APIARY NOTES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 242, 12 October 1937, Page 3

APIARY NOTES

WORK FOR OCTOBER (By H, F. Dodson, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture.) During this month, in warmer parts of the district, bee-keepers should watch carefully for signs of the bees preparing to swarm. If a good crop of honey is to be gathered, swarming must be prevented. The simplest and most straightforward method is to go through each comb carefully, every ten days, destroying any queen cells that may be found. When preparing to swarm, a

colony builds queen cells in order that there may be a new queen to continue laying after the old queen has left with the swarm. When these cells are all destroyed the bees do not abandon their project of swarming but frequently set to work to build more cells, thus giving the beekeeper an opportunity to combat the impulse. It should be remembered that cellbuilding is not the cause of swarming but only evidence of preparation to swarm and therefore merely to destroy cells without altering the conditions that are responsible, will be useless.

Crowded and over-heated hives are particularly conducive to swarniing, so the tendency may be largely overcome by giving plenty of ventilation and additional space in the hive, but

the surest way to minimise swarming is by constant re-queening. Hives that are headed by young and vigorous quens will usually make little or no attempt to swarm. Treatment of Foul Brood. Should it be .decided to treat any cases of foul brood, the McEvoy system is strongly recommended. Full directions are given in Bulletin No. 119 “American Foul Brood in Bees, and its Treatment,” which may be obtained free from any district office of the Department of Agriculture.

The benefit of this treatment may be annulled by careless handling or by allowing bees from neighbouring hives to rob the diseased combs during treatment. Treatment must be completed during a honey flow to avoid

robbing. If the colonies are badly infected and weak, it is much better to destroy them as advised last month. Wax Moth. Damage to combs resulting sometimes in heavy loss is caused every year by the ravages of the wax moth. The larvae have a preference for brood combs and when present in numbers .will destroy drawn combs very rapidly. These larvae are sometimes found in live colonies, though usually only m black hives. Strong Italian colonies will not tolerate this interloper and one of the best ways of holding the wax moth in check is by keeping only strong Italian colonies. Where weak colonies are found with wax moth present, the beekeeper

should remove as many of the larvae as possible and strengthen up the colony, replacing any black with Italian queens. In cases where the bees have died and the combs have become badly infected, it is best to close the hive tightly and- burn the contents. If the combs are only slightly affected, they may be treated with carbon bisulphide. Set the first super about an inch below the surface of the ground, packing the soil tightly round to block up every crevice. Supers containing combs to be treated may then be placed on top. By pasting a strip of paper round each super where they join, they may be rendered air-tight. ■For fumigating six full depth supers, two fluid ounces of carbon bi-sulphate will be required. These fumes are heavier than air, so the bi-sulphide

should be poured into a flat dish inside an empty super on top of the tier. An over-size mat should be used to ensure the lid fitting tightly. Carbon bi-sulphide is very inflammable and no naked lights should b« permitted anywhere near lest an explosion be caused. Care should alw> be taken not to inhale the fumes as they are poisonous. As these fumes do not destroy the eggs, a second treatment will be necessary in ten or twelve days’ time to destroy any larvae that may have hatched in the interior.