THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 11

THE APIARY.

By

J. A.

SWARMING. In last week’s article the effect of leaving the colonies to follow their natural instinct was shown. Emphasis was laid on the fact that too much swarming, while increasing the number of colonies, was more than likely to decrease seriously the yield of honey. Natural swarming can be successful if, on the issue of the prime swarm, which takes away the laying queen, steps are taken to prevent any second issue. To allow the old colony to divide a second time, both divisions being under the leadership of virgin queens, is to invite failure so far as the season’s work is concerned. If the division takes place fairly early in the season, both of the colonies will probably fit themselves well for wintering, but to expect surplus honey from them is too much.

I am in danger of repeating myself when dealing with this theme. My excuse is that it is important and cannot be accentuated too much. The method of prevention is simple: Just mark the colony that swarmed, and five days later go carefully over the combs, removing all queen cells but one. The cell left should be one that is near to hatching, so that they may have a new queen as soon as possible. If this is successfully carried out, it will end swarming for that colony for the season.

There is a practice which tends to equalise the prime swarm and the old colony; it is to put the swarm back on the old stand after removing the old colony to another stand. The effect of this is to throw all the field bees into the swarm, and by doing so to denude further the old colony and thus cool the desire to swarm. It is wonderful how quickly the old colony picks up again when after-swarming is prevented. The old queen when she leaves with the prime swarm leaves brood in all stages, from the egg to hatching; and three weeks’ laying ot a good queen means anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 bees, which will all be hatched in three weeks from the date of the swarm. Usually the young queen, which now takes up motherly duties in the old colony, will be fertilised and ready to refill the cells about the time that th< last of the old queen’s brood is hatching. Thus the hive is practically in the condition of a swarm with empty cradles and a big army of workers ready to take up field work. It is when in this condition that a colony of bees works with great vim and deposits honey very rapidly in the combs.

. To size up the position then, by allowing the colony to swarm we have two strong colonies, both of them in good condition for doing their best in the field, instead of one colony which is being baulked in its natural desire to swarm, and probably owing to the pressure on its brood nest is no* receiving a pro rata result from the work of its fielders. Then there is the further result that by the two-colqny system the progeny of two queens is brought into action for the latter half of the main flow from clover. This in itself must add considerably to the field work. here there is no desire for increase, and where the winter provision for two colonies is not wanted, there is the further advantage that the uniting ot the two colonies late in the season can be done under the young queen, the old one being removed. This, as shown, is the swarming result we seek to obtain when we work under natural swarming conditions. The main trouble in connection with it is that it leaves the initiative in the hands of the bees themselves. Swarms may come too early or too late in the season, and thus much of the beekeeper’s time is is taken a Y alting attendance, while the difficulty of catching every colony in the a^tot. swarming is, in a large apiary, very difficult to achieve. It is for these reasons that the beekeeper seeks the initiative for himself by a process of artificial swarming. To do this requires a good deal of experience and judgment as to the condition of the colonies, and, generally speaking, every effort is made first to equalise the colonies during the early- season and then to build them up until the most advanced colonies show signs of preparing for natural swarming. When this time comes the beekeeper seeks to do his work in a more or less , v\ holesale way by taking the apiary in sections and carrying through his dividing in quick time, thus doing away in a great degree with the everlasting tour, five, or six swarms a day, which take up so much of his time. The important thing is to find a method ot artificial swarming which will give as good results as natural swarming, and on this point I hope to have some suggestions to give next week.