APIARY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 5

APIARY.

WINTERING BEES.

1 think that we, as apiarists in Australia, neglect our bees too much in the fall; if we gave our bees a little more attention after the honey How had ceased in the fall 1 feel sure that our bees would come out much stronger in the spring. In this article 1 will give the plan that J think best for ali our cool districts. I have proved it to be the best for my locality.

As soon as the honey hai vest is over, or say about the lDlh of April, 1 ex amine each colony, to sen that they each have an abundance of stores, and generally allow mine about 2511) or 301 b, as that is sufficient to carry them through the winter and early spring months, and causes them to commence brood-rearing' early. If I find any with less than 151 b of stores, 1 give them frames of sealed honey so us to bring them up to about 251 bof stores.

If I find any quoenloss and weak in numbers I unite them with one of the weakest colonies having a queen, or if they have a lot of bees, 1 introduce' a queen from one of my nuclei, and. unite the bees from the nucleus with them. The best way to do this late in the fall is to cage the queen on the frame you find her on in the nucleus, and then hang the frames from the nucleus in the hive to be re-queened. Smoke the bees well after uniting them, close the hive, and let it remain so for a few minutes, and then open it again, and in nine times out of ten the bees will bo found quiet and peaceable. Should they be fighting smoke them well so as to drive the most of them out of the hive, and 1 venture tosay that they will not disagree any more.

When all tin; hives have their full winter stores and a good queen in each, and a good rain-proof cover on, 1 think they are, pretty safe. I use enamel quills under my covers, and sometimes old sugar bags under that, but I can see no difference in thoso with the bagging under the enamel quilts and those without. I have tried chalk cushions to a limited extent, and believe they are an advantage in a severe winter, but 1 do not think them of sufficient benelit to advise others to use them to a large extent, but 1 should like all to try a few and report to me wdiat success they had with them.

1. am also using a few chaff packed hives. The packing is only at the sides of the hives, as with the (! illup frame. that brings the packing at the ends of the frames, as the (JVilup frames run crossWfiYH ot ill", hive. They are excellent hives, but I d > not think that in this climate they are. enough be'tor than the single walk-d hive to warrant the extra expense ; bcsidi s they cannot be used as upp< r stoi h a or carried around the vard so easily as a single walled hive. " Unco our bees are prepared lor winter and cold w< al her ha.; set in, I do not think il, advisable to open tin; hives, as in ioin.g a i we break the propolis with which the b : s have sealed the quilt down to the hive, thus leavin a ,-io dl crevice for the eo! I iir i i bio .v t lir eigh. theie is air gets al the bees from the lop of the hive the better. J would leave the entrance lull width, as that will give them ample ventilation. The entrance should not be more than jjiu high by li'in long. Aline are mostly ;, ; in by Sin ; this gives ample room for the bees in .summer and for air in winter.

Successful wintering may be summed up in the following few words : strong colonies in the autumn with plenty of honey, a good air and waterproof hive with enamel quilt or cover well sealed down. With such colonies I would not give Id per 100 to have them insured against ordinary winter losses.— CI. Colbourne, junr., in the Australian Deo Bulletin.