THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 54, Issue 1, 20 January 1937, Page 58

THE APIARY.

Extracting.

Extracting should now be in full swing in all districts. Where operations for any reason have been delayed care should be taken to see that the bees are not crowded, or they will commence to loaf, and the ultimate crop will be small. It is advisable to extract twice during the season, but where the beekeeper prefers to defer the work until the end of the flow a close watch should be kept so as to provide ample room which, however, can be done only where large numbers of spare combs are kept on hand. It is during the season when honey is coming in freely that the beekeeper realizes that his most valuable assets next to his bees is a good stock of extracting-combs. Every effort should be made to get at least twenty spare combs for each hive in the apiary, and with this number always on hand the bees are not likely to be hampered for room. In the absence of plenty of drawn-out combs the best plan is to keep the extractor going, and thus prevent the bees from blocking the broodcombs. This usually happens unless ample room is provided, and as a result the queens are prevented from laying to their utmost, and the colonies dwindle. At no time during the working-season should the work of the queen be hindered. Care should be taken at all times to see to this important item during the flow. . The honey is quite ready to' extract when the combs are a half to three-quarters capped, but great care should be taken not to extract unripe honey. Numerous instances have come under notice where the practice of taking unripe honey has meant a total loss to the beekeeper. Removing Honey from the Hive. The usual practice followed when the time for extracting is at hand is to remove the frames one by one. If excluders are used much time is saved in picking over the combs. As the combs are taken from the hive shake the bees in front of the hive, brush off the remaining bees, and place the combs in a super for removal to the honey-house. The combs should be covered with a cloth which has been previously placed in water containing a small proportion of carbolic acid. When the season is at its height very little trouble is experienced from robbers, but in case of a stoppage in the flow the foregoing precaution is necessary. At all times the . beekeeper should study his working equipment, and this is specially important when removing the honey. It will be found convenient to provide a good barrow or truck for carrying at least two full supers. Much time and labour will be saved in this way, and the tedious work of removing the honey will be facilitated. Uncapping. One of the most important processes in the work of extracting is that of uncapping. There are several kinds of knives for. the purpose on the market, but the stiff-bladed double-edged Bingham is usually first favourite. Two of these are necessary, and they must be placed in a pan of water which is kept boiling on a small lamp. Each knife as it becomes cold is returned to the boiling water, and the hot one takes its place. Any contrivance which is used for an uncapping-can should be provided with a crossbar through which to pass a screw or similar article, driven point downwards, to form a pivot on which to rest and revolve the combs. The comb should be placed with one end resting on the pivot and tilted slightly forward, in order to allow the cappings to fall away from the comb. Uncapping should commence at the bottom of the comb, and proceed with a sawing motion from side to side until the top of the comb is reached. The comb is then swung round on the pivot and the reverse side treated

in the same manner. Only a thin sheet of wax should be removed, but it must be done thoroughly, so that every cell is opened, and at the same time the top and bottom bars should be relieved of any burr-combs which adhere to them. Much in favour with progressive beekeepers is the steam-heated knife. This is a Bingham knife with a soldered copper plate so arranged that steam is forced through it from a rubber tube attached to the spout of a “ bronchitis ” kettle. An escape-tube is fitted to the opposite side, and the knife is kept at a very high temperature all the time uncapping is proceeding, thereby obviating the work and trouble of continually plunging the knives into boiling water. For uncapping heavy fully capped frames it has no equal, since an ordinary uncapping-knife becomes cold as a rule before half one side of a full comb has been uncapped. Strainers. It is not uncommon to find exposed for . sale honey with which proper care and attention have not been paid to straining at the time of extracting. Nothing checks the sale of extracted honey so much as a layer of waxparticles, dead bees, &c., and it is surprising how few beekeepers take the necessary trouble to see their product reaches the customer free from wax and other impurities. In no case should honey be run direct from the extractor into the containers : it should be properly strained. It is the attention paid to this necessary detail that aids in the sale of the crop, and when the honey is properly treated it readily commands a higher price. Fine-gauge wire strainers are usually adopted, but even these are not sufficient to remove the smaller wax particles. In order to ensure perfect condition the honey should be passed- through good fine cheesecloth before being run into the tank. Cheesecloth strainers are excellent, cheap, and are easily made, while at the same time they can be readily cleansed. They remove everything but the smallest particles of wax, which should be finally disposed of when the honey is skimmed. This latter process is an important one, and should always be carried out before the honey is put up in marketable form. Superseding Queens. All old and failing queens should be superseded. It is a good plan to utilize surplus queens carried over in the nucleus hives to do the work. When due attention is given to requeening the apiary there is less likelihood of queenless hives in the spring. Remove all old queens in the apiary, and especially guard against wintering any colonies not headed by a vigorous mother. Treatment of Foul-brood. As advised last month, 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 offseason, 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 foul-brood 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 will be considerably reduced. „ , „ ~ T

—E. A. Earp, Senior Apiary Instructor, Wellington.