THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3031, 17 April 1912, Page 12

THE APIARY.

By J. A.

FEEDING. Sir, —I am a beginner, and have only one hive. Looking into it a few days ago I was surprised, to find that, although there was a fine lot of bees, there was a very poor supply of honey —I should think not more than, say, 61b altogether. The queen is all right. I saw her on one of the frames, and there is a very small patch of brood. What is required to make this colony safe for the winter? There is only one thing required, end that is, to feed. We have made this subject prominent in our notes lately, but as it is an all-important consideration at this time of the year, we will repeat. Feeding is done for two purposes. One is to give the bees the impression of a nectar supply coming from outside, end thus stimulate the queen to lay and fill up the combs rapidly with brood. This is only used in the spring, and requires more than ordinary experience to be successful. About this we will say nothing just now. The other is simply to supply the bees with sufficient food to carry them right through the wintor and spring, and to do it, as far as possible, without starting tho queen to lay and without giving the bees too much work in evaporating it to the right consistency. In order to effect the former wo give the food rapidly, feeding a large amount at ono time, giving it to them in the evening warm, and as fast as they can take it down. To prevent the need for evaporation, we use boiling water to dissolve the sugar, and stir into it as much sugar as it will dissolve—not less than two of sugar to ono of water. The speed with which the bees take in the supply will depend on the population of the hive. In an ordinary hive, however, we find they easily empty three ordinary Alexander feeders in a night. Our plan of feeding is to put three feeders into the colony and to fill them each time. They will hold about 51b. Your hive contains about 6lb of honey. We advise you to increase this weight to about 301b —401 b would be better. If you vise 201 bof sugar mixed in lOib of water and feed it quickly, your colony should be safe at a cost of about 3s 6d. QUEENLESS BEES. Sir, —I have five colonies of bees. One of them has a large number of drones. The combs have a lot of pollen in them, but there is no brood. What is the matter? Your colony -is queenless, and unless you have a spare queen it would bo better to unite it to one of the others. If it has been- long queenless it is hardly worth bothering with. The ragged appearance of the wings will tell you whether the bees are old, and if so just shake them in front of ono of the other hives and take away their hive out of the road. Whenever you find drones in a hive at this time of the year it is safe to say that there is no queen. Bees never kill off drones when they have no laying queen. The fact that there was a large quantity of pollen in the combs is further proof that there is no queen. These combs would make a valuable help to your other colonies in the way of winter food.

""*"' KEEPING LOTS OF BEES. (By G. M. Doolittle.) "How many colonies of bees should one keep to be a well-to-do I became interested in bees two years ago; and bought five colonies. I have 15 now; and my sales, since I began, have been about £3l ss. I have been figuring: a little on keeping 50 colonies, and from my experience so far I thought I might average £IOO a year from that number; but I bave lust read that no apiarist becomes well-to-do unless he keep? a lot of bees. The writer of the article advocated keeping several outapiaries, numbering from 50 to 100 colonies each, besides having as many colonies in the home apiary as his field would support. If I must engage in beekeeping on such a large scale in order to become well-to-do I shall feel somewhat like abandoning the whole thing." " Much will depend upon the way you interpret that expression, 'well-to-do'; as well as the meaning of those four words 'a lot of bees.' We "will consider the last four words first. Some would construe these to mean a lot of bees in.each colony. How often has it been reiterated that a eolonv of bees numbering ttbm 50,000 to 75,000, and even 100,000, produces the best results, while one from 10,000 to 15.000 gives its keeper little, if any. surplus! In spite of the prevalent idea that bees work for nothing and board themselves, the colonies numbering between 10.000 and 20,000 are the rule, rather than the exception, and, consequently, yield only a small surplus, even though a beekeeper may count his colonies by .the hundreds or thousands. " With such small colonies a much greater proportion of the whole colony must stay at home to care for the inside needs of the hive, thus leaving few fielders, than in case of the colony having 100,000 bees where IOtOOO can care for the- inside work ai'yl ©O,OOO can go to the field, thereby rolling in an amount of honey that is sure to insure success. Then, too, these 90.000 fielders should como on the stage of action at the right time for the best nectar yield, whether from clover, basswood, buckwheat, or what ; otherwise they may not be as satisfactory as the smaller ones; for 90.000 bees on the stage of action at the end of any flow of nectar become consumers instead of producers ; arid unless another flow comes before they live out their 45 davs of useful life the stores of the hive will constantly decrease, and the keeper of such colonies be compelled to feed for winter. From a financial standpoint the man who can keen 500 or 5000 colonies of bees so that each colony will have from 75,000 to 100,000 active fielders when the main flow of nectar is on. will far outshine the man who is contented with only 50 colonies. "As to the expression, 'well-to-do,' suppose there is a beekeeper who is capable of bringing up to the necessary standard 500 or 1000 colonies of bees in several outapiaries, and that he is able, on the average, year after year, to do as well with them as our questioner hopes to do with 50 colonies, his income each vear would be from £IOOO to £2OOO, and, doubtless, in the eyes of tho world he would bo considered well-to-do. " He can keep his 50 colonies without tho extreme exertion, racking of brains, and the muscle required by a larger number. He can have time to examine into the minutiae of affairs inside the eolonv; to go Into scientific research, to study Nature, and, from this. Nature's God. In

short, his powers can be spent in. the uplifting of himself and those about him above the sordid things which come to the one whose only god is money. But can a man be considered 'well-to-do' with an income of only £IOO a year? The majority of tho families iri the United States do not have that income and many of the preochers ot tn e Gospel, who are successful in winning many souls for Christ, do not have a lareer salary. A good definition of 'well-to-do,' from my standpoint, would be, contentment, with Godliness, is great gain." [Mr Doohttle is absolutely right when he emphasises the importance of a lar ffe force the fields. We also wish to indorse hi 3 sentiment* regarding the " well-to-do man." —H,D.J—Gleanings in Bee Culture.