BEE CULTURE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2060, 11 December 1907, Page 5 (Supplement)

BEE CULTURE.

ADVICE TO BEGINNERS. IV. THE APIARY. " CHOICE OF A LOCALITY FOR BEE-FARMING. (By Mr Isaac Hopkins, Government > .- _ Apiarist.) (Continued.) This is oiio of the most important matters to como under tho consideration'of the prospective bee-farmer, and requires careful judgment. A coo-hasty decision may cause great disappointment and loss, for, once'having established an apiary, it is troublesome and expensive to move it. Having decided that white-clover honey is the most profitable to raise, it is imperative that the apiary should bo established in a clover country. There caii bo no doubt that dairying districts afford the best clover pastu- , rage, so far as bee-farming is concerned., Tho pasturage in sheep country is, as a rule, kept pretty closely cropped, and the clover -has very little chance to blossom when heavily stocked. Country where much successive cropping is carried • on; is useless, for bee-farming, so that one cannot - do better than fix upon some dairying district. I have not yet been over the whole of the colony, so can only speak of the parts visited, but I have been astonished at the enormous extent of country, to be seen in both Islands over which clover honey is now produced - to a greater or less extent. Starting. from Auckland, we have clover country over the whole of the. upper AVaikato, Thames A r alley, the east and'west coasts, AA'airarapa, and contra! parts of tho North Island; and in. the South Island clover country abounds over a large part of the Canterbury Province. A good deal of clover honey is raised in • Otago and Southland, and I understood the Nelson Province produces a good deal of the same class of honey. There is ample scope for the prospective bee-farmer, and .lie need not be restricted to any part- of the colony in making a choice, but 1 strongly- advise any person seeking a .place for the purpose to visit two or three of the districts mentioned, before finally deciding. Though the' honey raised in tho Taranaki Province is firstclass, and bettor than can bo secured in many other districts, the bois-' terous weather in the spring and the salt spray blown over the. laud occasionally are greatly against successful bee-keeping. SITE AND SHELTER. Slightly undulating country -s much hotter than a flat open site for a bee-farm. The natural shelter obtained in the former is a great advantage, as it affords the bees protection in some direction or

other, in almost all weathers, when on thoir foraging expeditions. In any case, tho apiary should bo well sheltered; and in the absence of shelter of soano kind it should -o erected at the start. A depression in tho ground will assist, and a temporary fenco Oft. high on tho windy side will do, while shelter trees or a live fence are growing. High trees near an apiary aro a nuisance, ■as swarms are likely to settle on thorn far up out of reach. For a rapid-growing she-ltor-iiedge giant privflt and tagasasto (commonly called “tree-lucerne”) aro to bo recommended, where cubue cannot got within reach of them. Tagasasto affords splendid bee-forage as well as shelter, and it grows very rapidly. WATER. 'Bees require a great deal of water during the. breeding season, therefore a small running stream at hand is a boon; otherwise water can he provided in troughs, with floats, or filled with pebbles, placed in some shady spot'near at hand. AREA OF GROUND FOR A BEEFARM. ■Half an acre will afford ample space for a good-sized apiary and tho necessary buildings; hut if renting a site, as many do, it would bo as well to rent an acre, so ns not to bo cramped for room in case of extending operations. A good substantial cattlejproof fonco around tho sito is absolutely necessary. LAYING OUT AN APIARY. Tho sito for tho hives should be as level as possible, for convenience of taking appliances and combs to and fro. It should be laid down in grass, and be kept closely cut, especially near the hives. Tho best arrangement of tho hives in every respect is in straight rows, with entrances faoing the north or northeast—never face tihem westward if it can possibly be avoided. Occasionally there is a departure from this form of arrangement, some preferring to place their hives in clusters of three or more, with their entrances in different directions. _ I certainly do not approve of the latter method, as it appears to me to be very inconvenient in several ways without any compensating /advantages. A glance at the extensive American apiaries illustrated in the “A B C of /Bee-Culture” should convince one that the straight-row system is adopted by tlie majority of bee-farmers in that country.

A..serious mistake is often made in placing hives too close together. Fighting and robbing .among tho bees-is much more likely to takeplaco under such conditions than when the hives aro a suitable distance apart. They should be at least 6ft apart in the rows, and the rows Sft apart. In the Ruakura State Apiary T have ■placed „them Sft .apart from centre to certre in the rows, and the rows 10ft from centre to centre, with the hives in each row opposite the spaces in the rows in front and ./behind. There is ample space to work at /any hive without standing in the- line of flight to or from any other hive, and a lawn-mower can be used anywhere about the apiary, so that.l re-, Commend those distances between the. hives when laying out ail apiary. SHADE. Many amateur beekeepers imagine that hives.containing bees need shading, /and forthwith, place them under trees in dense shade. No greater, mistake could be made in bee-cul-ture. Bees love sunshine, and if in the hives recommended, they should bo in the open where they get all tho benefit of the sun, summer and winter. Though the shado of fruittrees—(being deciduous—might not be objectionable, there is no need of it. The hives, if painted white, or a light colour, and tho ventilation from the entrances properly attended to, /aro .better out free from all obstruction to rapid work.- After bees have been located in dense shade for a while they become , very vicious ;aiul difficult to handle, and in continuous wet weather, and also during the winter, the insides of tho hives be come damp, which is injurious to bees. Bees themselves indicate when the ventilation is insufficient. When they.are seen near the-entrance with heads down and their wingsvibrnting —understood as “fanning”—they •need more ventilation, and it should ho given by enlarging tho entrances. FLAT COVERS. I consider these an abomination, and they should not-ho -tolerated' in ■any apiary. They twist /and warp, requqire “shadedboa-rds” over them, and lumps of rock to keep the shadeboards from blowing off, /and altogether form the most unsightly and inconvenierut fit-out »as covers it *s possible to imagine. An apiary that otherwise would have a picturesque appearance is transformed into an ugly bee-yard by such covers. Independant of their appearance, flat covers; prevent such a free circulation of,air as is obtained under the gable covers. There is .a dead-air space between the gable cover and the bees, which tends to keep the hive cool, and no board or other shade is needed. Whether the. flat covers arc adopted. bn economical grounds I do not. know,, but I am surprised at ajiy pile using them, for if the gable' covers cost' four times as much -I—would have them in preference to the flat ones. APIARY : BUILDINGS.

'An extracting-house, honey-room and workshop or store-room are absolutely needed in a properly furnished apiary. They can be all under one roof or in one building, and need -not be very extensive, but should provide ample room for doing all tlie ■work of extracting, tinning the honey, and etc., .and storing sparehives and combs during the winter. I have been surprised .when bn ray rounds to see the cramped, makeshift places at most of tho /apiaries doing duty for extracting-houso, store-room, o/tc.I have only seen one. or two. apiaries out of all I haye .visited that had anything approaching a decent ex-'traeting-libuse. I'f carrying on any other business than bee-fanning, I expect the selfsame people would think it necessary to provide themselves with a suitable building, but they' do not seem to realise the inconvenience and loss they sustain through not having suitable accommodation for carrying on their work. However, in time I hope to convince all bee-farmers in this colony that it will pay them to carry out their Vork on proper lines.