THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XII, Issue 3, 20 March 1916, Page 231

THE APIARY.

E. A. EARP,

Apiary Instructor.

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST ROBBING. ■ : - In most districts in the Dominion extracting will now be finished, and in cases where for any reason it has been delayed care must be taken not to excite robbing. Autumn robbing is exceedingly difficult to check' once it has started, more especially when fine weather is experienced. Do not leave combs lying about or expose vessels that have contained honey, as this certainly will cause trouble. Handle every hive with the utmost expedition, and keep all honey covered in carrying it from the hives to the extracting-room. The best article for this purpose is a wet cloth spread over the super. It is better -to carry a few bees into the honey-house, allowing them to escape at your leisure, than to spend unnecessary time- in brushing all the bees off each comb. However, for the removal of honey late in the season the beekeeper can hardly employ a better appliance than the Porter bee-escape. In using this care should be taken that the supers contain only honey, or ! the escape will fail in its purpose. If robbing has started it may be advisable to postpone outside apiary work until the colonies are -quiet. Possibly nothing is more disastrous to the beekeeper than bad cases of robbing, as it leaves the colonies weak for wintering. Contract all entrances, and place wet grass in front of the hives that are attacked. Keep wetting the grass at frequent intervals for several hours. This -is the < best way to. quell the disturbances.. ... • WINTER STORES. A careful examination of all hives in the apiary should be made, in order to note the amount of honey that each possesses. It is not a good policy to winter on less than 30 lb. honey, and in the warmer parts of the Dominion- it is advisable to ' increase this amount by half. • If a colony is short of that weight' and it is to be wintered successfully, feeding will have to be resorted to. Just in proportion to the amount, of honey that is left so will the colony thrive in the spring. If it is found necessary to feed, do so, and do not delay feeding until the cold weather sets in. Use only inside feeders, as outside feeding is dangerous. On no account feed honey unless you are sure that it comes from a clean : source. Using honey from a. diseased hive is a certain method of infecting the. apiary. For particulars in regard to feeding see the Department’s Bulletin No. 39, which may be

obtained free from, the Director of the Horticulture Division, Wellington. ' . ■ . FOUL-BROOD. In closing down the hives for winter the combs must be carefully examined for brood disease. Where disease is detected in a bad form do not waste time in treating, but destroy the colony. In mild cases. remove the diseased. combs and insert either sheets of foundation or drawn-out combs the latter for preference. Make a note of the infected stocks for treatment in the spring, when fine. weather will enable the work to be carried out successfully. Do not tinker with diseased hives in the off season, as the trouble is more likely to spread among the clean ones by robbers. ’ ' UNITING COLONIES. On making his final rounds the beekeeper will often find stocks that are too weak to survive the winter or. that are queenless. In either case it is advisable to unite with a stronger colony to save the bees. A simple method is to " put on top of the stronger the queenless or weak colony, placing a sheet of newspaper between the two supers. In the course of a few days the bees will gnaw their way through and unite. The surplus combs can then be removed and extracted, or retained for spring feeding if required. It is a good plan to destroy the queen in the weak hive prior to uniting. CARE OF UTENSILS. When extracting is finished for the year care should be taken that all traces of honey are removed from the extractor, tanks, &c. Wash carefully with boiling water, and dry ’ thoroughly. Cleanliness should be observed as a very important matter where articles of food are concerned. Cover everything carefully from dust which may accumulate during the winter months. Loose washing covers of close texture are the. best for the purpose. . Give a good coating of oil to any metal parts likely to rust: this will save a lot of trouble the following season. CARE OF HIVES. .• Where necessary the hives should be given a good coating of paint. ' Stop up all cracks and replace faulty hives with sound ones. Pay special attention to roofs, as it is Very important that the, bees should come through the winter dry. It may be necessary to cover .the roofs with some waterproof material... If zinc is found too expensive, a cheap substitute, such as ruberoid,

may be used. Clean all bottom boards by scraping. The simplest plan is to provide a spare bottom board. Lift the hive on to the spare one, scrape the old ' board, and replace the hive. . Contract entrances against robber bees and mice, the latter pest being one for which apiarists must watch during the bees’ dormant season. If the above precautions are followed the colonies will be ready for winter.

HONEY FOR TROOPS AT THE FRONT.

—T. W. Kirk,

The Hon. Colonel Rhodes has written his manager, Mr. Beadel, suggesting that a scheme might be formulated and donations of honey sent to our boys at the front. In order to give the scheme a start he has sent a donation 'of £loo' for the purpose of purchasing honey. It is suggested that i lb. tins are the most suitable and convenient for transport, as the honey has to travel by mules. I would like to see all our beekeepers, large and small, come forward- with gifts of honey according to their means. They can send their honey in large tins to the receiving depot, where it could be retinned and packed in suitable size. Mr. McCartney, chairman of the Tai Tapu Patriotic Committee, Tai Tapu, will be pleased to receive all donations. Probably one of the beekeepers’ associations of the North Island will also take up this

matter.-

Director of the Horticulture Division.