BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

North Otago Times, 6 December 1910, Page 4

BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.

V,—^ — , • ' Tho- monthly meeting of .tUo North « O.tag 0 Beekeepers' Association wnfc ' hold in the Athenaeum cluss-i'aom on Saturday afternoon,' wheritthore wns a lai'go attendance of mom'ta. Tho President (Mv J, Allan) \va3 in ills chair. Mr Steuhouse (Ngapara) - informod tl>3 nieating that a branch, ot the .Association had been formed in that ■district.. . ' lleioro proceeding, with tho .business • tlic chairman drew the attention of. tho meptin'g to the. necessity o[ tiro-, curing thrco; or foiir different journals lor the use of members. -These might be seen by members in Oamnru,Ngapara, and-Maheno.'. 'Mr Lindsay agreed to take charge of those sent to Maheno, . aa his place would he more convenient than the library room, ,as the library was ■only open/on Saturday, evening, but at his place they could fce seen daily. It was decided to obtain two copies o! "Gleanings in Bee Culture;-' three copies of the "British Bee Journal," and three of the "Australian Beekeeper," It was thought that three journals would be sufficient in, the meantime, as a number of members were in receipt of .the above journals. There was a very interesting discussion on swarming. A number of members gave ■ theip experience and methods of swarms ... into hives and boxes, and the general opinion was that this \ should he done early in the afternoon and with expedition, not waiting for the. dusk of the evening) for the operation. . . : • The chairman thought it was test to let bees swarm in a natural way, and not to cut out the queen bee cells to, prevent swarming, as it sometimes • -deprived of their peeu altogether, although when successful it "meant a stronger hive, The next subject taken up was on queens, and the president, remarked' that: "Queens, • which we are to discuss to-day,, form one of the most Important if not the most important) part of successful beekeeping. Keep, your colonies .strong qi goo'd stock and class, and the conditions being favorable you, are sure of ft g o od return; To have . colonies strong, young, vigorous, and prolific qjueens are essential, not ■ more than two

years old, unless of very/markedbreeding: points, Of all varfetiea •. ,°f bees the Italians are the most popular, although I am of opinion that if an equal number of stocks of blacks and Italians were sot down together, under late conditions, 'tho black's would survive. In all my experience with Italians" they yfere'; the,, first to succumb tot foul brood. Tlioy 1 are as persistent rovers as they are good hence the reason that, they may;succunib moro readily than-the blacks, being uora apt' to contract the disease by robbing, However, under the new conditions, they should prove themselves ' superior,, as disease will not .lje'allowed to run rampant. They are very easily handled, less excitable, end more prolific than the blacks. It is an easy task to an Italian 'qlueen, but.it is not always so . with the blacks, There are many methods of raising queens.. v Tbey should be raised as near as possible to the natural conditions which exist when under the swarming impulse. The conditions are obtained if wanted early by the stimulative feeding ol strong clean stock and- by the addition of sealed brood from clean hives when they show signs of preparing, to swarm—the first! sign of that' is drone brood. Thet q,ueen is taken, away with a few, frames x>f-her twir bee 3, or introduced to another, hive. A prepared frame with eggs or cell cups, with transferred larva trom select queens, is put in the centre of the hive,;if frames of bses. have been removed with the quean, frames of hatching brood should 'be added. If eggs are given the qjieens will hatch on or about the sixteenth flay if larvae, 0 n or about the twelfth or thirteenth day, according tot efe/a,' if iarvae when transferred, Before these dates the' nucleus should be formed of two or more frames of bees, with some hatching, brood from other hives, or the hive in "which the cells are raised .divided, .if 'not. wanted for further batches of q'.ueen cells. A queen cell is given to each nucleus, as they are apt to be torn down. They should be protected,- if more than one' cell is given by little cages to hatch into until wanted. The queens remain usually until mated or tested, then introduced into other hives, and : the nucleus are then ready for other cells,-and so on."

Mr Nelson said that the Italian bees were the best workers, as tliey were at work while the Macks were asleep, and they brought in more honey, but if foul brood was in the neighborhood the Italian bee was sure to propagate it. The Italian, he whs sure, was the better bee and was much easier handled, although in their eagerness to Qlitain honey their hives generally were not so clean,

The President said though the Italians were at present in favor ultimately the black bee would survive them,

Mr Lindsay's experience was that the Italian and black tees got mixed without the trouble of crossing, and that it would be next to impossible to keep foul-brood out of the hives.

The chairman said' that in the matter of crossing, the first cross was by far the best.

The secretary (Mr Edwards) intimated that he had written to the Government asking them if they could send the Bee Inspector to visit the district.

Mr Lindsay proposed that an" observation hive be obtained <by the society, and with the sanction of the Borough Council placed in the Public Gardens.

This was seconded by Mr Newton, and carried.'

The meeting wfls informed that Mr W. Paterson had offered two hives for the use of the Association.

Mr A,, Headland proposed that" Mr Paterson's offer be accepted, and that placed in the Gardens,

Seoondod by Mr George M'Donald and cairledi ' , , . BUhjeet for • the next mestjng Vrlll lo "The! Introduction cf Qiiiens,"

Mi Allan (I'rendent) aai(l that' he wouli}. bring, a lnve for instruction nt the meeting, and Mr Edwards (secretary) intimated that lie wouli Provido. the bees,

.A vote of. thanks to the cliaif terminated,: the meeting,