamps on the the observation hive. Make certain upper glass wall and slide the glass that the queen has been transferred. approximately1foot toward the hive top. Then shake the cluster of bees into the opening and gently slide the Maintaining the hive glass wall into position, being careful to avoid crushing bees. Inevitably, a After the newly established hive few bees will not get into the hive, is mounted, a feeder containing and these should be checked to see if sugar syrup should be provided for the queen is among them. If the the colony. Feeders can be made by queen is among them, she should be punching or drilling 20 to 50 small captured and placed in the hive. holes in the lid of a pint or quart Installing packaged bees. Prepare glass jar; the jar should then be filled the hive as in the instructions imme- with sugar syrup and inverted over diately above. Now, lightly sprinkle the feeding chamber. Sugar syrup water on the wires of the package- should be made available continu- this will calm the bees. Rap the pack- ously until all the combs are filled age so that worker bees will fall to with honey or brood. Thereafter, the the bottom, and then remove the colony should be fed only when its queen cage from the package. One stored honey is gone. end of the queen cage has a hole Under normal conditions estab- with a cork disk over it; remove this lished colonies are self-supporting and require little maintenance. How- side and additional ventilation ports ever, colonies in observation hives will not be necessarv. However, if the require special maintenance because inside of the hive walls becomes there are fewer foragers than in the fogged for a prolonged period, addi- regular hive. When weather condi- tional ventilation ports (3/4-inch holes tions permit foraging flights, and covered by 8-mesh wire screen) may nectar and pollen are available, the be provided on the top or ends of the observation colony collects nectar hives. Healthy colonies typically are rapidly and accumulates an abun- full of bees. and it is a mistake to dance of honey, which reduces the suppose that bees need additional need for maintenance. ventilation simply because they Preparing the colony for winter. appear to be crowded. Unless the climate permits bee flight Swarming. In spring colonies at least once a month, it is not advis- increase rapidly in population, and able to try to maintain an observa- swarming is therefore to be tion colony in winter. Without peri- expected. Hobbyists may wish to odic flights, high mortality usually study this phenomenon, but if they occurs, and the colony may die in wish to prevent it, the easiest control midwinter or early spring. There- is to kill the old queen (by pinching fore, it is usually best to terminate her head) when the colony popula- the colony in autumn after brood tion reaches its peak in spring. A rearing has ceased (the queen can be new queen will be reared automati- removed earlier if desired). This is cally by the bees, and the short inter- done by shaking the bees off the ruption of brood rearing normally observation hive frames near the stops swarming tendencies for the entrance of a normal outdoor colony. remainder of the season. The bees will soon be accepted into Invasion by pests. In some areas the colony. The frames of combs ants are seriouspests of bees; colo- from the beeless hive may then be nies invaded by ants are liable to wrapped and stored at 0°F; this pre- become disorganized enough to stop vents granulation of honey and normal activities. Poisonous baits for infestation by pests during storage. ant control may be used near the col- The following spring a colony may ony, but access by bees (or other ani- be reestablished in the hive, using mals) to baits must be prevented by the stored frames of comb. covering bait containers with 8-mesh wire screens, which should be at least 1/2 inch from the bait itself so Problems and solutions that bees cannot reach through and eat the bait. Do not use insecticides Although honey bees are largely near the hive. self-sufficient, minor difficulties may Population decline. Except for arise occasionally. These are dis- normal seasonal fluctuations, a cussed below. decline in bee population usually is Sunlight. Observation hives caused by insufficient brood rearing. should never be exposed to direct Usually, the hive population is sta- sunlight. ble; hundreds of new bees emerge Ventilation. Normally, the obser- each day and compensate for normal vation hive will have adequate venti- losses (beeslive 6 to 8 weeks in sum- lation through its runway to the out- mer andupto6 months in winter). If brood-rearing decline is caused by an where it is disconnected from the old and inferior queen, replacing the hive. queen is usually the best solution Orientation of bees. Observation (see requeening in Maintaining hive bees can become disorganized Genetic Stock). (disoriented) when they are Lack of food. The threat of starva- installed, or after any change in the tion is greatest when rapid consump- arrangement of the colony runway. tion of hive food supplies occurs Disoriented bees in a hive seem to be during the intensive spring brood wandering about and do not perform rearing. If the hive contains enough any of the chores they usually do. capped cells of honey, bees will not Several days may be required for for- starve. If capped honey is not ager bees to adjust to a new location present, sugar syrup must be fed to or runway arrangement. Young bees the colony. just learning to fly may be seen in Accidential bee escapes.Because intensive flight around the hive they are confused, bees accidentally entrance in early afternoons; this is released indoors usually do not their method of orienting themselves sting. However, stinging may occur to the colony in preparation