The Apiary.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 978, 28 November 1890, Page 21

The Apiary.

NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. We shall be glad to receive correspondence in connection with apiculture. Address * Apis,’ N.Z. Mail Office, Wellington. In future * The Apiary ’ columu will appear at the end of each month, and will contain information required by the apiarist for the subsequent month. B. (Mastertou).—Wo advise you not to try It unless you have an extractor. Hive (Blenheim). —You can make them of white pine if that is available. Beekeeper. —We certainly congratulate yon on such excellent results. HINTS FOR DECEMBER.

Swarming is now in full swing even in windy Wellington and since writing last month we have hived several large swarms. The hives are in good condition generally and the bees are busy working in the section boxes. There is every promise of a good honey flow and it is therefore essential to keep down any more swarming daring December, aB the fall workng force of each oolony will be required. The surplus boxes should not be allowed to get too full and in order to keep the bees hard at work and give them more room let another half story be pnt on if necessary. Above all, let the bees have plenty of fresh water near the hives. We are using Hopkin & Co’s, improved one piece sections and they are in every way superior to the ordinary section boxes. EXTRACTOR HONEY. Bee Keepers who can do so should certainlygo in for extractor honey in preference to comb. One great reason is that with the latter there is no waste of comb and besides, as far as Wellington is concerned, there is a better market for extracted that for comb honey. An extractor costs about £2 10s Od but whore there are a number of colonies it will very soon pay for itself. COMB FOUNDATION. Don’t be sparing in the use of foundation. It is a great mistake to use half a sheet instead of a whole one. The cost is not very much more and the saving of time to the bees ought certainly to be considered. Besides the use of full sheets will keep down the breeding of drones. In seotion boxea especially a full sheet is moat desirable, other, wise they will only be throe parts filled and look very unsightly. Never take seotiona from the hives uutii the combs are completely sealed. EXAMINING HIVES. It is very necessary to carefully examine the hives during December and cut out green cells if any should be found. A very necessary thing for tho beekeeper to have on suoh an an occasion is Hopkins’ wire comb holder for hooking on the side" of a hive to hang the frames on when manipulating the bees. The prioe is only 2s each. MARKETING HONEY. Above all things put your honey up in an attractive form as the sale greatly depends on the way it i 3 presented to the publio. We have seen some splendid honey for which a buyer could not ba found, simply because the stuff was badly packed. For comb honey the best and most convenient packag'a are boxes containing one or two dozen lib sections.

ROUGH ON DESTROYERS OF BEES. In the territory of Lauenburg and Btttow, whioh was ceded by Poland to the elector of Brandenburg in the year 1657, and inoor. porated by him with Pomerania, beekeeping at that time was carried on very extensively under the protection of an edict which dated from pre-Brand, enburg times. This edict contained some very severe and even cruel punishments. Paragraph 16 states that, * any ona who wilfully takes bees belonging to others, or unlawfully deprives them of their honey, shall be condemned to death on the gallows.* Bees at that time were kept in decayed trees in the forests. A still more severe punish. me:it was exacted ia the following paragraph, viz.: ‘Whosoever destroys an entire colony of bees, no matter whether they belong to himself or to anybody else, shall be handed over to the public executioner, who shall take out his entrails and wind them ronnd the tree in which the bees were willfully destroyed, and shall afterwards'hang him on the same tree.’ Thus protection afforded to bee 3 by this paragraph even against their own masters. There are other offences mentioned in this edict that were also punishable by death, minor offences by fines or otherwise. GLEANINGS. To those who may have to take cod-liver oil, the American Bee Journal reoonamenda the following : Take pound each of cod-liver oil and extracted honey, add tha juice of two lemons, and shake it until it ia thoroughly mixed. It will be found a pleasant as well as benefioial medicine-’ Ife may be explained that the oil and honey will not mix without the addition of some aold, hence the lemon juice. The value of honey imported into Great Britain last year from America amounted to £30,150.

For invalids, _ one of the most nourishing drinks known is composed as follows : An egg and two tablespconfnls of honey, beat up together, then add two tablespoonsfnls of good whisky and the same quantity of cream, stir well together, and the result is a drink that beats creation ; but the dose must not be repeated oftener than once an hour. For weak stomachs, one-half the above qnantity of liquids, that is, one tablespoonful of eaoh, will bo enough. This most wholesome, life, giving mixture is said to be simply delicious.