instructions on beekeeping 1937

8/22/2019 Instructions on Beekeeping 1937

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D E P A R T M E N T O F A G R I C U L T U R E , B U R M A

:;;; ....BULLETIN-No. -17, 1921

INSTRUCTIONS ON BEE-KEEPING

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R A N G O O N

SUPDT GOVT. PRINTING AND STA'TIONERY, B U R M A

1937 ' •

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," .\tOF"AGENTS FOR THE SALE OK

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F O R E W O R D .

TH E Instructions given in this leaflet are meant to help thebeginner to start bee-keeping with" the locally available Indianbees. Those w ho wa n t fuller -and detailed informationregarding bees are recommended to read Pusa Bulletin No. 46on Bee-keeping, available, from th e Director of the AgricuNtural Research Institute, Pusa, price 14 annas. TheEntomologis t , B ur m a , Mandalay, will be glad to renderany help he can to all en qu irers . The illustrations in thisleaflet are copied or adapted from Pusa Bulletin No. 46.



I N S T R U C T I O N S O N B E E - K E E P I N G .

The B e e - C o l o n y .. »

Honey-bees live in large colonies. Th e place wh ere thecolonies live is known as their hive and.they build combs there.T he combs, as we al l k n o w , hang downwards and have adouble series of well-like cells in horizo ntal position .with theirm outh s opening in opposite direction s. The cells of the combserve as store-houses fo r honey as well as cradles for theyoung, usually called the "brood. " If the bees are madeto move away from the combs or the combs cut o f f , w e usuallyfind the cells in the upper par t filled with honey and those inthe lower part containing th e brood . , The brood or earlystages of the bee are exactly like those of ordinary wasps.The mother bee lays small tubular white eggs, one in each

cell. White, soft-bodied, wormlike grubs hatch from theseeggs, ar^ led by the bees and grow and then go into asleeping stage. The bees, "as^see we them, emerge from thissleeping stage and take their place by the side of the olderbees i n t h e colony. " ' • ' . - • • i i

T he bees in th e1 colony^sitr"clii'stering* over -and entirelycovering the combs, thus keeping the brood "warm. Some ofthem are found constantly going out oi E and coming into th ehive throughout th e day. : They do not f ly a t 'n ight and in

•foggy weather or wh en it rains. The me mbe rs constitut ingth e colony are the mother bee k n o wn as the "queen, "alarge number of working bees called "workers"and some

male bees called"

drones."

There .is a single queen in thecolony and her only function is to lay eggs. Bees developfrom these eggs in the way described above. T he queen

Jives For about three years. T he workers perform all worknecessary for the .colony, such as building combs, nursing the

. y o u n g , collecting food, keeping the hive clean and guardingit against -enemies. Therefore the larger the num ber ofworkers present the better the . condit ion; of the, colony in allrespects. Bu t they H o. no t l ive ' lor m or e- th an about three tosix months . -Therefore in order to replace those which di e

'it is necessary to r ea r .some young throughout the ,year, and' this is what actual ly takes, place. - When ;food is available inabundance , rearing of the young is carried out on a ve ry large



scale an d necessarily th e number of bees in the colonyincreases rapidly. Food is available in large quantities, oncein Autumn (about September—November) and again inSpring (about February to Apri l ) , and these seasons are

k n o w n as seasons of honer^fftJWT* In hil l-stations th e A u t u m nhoney-flow is mo re imp ortan t .than the. Spring one, while in

the plains the Spring honey-flow is more important than theA u t u m n one. W h e n in these seasons the bees in a colonyhave increased sufficiently so as to feel a.'little overcrowded,they usually divide themselves-to form new colonies. Abouthalf of them issue out of the hive fo r this purpose with th ereigning queen and go and establish a colony elsewhere.This is k now n-as swarming. Provision is made for the birthof a new queen in the old colony which thus goes on a3 before .The services of the d r o n e are required to fertilize the newqueen. ,A s th e drones h e l p ' i n no w o r k of the colony andin fact 'live on the store of honey gathered by the workers,being incapable of procuring their "own food, their presence

in th e colony is tolerated only in the seasons of honey- f low.N o drone is generally found at other times of the yea r .