for later near the colony within a few seconds foraging. after bees escape, particularly if Use of smoker and protective thousands are liberated suddenly. If clothing.Tocontrol bees, a few gen- this happens, permit the colony to tle puffs of smoke should be blown settle down for a few minutes. After into the hive entrance just before the the bees have become settled, the top of the hive is removed. When hive and any adhering bees may be smoke is applied skillfully and in gently taken outdoors. (Any bees small amounts, the risk of being remaining in the building may be stung is minimized; however, one caught easily with a vacuum should always move slowly and cleaner.) Whenever the colony is car- carefully around bees - fast motion, ried outdoors, always remember to strong vibrations, or any jarring of plug up the runway at the point the hive excites them. Glossary

Abate Beesting Toeliminate a (disease) problem by The apparatus at the tip of an adult removing (often by burning) or female bee that can inject venom into treating bees and beekeeping the victim being stung. The worker equipment so that there is no sting remains in the victim and possibility of contaminating other continues to inject venom; it should bees. be scraped off sting site. Acid board (also Fume board) Beeswax A rimmed hive cover containing a Waxsecreted by glands located on pad of absorbent material into which the underside of four abdominal benzadehyde or butyric anhydride segments of the honey bee. It is used (bee repellents) is poured. Used to by bees to construct comb. remove bees from honey supers. Boardman feeder Apiary A small, wooden feeder placed at the A collection of one or more hive entrance and holding an populated beehives at a certain inverted pint or quart glass jar of location. sugar syrup. Not recommended. Bee bread Brood Bitter, yellowish pollen stored in Any immature stage of honeycomb cells and used by bees development: egg, larva, or pupa. for food. Also, collectively, all immature bees Bee escape in the hive. A mechanical device that allows bees Brood comb to pass through it in only one Any drawn comb in which eggs, direction. Often a leaf spring or cone larvae, or pupae are found. design used to eliminate bees from particular supers in a hive or from Brood nest buildings. The area inside the hive body devoted to brood rearing. Bee glue See Propolis. Brood rearing The process involving egg laying, Beehive feeding larvae, and keeping pupae Normally refers to a human-made warm, which produces more adult container in which the colony lives. bees. Movableframe hives are required by Cappings law in California (see Hive). A thin layer of wax covering ripened Beekeeper honey or developing pupae. An individual who oversees the Cappings are collected when honey maintenance of one or more colonies is being uncapped. Capped brood of bees. refers to pupae. Cappings melter Comb A hot water, steam, or electrically A mass of hexagonal cells made of heated container used to separate beeswax and containing brood and honey and wax by melting; wax food. floats on the honey. Cover (also referred to as a top or lid) Cappings spinner The flat, wooden piece placed on top A centrifuge with wire-screened of the hive to confine and protect the baskets used to separate honey from bees. wax. Crosspollination Cell Movement of pollen between One of the hexagonal compartments blossoms of one variety of plant of a honeycomb in which brood is species and a second, compatible reared or food is stored. variety to produce hybrid seed. (See Cismontane also Pollination.) Area west of Sierra Nevada Dearth Mountains in northern and central Severe to total lack of availability, California, and area west of Mojave usually in reference to nectar and/or and Colorado deserts in southern pollen. California. (See also Transmontane.) Demaree method Clipping and marking A swarm prevention technique Terminology referring to the clipping based on removal and isolation of a of a portion of a queen's wings and colony's brood at the top of a the affixing of a dot of colored multiple-story hive. materialon the top of her thorax. Drift Cluster Movement of bees from their original Loosely, any group of bees that hive into a neighboring hive- forms a relatively compact frequent with drones and aggregation. A winter cluster is surprisingly common with workers. composed of all the bees in the colony huddled as closely together Drone as necessary to maintain the required A male bee that develops from an temperature. As the ambient unfertilized egg. temperature increases, the cluster Dysentery expands until it loses its identity but Intestinal disorder causing frequent it will reappear if the temperature defecation (diarrhea) in affected drops. individuals. Tan, brown, or black Colony fecal smears on combs or outside of A community of bees living in close hive indicate such a problem. associationand contributing to their Escape board (also, sometimes, inner mutual support by their labor. It is cover) composed of a queen and worker A device with dimensions identical bees, and during spring and summer to the top of a super that contains drone bees are present. The terms one or more bee escapes. Used to colony and hive are often used empty one or more supers of bees. interchangeably. Extractor Hive stand A mechanical device used to remove A device that elevates the bottom honey from uncapped honeycombs board up off the ground. by centrifugal force. Hot room Festoon An insulated portion of a warehouse A unique cluster of bees that link with radiant or forced air heating themselves together by their tarsi that can produce temperatures up to (feet)in a loose network between 100°F. combs in a hive. Normally, these are Larva aggregates of wax-producing bees. The wormlike immature stage of a Flow honey bee that increases in size Refers to the availability of nectar dramatically as it feeds on royal jelly, and/orpollen. When food pollen, and diluted honey. substances are available in Nectar abundance, it is a "good flow." A dilute sugar solution secreted by Foraging glands in different parts of plants, Those activities of bees connected chiefly in flowers. with finding and bringing back Nuclei water, nectar, pollen, or propolis. A small functioning colony of bees Foundation (queen, bees, brood) on two to five A thin sheet of beeswax imprinted combs. with the hexagonalcell bases of a Nurse bee honeycomb; used as a base for the A worker bee of the correct age (6 to comb when placed in frames. 