2012年12月英语六级阅读每日一练(1.5)
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2013年01月05日 17:08:44
SectionA
Of 2, 000 commercialbeekeepersintheUnitedStatesabouthalfmigrate. Migratorybeekeepingisnothingnew. TheancientEgyptiansmovedclayhives, probablyonrafts, downtheNiletofollowthebloomandnectarflowasitmovedtowardCairo. Inthe 1880sNorthAmericanbeekeepersexperimentedwiththesameidea. movingbeesonbargesalongtheMississippilighter, woodenhiveskeptfallingintothewater, Otherkeeperstriedtherailroadandhorsedrawnwagons, butthatdidn'tprovepractical. Notuntilthe 1920swhencarsandtrucksbecameaffordableandroadsimproved, didmigratorybeekeepingbegintocatchon.
FortheCalifornianbeekeeper, thepollinationseasonbeginsinFebruary. Atthistime. thebeehivesareinparticulardemandbyfarmerswhohavealmondgroves; theyneedtwohivesanacre. Forthethree-weeklongbloom, beekeeperscanhireouttheirhivesfor $ 32 each.
ByearlyMarchitistimetomovethebees. Itcantakeuptosevennightstopackthe 4,000 orsohivesthatabeekeepermayown. Thesearenotmovedinthemiddleofthedaybecausetoomanyofthebeeswouldenduphomeless. Butatnight, thehivesarestackedontowoodenpallets, back-to-backinsetsoffour, andliftedontoatruck. Itisnotnecessarytowearglovesorabeekeeper'sveilbecausethehivesarenotbeingopenedandthebeesshouldremainrelativelyquiet. Justincasesomearestilllively, beescanbepacifiedwithafewpuffsofsmokeblownintoeachhive'snarrowentrance.
Intheirnewlocation, thebeekeeperwillpaythefarmertoallowhisbeestofeedinsuchplacesasorangegroves. Thehoneyproducedhereisfragrantandsweetandcanbesoldbythebeekeepers. Toencouragethebeestoproduceas'muchhoneyaspossibleduringthisperiod, thebeekeepersopenthehivesandstackextraboxescalledsupersontop. Thesetemporaryhiveextensionscontainframesofemptycombforthebeestofillwithhoney. Inthebroodchamberbelow, thebeeswillstashhoneytoeatlater. Topreventthequeenfromcrawlinguptothetopandlayingeggs, ascreencanbeinsertedbetweenthebroodchamberandthesupers.
Threeweekslaterthehoneycanbegathered. Foulsmellingchemicalsareoftenusedtoirritatethebeesanddrivethemdownintothehive'sbottomboxes, leavingthehoney-filledsupersmoreorlessbeefree. Thesecanthenbepulledoffthehive. Theyareheavywithhoneyandmayweighupto 90 poundseach. Thesupersarethentakentoawarehousewheretheextractingprocesstakesplace.
Afterthis, approximatelyaquarterofthehivesweakenedbydisease, mitesoranageingordeadqueen, willhavetobereplaced. Tocreatenewcolonies, ahealthydoublehive, teemingwithbees, canbeseparatedintotwoboxes