. P r o d u c t s o f H o n e y Bees . , ;

' ; ' People rob the bees of their combs an d squeeze out thehoney stored in these combs. Where do the bees get this

; honey f rom? Most plants, such as grasses, weeds an d trees• secrete in minute quantities a sugary liquid called nectar in

. , .their flowers. Honey Bees collect these:minute drops from..the flowers/principally, fo r ,us e as Irood fo r themselves -and, ; store th e surplus in |}j irj pnihs.m the fpan f.pfi,honey,|or;.future

use,. ^ ; This 'is > why we find many bees, always flying.betweentheir hive and the fields. They, go up to a distance of about

two miles all round their hive to/.collect nectar. Surplus, is available only in the honey-flow season to be stored in the

• "combs and in large quantities only in the t ime of the importanthoney-flow of the locality. . ' " ' . . . , . "

The combs from which the honey has been squeezed out

are.melted and yield the well known bees-wax. From wheredo the bees get this wax to build their combs .with ? Theysecrete it from their body through special organs called waxplates situated, on the under surface of their body and build

; th e comb by moulding this w ax w ith: their mouths. ;:Besides yielding honey and bees wax, the bees perform

another very useful function to benefit growers of variouscrops and fruits. While .visitinjr the flowers fo r nectar thev

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also collect pollen f rom them for use as food for their young

This "pollen is the fertilizing element of flowers. Asnes.

they go from flower to flower for nectar they mechanically

distribute the fertilizing element among the flowers and thus

help in the setting ol fruits. There are many kinds of plants

which do not produce any fruits unless their, flowers are visited

b y bees. : . . . . ; ; . . - .

K e e p i n g H oney B ees .

It is possible to keep bees and get,. honey f rom them

wi t h o u t killing or causing them' inconvenience and without

breaking or squeezing their combs.., For this purpose they

are made to build combs and live in artificial hives which can

be kept in the garden or in the verandah of the house. The

hives, can- be opened whenever one wants to see what the

bees are doing. When honey is stored it can be talcen out of

the combs in the purest condition and the combs given back

to the bees to fill again.

; W h i c h Bee to keep.

In this country f ou r kinds of honey bees occur :—

(1) The first is the Rock Bee, colonies ol which bui ld, huge single combs, sometimes about 4 or 5 feet in diameter,

in open places such as faces of rocks, branches of large trees

in forests or walls of buildings. . .

(2) The second is the Indian Bee, co lonies -o f which

always build combs'in closed covered' situations such as

cavities in the ground, walls or tree^trunks and unused boxesor tins. . _ "" . " . •

(3)vThe third is-the Little Bee, colonies of which bui ldsmall single combs in "open situations, in bushes, under eaves

of huts and cornices of buildings, behind doors and windows,

in fuel stacks and In various similar places.

(4) The fourth is the Dammar Bee. It is not a true

Honey Bee but is included here because its colonies gather

small quantities of honey which is collected by people 'for

medicinal purposes. These colonies live in hollow walls or

tree trunks and buifci their combs not with wax but with a

resinous, substance known as • " " Pwenyet. " The combs

usually extend beyond the opening of the hollow in the forrrtof a*funnel. " ; • • - . . ' - < - . ; - ^ ' ^ v - ^ £ . " . • : - . • . • - • • • _



( 4 )

Out of the above Four kinds only the second, i.e., theIndian Bee, is capable of being kept in artificial hives. TheDa m m a r Bee which, too, lives in closed situations like theIndian Bee is mu ch smaller than hou se-flies, while theIndian Bee is much bigger than house-flies and has yellowbands on the body. Also. the Indian Bee always buildsseveral combs side by side. Therefore no mistake can bemade about the kind of Honey Bee one should look for in

order to keep in artificial hives. . , " ;•• * i . \ r -Frames fo r Combs.

:r.- . • . . - , - - . - • . . " - • • ;•

For keeping in artificial hives the bees are made to buildcombs in movable wooden bar frames shown in figure 1 inwhich measurements are given. These frames are made withstrips of deal wood £ inch wide ; the upper bar is f inch thickand the lower and the side bars 4 'inch thick.• . *'

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Figure 1.—Bar-frame.

One dozen frames are ordinarily sufficient for each hive..The frames have to be kept parallel and at regular distancesin the hive. This is done by putting two nails one near eachend on one side of the upper bar of the tame so that the nailsprojectito inch out of the bar. Tin metal ends are usedfo r this purpose bu t nails will ordinarily do .

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Comb-fixers. . : ,

Each frame should have two comb-fixers which; may bemade with copper .or iron wire bent with pliers or ,of thin

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stripsfixers

Figure 2.—Comb-fixers.

of wood into which nails are fixed. How the comb-are attached to the frames is shown in the figure.

