Hazards in Beekeeping

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 89, Issue 5, 15 November 1954, Page 517

Hazards in Beekeeping

ASSOCIATED with most industries are ASSOCIATED with most industries are /“A certain risks which cannot be entirely eliminated. These risks are known as occupational hazards and each year they are the cause of much material loss and numerous accidents to workers. Though the beekeeping industry is relatively small when compared with others, it also has its occupational hazards. There are no statistics which accurately show beekeepers' previous fire and accident record's, but it is known, especially in regard to honey house fires, that many beekeepers have sustained severe financial loss. In this article, E. Smellie, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Auckland, draws beekeepers' attention to the dangers of their work and indicates measures by which risks of physical accident and loss by fire wastage can be reduced.

THROUGHOUT the history of beeJ- keeping m New Zealand beekeepers have always been quick to assess and adopt the advantages of new’ power-driven machinery and appliances for honey producing, extracting, and conditioning. Though this utilisation of up-to-date plant has enabled individual beekeepers to produce and process greatly increased tonnages of honey, a complete establishment is very costly, and for the average commercial beekeeper the ideal plant is usually achieved in stages over a period of years. It is important, therefore, when extensions and other adjustments to plant are

made at various stages of development that the work undertaken accords with a master plan which determines the requisites for the design, arrangement, and equipment o f the finally completed honey house, _ When time and finance are limiting factors during the development process necessary extensions to premises and other essential modifications to honey house plant are sometimes undertaken at the dictates of urgency and expediency. In many instances adjustments made under these circumstances provide neither convenience nor the necessary safety precautions.. For this

reason these arrangements at the time are considered temporary but when, as frequently happens, they are allowed to become permanent, they have been responsible for some of the more serious honey house fires and physical injury sustained by beekeepers. When lack of finance is the only reason for the existence of expedients, they could perhaps be condoned if fire or other injury was likely to result only from the owner’s own negligence. However, when beekeepers consider the possibilities which may arise from the acts of unskilled or careless employees, or even the beekeeper’s own children, the real responsibility can be more easily recognised.

Fire Danger

The causes and consequences of fires in beekeepers’ honey houses in the past are sufficient justification for others taking every possible precaution which will prevent a fire, or its spread from the source before it becomes uncontrollable. Prevention and control are the cardinal rules.

Fire Prevention

Measures which embrace fire prevention are the use of fire resistant materials in the construction of buildings, spacing of buildings, and having all electrical, heating, and other mechanical equipment installed to comply with the electrical and wiring regulations or other authorities’ requirements. These measures are fundamental and should not present any beekeeper with particular difficulty.

Experience has shown that the more serious fires have occurred in the honey houses constructed entirely of wood. The rapidity and fierceness of these fires were always aggravated by the flammable materials in the houses and destruction was usually complete or such that considerable reconstruction was necessary.

This circumstance and the everpresent fire risk in honey houses

emphasises the wisdom of building with brick or concrete. When a concrete floor and fire-proof linings are provided on the inner walls the part of the building most vulnerable to fire is the roof. However, a good roof constructed with a permanent material is capable of withstanding and restraining a fire for a considerable period before it will break down. Roofing materials of the asphalt and rag-felt types should be avoided, as these readily ignite by exposure to heat and flying sparks. Once a roof is alight and the flames break through, the greatly increased ventilation which results makes the destruction of the building more rapid and the fire more difficult to control. In many honey houses steam boilers and other fuel heating mediums necessitate the use of chimneys or chimney stacks. Chimneys are a dangerous source of fires, but with sound initial construction and correct maintenance this danger can be reduced. To reduce the danger of sparks and down draughts chimneys should extend at least 3ft. above a flat roof and 2ft. above the ridge of a hip roof. It is also important for flooring and surrounding woodwork to be constructed so that they are not in contact at any point with chimneys or flues and hearths. Beeswax has always been an important by-product from the production