12 days postemergence) to produce Frame royal jelly and to feed larval bees, A rectangle, usually of wood, that is adult queens, and drones. hung inside the hive to support the Oven foundation and comb. Sometimes A small, highly insulated portion of frame and comb are used inter- a warehouse, often in the hot room, changeably; that is, a "comb of where temperatures can be elevated brood" is a "frame of brood." to 150°Fto melt wax. Fume board Package See Acid board. A wire-screened wooden box of bulk Hive bees, a queen, and a can of feed used A container housing a colony of to transport bees to an empty hive. bees. Usually consists of one or more Pollen hive bodies below and one or more Male sex cells produced in anthers of supers above. (See Beehive and flowers. Powderlike and composed Colony.) of many grains, they are gathered Hive body and used by honey bees for food as a The part of the hive containing source of protein. A good mix of combs in which the queen lays eggs. many different pollens is essential The hive body rests on the bottom for adequate nutrition. board. Pollination Queen excluder Transfer of viable pollen to a A wire or plastic grid, with slots just receptive stigma of a flower. In large enough for passage of worker commercial beekeeping, the term bees, used to prohibit the movement refers to the service provided by of queens between supers. honey bees in crop production. (See Queenless also Crosspollination.) A hive of bees with no queen. Pollen substitutes Queenright Feed substances fed to bees to A colony of bees with a functioning provide protein, fats, vitamins, and queen. minerals when pollens are not available. Rendered comb Comb that has been melted down to Pollen supplement beeswax. With American foulbrood, Pollen substitute mixed with pollen the wooden frames are soaked in a to increase attractiveness and lye bath. nutritive value to bees. Requeen Pollen trap To remove the present queen from A device attached to a hive to the colony and replace her with remove pollen loads from incoming another queen. foraging bees. Pollen "pellets" usually are collected in a drawer that Ropiness is inaccessible to the bees. Having the characteristicof sticky elasticity and stringing out when Prepupa stirred and stretched. An immature stage between the last larval stage and the true pupal stage Royal jelly in the life cycle of a honey bee. A glandular secretion from the heads of worker bees used to feed young Propolis larvae and adult worker, drone, and Plant resins collected by bees and queen bees. used as a cement to stick hive parts together and to seal openings. Also Scale called bee glue. A dehydrated, dead larva shrunken Pupa to an elongated thin, flat chip at the The preadult form of bees occurring bottom of a cell. after the larval stage and maintained Slumgum without evident change in size and A mixture of propolis, pollen, structure until the adult bee emerges cocoons, and other debris that from the cell. persists after beeswax and honey Queen have been recovered from rendered Lone, fully developed female in combs. colony. She lays all the eggs and Solar melter stores sperm for up to 3 years. A device designed to use the heat of Queen cage candy the sun to melt beeswax, and, in A special fondant made from some cases, to separate honey from Nulomoline, drivert, and glycerine beeswax. (see Feeding Bees); used to feed queen and attendant bees in queen cages. Spermatheca Trachea A small, round organ in the A system of air-filled branching abdomen of a queen bee capable of tubes that conduct oxygen from storing viable sperm for 3 years. outside the body to inner tissues of Spring dwindling the bees. A condition in which the colony Transmontane population decreases in size during Area east of Sierra Nevada spring at which time exponential Mountains; includes Mojave and population growth is anticipated. Colorado deserts. Super Wintering A wooden box with frames The process of preparing the hive containing foundation or drawn and colony for survival over winter. comb in which honey is to be Also, a colony in the process of produced. Named for its position attempting to survive over winter. above the brood nest. The same type Worker of box is referred to as a hive body An infertile, female honey bee, when it is situated below the honey anatomically adapted to perform the supers and is intended to be used for work for a colony of bees including: brood rearing and pollen storage. manipulating stored food, feeding Supersedure brood, guarding hives, foraging for A natural process by which a colony food, etc. of bees replaces its present queen with a new one. Swarm A cluster of worker bees, with or without drones and a queen, that has left the hive. References

Many books have been written on beekeeping. Generally, the larger and more expensive the book, the more comprehensive the information. This list includes only a few representative books by category, but many others are available through bookstores and beekeeping supply dealers. Many good pamphlets are available, also, from the county offices of UC Cooperative Extension.

