THE APIARY.
WATER SUPPLY.
One of the most important of the minor details of apiculture is the provision of a constant water supply for the purpose of assisting the bees in brood-rearing, says senior apiary instructor E. A. Earp in the Journal of Agriculture. Not onjy is it necessary to conserve the energy oi*the bees by having the water close at hand, but it is well to ensure that they do not prove a nuisance at taps, cattle-troughs, etc. From early spring till late autumn water is an absolute necessity to bees, and they will consume comparatively immense quantities in fine weather. It thus behoves the beekeeper to see that a liberal supply 18 .always available. By establishing his drinking fountain early in the season he will teach the bees where to go for supplies, and ensure their always seeking the same spot for water. ■ ¥■ * * THE TOP QUEEN.
It has been the experience of most bee. keepers that where one colony is quietly placed on top of another, the queen of the top colony will almost invariably succeed. At a field day at Kelso, Mr Robert btewart, an expert, was asked why this should be so. In nine cases out of 10, he replied, the following would happen: The old queen below would find her way up among the strange bees on top, and be immediately balled and destroyed. This certainly in the ordinary economy of the hive would seem more natural than that the young queen above should come downwards. At this demonstration Mr Stewart’s opinion also was sought on the Use of excluders. He advised that these should be employed only during the latter portion of the season. The brood above the brood nest proper would, therefore, be allowed to hatch out in time for the combs to be extracted without brood. Confining the queen, to one story would restrict the development of brood that would come too late for honey gathering, and would be only consumers.
* * HIVING SWARMS.
i • I 1? Ir J ost , t ex f'f )o °ks on beekeeping this liincl of advice is given: "When a swarm settles into a cluster take a light box and. shake the bees into it,” etc. This advice is all right where the bees are accommodating enough to settle into a convenient position for the shaking process to be carried out. Unfortunately in many cases bees get into positions whence it is impossible to dislodge them so easilv. Sometimes they will settle on a small bush, and much of the cluster will be on the ground. In this case probably the best thing to do is to place the box over the cluster, and if the bees do not show much disposition to climb into the box they may be persuaded to do so by- the use of a little smoke. When they cluster in the centre of a prickly hedge the box should be placed on one side of the hedge, and the beekeeper should puff smoke from , ? other side of the hedge, and thereby drive the bees towards the box. In the event of the swarm taking possession of a iencing-post and clustering on it from top to bottom, as they occasionally do, the smoker must again be used, and in addition it is as well to brush the bees from each side of the post in turn into the swarm box with the brush which is used for the frames at e.T!raeting-time. lhe usual practice is to leave the box sheltered from the sun and covered with a sa f“ j ear -rJj? e Pl ac e where the swarm has settled. Where, few hives are kept this may- be done with impunity-, but if other swarms are expected it is well to remove the box to the place where the colony is to stand permanently, otherwise before the close of the day the probabilities are very largely in favour of the box being taken possession of by- three or four other swarms—-a matter of annoyance to the man who wishes to keep his swarms separate.
In every case a swarm should be attended to as soon as it settles. Many people are under the impression that swarms should be left undisturbed till nightfall, but this idea is an erroneous one. They should invariably be placed in the box as soon as possible after the cluster is formed, and put so that they are sheltered from the rays of the sun.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 11
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746THE APIARY. Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 11
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