THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 20 May 1925, Page 347

THE APIARY.

WINTER PRECAUTIONS, Before the cold weather sets ia every hive should be . examined in ■order to make sure that the frames are . completely covered with sufficient dry well-fitting mats to keep the bees protected. Wherever a damp or mouldy mat is discovered it should be replaced with a. dry one, and the roof examined and repaired. No draughts should be allowed around the frames. Mats made of corn-sacks cut to . the exact size of a zinc queen-excluder answer all requirements of warmth. Be sure they are placed in their exact position. If placed crookedly the edges are apt to be pushed out between the hive-body and the roof, and will in time absorb enough moisture to make them damp and unwholesome. - ■ Once more the time approaches when the necessity for shelter should impress itself on the beekeeper. It is most essential that the bees be protected from cold winds during the winter. Should no permanent shelter be available, something temporary should be erected — the bees are expected to prove in normal condition in the spring. Manuka scrub is excellent for making a temporary wind-break. Weeds and grass should be kept down. A good clearing round the hives in autumn will suffice until, spring, and will add materially to the comfort of the bees and the well-being of the hives. Not only should the entrances be cleared, but the ground all round the hives similarly , treated, and the weeds raked up and destroyed. CARE OF HIVES. ' ' At no other season is the welfare of the hives of such importance as during the next few months. Every hive should be raised , from

the ground to the height of one brick, and if the situation is damp or low-lying it is a good plan to raise the hives still more. This will tend to keep them free from slaters (wood-lice) and other insects, and will afford less harbour for mice, as well as ensuring that the hives a free current of air beneath the bottom-boards and are thus more likely to keep dry. Never rest the bottom - boards on the ground, or they will rot in a very short time and become mouldy and evil-smelling. Before bad weather sets in it is a good plan to give a coat of paint wherever it is needed, at the same time stopping up all . cracks in the supers. Cracks afford ventilation during the summer months, but they are hardly to be advocated on that account, because the beekeeper will usually find that towards the end of the honey-flow the bees will use much valuable time in gathering propolis to paste up the cracks in view of the approach of winter. The hives should be slightly canted forward, so that any rain which falls on them will drain off the alighting-board. Apart from disease, there is no worse feature. in an apiary than the presence of leaky hive-covers. A roof which allows moisture to trickle through is a constant menace to the colony it appears to shelter. Not only will the mats immediately beneath it become sodden and mouldy, but the cluster of bees in the hive stands in danger of extermination when frost sets in. There will then be pollution unspeakable on the bottom-board, where the intruding moisture mixing with dead bees and waste • pollen forms a rotten fermenting mass, ■with a stench which the order-loving bees must find more abnoxious than does their owner. There is no excuse for leaky covers. In the autumn the apiarist should examine them for any doubtful spots, and should either cover them- with zinc, 'ruberoid,' or some other waterproof material. If economy must be practised he may cover with cheesecloth, applying to the roof first a coat of paint, then the cheesecloth, and then another coat of paint. This makes an effective waterproofing, and one which anybody can apply. PLANS FOR NEXT SEASON. During the off season is the best time to make plans for the following season. The beekeeper should decide what increase he desires to make, and should prepare accordingly. Making up hives and frames is exasperating work if left till the bees are crying out for room, and it should be finished long before the actual time for increasing one's stock arrives. The beekeeper should also face the question of providing himself with stocks of foundation, and make arrangements for the treatment of his surplus wax by some neighbouring maker of foundation. He should also decide on which market to place his crop, and lay his plans accordingly. It is advisable, too, that he consider the theoretical side of his occupation, and, while the bees are in a dormant condition, study the best methods of improving his stocks. Neither weather conditions, locality, nor any other factor will influence the honey crop so much as strong colonies of bees, and the apiarist should endeavour, while he has the time, to ensure that these shall be in existence during the coming summer. . •

'PROFITABLE HONEY PLANTS. • A' new book entitled ” Profitable Honey Plants of Australasia,” by -Tarlton Rayment, has been published by Messrs. Whitcombe and Tombs. This volume is very welcome, -providing a useful guide to the many valuable nectar-secreting exotic and indigenous plants and weeds of Australia and New Zealand. The author is well known as a writer on.apicultural matters, and his previous book, “ Money in Bees,” gave him a leading place among the authorities on the subject in Australia; The opening chapters of ” Profitable Honey Plants,” dealing with flower-structure, especially as they relate to the secretion of nectar, at once impress the reader with the fact that Mr. Rayment has closely studied the subject with particular reference to the bee as an economic factor in the fertilization of flowers. While the author does not profess to give a complete list of the honey plants of New Zealand, those that are mentioned — placed as they are in alphabetical order and designated by their common names — should prove a valuable source of reference to our beekeepers. . ,.h THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE. A reminder may be given that the National Beekeepers’ Association meets in conference at Greymouth on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Tunc. It is expected that beekeepers from all parts of the Dominion will attend. Lectures and demonstrations by leading commercial beekeepers will be given. Apart from'the business of the conference, the officers of the local branch are arranging an excursion to view some of the scenic features of Westland.

-E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary Instructor.