THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3954, 24 December 1929, Page 11

THE APIARY.

By

J. A.

The week ending December 14 has been more favourable for apiary work, and in locations with native bush quite good work will be done. Where the dependence is almost entirely on clover very little has come in yet, Friday, the 13th of the month, giving the first steady work. On that day my scale hive showed 11b of increase. This is the first movement upwards for the season. Not even feeding half a bag of sugar per day showed any increased weight, although the scale hive was as active and quick on the job as any in the apiary. As mentioned in previous notes, this seems to be about the date on which work on the clover begins in the south, and not much need be expected for another week yet—not indeed until we pass the longest day. After that all depends on the weather. Rain at night and sunshine all day make beekeepers’ weather. Biood-rearing has gone on steadily all week, and the colonies are hatching out young bees at a very rapid rate. Three swarms came out during the week, and so tar no attempt has been made to prevent them. Only a very few colonies are showing queen cells, and in some cases it has colony to see that all is normal is well the old queen. Mostly, however, a colony gets run down a bit before the old queen is superseded, and in such cases, though they have several cells maturing, the first one to hatch will be allowed to destroy the others, and the colony will settle down to work. During feeding operations it is not wise to interfere much with the colonies, as it is very apt to allow robbing to start, so, for the time, other work, such as tidying up the apiary and going over honey house stocks, has been attended to. Now, however, a watchful care of each colony to see that all is normal is well worth while. An examination which gets down to the bottom board and cleans off all chips and dirt, and gives the bees a smooth floor, is necessary; also a careful watch for disease. The bees can now have their full-width entrance, though up to this date there has not been any need for further ventilation unless the colonies are very strong. The first sign that ventilation is required is when the bees begin to fan at the entrance. They can guide a current of air through the hive, but it is made much easier for them if the hive is raised on inch blocks. Mostly this is done by putting an inch block under each front corner of the hive, though it is equally as good if one block is placed under the centre of the front end of the hive. When this is done the bees will immediately stop fanning, thus showing that the required ventilation has been secured.

SUPERING.

Until the nectar flow begins not much is required in the way of supers. If the bees have been wintered in a single storey then early in November a further storey of brood combs is necessary. Otherwise there will very early be trouble with swarming. The overcrowding of bees in a small hive always induces swarming. If at the time that crowding in the single storey is becoming dangerous another storey of brood combs is put on top, then the queen will occupy it at once, and the inclination to swarm will cease for the time, unless queen cells are actually being built. Even then they may be torn down. These two storeys should hold the colony comfortably until the clover flow begins. When this takes place a third storey should be added, placing it on top. as this is intended for surplus honey and not for brood. Some breeders (I think wisely) use only eight frames. spacing them wider. This results in thicker combs, and is to some extent a check against the queen’s using them for brood. In the brood nest the combs are centred at Ilin, but when two combs are taken out and only eight used then the spacing is wider, and consequently not suitable for brood, though if the combs contain drone cells these may be filled with drone brood —as sometimes happens in crates of sections. When the eight-comb super is about two-thirds filled another super should be given—this time by placing it underneath the one already there. This second super should also have only eight combs. The reason for placing it underneath is that the bees always store the honey as high as possible, and the partially completed super is more likely to be completely sealed when it occupies that position. I do not care to give more than two supers at any time, though I quite agree that in warm, moist districts, in order to get the honey thoroughly ripened, it may be necessary. In Southland it is rarely gathered at a rate that makes this necessary. If the season is such that a third super is required my method is to take off the top one for extracting, then raise the one remaining, and place the added one underneath. With a few colonies more even than this may be required, but in that case the same operation is repeated. Thus at no time is the colony more than four storeys high.