IN THE APIARY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 423, 14 November 1930, Page 9

IN THE APIARY

BUILDING STRONGER COLONIES NOTES FOR NOVEMBER (By D. S. Robinson, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North.) Up to date the climatic conditions have been very much against the beekeeper for the present season, and very little nectar has been gathered by the bees this means that artificial feeding must still be continued by the majority of beekepers, as the resulting crop of honey largely depends on having the colonies numerically strong in bees. Supcring Up: Extra supers should not be added to the brood and honey, until the first super is well filled with bees, broad, and honey then when the first extra super is added, one or two combs of brood may be moved from the lower super and placed in lhe centre of the added super, while empty combs or preferably frames fitted with foundation are put to take the place of the combs removed from the brood super. Swarming should be prevented by the bee-keeper going through the hives every 10 days and destroying all queen cells. If the hive is known to have a very old queen, a simple way of re-quecning the hive is to wait till queen cells are built in readiness for swarming, then go through the hive and destroy the old queen, after which destroy all but the two largest queen cells, the first queen to hatch will destroy the second- coll, and will soon take on the work of the destroyed queen. It is quite unlikely that the hive thus treated will swarm this season. Ono of the methods of swarm control practised is to rc-qucen with young queens every year. Queen excluders, if placed over the first super, often tend to make bees swarm early, as they restrict the space available for the queen to lay in. Section Honey: The production of section honey is recommended for the beekeper with a small number of hives, and for those who do not possess an extractor. To produce good sections several factors must be taken into consideration. The hive must be strong in numbers of bees, lhe climate conditions good and also a good honey flow, above all swarming must be stopped. Black bees will produce better sections than Italians or Hybrids, as they cap the sections much neater and more evenly. The bees should occupy at least two supers, over these is placed the super with the prepared section, frames.

If an excluder is used it should not be put over the brood supers until tho bees have started to draw out the wax in the sections.

The best type of queen excluder to use is the all-wire Waldron’s Excluder, as this pattern offers the minimum amount of restriction to the worker bees. Bees usually work sections better /n half depth frames, than in full depth, and for this reason the half depth aro advised.

Having selected a good strong hive, the sections should be prepared by pouring water across the V cuts while the sections are in the flat, they will then be found to bend without breaking. If one observes the split end of a section in the flat, it will be seen that the section is cut on an angle, not square across. Tn putting these sections together, place the portion with the longer bottom edge in first then put in the wax. Next fasten down the other half of the split end. The wax should hang quite squarely to within about half an inch of the bottom of tho section and should not touch at the sides. The sections are next placed in the section frames on which has been tacked a tin separator; this is tacked, leaving a bee space top and bottom of frame. The frames should he pushed all to one side of the super and wedged in position, this should ensure even sections. It is a wise precaution to place a partly filled section or so in the centre frame, this will induce the bees to enter and work on the sections more readily. As soon as the sections are filled they should be removed to prevent them being travel stained by tho bees passing over them. When being taken from the frames, the sections must be handled with care to prevent breaking the cappings and so causing the honey to run or sweep. All propolis can next be scraped off and tho sections stored in a dry cupboard, free from flics, etc.

The very best sections should be saved to exhibit in the honey class of

the local winter shows. This is a Hass in which the amateur beekeeper stands as good a chance of obtaining a first prize as the commercial beekeeper. A strict watch must be kept for disease and any disease of foul brood, should be promptly treated. Try honey in salad dressing, it far exceeds sugar. Heat half a cup of cream in a double boiler. Meanwhile beat the yolks of two eggs and add them, together with a large table-spoon full of honey ami a tablespoonful of leny>n juice, one tablespoonful of butter, and a teaspoonful of mustard, add salt and a little pepper to the cream. Add all ingredients slowly beating the mixture thoroughly. Put in a double boiler and cook very gently until it thickens. This mixture is excellent for fruit as well as vegetable salad.