Region of Title Author Publisher coverage How To Begin to Keep Bees Carrier Carrier Western U.S. First Lessons in Beekeeping Dadant Dadant Eastern U.S. How to Keep Bees and Sell Honey Kelley Kelley Eastern U.S. Mastering the Art of Beekeeping Aebi Rodale Western U.S. Starting Right with Bees Gleanings Root Eastern U.S. The Art and Adventure of Beekeeping Aebi Rodale Western U.S. Comprehensive Texts Bees and Beekeeping Morse Comstock Eastern U.S. Bees, Beekeeping, Honey and Pollination Gomjerac AVI Eastern U.S. The Hive and the Honey Bee* Grout Dadant Eastern U.S. Reference Books ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture Root Root Worldwide A Scanning Electron Microscope Atlas Erickson Root Worldwide of the Honey Bee Honey-A Comprehensive Survey Crane IBRA Worldwide Honey Bee Pests, Predators and Morse Comstock Worldwide Diseases The Illustrated Encyclopediaof Morse & Root Worldwide Beekeeping Hooper Special Topics Contemporary Queen Rearing Laidlaw Dadant U.S. practices Honey in the Comb Killion Dadant Eastern U.S. Instrumental Insemination Laidlaw Dadant U.S. practices Making Mead Morse Scribner Worldwide *Best comprehensive text available.

Beekeeping periodicals emphasis. Check with the Extension apiculturist to determine whether Beekeeping periodicals provide the state is still publishing a current information on many aspects beekeeping newsletter. of the industry. They also contain a American Bee Journal, Hamilton, IL wealth of advertising. The following 62341. Emphasis on concerns of the list includes the major, English lan- commercial industry, research, and guage periodicals with their areas of some how-to-do-it information. Gleanings in Bee Culture, P.O. Box American Foulbrood Disease 706, Medina, OH 44258-0706. (Afb)of Honey Bees (2757) Emphasis on how to do it, with Identification, causes, control, and information on research and con- prevention. cerns of the commercial industry. Bee Problems in Outside The Speedy Bee, P.O. Box 998, Jesup, Dining Areas (2852) GA 31545. Newspaper format with How to eliminate them. emphasis on federal and state gov- Bee-ginner Beekeepers (2764) ernmental actions concerning Responsibilities and equipment beekeeping. Research results and involved in beekeeping, instructional specific management techniques resources available, and sources of sometimes included. beekeeping supplies. International Bee Research Associa- Economic Trends in the tion, 18 North Road, Cardiff CF1 U.S. Honey Industry (21219) 3DY, United Kingdom (England). Published in 1980. The world's only organization devoted to collecting and disseminat- Honey Bees in ing beekeeping information globally. Alfalfa Pollination (2382) Publishes three English language Honey Bees in journals: Almond Pollination (2465) Apicultural Abstracts-English lan- Factors affecting pollination, ways to guage synopsis of every available maximize bee pollination, sample article containing information on contract for growers and beekeepers. bees around the world. Honey Bee Pollinationof Bee World-Excellent review articles Cantaloupe, Cucumber, and and news briefs. Watermelon (2253) How to manage honey bees for effec- Journal of Apicultural Research-Cur- tive pollination. rent research. How to Construct and Maintain an ObservationBeehive (2853) Plans for a glass-walled indoor observation hive, for teaching, recre- Cooperative Extension ational, or scientific use. publications Making and Using a The following priced publications Solar Wax Melter (2788) about beekeeping may be obtained Reducing Pesticide Hazards to by writing ANR Publications, Uni- Honey Bees with Integrated versity of California, 6701 San Pablo ManagementStrategies (2883) Avenue, Oakland, CA 94608-1239. Applicable to forests, rangelands, Ask for the Catalog that lists the recreationaland residential settings, prices of each publication listed. and agricultural crops.