THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 12

THE APIARY.

(By J.A.)

SEASONABLE HINTS. Spring has come round again, and during last week the weather has been much milder. On several days the bees were able to get out to the go'rse fences and gather some pollen. It is, however, too early for them to do much yet. The fact that there is once more warmth in the sun’s rays as they reach us makes the beekeeper desire to get in touch with his workers to see how they fare, and to do what can be done to help them. SPRIN G-CLE ANTN G is one of the ways we can help them. The manuring which the grass gets from the falling of dea-d bees makes it grow luxuriantly right in front of the hive. Yery often, if not kept down, this grass will grow right through the winter and cover up the entrances of hives. This necessitates a trip round the hives with a good sharp spade to pare away the grass and weeds so that there may be no obstruction in the "ay of the flying bees. These parings arc ' or .v useful as a mulch for trees; being " ell manured they are really- as good as stable manure for mulching purposes, and if the apiarist happens to have fruit trees growing in the vicinity of his apiary it is a ready means of using them. Inside the hive wo can help, the bees by attending to the bottom board. Often this becomes filthy-, because for some reason the bees hat e not been able to clear away the chips. It may be that the hive is low at the back, or it may be that the frames swing too plose to the bottom board. Either reason makes it difficult for the bees to clean up, and so wo have a moist mixture of uncapping chips and dead bees, t nder these circumstances it is as well to put in a fresh, clean bottom board and remove old one for scraping or scrubb.ng. 1 non, too, it is a good thing to see tiiat the mat is right. Sometimes mice get inside in winter time, and while the bees are unable to leave the cluster they get on top of the mat, and, fraying the edges of it get material to make a nest. This they do on top of the mat so as to be safe, and at the same time profit by the heat which radiates from the cluster of bees. If they get established there they usually help themselves to the scaled honey that is outside the cluster of bees, and" so cut down supplies for the bees. FIRST EXAMINATION FOR THE SEASON. It has now come to the time when it is advisable to watch for an opportunity to examine all the colonics. What is required is a still, mild day, with sufficient sun to induce the bees to bring in pollen. Usually this kind of opportunity comes during the latter half of August. In making the examination it is well to allow as little exposure as possible. A good method of procedure is as follows: After removing the cover and mat, take out first an outside frame—usually thus early 'there is one at one side or the other with few bees on. Remove this, and place it outside against the hive. Then after giving a puff of smoko lift each frame in rotation, examining it and placing it back again in the hive. The examination is to find out the amount of stores, to watch for disease, and to see that the colony is normal. Should any of the colonics be dangerously short of stores food to them about 10ib of sugar melted in 51b of water. Feed it warm on a warm day, getting them to take it down as quickly as possible. If it is put in a feeder inside the hive just at sundown it. may bo all stored in the combs in the morning and tiie bees quirted again. If there is disease in any colony, mark the hive with a prominent mark, and clos" it up carefully. If the ap : ary is clean, an* only a colony or two diseased, the lock-stock-and-barrol process is the best. Some do this with a bonfire, others with sulphur; but whatever means is adopted, do it well. If there is much disease, then nothing can be done so early with any hope of success. Better to wait for a honey flow and then M’Evoy. If any colonies are queen loss they can be used to good purpose by placing them as a super on some light colony that needs help. A good colony in August should have plenty of stores. 1; should be clean, and should have bees covering eight or nine frames. Usually iho population in a hive decreases as the spring advances, so that it is better now than in September, unless the spring is unusually mild. There should also be brood in two or three frames. PREVENTION OF SWARMING. (By Mat.hil.dk Candler. Cassville, Wis.) An acquaintance of mine, a' good oldfashioned retired fanner, always calls to me whenever he secs me in the late spring or in summer: “Have you any young bees yet?” By young bees he means swarms, and when I say “No,” he shakes his head and doesn’t seem to know what to make of it. lie seems to think that swarming is necessary to the production of a honey

crop. That used to be a very general opinion. Then we gloried in our swarms. Later, with extensive beekeeping and out-apiaries, swarming became a nuisance : it was tho beekeeper’s bugbear, and during the season required his constant watchfulness and attention. So he tried every moans ho could think of to prevent it.

In the production of extracted honey it may he almost wholly prevented by frequent extracting and giving more empty combs. But it is not so easy with tho comb-honey producer. With him there is almost a certainty of swarming—often in spite of everything he may do to prevent it. Clipping queens’ wings prevents swarms from absconding, but does not prevent swarming; and often such a swarm lost or destroyed their queen and abscond 'd with the newly-hatched virgin queen. Nor does destroying queen cells help, for they would only build new ones and then swarm. I have tried for years to prevent swarming with the view of keeping down increase. At first I lot them swarm once and provented after-swarming, anti in tho fall I united the colonies until I had reduced them to the number I desired to keep. But as 1 enlarged rny apiary and commenced an out-yard it became necessary to prevent all swarming.

Dividing of colonies by taking away part of tho brood and bees, filling up with frames of foundation, helped some ns a provontion. But unless the division was very carefully and intelligently made, it, lessened the honey crop and often swarming was not prevented at all, but only retarded. That plan was not an entire success with me, but

I used it for several years as the best I knew of.

Then I tried shaking swarms. That was better; but they very often absconded, and at my next visit I would find an almost deserted hive. 1 tried, I think, every method that I saw described in the bee paper's. None was quite satisfactory. Hero is my method of preventing swarming as finally found more nearly perfected for my use: When I find a colony with queen cells containing eggs or larvse I prepare a empty hive body by putting in a few empty frames with or without foundation starters, and also one or two frames containing a little drawn comb to catch the pollen so that the bees do not carry it up into the sections. I take this to the colony preparing to swarm, remove its supers, and take out a frame—any frame with bees and brood—and place it in the centre of the hive body, and replace the removed frame with one having a foundation starter in it. On top I my a piece of wire cloth cut just the size of the top of the hive. Over this screen I s;et the prepared hive body, letting it project forward a little so the bees coming homo can crawl up into it from the outside. Care must be taken so the screen lays down close and even on the hive, so that the bees cannot crawl in under the screen.

Now I put on the supers and cover and close up the screen at the back (caused by moving the hive body forward) with a piece of lath. I now close up the entrance with a board having three lin holes covered with a cone b<;e escape. All the bees can get out of the hive, but they cannot get back in. so they crawl up the front of the hive into the hive body set on the screen. In four days I take off the prepared hive body and screen, put back the sections, and remove the cone escape board at the entrance. The brood frame may either be returned after destroying the queen colls on it or used in other ways for strengthenine nuclei, etc.

By this method there is no shaking, no absconding, no hunting for queens or pinching off queen cells, no jumping of hives op chilling of brood. It is not even necessary that the queens be clipped. The method can be applied to any kind of hive. The queen destroys the queen cells, and she docs a surer job than the apiarist does. There is no interruption in honey gathering, the bees do not feel themselves queenless, and do not rush around frantically hunting their queen; and when they realise that they are separated from their queen the swarming fever leaves them.

Of course it is necessary that the cone bee escape board at the entrance fits tight so that no bees can got in there. Otherwise this plan will not work. Nor is it necessary to wait four days before changing things back; the queen will have destroyed the cells before that time. But I prefer to wait so long to bo on the safe side.--Review.