BEEKEEPERS PREPARE.

Matamata Record, Volume VII, Issue 586, 1 December 1924, Page 7

BEEKEEPERS PREPARE.

There is every indication of early swarming. Drones have been flying for the last Drones have been flying for the last two or three weeks. Therefore it will be necessary to keep on the look out. If the weather continues like we have been having there will be many swarms come out before the end of November. This is not an indication that we are going to have an unusual honey flow shortly; although everything looks very promising. We have had some very cool nights lately, which may put the strength of the colonies back, and many drones will not find enough honey in the hives for them and they will die off very soon. Some apiarists may be tempted to put the surplus body on when a colony is extra strong, thinking the bees are wanting more room, but forgetting what a lot more air space wil! have to be heated up to the required tempo .-attire for successful brood rearing. It is always best at this time of the year to let the bees have a lot oC their own way, for although some of i e more forward colonies may gather quite a lot v>f honey, even now, some of the othon>. according to the disposition of the queen and many other reasons, moy want feeding before the main honey flow starts. If they did

e of starvation it wou'd not be be-

cause the colony or the queen was no good. All bees or colonies must be kept well supplied with food, right up to the end of November, or many

good colonies may be lost. lam continually coming in touch with colonies in home-made hives with just an inch by half inch strip of wood nailed on to the inside of the hive for the frames to rest on. This may be all right to sell a colony in but to work comb it is one of the most senseless jobs in t manipulation of a bee-hive. If you make a cheap hive make it so that the next man can get the frames out without pulling them all to pieces. What is more, these same hives are continually sold with bees in them as "good" hives. Well, they are boxes with frames in them. I suppose they come within the law but, I consider they are very little better than a box-hive. I pity the Inspector if he has many of the above to handle. An American correspondent says that A'lsike clover is better for the beekeepers and the fanners than red clover, as it makes better hay and pasture than does the red clover, and it furnishes a large amount of nectar for bees to gather. Its long fibrous roots hold it in the ground when red clover will have no foothold at all