THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3123, 28 January 1914, Page 12

THE APIARY.

(By J. A.)

From January 1 to 16 there was no result in the apiary, the bees only holding their own. Windy weather is not good for honeygathering. Sometimes when the wind was from the north and the temperature high there was a good deal of flying, but the results could not be measured on the scales. On the 17th, 18th, and 19th, however, there was a good flow, giving 101 b, 151 b, and 261 b, or a total of 511 b increase for the three days. The 20th had no result beyond making up for evaporation, but to-day (the 21st) has again put on 101 b. It is seldom we have such a fine show of white clover as there is at the present time, and if only the weather continues suitable the prospects are very good for a crop. TWO DAYS’ GATHERING. To satisfy curiosity I took the weight at intervals on the 18th and 19th, just to note the progress made during the day. As others may be interested, 1 give the weigh r s below The 261 b gathered on the 19th seems high, but it has to be remembered that my scale hive actually contains two colonies, and though one of them is not strong the other is very strong. The 19th was the warmest day we have experienced this summer, the temperature reaching 80 in the shade, and continuing high till late in the evening:—January 18 —7 a.m., 290jdb; 8.30 a.m., 288£lb; 10.15 a.m., 2871 b; 1.25 p.m., 2931 b; 3 p.m., 29?ilb; 4.15 p.m., 3001 b; 5,40 p.m., 3081 b. January 19—6.30 a.m., 3061 - 10.10 a.m., 3021 b; 12.15 p.m., 3071 b; 2.20 p.m., 3121 b; 4.40 p.m., 3191 b; 5.40 p.m., 3241 b; 7 p.m., 3341 b. Some may wonder why there is a loss of weight during the forenoon. It is the weight of the outgoing bees being greater than that of the incoming nectar. About 10 o’clock on each of the days the upward tendency began, but it was not until noon that the morning weight was exceeded. In the same way it is the added weight of the homing bees that makes the quick rise in the late evening. This is particularly shown on the 19th, when the weight put on after 5.40 p.m. was 101 b. The weight of nectar gathered was 281 b, but the evaporation of the previous evening (21b) had to be made up before any rise could be credited, so that the gain was 261 b for the day. SWARMING. We had a unique experience in swarming during the week. From our 'apiary in a northerly direction there is a post and wire fence running towards a little gully with some native bush in it. For the day’s work our swarms selected this fence as the scene of operations. They were met, however, by a strong northerly wind, which made either outward progress or settling somewhat difficult. The result was that a portion of a swarm got stuck on to almost every post for about four chains down the fence. They were left to their own devices until the queenless portions had gathered in to where the queens were, when they were gathered into four swarming boxes and used to start four new colonies. It is getting too-late for swarms now, and in no case should they be hived singly, unless they are very strong. If they are strong enough to fully occupy a brood chamber of 10 frames with full sheets of foundation and a super with 10 empty combs, they will do remarkable work if they can only get a fortnight of good gathering weather. If, on the other hand, they only occupy about half the frames in a brood chamber they will not likely gather enough stores for winter. IS IMMUNITY TO POISON FROM RNESTINGS INHEIRTED? (By W. A. H. Gilstrap.) Neither Mrs Gilstrap’s parents nor mine ever worked much with bees. She has worked with them a good share of the time for 20 years, while I have worked with them for 23 years, which means we were both inoculated with the poison of bee-stings quite a while before we were married, which was 17 years ago. Most of our early work was with the ordinary California mongrel bee called hybrids. They can sting. In her early experience Mrs Gilstrap was stung half a dozen times one day, which caused her to “ break out ” as if she had hives, and she was quite sick. In two days she was able to be up and tackle bees again Now, you might hunt a while before you would find a woman who likes to work with bees as well as Mrs Gilstrap, clone who can stand stings as well. In my early experience with bees the stings were so painful and left so much soreness that I seriously contemplated quitting; but the fascinating nature of the business perhaps had more to do in keeping me with bees than financial considerations did, till I became fairly immune to the poison. A bee-sting has never been serious, with any of our eight children. The most remarkable one of the children in this line is our youngest boy, Percy, who got over a hundred stings above his shirt collar at one dose before he was three years old without any very serious results. The apiary was south of the house, perhaps 40 to 70 yards, with bamboo on the west and north sides. The south part of the apiary was occupied by scrub bees which I had bought and brought home, killed the queens, and replaced with ripe cells of good Italian stock. From the house I passed along west of the bamboo and entered the apiary at the north-east corner, in the vain search for a possible swarm. I turned off the road to care for a horse before returning to the house. At the south-west corner of the yard one of those black (or nearly black) bees stung me on my head. As Percy afterwards told us, he followed me through the apiary by sight, and could not have been far from me. He passed me while I was caring for the horse; but I did not see him nor hear him. His mother later noticed that he seemed fretful, and told him to go to bod, which he did, and then called for a drink. Before the water could be brought from a pump in the yard, he got a cup to get a drink, then said, “ Mamma, bees hurt me.” ' “Where?” “On my head.” She called me at once, and we commenced scraping the stings from his neck, face, and head, where they were closely and rather evenly stuck. His hair was quite short. After removing 35 stings with a dull knife it was clear that I not removed a third of them, while Mrs Gilstrap was busy on the other side. Ho cried a little then, and twitched, which made us fear

spasms. We put strong soda water on him, gave a little diluted whisky, and phoned from a near neighbour’s to a doctor less than two miles away, and took some ammonia back, which was applied where it would do good, but could not apply it in the nose and on the eyes where the stings were as thickly placed as anywhere. The doctor said we had done about all ho could have done. While he is opposed to intoxicating beverages as much as we are or can bo, ho said the whisky would tend to prevent spasms; but if spasms were once commenced, whisky would make them worse, ihc face was somewhat swollen for a day or two, and for several days there were dark spots, much like those left from measles. He lost a few hours’ play from the encounter. About two weeks later several of the children were with mo, with hands, faces, and feet bare, in the Italian part of the yard. Percy got a sting on the foot, probably from stepping on a bee, when h© said, “You old bad bee!” then complacently laid down and went to sleep near the hive.—Gleanings. The New Zealand bee farmers are organising with a view to placing their honey upon the local and Home markets to the best advantage. The Waikato Beekeepers’ Association held a social meeting on the 20th to consider the question of appointing agents to handle this season’s output of honey (says an Auckland message), and it was decided to support the recommendation of the execution; of the National Beekeepers’ Association of New Zealand and put the whole of the products in the hands of the “ New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Organised Society.” It is confidently expected that other beekeepers’ associations in New Zealand will take similar action. For two years the congregations at Holy Trinity Church at Dargaville have been perturbed by the presence in the edifice of several swarms of bees, which' hived in the lining boards surrounding the altar and choir stalls. On various occasions vicars, curates, and members of the choir have been tortured by stings, and one Sunday the congregation was forced to vacate the building and hold service at the vicarage. At various times the churchwardens have made war upon the hives, and, after commandeering the honey, dispersed the unwelcome visitors, as they thought, effectually. But fresh colonies in the same locations were formed, and recently, taking advantage of a visit by Mr G. V. Westbrook, the State apiary expert, another onslaught was made, when the bees were treated in a professional manner, and comEletely routed. Large quantities of golden oney were obtained.