THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXII, Issue 1, 20 January 1926, Page 56

THE APIARY.

TESTING HONEY FOR RIPENESS.

Before tinning off the honey the beekeeper should make certain it is ripe. Fermentation is sometimes quite, a serious problem to the producer, and yearly large quantities of honey which were thought to be well ripened at extracting-time ferment, more especially when left over till the weather becomes warm. The greater part of the honey produced in New Zealand is exported, and a matter of first importance is its condition on arrival at the overseas market. Usually beekeepers experience little- difficulty with low-specific-gravity honeys if care is exercised and only well-sealed combs are extracted from. However, to ensure that the honey is up to standard it should be tested with a hydrometer before being run into the tins.

When making the test . the contents of the tank should be gently paddled, in order that the honey may be of the same consistency throughout. This operation is of importance, as there is always a risk of variation of the specific gravity of the honey at the bottom and top of the tank. If on testing with a Twaddel’s No. 4 hydrometer the instrument does not sink below 84 a wellripened honey is indicated. This is equal to a specific gravity of 1-42, the test being made at a temperature of 6o° F. As the temperature of honey in the summer rarely sinks so low, the test may be taken at 70° or 80° by adding one point to the hydro-meter-reading for each ten degrees of heat over 60 °. Thus, if the hydrometer sinks to 82 at a temperature of 80°, - it would register 83 if taken at 70°, and 84 if taken at 6o°. To arrive at the specific gravity multiply the hydrometer-reading by 0-005. Thus 84 X 0-005 — 0-420 ; add 1 for the specific gravity of water, and it will equal 1-420. This method is only reliable up to a temperature of 90°. ■ ’

TESTING THICK HONEY.

Sometimes the honey is so dense that the hydrometer will; not sink. When such is the case, take equal parts by volume (not weight) of honey and water, mix thoroughly, test with a No. 2 Twaddel’s hydrometer, and then multiply the . result by 2. This will give the same result as if taken with a No. 4 instrument by the direct method. Thus, if the No. 2 instrument sinks into the honey and water to 42, this multiplied by 2 = 84. Perhaps the quickest and simplest method for testing thick honey is to have a deep glass or beaker on which is a mark, to contain about 4 oz. of water. Fill up to the mark with water, then pour it into another vessel; now fill up to the mark with liquid honey, add the water previously measured, and mix thoroughly; then place in it the No. 2 hydrometer, note the number to which it sinks, and multiply by 10 ; place the decimal point before the result, and add 1. Thus, if it registers 43, 43 X 10 = 430 ; place the decimal point before the 430 = 0-430 ; to this add 1, which is the specific gravity of water, and the result will be 1-430.

SUPERSEDING QUEENS.

During ' the progress of the honey- it is wise not to overlook the work proceeding in the brood-chamber. All old and failing queens should be superseded, and queenless hives supplied with young queens. To a large extent weather conditions play an important part in the mating of the queens, and if by any chance they are not able to take a wedding flight they will develop into drone layers. As fertilization of the queen takes place in the air, good weather must prevail or the drones will not fly. Hence the necessity of overhauling the hives to note their condition. It is highly important that all colonies should go into winter quarters headed by a vigorous mother. Too many colonies are lost by queens failing in the spring months. The activities of the queen should be such as to meet abnormal wastage, and broodrearing should proceed, or spring dwindling will assuredly follow. A good queen will keep her brood-nest compact, and fill the combs

solid with brood from end bar to end bar, whereas failing queens scatter the brood, laying a patch of eggs here and there. When such queens are detected immediate attention should be paid to superseding them. If, as advised previously, nucleus colonies were formed for the . purpose of carrying out queen-rearing during the season, the surplus queens can be utilized for doing the work. If no queens are on hand an order should be sent immediately to a recognized queen-breeder for an Italian queen, so that when introduced she may proceed with egg-laying before the winter weather approaches.

APIARY REGISTER.

There is no gainsaying the advantages to be derived from making a complete record of the individual hives in the apiary. Records thus kept enable the beekeeper to work to a system, and tend to improve apiary management. It is well-nigh impossible to conduct an apiary on commercial lines unless the beekeeper takes notes at each examination. Working in the dark with respect to the age of queens, surplus, &c., is poor policy. In the absence of books the hive-cover may be used for writing notes on. A book may be mislaid, but records made inside the cover are more in the nature of a permanent handy reference. If advisable, in the beekeeper’s spare time these rough notes may be copied into a complete record-book.

TREATMENT FOR FOUL-BROOD.

No effort should be spared to treat all colonies known to be affected with foul-brood. If the work is delayed the colonies will not build up to sufficient strength to winter safely. Under no circumstances should the work be put off. Treat all infected stocks while the flow is on, and endeavour to winter none but clean colonies. There is a great risk of spreading the disease to clean colonies in the off season, as robbing is . more apt to break out. “ Keep your bees clean ” should be the maxim of every beekeeper. Where any doubt exists as to the complete absence of disease in the apiary an excellent plan is to mark all combs with the number of the hives to which they belong, so that when extracted they may be returned to the colony from which they were taken. If this plan is followed, even if any of the hives are diseased, the risk of spreading infection by means of wet combs is considerably reduced.

—E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary Instructor.