Figure 3.—Kerosene-box Hive, open, with 3 frames in place.

t°« —Landing-place.^O

--Entrance.

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( § )The

A cheap workable hive can be made from an •ordinarykerosene packing case by adding a- walMnsiete along each ofth e longer sides and four legs as ' ' shbwn' in-f igure 3.. Theframes of combs rest on. these -inner ^walls . which..are.S-J- inches'high from the floor of _ t h e hive vand'T2J :" inches apart. A holeis made at one end near the floor to* serve' as .entrance and a

strip of wood added to serve/as alighting board 'for the bees.;The cover is made sloping and if not :rain-prool protected witha sheet of old kerosene tin to prevent "rain water. It has twoholes protected with wire-gauze for ventilation. Su ch a hivecomplete with cover is shown in figure 4.; '

$F~KtfQsene-box Hive, 'closed

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wood incK

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\) and one another.

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The floor-board;...hive -chamber and roof are shownseparately, . . . .

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Figure 6.—Measurement of hive shown in Figure 5 in cross section fromt r side to side. , ,

iThe measurements are shown in figure 6 in cross section.

The inside measurement of the hive chamber from front toback should be 17 inches. The hive is painted white on theoutside. - . _ : - • • - - - - •



D i v i s i o n - B o a r d o r Screen .

W h e n the combs occupied by the bees living in the hivedo no t fill the hive, they are pushed towards th e ent rance andth e wooden screen shown in figure 7 is placed behind them

Figure 7.—Division-board or screen.

thus affording th e bees a com pletely .enclosed cha m ber. This

screen is prepared with an .ordinary wooden board abouthalf an inch thick. Eac h hive should hav e on e such screen.

Qu i l t s . • ' . ,

The combs in the hive are covered with a piece of g u n n ycloth or old carpet, blanket or oil-cloth, cut to the size of theinside measurement of the hive. This is called a quilt. Inwinter several folds of quilts m a y ; be necessary to keep thebees warm. In the hot weather only one sheet may be.sufficient. ; [ - .- . ; '

T he Bee-keeper ' s Kni fe .The blade is about s ix inches long and both the edges as

well as the tip are sharpen ed and may be used for cutt ing. Onesuch knife is sufficient and it can be made by local blacksm iths.

Figure ,8.—Bee-keeper's knife.

It is like the mason ' s t rowel ar M is shown in figure 8.



( 10 )

Manipu la t ing Bees.

Precautions in -manipulation.— It is the sting which deterspeople from approaching bees. The chief precaution against

th e sting is to approach them very slowly and move th e hands,body or other parts of the body or appliances used, slowly

• Figure 1 1 .—Btngham Smoker. . . - - ; ' •

and to. open th e hive:and handle th e frames slowly and withoutjarring. - Quick movements, jarring noise and brea thing orblowing hard against th em , irri tate them very m u c h . T hesmell of acrushed bee and also of a sting irritates them.Therefore avoid crushing a bee. If a sting has been receivedand stings are f reequently received-in bad manipulat ion it isbetter to wal k , away slowly to a 'l i t t le distance, remove thesting and blow s m o k e on the part stung to hide the smel l .



Tigure 9.—Examining a hive. Figure 1 0 . — E x a m i n i n g a h i v e .

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( 1 1 )Gloves and Veil,—It is better to be provided against the

sting. W hen ang ry the bees fly at once a t the face.Therefore a veil can be used as shown in figures 9 and 10.The veil is made by sewing a piece of mosquito net t ing andthe portion in front of the eyes should be dyed black fordistinct vis ion. ; Similarly the hands can be protected bygloves. (Figure 9). ' ' • ' •

Subduing Bees.—Bees have a dislike for or are ratherfrigntened at smoke or any strong odour, such as that o'fcarbolic acid . W hen fr ightened they fill themselves withhoney and "when so filled show hardly an y inclination tost ing and remain quie t . Smoke of burn ing rags or wood ormild tobacco may be blown on them. For' smoking bees a

special smoker (Figure 11) is manufac tured an d sold.

* • - •How to procure Bees and make a start .