of honey and over the years the methods used for rendering and pressing it have not changed to any great extent. This phase of a beekeeper’s work has caused many serious honey house fires and for this reason a separate fire-proof building should be equipped and used solely for wax rendering. Where copper boilers are used for rendering beeswax they should be built in with brickwork to reduce the danger from spill-overs, which are not so likely to occur when the top surface surrounding the top of the boiler is dished downward toward the copper. A hearth sipping outward from a recessed fire-box is an added precaution, as any beeswax that spills or boils over is then not so likely to make contact with naked flames or hot ashes within the grate. Beekeepers who manufacture their own hive parts should ensure that sawdust and wood shavings are not allowed to accumulate on floors around the saw benches. These materials are a fire danger, as they can be ignited in a moment through carelessness or an inadvertent mishap. The fine sawdust which lodges on the ledges of the workshop or within the motor of the saw bench and other electrical equipment should also be removed. This dust is readily ignited and the smouldering heat that it develops can travel rapidly and cause a major fire should it reach other

highly flammable material. Most beekeepers carry stocks of petrol and other fuel spirits and oils and paints. The fire risk with these is always very great and it is a wise precaution to provide a separate building for their storage. The greatly increased use of electric motors and other electrical equipment in honey houses increases the hazard of fire, and every precaution is required with the installation of such equipment. Any deviation from the soundest principles governing the loading of circuits or equipment and ■essential electrical repairs is dangerous. All electrical installations have a limited capacity regulated by fuses designed to break the circuit immediately the maximum safe load has been exceeded. When fuses are used which permit the circuit to operate under overload the wiring, switches, and plugs can heat sufficiently to ignite their insulation materials and surroundings. Therefore, when new or additional plant is liable to. build the load to exceed the rated capacity •of the existing installation, the beekeeper should arrange for an alternative which will correctly cope with his new load requirements. Electrically heated comb-warming rooms, electric ovens, and electric ■cappings reducers have come into popular use, and because of the nature ■of their heating and control equipment, special care must be taken to ■ensure that these are correctly installed and operated. Heater elements that are not separated from the wall or ceiling linings with fire-proof baffles are a definite fire hazard. Because great reliance has to be placed on a thermostat control switch for the safe operation of these facilities, the efficiency of the switch is of paramount importance. Thermostat switches designed to ■control temperatures in liquids should not be used to control air temperatures, as they can have a differential plus or minus varying as much as 30 degrees F. and would therefore be unsafe if used in that way. Thermostat switches specially designed for air-

temperature control should be installed. Those having a range of adjustment between 70 to 190 degrees F. are most suitable for a hot room. Thermostats functioning within the range of accuracy required by beekeepers should operate with a suitable type of relay switch to ensure their safe and efficient operation. Where the thermostat is wired direct into the circuit continuous arcing of the full current across the delicately adjusted contact points tends to destroy their sensitivity and reliability to cut out. When this arcing becomes excessive the switch contact points can weld together, and once this happens the current supply to the heating units is continuous and uncontrolled. In the past switch failure of this kind has caused fire with resulting serious loss. However, when the operating current to the thermostat is reduced by a relay switch arcing trouble is eliminated and under normal working conditions the thermostat can be relied on to give long and satisfactory service. Fire Control Though every precaution may have been taken to prevent fires, the risk of fires starting is too great for beekeepers to ignore the necessity for having efficient fire-fighting equipment immediately available in their honey houses and other buildings. For ordinary combustibles water is the most effective extinguishing agent; therefore, an adequate supply is the first essential and the ideal arrangement is one where the water can be > delivered under pressure. In rural districts a pressure supply can be readily developed by a gravity system or by pressure tanks. With water pressures of between 401 b. and 501 b. per square inch and a Jin. or fin. hose fitted with a Jin. diameter nozzle a continuous jet of a sufficient volume of water can be delivered to fight incipient fires. The 4-gallon bucket-type pump is also an effective unit for dealing with small fires. These pumps occupy very little space and as they can be easily

carried to any fire, wherever it may be, at least one of them should be on hand at some strategic position for immediate use. Electrical fires and ignited liquids such as oils, paints, and fuel spirits are best combated with an extinguisher containing either carbon tetrachloride or carbon dioxide (COs). Both ot these chemicals are practically noninjurious to electrical equipment and being non-conductors of electricity are safe for the operator to use, whereas water is a „ dangerous conductor and is liable to float an ignited liquid from the seat of the fire over a wider area and cause further damage and make the fire more difficult to quell. Machinery Dangers Though many beekeepers do not consider that their machinery equipment is especially dangerous, accidents causing physical injury. are not uncommon. The more serious injuries include severed fingers with sawbench work, hands and fingers broken or crushed by moving extractor parts and other running machinery, and severe cuts from uncapping knives. Each of these and many other accidents which occur can be avoided if the beekeeper is constantly aware of the dangers of any machine or moving parts of a machine and observes common-sense safety practices and precautions. Safety Precautions Safety precautions include a system of guards or fencing which will prevent any part of a person or his clothing accidentally touching the moving machinery. Sometimes complete enclosure is required. Shafting and pulleys and moving belts near floor level or slightly overhead are particularly dangerous, as

