THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 43, Issue 2, 20 August 1931, Page 142

THE APIARY.

Starting Beekeeping : Hints for Beginners.

The spring is the best season of the year for starting beekeeping, especially for the beginner who is unacquainted with the practical care of bees.. The time is therefore at hand when arrangements should be made for the purchase of bees and equipment. If the bees are obtainable locally the prospective beekeeper can make arrangements for the purchase of established colonies, or he can wait until swarming-time when swarms are available. Perhaps the most satisfactory way is to purchase some established colonies from a neighbouring beekeeper and move them home before too much brood is present in the hives. No harm will come to bees moved in the colder months, the provision for screening not being so essential as when moved during the summer months. Screening the hives top and bottom is not necessary if the bees are moved only a short distance, and if'the precaution is taken of tacking a piece of wire gauze across the front entrance this will prevent suffocation and make for safe handling in transit. The beginner will be well advised to procure only strong healthy colonies from a reliable beekeeper who can furnish a guarantee that the bees are healthy. Upon this depends much of his future success. The keystone to this condition is the permit issued by an Apiary Inspector under the Apiaries Act. The first question to be asked by the beginner of the seller is, “ Have you the necessary permit to sell ? ” If this is forthcoming he may rest assured that he has a reasonable chance of getting clean bees, apart from any of the other conditions which go to make a good hive. Although the purchase of first-class colonies is probably the most expensive way to commence beekeeping, they have the advantage that they are more easily kept in order than colonies which have been neglected and which require to have corrected the faults of the previous owner who has not learned to make his beekeeping profitable. Since it cannot be expected that the beginner should know what constitutes a good colony, he should only deal with a beekeeper of some standing. Everything with bees depends upon starting right. The possession of a colony in prime working-condition gives the beekeeper a . standard with which to compare other colonies, and enables him to avoid costly mistakes in their management. , If the cost of starting a small apiary has to be considered the beginner will find it an advantage to arrange for the purchase of as many first swarms as are wanted. These may be obtained in boxes and subsequently transferred to frame hives. Only early and prime swarms should be stipulated for, otherwise they will not build up in time for a crop. The hives when placed in their permanent position should be sheltered and face the north. Protection from cold winds is important, but the hives should not be placed under trees, as this has a tendency to make the bees vicious. The hives should be set on four bricks, allowing for a free circulation of air under the bottom-boards, which will rot if placed directly on the ground. The hives require to be level crosswise and have a slight cant to the front lengthwise. This prevents driving rains from lodging within the hives, which is likely to render the combs mouldy. A watertight roof and sound bottom-board are just as essential to the welfare of bees as are good floors and roofs in human dwellings. A certain amount of working equipment is necessary. However, if provision is made for a smoker, bee-veil, hive-tool, and a pair of gloves, such other articles can be added as they are needed. Until such time as the beginner has got used to the stings he will find it an advantage to wear gloves, although he should accustom himself to do without them. In

the course of time gloves become impregnated with poison, and this will irritate one's skin on hot days ; moreover, it is resented by the bees. There is much difference in the temper of bees, Blacks being much more troublesome to handle than Italians ; but with a little care in carrying out hive manipulations and the free use of smoke most colonies can be handled with very few stings. • .

At all times when handling bees the beginner should be prepared to complete the work and not allow himself to be driven from the hives. “ The free use of smoke ” does not mean that the bees should receive an overdose, as this may demoralize them and render them liable to attack from other colonies. Moreover, it does not bring them under control, but tends to aggravate them. It has the further disadvantage that as the bees are driven from the combs they form in clusters on the bottoms of the frames and the sides of the hives, making it well nigh impossible to locate the queen and to carry out other essential work with any degree of success.

The best fuel for the smoker is dry, clean sacking, no other material being as good. Avoid oily waste and cotton materials, as the smoke from these articles makes the bees vicious. When starting to manipulate a hive puff a little smoke in at the entrance, and, having removed the roof, puff a little more on the frames as the mat is peeled off. This operation being complete, the frame nearest to the operator can be taken out, allowing of the prizing-apart of the remainder of the frames preparatory to making a complete examination of the whole. When handling bees all operations are best carried out in a gentle mariner, avoiding at all times quick movements and clumsy manipulations which may crush them. It must be remembered that nothing irritates bees more than the odour of the poison which fills the air when bees are crushed.

During the warm days of early spring beginners who are anxious to look inside their hives may do so. Once the early nectar-secreting flowers show up hives may be opened and the combs examined without injury to the bees. In the event of a more critical examination being made, care should be exercised not to expose combs containing brood. On removing combs from the centre of the colony its condition will be revealed. Usually in the upper corners of the comb will be found capped honey that is, if the colony is well supplied with stores. In the centre of the combs, providing the colony is queen-right, capped brood should be present, and adjoining the capped brood will usually be found cells of open brood ready to be sealed, larvae in various stages, and finally eggs.

Stores of pollen stacked in cells between the brood and honey will also be noticed. The pollen is easily distinguished, packed as it is in solid masses and of various colours, depending upon the flowers from which it is gathered. By observing the bees at the entrance to the hives, they may be seen entering with little balls of pollen attached to their legs, and a. close study of the colour and the flowers upon which the bees are working will enable the beginner to distinguish the various sources from which it is gathered. Pollen is used in large quantities during the breeding-season by the nurse bees in elaborating the food for the young. Fortunately there are few districts in New Zealand where supplies of pollen. are not available in the spring, as most of the early-flowering native trees yield sufficient for a colony’s needs. In the more settled districts gorse is valuable as a yielder of pollen, but it is of little value as a nectar plant.

By noting the size of the open cells the beginner will realize that some are larger than others. The larger cells usually found in the lower corners of the frame are drone cells, and it is in these that the drones are reared. In the warmer parts of the Dominion drones are already in evidence, and the writer observed quite a number in hives in the North Auckland

district last May. When the cells containing drone-brood are capped the cappings project, resembling the end of rifle bullets, being altogether different from the cappings over worker-brood.

E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary Instructor, Wellington.