THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 46, Issue 3, 20 March 1933, Page 178

THE APIARY.

Autumn Management.

In case all surplus honey has not been removed by the time these notes appear beekeepers would be well advised to use bee-escapes, as indicated in last month’s notes. There is a grave risk of starting robbing unless extreme care is exercised in removing honey so late in the season'. However, the use of bee-escapes will, with ordinary care, enable his operations to be completed in comfort and without the interference of robber bees, which are particularly active at the close of the flow.

In some districts after the autumn rains a small flow of honey may be experienced, sufficient to meet the daily needs of the colony, with some to store for winter food. It is well, however, to make sure that the colonies have a sufficient supply of honey on hand to winter well : thus an estimate of stores should be made when the remainder of the surplus is taken. In most districts it is good practice to leave not less than

40 lb. of honey -for each colony's requirements, while in some districts 60 lb. will be a safer estimate. It must be remembered that it is in autumn the beekeeper is laying the foundation for the next season’s crop ; therefore he should concentrate in wintering his bees well. The three main factors to be observed are strong colonies, abundance of stores, and queen-right hives.

As the season advances supers not fully occupied by the bees should be removed and stored away.

Uniting Colonies.

As advised last month, all weak and queenless hives should be united. The golden rule of modern beekeeping is to keep all colonies strong, and this applies specially to the autumn months, when weak colonies are in danger of being robbed. If by any chance late swarming and weak colonies from defective queens have to be dealt with the procedure recommended is as follows : After taking the roof and mat from a queen-right hive, place a sheet of newspaper immediately over the top of the frames and carefully place the queenless colony on top. Little smoke will be required if the colony is gently handled. Weak colonies should be similarly treated. There is no need to remove one of the queens, as the bees will decide which they will keep.

Robbing.

Robbing is the result of carelessness, and once it has started is exceedingly hard to check. Do not expose honey, sugar syrup, or anything that the bees can rob. See that the honey-house is bee-proof, and that all combs and vessels containing honey are removed to a place of safety. Contract all hive entrances, and especially guard against leaving hives open in a way that they can be attacked by robbers. All operations must be carried out quickly. If robbing has started it is better to postpone all outside work until the apiary is quiet again than to risk extending the trouble by opening the hives. Should a colony be attacked, contract the entrance and pile wet grass in front of the hive. This will usually cure mild cases of robbing, but where a colony has been overpowered by the robbers it should be closed altogether. Care of Extracting-combs.

If proper care is not to be exercised in storing the extracting-combs when removed to the honey-house, it is far better that they should be stored in the hives. If the latter plan is adopted the mats must be placed on top of the brood-chamber, and the supers tiered above the mats. Unless the apiary is well sheltered, however, the hives must be weighted, as the winter gales will easily overset them when only empty combs are stored inside. It is far better to remove the combs if it can possibly be done, and thereby obviate the labour of lifting the supers if it becomes necessary to examine the brood-chamber. But in this case the combs must be properly housed to secure them from destruction by mice and wax moths. It is not uncommon to find tiers of extracting-combs destroyed as the result of carelessness. Mice are especially destructive, and the damage they will do in a short , period is such as to render the greatest trouble worth while in preventing them from gaining access to the combs. The price of foundation now ruling is making it far more costly . to produce combs, and if large numbers have to be annually produced the renewals become a severe tax on the season’s profits.

During extracting many combs may become damaged, but the damage can be. repaired by the bees when the combs are returned to the hives. As a rule, however, mice destroy the combs beyond repair, and no effort on the part of the bees can restore them to their original form. It is during the working-season that the beekeeper realizes the value of combs

in securing a crop. A shortage of combs during the flow will often prevent the bees being kept in working-trim, and the production of honey will be greatly restricted. Mice destroy the combs to gain access to the pollen, and render them foul and offensive to the bees.

In the absence of a mouse-proof room the combs can be stacked in supers tiered one above another. Be sure that there are no holes or cracks in the supers through which the mice can obtain an entrance. Place a queen-excluder at the bottom of the tier and. another on the.top. Queenexcluders, if used as described, are a complete success in preventing mice from destroying the combs during the off-season. Should the wax moth be detected the combs must be fumigated. Bisulphide of carbon is generally used for destroying insect-life, but it should be used with great caution, as it is highly inflammable. It is far better when storing the combs at the end of the season, to place a few moth-balls among them. This will be sufficient to prevent the attack of the moths.

Care of Equipment.

. As soon as the honey has been disposed of, all utensils used in handling the crop should be thoroughly cleaned. Remove all traces of honey from the extractor, tanks, uncapping-knives, &c. A Wash carefully with boiling water, and dry thoroughly to prevent rusting. ' The high cost of equipment should impel the beekeeper to take great care in storing his plant during the off-season. It is advantageous to use loose washing-covers of close texture to cover the tanks and extractor. The covers will help to keep the utensils free from dust that is likely to accumulate during the winter. See that all metal parts likely to rust are given a good coating of oil. Tn season or out of season the watchword of the beekeeper in the extracting-house should be cleanliness.

— E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary -Instructor, Wellington.