WORK IN THE APIARY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 January 1934, Page 22 (Supplement)

WORK IN THE APIARY

JANUARY HINTS FOR KEEPERS. PROVISION FOR STORAGE. (By. D. S. Robinson, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculturei, Palmerston North.) The main work in the apiary at this season of the year is to see that ample provision is made for the bees to store the surplus honey. One must use a fair amount of discretion in “supering up;” that is, not to over-do it by placing on more supers than the bees can fill. At the same tjme the bees, need for storage space must be anticipated.. A good rule to observe is that when a super is about three-quarters filled with honey to raise this one and place under it another super with drawn out combs for preference. If the beekeeper is working with a limited amount of supers and combs it is advisable as soon as any combs are at least 75 per cent, capped to remove them and extract the honey. The empty combs can be placed on the hives to be again filled.

Preventing Robbing. In the event, of the honey flow suddenly ceasing through climatic reasons there will be a tendency for the stronger colonies to attempt to rob the weaker

ones. Robbing is much easier to prevent than to stop once it is started. As soon as the honey flow is over the bees may be noticed attempting to secure any honey or other sweet substances that are available. At such times every care must be taken to avoid leaving the hives open any longer than is absolutely necessary, and as little manipulations as possible should be extercised. Where the entrances have been enlarged, such as may be made by raising the hives on blocks to give more ventila- * tion, these should be closed down to the ordinary entrance depth as soon as the honey flow ceases. Likewise any other entrances given (such as racking back the supers to allow of bees entering between the supers) should be closed. By taking the foregoing precautions in sufficient time the danger of robbing will be greatly reduced. Queen Raising.

It is very important that a supply of young queens should be raised to requeen all hives with queens over one year old, and where it is intended to requeen the apiary after the main flow, preparations should be taken to raise the queens as soon; as possible. It is not advisable to leave it till too late, as there then is a grave danger of setting up robbing in the apiary. This month’s honey recipes:— Salad Dressing.

Try honey in salad dressings, and you will never use sugar again. Make half a teacupful of cream hot in a double boiler. Meanwhile beat the yolks of two eggs, and add them, together with one tablespoonful of honey, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, one tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful each of made mustard and salt and a shake of pepper to the cream. Add these very slowly beating the mixture all the time. Put it into a double boiler and cook' very gently up r til it thickens. This is excellent for fruits as well as vegetable salad. Honey Iced Chocolate. Ingredients: Two teaspoonsful cocoa, 1 cup milk, 3 tablespoons honey. Method: Let the milk come to a boil. Mix cocoa and honey, remove heated milk from fire, add cocoa and honey mixture and a good pinch of salt. Stir well. Pour this mixture into iced-tea glass filled with cracked ice. Above amount should provide two servings. Top with whipped cream slightly sweetened with honey.

RABBITS IN TARANAKI MENACE ON THE INCREASE. NEED FOR CONCERTED ACTION. (By “Tainui.”) The discussion at the Whangamomona County Council meeting last week regarding the rabbit menace, and the way in which rabbits appear to be insidiously making their way into various parts of Taranaki from known infested areas, should provide all who are interested in the welfare of Taranaki with plenty of room for thought,. There are, of course, some who hold that the soil and climatic conditions of Taranaki are not conducive to the spread of the rabbit, which likes io burrow, but unfortunately pests have a habit of accommodating themselves to circumstances, and there is plenty of rough cover that can provide the rabbits with adequate shelter in which to multiply their species and spread. . How they can multiply is shown by the fact that rabbits have been captured in the Whangamomona district with as many as 13 youngsters. Recognising the danger of the spread of rabbits from the infested areas of the north, and the difficulty of controlling them if they once got a hold in the broken bush country, the ratepayers of the Whangamomona district formed themselves into a rabbit board and rated themselves to provide funds to control the pest. They employed a rabbiter for some years, and though at times the number he killed each month might not appear to be sufficient to warrant the salary he received, it had to* be remembered that in the early stages of an invasion every rabbit destroyed meant also destroying potential future millions. Of late the rabbit board has been paying for the rabbits destroyed on a royalty basis, and last quarter it paid for the record number of 139, a disquieting feature being that they were killed over a widespread area, showing that they were gradually establishing themselves in many parts of the country.

