THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VII, Issue 1, 15 July 1913, Page 68

THE APIARY.

F. A. Jacobsen.

Hives. There are two descriptions of hives that are popular in New Zealand viz., the ten-framed and the twelve-framed Langstroth. Their relative values depend upon the district in which they are used. The • ten-framed hive is used extensively in the South Island and in parts of the North, but the twelve-framed is rapidly coming into more general use. Its particular advantage is that it gives the queen two extra combs in which to lay eggs, and when a. queen-excluder is used this large brood-chamber does not cramp her operations to the same extent as a ten-framed one does. Again, the three supers necessary for manipulating hives would contain thirty-six frames, which is six frames more than three tenframed supers would contain. This allows extra storage room, and means less handling of supers for the same amount of honey. The twelve-framed hive is very popular in the Wairarapa and Taranaki districts, where there is a goodly number of successful beekeepers. From observations made it appears to me that the larger hive isthe more advantageous and economical' to use in localities where there is a wealth of clover and nectar-yielding flora. . A large super requires a little less attention than a small one, and when a considerable number of hives has to be attended to the saving is great.

Labour-saving Devices. • ; A Wiring-board. - There are many little labour-saving devices which can be used in the apiary. For instance, a quick method of wiring frames will in the long-run save an immense amount of both labour and time.. A good plan is as - follows : Get a well-seasoned board, 12 in. by 1 in. by '6 ft., and at one end fix your reel of wire so that it will revolvetowards the other , end. Place a zigzag line of staples, through which the wire is threaded, and at the other end nail a .piece of | in. timber flat into the wiring-board, this to be of the same dimensions as the inside of a standard frame. The empty frame isnow placed over this board and the wire inserted through the two bottom holes and brought back through the two top ones. The

frame is thus held rigid, and a tack may be driven into the end of the frame, around which the loose end of the wire is coiled. The wire is now drawn taut, and the running end coiled round the tack and cut, and the tack driven home. This system is one of several that expedite the wiring of frames and at the same time save a waste of wire which occurs with some of the older systems.

A Squeezer for in-lids.

A quick and reliable method of squeezing the lids on to small tins may be of advantage to some beekeepers who tin their honey. Select a rigid post or something similar in the honey-

house, to which the arrangement could be attached. The illustration shows how simple and yet effective this machine is, with its leverhandle, which can be shifted to suit the size of the tin, as the holes indicate. Cramping Hives. A most useful and one might say indispensable arrangement to the average beekeeper is the hive-cramp. It facilitates the work of nailing supers together while in a rigid position, and a great deal more work, which will be better done, can be accomplished in x a given time. I cannot speak too highly of the advantage of a

hive-cramp, and every beekeeper who is engaged to any extent m the business should have one.

Notes. Do not examine your colonies in cold weather or break up the cluster during winter. Contract all entrances during the winter months, in order to conserve , the heat in the interior. Now or a little later is the time to shift your hives to any new position. The bees would take a fresh location when they commenced to fly in the spring.