Colonies of the Ind ian Bee can be procured in the follow-in g three different ways :—

- .(1) By means of decoy hives . ' M e l t e d , bees-wax is

applied to the unders ide of the upper bars of the frames andthese f rames .are ar ranged In trie hive near the ent rance and

o

closed up with division board and quil t and cover. Thusarranged the hive is left in a shaded place. Frequ ently coloniescome and occupy these hives. - The decoy hives should beplaced out in September and March—Apr i l in hill-stations andabout December i n t h e pla ins ; . ' . - , . -; ; ' "

: - . . ( 2 ) B y captur ing swarms an d hiv ing , t hem. In theswarming season stray .swarms-are frequently found to comean d settle on branches of trees, walls and other open places.- I f th e place be accessible, th e swarm can be captured in thefollowing m a nne r : - —/ . - : . : - , - . , . . - , <

Take a wooden or carboard box about 9 inches by 9

inches and 6 inches deep with one side open . Hold the boxopen side down just over th e cluster of bees or rather touchingthe cluster and apply smoke gently to the bees from below.The bees will slowly crawl into the box which can then betaken and placed inside the hive Arranged as ' i n (1), thescreen board and some frames being removed for the purpose.The box with the bees should be placed w ;ith .its open endtu rned towards th e frames and touching the nearest one andi f the bottom and sides of the box are drummed wi th a stickth e bee's will gradually leave it and occupy th e frames. If



( 12 )

the box into w h i c h ; t h e swarm has been driven is too big to

: be accommodated in the hive, th e quilt may be turned overand some of the frames moved towards the back. The entireswarm is jerked down the gap thus produced and the 'frames

- : : drawn forward and the qu i l t turned down quickly. When a1 swarm has settled on 9 . branch it can be jerked down at once

: into th e hive in this manner by.giving a hard and sharp blow:i on.the branch. , ; Before hiving th e swarms in this manner th e. bees may be treated to sugar syrup which is simply sprinkled

" : on the cluster and the .bees will be found to lick i t up from, ,each other's body, .

1 Newly hived swarms ar e better fe d with sugar syrupfor two or three days. The syrup is placed in a saucer anda few pieces of straw placed in it to serve as floats and thesaucer kept on the qui l t u n d e r , the cover. Either a hole iscut in the qu i l t or a corner of the quilt turned over to enableth e bees to have access to the syrup. ' ' - 1

. , (3). When a colony has already settled and buil t combsin a place, the combs are cu t out along the line of attachmentand fixed into frames which should be fitted with comb-fixers.Each comb is fixed on the comb'-fixers with its upper edge

touching the under surface of the upper bar of the f rame. If:,.the upper edge of the comb is not straight a portion can be

cut off to make it straight. -The bees are smoked plentifullyand as they recede the combs are cut one after another, fitted

into frames and .hung in the hive. -Most of the bees will nowremain clustering at one place from which they can either be

' d r i ven into a box in (2) or scooped up in a bowl ani pouredover the combs already placed, in the hive. They will movedown and 'occupy the combs. Transferring a settled colony

in this manner is better done after sunset when the bees do• not fly. It can also be done during the middle of the day, but

many; bees fly and hover . round the operator. Also transfer-ring is easily done when the colony is,.in a box or in a l ikes i tuation.. ; When in a cavity, in tree-trunk or wall or under-ground a wide opening has be made to allow of the cuttingol t h e - c o m b s with hand. . . I f it be necessary, to move the

colony to a distance it should be done at night.

Colonies procured according to the methods (l)"and (2)

sometimes build cross combs and join several frames together.In such cases the combs should be cut and fixed into frameswith comb-fixers. • • ' ' • ' / ' - - :

.



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G e n e r a l .

When th e bees have settled in the hives it is not necessaryto open the hives every day to see what they are doing. On

all ordinary days they will work, flying out of the hive andbringing in honey and pollen. For examining the bees, the

hive is better opened in the middle of the day when it is warm.First of all remove th e roof and blow some smoke under th equi l t and wai t For a few minutes. Then turn over th e quiltand lift on e f r ame at a time slowly by holding the two endswith the thumb and index fingers of the hand.

Although not plentifully as in the honey-flow seasons, thebees usually collect sufficient food throughout the year tokeep them going. They need not be supplied with food aslong as there is any honey left in their combs. In the rainyseason they get little forage outside and if it rains continuously"for several days they may require food and may be given sugarsyrup in saucers in the manner described above.

When enough surplus honey has been stored in the combsit can be taken out by turning th e combs in a proper honey-extractor .

If left opened and exposed, honey absorbs moisture Fromair and ferments and m ay become sour. It should be keptin well corked bottles or china or tin vessels and stored in adry place.

G.B.C.P.O.—No. 117, D. of A., 18-11-37—300. L.S.

instructions on beekeeping 1937

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