The ratepayers of the Whangamomona County are keen to do their share to keep their own area free of rabbits, and in doing that preventing their spread into the present clear areas of the rest of Taranaki, but they consider that the other areas should do something to assist them and not leave them to bear all the expense of acting as a buffer. There is also- a rabbit board in operation at the other end of Taranaki—the WaitotaraPatea region. Despite these precautions, however, rabbits appear to be making inroads all over Taranaki. They have been reported in the Egmont County, where they appear to be spreading in columns along the coast from Oeo to Pungarehu, and in the Hawera, Eltham and Stratford Counties. They have been seen in the Inglewood County, and recently in the Taranaki County at Bell Block, whilst it is also stated that they are in the backblocks of the Clifton County, adjacent to the Whangamomona County. Rabbit gates have been erected at the Mokau River and in Tangarakau Gorge in an. endeavour to prevent the pest coming in from the north, but the Okau Road now provides an inlet.. It certainly seems as though it is time concerted action was taken by the local authorities throughout Taranaki to check the menace before it is too late, and it is gratifying to note that as the result of representations by the Whangamomona Rabbit Board Taranaki local bodies are becoming aware of the danger and have set up a committee to go into the question of the best means of combating it. With sheep now so valuable every blade of grass is worth conserving, and if rabbits once get the hold On the country that they have in numerous other parts of New Zealand, where they overran the country, they will take serious toll. The Taranaki farmer has had experience of the fatal results of early neglect in connection with the spread of ragwort. He should. certainly not neglect the lesson learned therefrom in dealing with the rabbit menace. FARM NEWS AND NOTES. BURNING OF RIPE RAGWORT. (By “Tainui.”) , The question of amending the provisions of the Noxious "Weeds Act to make compulsory the burning of the ragwort when cut in the flowering stage had been carefully considered by the departments experts, states the Minister of Agriculture in replying to a remit from the Counties’ Association asking that the Act be amended to make the burning of .ragwort compulsory when cut in the flowering stage. It was considered, however, he added, that such a provision, if enacted, would be a most difficult one to enforce in many cases, and in other cases where it might be enforced it could not possibly be entirely effective because while much ragwort would undoubtedly be burnt, the very fact of drying it raking it and placing it in heaps would inevitably shake out much seed and thus defeat the object in view. That decision, the Minister said, had been arrived at after careful observation in the field. The death of the late Mr. W. Healy removes a personality associated with the farming community of ‘North Taranaki for nearly a third of a century. His passing will be regretted by all who knew him—a very large circle, too—and it will be long before he is forgotten by the present generation of farmers. He has left behind him a record of honest dealing and straightforwardness. He was ever ready to give others the benefit of his wide experience. Indeed, so much confidence had farmers in his judgment that in many cases they merely notified him that they wanted the necessary seed and fertiliser for so many acres of pasture, swedes or turnips as the case might be, and left the quantity, mixture or variety of seed to his discretion, and he never failed them. The remark of a coastal Maori farmer on being informed of Mr. Healy’s passing aptly sums up the farmer’s impression: “My word, I’m very sorry. That man, he everybody’s friend.” Harvesting ‘ operations are still proceeding apace, especially on the higher country inland, though on the coastal country also hay and ensilage-making is not yet completed. Farmers inland are making a good proportion of ensilage, though by no means neglecting haymaking. With the quantity of surplus pasture that is being conserved this year, together with the quantity of both hay and ensilage carried over from last season, as well as the areas of swedes that have been sown, there should be no dearth of feed for the coming winter, even though it should prove exceptionally severe and long. There seem to be splendid strikes of swedes throughout North Taranaki, and in most cases the crops that were sown early appear to be doing very well. In some cases, however, where the strike was not good the flies also took their toll, necessitating re-sowing. One farmer on Ngariki Road, Rahotu, several miles inland from the coast, completed drilling a patch of 28J acres a week before Christmas. He did not get a good strike, and as the flies also got busy he decided to re-sow the area, and the second drilling