loose clothing, aprons, or a ragged sleeve are always liable to be wrapped around a shaft or caught at the belt intakes. When moving parts cannot be completely enclosed care should be taken to ensure that they have no dangerous projections such as grub screws on shafts and badly fitted metal fasteners at the belt join, as these can inflict serious injury when inadvertently touched. An even floor surface and ample working room are also important. The floor space adjacent to all machinery should be kept clear and free from spilt honey or other material which is liable to cause the operator to slip and be injured by the moving parts. Commercial beekeepers use various types of saw benches for making hive parts, and the number of beekeepers with missing fingers is ample evidence of their danger. Circular saws under any circumstances are extremely dangerous and unless sound working methods are adopted a serious accident is inevitable. Saw-bench work of the type done by beekeepers is usually undertaken by trained or skilled operators, and beekeepers who are more or less self-taught should be specially careful to take no risks when using their benches. Though it is impracticable to remove all the hazards associated with circular saws, safety guards should not be dispensed with on that account. Machinery inspectors insist that every saw bench should be fitted with a crown guard over the blade and a riving knife or spreader fin fitted as close as possible to the back of the saw blade, and the under side of the saw should be almost wholly encased. During cutting each part of a saw blade is subject to an extremely rapid alternation of stresses. When these stresses are combined with those produced by centrifugal force they may cause the blade to fracture if the run-

ning speeds are too high. Cracked saws should not be used or repaired for use, as when they burst the fragments fly with such violence that the operator cannot escape serious injury. For these same reasons “drunken” saws are not recommended. For rabbeting hive boxes and similar work beekeepers should use a combination set or a dado head. When work is being done with a saw bench the operator’s hands or fingers should be kept as far as possible from the saw blade, as the slightest miscalculation or slip will cause bad injury. For close work such as the cutting out of frame parts the risk can be reduced by utilising a push stick. To allow the free use of both hands in working the bench, and to permit emergency stopping of the motor, a switch that can be turned off by knee pressure is a safety feature worth incorporating on all saw benches. Sawdust that is allowed to accumulate and build up under the saw blade can become a danger, but attempts to clear or remove it while the saw is in motion are more dangerous still. Even when a scraper or a stick is used removal is not safe until the saw has been stopped. There are many other types of risks, major and minor, which can confront a beekeeper in his occupation, but the remedy for avoiding likely accidents is in his own hands. The absence of safety features, including a properly equipped first aid cabinet, cannot always be attributed to the beekeeper’s negligence or bravado as much as to his refusal to recognise that he is as liable to be injured as is anyone else. However, no human being can carry on indefinitely without making some mistakes and the severe injuries or loss possible through these errors are ample justification for incorporating the safeguards or precautions which will prevent accidents.

Trees Need Not Damage Vital Lines ELECTRIC power and telephone services were dislocated". How often does this statement appear in the newspapers after-a storm? Why does the dislocation occur? Many power and telephone failures are caused by broken branches and swaying trees damaging the lines during storms, and so these vital services often fail just when they are most needed. This causes great inconvenience and may result in financial loss, especially in country areas. There is also the cost of repairs, which the community generally has to meet. For many years there has been a conflict of opinion about the growing of trees for shelter and beautification and their danger to power and telephone lines. Such conflict is really unnecessary, as most of the problems can be solved if a reasonable and co-operative attitude is adopted. In most instances tree damage is avoidable, and property owners who have trees growing near power and telephone lines should in their own interests keep them trimmed well clear of the lines so that even in a high wind there is ample clearance; Those intending to plant trees should remember to find out . the best type for their purposes and then plant them so' that they can grow and develop without having to be cut and trimmed to keep them clear of power and telephone lines. Bulletins No. 271 "Farm Shelter" and No. 346 "Homestead Shelter Planting" are available free from offices of the Department of Agriculture. ’