APIARY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1290, 19 November 1896, Page 5

APIARY.

PREVENTING SWARMING AND AFTERSWARMS. It is generally agreed by apiarists that to obtain the largest yield of honey from a colony, no swarming must be allowed. It is also a pretty well established fact that where an apairy is run for surplus comb honey, it is difficult to prevent swarming, and at the same time keep the bees working the season through with a vim. The person whose only desire is honey, and not increase of colonies, is apt to feel somewhat discouraged when he sees a swarm issue, especially if he or she felt sure they had everything in good shape for a long run of honey gathering. Where one is running for extracted honey it is comparatively easy to prevent swarming. The liberal use of the honey extractor will do it, for it is generally understood that ing with brood and stores is the cause of swarming, and ths liberal use of the

extractor prevents this. There are various other conditions that cause

bees to swarm.

In running for comb honey, if the surplus cases are put on just at the right time, and the bees are given just room enough, very often they will work the season through with the greatest of energy, and never seem to think of swarming ; and if such is the case the result will be a large lot of fine comb honey, for be it remembered that the nicest comb honey is always produced by good strong working colonies. Keeping the hive well shaded and ventilated at both the top and bottom will do much toward preventing swarming. Removing sections as fast as they are nicely finished, and replacing them with empty ones, will retard swarming very much. Removing two combs of brood from the centre of the brood nest and inserting empty combs with worker cells will very often, yes, generally, prevent swarming, especially if the swarming fever has nob too great a start, for it gives the queen room to lay her eggs, and otherwise changes the conditions in the hive.

If bees get the swarming fever and are bound to swarm it is best to let them swarm (for they will, anyhow), but so manage them as to get the best results. The important thing is to have one of the colonies strong. Introducing a young queen, latelyfertilised, early in the spring, will prevent swarming for the season. If the swarm that issues is large, the colony it issues from is apt to be reduced in numbers to such an extent that it will produce but little. By removing the old hive from its stand immediately after the swarm issues, while on the wing or clustered, and placing the new hive on the old stand and putting the new swarm into it, all after swarming is prevented. Besides, the new swarm is reinforced by those bees that are out gathering honey at the time. The old hive muse of course be removed far enough away so that the new swarm and field bees will not enter it. By this method the new swarm will be ready to store surplus honey about the third day, if strong, and it should have the surplus boxes that were on the old hive. Where brood combs are removed from the centre of the hive to prevent swarming, the brood can be u ed tor forming a nucleus to raise an extra queen for use in emergency. After-swarming is also prevented by removing all queen cells but one from the old hive from which the swarm issued, on the seventh or eighth day. This will be successful if care is taken that no queen cells are overlooked. Of course the retarding and preventing of swarming is practised by those persons who have all the colonies they want. Where one desires increase the more after-swarms the better, if skill is used in building the little swarms up to strong colonies. This can be done, and by another season they may be among the best colonies of the apiary.

Mv observation and experience teach me that one never succeeds with anything be does not like • consequently, says a writer in Orange Judd Farmer , a man or woman who dislikes to handle bees had better let them alone. However, it seems to me it might pay the farmer who has a lot of fruit to keep a few stands of bees, even though he had to buy a new stock every spring and did not get any honey. The benefit derived from the bees fertilising fruit blossoms would' pay for the trouble. In this case box hives would be better than any others, as bees undoubtedly winter better in them and honey is a secondary consideration. In any event get a good stock of industrious bees. It is becoming pretty generally accepted that bee-keeping will not do to rely on as a money-making occupation unless practised in connection with some other business. The farmer who likes to handle bees will an excellent side issue, which, if carefully managed, will be a satisfaction as well as a profit. To such a farmer I say, get two colonies of Italian bees from some reliable breeder, put them in an eight or ten frame dove-tailed hive, get a smoker, bee veil, a book on apiculture and begin. In one respect experienced apiarists are quite as negligent as beginners—that is, in furnishing shade for the hives. It has been conclusively shown that colonies in shade during hob weather make the most honey.