was completed four weeks after the first. Providing the early part of the season is not too dry there is yet plenty of time for him to secure a good crop, which he certain deserves, as all told he has drilled in 471 b. of seed and 6J tons of manure, having drilled 4 tons of manure with the first lot of seed and 2| tons of superphosphate with the second lot. The crop will be followed with grass. A settler who had travelled 18 miles to report to the stock department officer in a Taranaki town that he had seen a rabbit on his property was very much astonished that the officer did not at once proceed to the farm, but instead sat down and filled in a notice ordering the farmer to take steps to destroy the rabbit. He pointed out to the farmer that it was his duty first to have destroyed the rabbit if possible, and then to have reported its presence in the district so that the stock department’s officials would be advised of the need for exercising all care in the matter. Though unfortunately the price ruling for dairy produce is not very encouraging, dairy farmers in common with sheep farmers and the rest 'of New Zealand should feel gratified at the splendid prices that are now ruling for wool. Not only is it a sign that there is an improvement in one branch of farming activity, but it also means considerable extra money coming into the Dominion, which must prove beneficial to all. Moreover, it must be remembered that the sheep farmer was hit by, the fall in prices at least two years before the dairy farmer suffered, so that it was only to be expected that he should benefit by the rise in values similarly ahead of the dairy farmer. The fact that he was benefitted should give the dairy farmer renewed hope to battle on. There is, however, another direct way in which the dairy farmer will benefit. Many sheep farmers who started milking a few cows, to secure some ready money While sheep were so unprofitable will now get rid of those cows as speedily as possible. These cows amount to a considerable number in the aggregate and should have a marked effect _on butterfat production—probably sufficient to do away with any necessity for a quota. In addition, a number of dairy farmers will seize the opportunity of turning over to sheep—that is provided they are able to obtain the sheep, which are in short supply. It is anticipated, however, that the high prices ruling-for wool will result in a considerable reduction in the number of sheep slaughtered this year. Coastal farmers who have been growing wheat during the past two or three seasons have evidently found the results satisfactory, despite occasionally striking unfavourable weather at harvest time, as they have again sown a considerable area this season. It is estimated that there’is over 100 acres under wheat on the Lower Kahui Road, Rahotu, Mr. A. Cameron having an area of over. 70 acres, and Mr. T. Willcox over 20 acres. The wheat appears to have done remarkably well. Mr. Cameron has already cut about 30 acres and it looks like yielding very well. The balance on his property, also that on the property of Mr. Willcox, is looking very well, and provided there are no heavy southerly winds before it is cut, satisfactory returns should be received When it is threshed. Messrs. K. A. and L. H. Andrews, Okato, again have a considerable area under wheat in the Puniho and Pungarehu districts. That is another instance of not having all one’s eggs in the one basket,'and is moreover utilising land that would otherwise be devoted to dairying.

“I wonder whether the fact that New Zealand milk for the manufacture of cheese is now being purchased on grade is being broadcast in Britain,” remarked a dairy farmer in conversation with the writer. “It does not appear to be by the prices ruling for our dairy produce,” he added. He remarked on the fact that prior to the introduction of the milk grading regulations there had been considerable concern regarding their operation by dairy farmers, some of whom recognised that with the human element there was a possibility that some suppliers might not get a “fair spin.” He thought, however, that the regulations were working well and that there was a genuine endeavour on the part of dairy farmer to supply milk of the highest quality. There was still at some factories a small percentage of second grade, due mainly, he thought, to feed flavour. He himself had been caught once or twice with feed flavour and had had his milk graded second. He, however, considered that the penalty of a half-penny for second grade was not sufficient. For instance, he pointed out that a supplier graded second for feed flavour might consider that it was more profitable to supply the extra milk as the result of that feed, even if he were paid just a little less for it, rather than take the herd off that particular feed and receive a slightly higher price for a greatly reduced milk supply, even if it graded first. He would therefore prefer to see the penalty made even greater. There was no doubt, however, that farmers were using their utmost endeavours to supply none but the highest quality raw material. That, too, is the opinion of the writer, who has visited a considerable number of farms and noted various improvements, especially with regard to the keeping and cooling of milk. FAT LAMBS OFF GORSE RESULTS IN NELSON. Considerable interest has been evinced recently in different parts of the Dominion regarding the remarks made by Dr. D. L. Freeman, Nelson, relative to the value of gorse pasturage, comments the Nelson Evening Mail. During an inspection of pastures recently, he said that gorce, if properly tended, would yield an appreciable volume of revenue annually and indefinitely; that on certain areas the revenue which would accrue from the judiciously-managed sheep flock on gorse pastures as compared with that from poor native pasturage might be double or perhaps treble. Having regard to this it will interest many pastoralists whose sheep graze the poorest native pastures which are insufficiently responsive to dressings of fertiliser that a Nelson farmer, who owns a small flock of sheep, reports that he has just sold a draft of fat lambs from the ewes off gorse. The draft which constituted approximately one-third of the total lamb flock was of the Shropshire-Romney type. Another district farmer subsequently advised that he had also recently sold 46 per cent, or nearly one-half of a small lamb flock which was enclosed on gorse with the ewes.