Rural Topics

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2125, 26 February 1908, Page 5 (Supplement)

Rural Topics

* THE BEE WORLD. SUGAR SYRUP FOR FEEDING. Tho editor of “Tlio Bee-Keepers’ 'Review” says on this subject: “Suijjar syrup .for feeding bees does not need tho 'addition of tartaric acid, ’vinegar, or 'lioucy, as- recommended by some, to prevent granulation; at least, that has been my experience, and I have fed barrels and barrels of sugar, beginning as early as October 1, and continuing the work until nearly .the middle of November, when it is necessary to use the feed hot to warm and rouse up the bees and ■get them to come down after tho syrup. Theoretically, early feeding ■is preferable, but I have yet to see that the time of feeding has any great bearingj and the crystallisation of pure sugar syrup has never proved any obstacle.” MOULDY COMBS.

Mould's that may bo found in hives ■kept in dense shade and damp places are micro-organisms of a very low to nil of vegetable life, and ai'o almost ■as detrimental to bees as foul blood. The want of good ventilation is chiefly the cause. Given plenty of ventilation from the entrance in winter, there will be little risk of getting mould in the hive of a colony of normal strength. The "hives should be well out in the open; .all they need is shelter from high winds, not shade. Professor Cook, speaking of moulds in the hives, says:—.“The moulds that we often see in the hives when they get too damn, and the unpleasant stench that comes with disaster in wintering, are also the result of 'related forms that belong to the lowest realms of vegetable. It is not improbable that the latter do their part in the frightful mortality that toftem attends disastrous wintering in the more severe winters in parts of Tfc is more probable that the drier atmosphere, that is thought to bo Conducive to greater safety, comes from the fact that these lower plants often must have moisture to .live and (thrive, and in its absence they are not- present to put in their deadly work.”

BUTTER-FAT PERCENTAGE. A DAIRYING ENIGMA, lit is the normal occurrence that as pastures lose their succulence and the yield of cows decreases in bulk <a rise takes (place in tile butter-fat percentage of the milk. This season, however, an 'unusual happening is being experienced. The butter-fat percentage lias decreased at the same time as the milk How. The N.Z. “Times’' discusses tho position thus: Probably this is due to the cows being short of feed and consequently not being in normal health, or it may be that having nothing but dried up food they have been drinking abnormal quantities of water... Whatever the cause tho fact remains, and naturally there is considerable dissatisfaction among milk suppliers, many of whom do not realise the mercurial nature of but-ter-fat, which varies with every change in tho cow’s condition and often in a most -unaccountable manner. Jn connection with this matter an | interesting experience is recorded I from Featherston. The suppliers to the local clicoso factory fancied among ] other things that one reason of the decline in their tests at a -time when ! they looked for a rise was because I the testing was not being accurately | carried out. They wanted independent tests made. 'The manager, Mr Adamson, welcomed the investigation. It woidd be satisfactory to him as w \h as to the suppliers. The Dep i'tment sent u pan expert and the tests were taken officially, with the resist that they .agreed exactly with those of the manager. Not content' with even an official corroboration ar vuigements .were made to secure a check test by the manager of the butter concern in the district. Again, the manager’s testing was proved to oe correct. This “auditing” of Mr i Adamson’s testing should give the , Featherston Company’s suppliers absolute faith in Iris work. It has n u only proved a good thing for the .-.uppliers in question hut should allay much suspicion as to factory tests in other districts, for we may take + he checking of the Featherston tests by two independent authorities as con- ' elusive evidence that .the umis ml character of the season his brought about an unusual behavior on the part of the butter-fat- content of milk.