THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3509, 14 June 1921, Page 7

THE APIARY.

By

J. A.

COMB HONEY PRODUCTION. Geo. S. Denneth, in an article on this subject in Anrii Gleanings, has to say ; “In most of the territory where comb honey is produced commercially in this country the main honey flow begins some time in June, and is often so short that the eggs that are laid after the honey flow begins result in bees which mature too late to take part in gathering and storing the crop of honey. Whenever, therefore, the honey flow begins in June, most of the workers that gather the crop must be reared during April and May. And in order that they may be young and vigorous for their work, the vast majority should be reared during May.” “These workers are the harvest hands of the hive, and if (lie flowers and weather do their part, the crop of honey will usually bo much or little according to whether the workers to gather it are many or few. A great horde of workers coming on the stage of action at just, the right time is the goal towards which the beekeeper has been working since last summer. So far as he is concerned, this groat army of workers is that for which ail the workers born at other times have existed. The bees reared previously have been useful only in as much as they have contributed to the final production of these “harvest hands,” and bees reared later are useful only in as much as they arc able to contribute to the maintenance of the colonies until next season, unless there is a later honey flow which they may help to gather.” May in the Northern Hemisphere corresponds with November here, and June with December. So that Mr Demuth would say that our crop, beginning December, will depend on the activity of our colonies in brood-rearing in October and November. In Ihe south we may take the end of December as the beginning of the honey flow from clover, which is the main flow, and we may say that November and December are the main brood-rearing months. The recognition of these dates, and the working to make the most of them, are, in our opinion, all important in getting a. good crop. We could give lots of examples to show the truth cf this, but we refer southern beekeepers to what happened about eight, cr nine .years ago, when the weather conditions were such that feeding hud to be continued right up to Christmas. Our feeding that year was only sufficient to keep the bees from starvation, and the consequence was that, though the weather changed and the clover bloomed, the bees were few in number, and we got no crop. It is the recognition of these facts that makes the Taranaki system lately; spoken of by Mr A. R. Bates. 'That of wintering medium colonies only, on few frames, and holding a stock of sealed honey. This honey is used slowly in the early winter, just as required, but in November it is used more freely, and nothing is allowed to check brood-rearing during that month and the early half of December. The result of this is a strong colony just at the right time. In making calculations along these lines it is well to remember that though it is only three weeks from the egg to the matured bee, there is still another two weeks before the matured bee becomes a field worker. The system of putting up the brood and later shifting it to a new stand to prevent swarming will, if two or three supers of it are put together, make a strong force for comb honey work. Such a force, being headed, as is usually the wise, by a young queen, and having very little voun ,r brood, is fairly safe from further gw, armings and that is a great consideration when comb honey is being produced. Tt may be said that plenty of bees is equally necessary for producing extracted honey, and so it 'is to give a good crop; but when you are producing sections, they must be completed, and anything that imposes a chock or means slow work is more fatal on that account. For instance, if a colony swarms during the honey flow that is producing sections," and has a large number unfinished, the only way to get them completed is to put them on the swarm on the stand of tho old colony. Speaking generally, it may be said that no one thing matters quite so much in beekeeping as the prevention of any check in brood-rearing during the six weeks preceding the honey flow. Tf we have plenty of bees we will get the honey, no matter how faulty our arrangements may be. If,, on the other hand, we fail in this, no matter liovv well we may paint our hives or wire our foundation, or clear away the grass, we will not get the crop.