THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5, 20 November 1928, Page 342

THE APIARY.

ARTIFICIAL INCREASE.

Many methods are in vogue relative to what is commonly termed “ increase.” The word “ increase ” in this case means adding to the number of colonies. Strong stocks are built up by early feeding, and then are divided, the portion containing the old queen being removed to a new location. As nearly as possible an equal part of brood and stores is given to each, and the remaining space is filled with frames of foundation. Early queens must be reared and introduced to the half that is queenless, or, failing this, a ripe cell should be inserted. For rapid increase this method is perhaps the best known in bee-culture, and is highly recommended. Always remember a good spring is necessary to ensure the young queens mating in time. If a large number of colonies are required those already divided may be further fed with sugar syrup or sealed stores, until

sufficient strength has been gained for a second division. Just here judgment is required as to whether some stocks are too weak for a second division, for only the very strong should be so broken down.

QUEEN-REARING.

During the summer months every - attention should be paid to raising a stock .of young queens to replace old and failing ones. Buying new queens each successive season is too expensive, and with, a little attention and care good queens can be raised by the beekeeper in his own yard. An apiary should be requeened each year, and queens should not be tolerated for more than two’ seasons at the most.. In the long-run it is the queens that tell in the production of big crops, and unless the beekeeper takes the trouble to requeen in the summer only a small percentage of the stocks will yield a surplus. Perhaps no branch of apiculture receives less attention than the production of young queens ; and yet if the beekeepers who get the big crops of honey are asked what counts most in their production the reply is invariably “ young queens.” In New Zealand it has been proved over and over again that the best period for raising queens is from November to February. During these months everything is favourable for the operation, as the hives are at their highest state of prosperity, and under normal ■conditions the workers and drones are at their best.

It is best to breed only from pure Italian queens whose correct mating has been assured. Novices can judge the mating by noting the uniformity of the hatching brood as regards colour. Should the young worker bees show diversity of colour — being yellowbanded and others quite blackthe mating has not been correct. The question of mating is always a difficult one, as queens mate •on the wing, and therefore it’ is impossible for the apiarist to select the sires. But as purebred queens, even though mismated, throw pure drones, it only takes a comparatively short time to eliminate ■crossbred drones from an apiary. There is, however, still the chance ■of contamination from other drones in the' neighbourhood.

To sum up the matter: By persistently breeding from the best it . is possible to achieve wonderful results, ■ while under careless management, or, as is often the case, no management at all, bees .are sure to deteriorate.

Methods of queen-rearing are legion, but may be roughly divided into two classes—namely, those which use the naturally built queencells, and those which necessitate the provision of artificial queencups into which young larvae are transferred. The former method is most suitable for beginners, . or for use early in the season, as it minimizes the risk of chill to young larvae ;* while the second method is used largely by beekeepers who want to rear queens in greater numbers.

The Alley System.— A simple, efficient, and easy method for raising queen-cells may be found in the Alley plan. It must be understood, however, that when raising queen-cells they require to be large and well-shaped, and that any cells not up to size should be cut out. Procure a frame of young larvae from the breedinghive, and with a sharp knife proceed to cut every second row of ■cells down to the midrib of the foundation. Next kill two out of

every ; three larvae, and cut the comb into strips about r in. wide the full length of the frame. These strips are fastened with melted wax to cell-bars that hang about midway in a standard frame. The cells are pared down to about fin. in height, which gives the bees room to construct a solid base for the queen-cell. The frame or frames containing these bars, with the strips attached, may now be put into the.hive previously prepared for their reception. The Miller Method. — The Miller method of raising queen-cells will be especially useful to the novice or to the beekeeper wishing a few cellsat one time. It is simple, easy, and under normal conditions never fails. No extra appliances are needed as described in the systems, previously mentioned. Perhaps no better outline of the Miller system can be given than the original one which appeared in the American Bee Journal for August, 1912., as follows : “ Into an empty broodframe, at a distance of 2 in. to gin. from each end, fasten a starter of foundation about 2 in. wide at the top, and coming , down to a point within an inch or two of the bottom bar. Put in the hive containing; your best queen. To avoid having it Riled with drone-comb, takeout of the hive, either for a few days or permanently, all but twoframes of brood, and put your empty frame between these two. In a week or so you will find this frame half-filled with beautiful virgin, comb, such as bees delight to use for queen-cells. It will contain young brood with an outer margin of eggs. Trim away with a sharpknife all the outer margin of comb containing eggs, perhaps a few eggs next to the youngest brood. This you will see is very simple. Any beekeeper can do it the first time of trying, and it is all that is necessary to take the place of preparing artificial cells. ' Now put this. ‘ queen-cell stuff,’ if I may so call the' prepared frame, into the middle of a very strong colony from which the queen has been removed. The bees will do the rest, and you will have as good cells as you can possibly have with any kind of artificial cells. You may think that the bees, will start wild cells’.on their own comb. They won’t. At least,, they never-do to amount to anything, and, of course, you needn’t use those. The soft, new comb, with abundant room at the edge for cells,, is so much more to their taste that it has a practical monopoly of all cells started. In about ten days the sealed cells are ready to be cut out and used wherever desired.” , . , -

NUCLEUS HIVES.

In order to facilitate the work of queen-rearing a few nucleus coloniesshould be run in conjunction with every apiary. In these small coloniesqueens can be raised and cared for until they are mated, and laying. It is an easy matter, once the queens are laying, to transfer them to thelarger hives in the apiary. The best style of nucleus hive to adopt is the four-frame one. Thissize will give the young queen a chance to lay once she is mated, and will, besides, hold sufficient bees to care for relays of queen-cells throughout the season. To form a nucleus colony take one frame of wellcapped brood with adhering bees, and one frame containing honey and pollen, the remaining space being filled with an empty comb and feeder. If the number of bees on the comb is not sufficient to form a good cluster, one or two frames of young bees may be shaken into thenucleus, this being done to replace the field-bees which return to the

old hive. Place the frame of brood in the middle of the hive and close the entrance until the following day, when the bees may be released. In the course of a day or two the small colony will settle down, and will then be ready to receive the first queen-cell. Nuclei thus formed ■ should be placed in a shady position until the bees are released. It is a good plan to set them a fair distance apart from each other and away from the main part of the apiary.

-E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary Instructor, Wellington