THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 4014, 17 February 1931, Page 11

THE APIARY.

EXAMINATION FOR FOUL BROOD. Opportunity should be taken when removing the surplus honey to make a searching examination of the brood chamber for disease. In this matter the beekeeper should ever be on the alert, and if disease is noticed in any of the colonies the surplus honey from such should be set aside to be extracted when all other extracting is finished. Many beekeepers spread the trouble by careless handling of diseased colonies at extracting time. The combs from infected hives should be sterilised or destroyed after the honey has been extracted. BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. lhe West Otago branch of the National Beekeepers Association held a successful un der ideal weather conditions at Mr George M'Duff’s apiary “ Forest- •’ * Kelso - recently. There were some 50 interested spectators present. After luncheon, the president (Mr Swanston, Waikaka) welcomed the visitors. a nd then called on the chairman of the New Zealand Co-operative Honey Producers (Mr Rentoul) to address the gathering. Mr Rentoul gave an interesting address on the market conditions in Great Britain and Europe, and showed photographs of window displays of honey in London and ou the Continent. Mr R. Stewart, Crookston, demonstrated the introduction of a queen bee into a hive. The apiary instructor for Otago and Southland (Mr Rhodes) afterwards lectured on foul brood, its prevention and treatment. A visit was made to the new and up-to-date honey-house. The extractor, which is of the latest design, is driven by electricity, and extracted 271 b of honey, both sides ot the comb being extracted at once. The chief apiary instructor (Mr Earp) congratulated the beekeepers of the district on their up-to-date methods of working, and expressed satisfaction with the condition of the apiaries in the locality. After afternoon tea, supplied by the ladies of the association, had been handed round the afternoon terminated with a vote of thanks to Mr M‘Duff, the ladies, and the speakers. HONEY FOR WINE. Tests by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Canada, appear to indicate that honey can advantageously be used in the place of sugar for wine making. If these expectations are realised there is likely to be a greatly increased demand for honey in all countries. A recent report states that the board mentioned has approved and recommended to the Government of Ontario th? application of Ontario Honey Producers’ Co-operative, Ltd., that certain native wine manufacturers of the province should be permitted to use honey in making their wines instead of sugar imported from Cuba, which is the practice at present. Foreign sugar, mostly from Cuba, is used by the manufacturers in making wine, and the substitution of honey, which contains about 85 per cent, of sugar, would improve the quality of the product, as well as be of great service to honey producers, who had a surplus of 1,000,0001’1 of honey last season.' Honey instead of sugar will be somewhat more expensive for the wine manufacturer, but the Liquor Control Board has agreed to bear half the extra cost and the manufacturers the remaining half. The adoption of the board’s recommendation by the wineries will provide a needed impetus to the progress and development of the honey-producing industry in Canada, and beekeepers will be assured of having their surplus taken care of at a fair price. Cuban sugar costs 21d a lb and honey about 34d iu its unrefined state. DECEIVING THE BEES. Bees do not work by the clock, nor do they cease working when their own food requirements are filled (says C. B. Goqderham, the Dominion of Canada's Apiarist). So long as there is nectar available in the fields and weather conditions nre favourable for gathering it, the bees will continue to store honey until all space within their hives is filled. A good colony of bees will often store more than double the amount of honey required for its own use, and the surplus is the reward of the beekeeper, provided he has the nerve to take it. Bees usually have the unfortunate habit of disputing the ownership of this surplus honey, and their methods of arguing the question are not only pointed but painful to the person of the opposition. past the usual method of settling the question was to first destroy the bees with sulphur fumes, and then to take all the honey in peace. This method, however, was like “ killing the goose that 'laid the golden egg,” and valuable property was destroyed. The newer method is to take the honey without the bees knowing anything about it. A piece of equipment known as a bee escape board is placed beneath the supers of honey, and the bees passing down through the escapes are unable to return to the supers. If these boards are put in place during the afternoon of a day on which the bees are flying well the supers above will be free of bees the following morning, when the honey can be removed without painful altercations with the owners. Not more than two fulldepth or three shallow suppers should be above the escape boards at one time, otherwise it will take a longer time to clear them of bees; nor should there be brood or queens in the supers, for then the bees will not leave them at all. LATE SWARMS. A Balclutha apiarist stated last week that this season had been remarkable for. the number of late swarms of bees. As a rule, he said, bees never swarm so late in the season, but this year has proved an exception to the rule.