BEE-KEEPING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 896, 23 December 1916, Page 11

BEE-KEEPING.

CARE OF THE APIARY IN SUMMER. During the summer mouths every attention should be paid to raising a stock of young queens to replace old and faili ing ones. To buy new queens each soe- ; eessive season is too expensive, and with : a little attention and care good queens j can be raised by the beekeeper in his \ own yard. An apiary should be requeened each year, and queens should not be tolerated for more than two seasous at the most. In the long-run it is the queens that tell in the production of big erops, and unless the beekeeper takes the trouble to requeen in the summer only a small percentage of the stocks will yield a surplus. Nucleus Hives. In order to facilitate the work of queen-rea-ing a few nucleus colonies ■ should be run in conjunction with every I apiary. In these small colonies queens ; can be raised and cared for until they . are mated and laying. It is an easy matter once the queens are laying to transfer them to the larger hives in the j apiary. Perhaps no branch of apicul- ' ture receives less attention than the production of youug queens; and yet if ** \ the beekeepers who gt the big erops of ; honey are asked what counts most in t their production the reply is invariably "young queens/' In New Zealand it has been proved over and over again ' that the best months for raising queens I are from November to January. Duri ing this period everything is favourable for the operation, as the hives are at i their highest state of prosperity. Under ' normal conditions the workers and ! drones are at their best, this being the j swarming period. The best style of nucleus hive to I adopt is the four-frame one. This sire j will give the young queen a chance to '■ lay once she is mated, and will, besides, . hold sufficient bees to care for relays of queen-cells throughout the season. To form a nucleus colony take one frame lof well-capped brood with adhering , bees, and one fiame containing honey ! and pollen, the remaining space being filled with an empty comb and feeder. If the number of bees on the comb is I not sufficient to form a good cluster, one •or two frames of young bees may be shaken into the nucleus, this being done jto replace the field-bees which return ; to the old hive. Place the frame of I brood in the middle of the hive and j close the entrance until the following : day, when the bees may be released. In I the course of a Jay or two the small \ colony will settle down, and will theD I be ready to receive the first queen-eelL No better plan can be followed by the ' beginner than to utilise queen-cells" pro- | duced naturally—i.e., under the swarm- ■ ing impulse. In removing cells from the .' hives select the largest and most eorruI gated ones, and cut well into the combs iso as not to injure the queens. Care | must be taken not to shake the combs . containing the queen-cells, as the sudden jolt jerks the larva from its base I and the embryo queen will be destroyed. Before inserting the cell in the ! nucleus hive be sure and examine the j comb, in case eggs were transferred I with the frame of brood. Should queenj cells be found, destroy these, and the . cell ran then be grafted with safety. i A hairpin makes an excellent tool for ! holding the cell in position. If the I weather conditions are favourable, the ! queen should be laving within a week : after hatching, and when eggs appear in the hive the beekeeper may conclude that she is safely mated. Leave the ! queen in the nucleus hive until she has : proved her laying capacity, when she \ may be taken to replace an old or failj ing one in the apiary. If more queen- ] cells are available, which is almost cerj tain to be the case where swarming is | in full swing, a ripe one may be insertj ed to take the place of the young queen, and this can be repeated at intervals • until the necessary number of queens is j raised. It must be left to the beekeeper to re- 1 I gulate the number of nucleus hives he j requires, this depending upon the numI ber of queeus to be raised. There are I several methods of artificial queen-rais-ing, and details of these can be obtained from text-books on the subject. Stimulative Feeding. A constant watch must be kept on t>* ! stores in the hive. During the fiMf ! from the willows and fruit-bloom brood- ! rearing is increased enormously, and the j stores will rapidly dwindle during the I period that/ follows. In order to keep I up the strength of the colonies after the cessation of the fruit-bloom artificial feeding should be resorted to until the ' beekeeper is certain that the clover is yielding nectar. In most districts there lis a distinct break between the spring I blossom and the clover, and it is not unI common to find populous hives on the I verge of starvation. Hives that are ! gently stimulated will respond to the j treatment, and be in good order to work ! the main clover crop. The quantity of syrup to be fed will I depend largely upon the strength of the j hives. If stimulative feeding has to be t resorted to, sugar syrup may be fed in la less concentrated form than that : which is given in the autumn and spring 'months, the quantity of water being increased. A syrup fed iu the proportion !of one of sugar to six of water is all | that is required to stimulate the bees 1 and prevent starvation, and will be the ' means of keeping the colonies strong in brood and bees. It must be remembered it is strong colonies that count in a (low. and no others should be tolerated ; during the busy season. Extracting. I Preparations for extracting the honey 1 must now be well in hand. In thenoithcrn parts of the Dominion, where the ■ How is much earlier than in the south, operations may have had to be commenced towards the latter part of last V month. This, however, will depend largely upon the weather prevailing. I'suallv the main crop is taken in January, but in Southland last season extracting was not in full swing until February, ami was not completed till March. The main appliances requisite • to successful work are an extractor, uncapping knives, uncapping-can, and a good tank. It is poor policy to wait until the How commences before securing tlie necessary plant. It is not uncommon to find a beekeeper unprepared, ami the hiss attendant on delay often renders a -eason "s work unprofitable. The main llow of nectar lasts but a short time, and full advantage must be taken of the short period to secure the largest possible return.