BEEKEEPING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4370, 25 January 1922, Page 3

BEEKEEPING.

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR.

The average amateur beekeeper, once he has hived his bees, gives very little thought to the care, they need. His only concern seems tp be: “When will they have sufficient honey in ‘he hive for my requirements?” The whole of this is generally reinoved at the end of| summer or early in winter, and the bees are left to starve and die.

This is the greatest mistake of nearly every amateur, and is the cause of the loss of many valuable colonies of bees every year. If these same people would only give a little thought to the requirement of their bees they not only would be able to increase the number; of their colonies, but also get a larger honey surplus year after year. This is due to their ignorance, and the plea which they often make that they have no knowledge of bees and have had no lessons on beekeeping, is no excuse at all.

With a little observation the Work being accomplished by the bees will be sufficient to teach one, all their habits and requirements without any outside help.

Let any such person go to a hive or. a sunny day and sit on one side, watch the colony'at work, and noce the activity at the entrance.

If the colony is strong, bees will be seen going to and from the hive in quite a business manner. A glance at the entrance will show ■him how closely it is guarded by the sentinel bees, which are ever ready to challenge and destroy .any intrud-t ers, even at the sacrifice of their own lives . '

Note how 'they watch and seeml to challenge, every. incoming bee. No sentry oh duty in any army is more careful and makes sb few mistakes as do the sentinals at the entrances of a hive. It seems wonderful in,.tinct that 'enables them to detect a iingle intruder among the many thousands of the inmates constantly going tb and from the hive/

lif there are neglected hives in close proximity to the apiary there may be robber bees about trying to obtain some stolen stores. As such a time one will notice that instead of a few sentinel bees at the entrance, the rer serves are called out, so much so that the- whole entrance is completely blocked in order to prevent robbers gaining admission. As soon as one ofl/ these dares to alight at the entrance it is immediately seized and destroyed, but the bees’ work does not end there. Soon after the /dead Body falls to the ground it is by another worker, whose duty ft 1S 0 keep the entrance clean, and is carried away spme distance and dropped out of sight, ’ This is the reason 1 why so few dead beies are seen in front of a hive. If robbing has been prevalent for spme time, and the slaughter great, all the dead bees may .be left until an opportune moment is found for the removal of their bodies ARRANGEMENT OF HIVE. The • arrangement of the hive de-, pends on the purpose for; which it*is intended. To obtain honey in sections the frames must be low so ai to force the bee to climb up. High frames, or rather frames superimposed vertically, are better suited for honey for extraction, as they help the bee to store its provisions above the brood chamber, as it tends to do naturally. In the rich honey districts very large frames are said to be, needed, while small frames; suit poor districts. Experienced;, .apiarists- contend that this conclusion is erroneous since large hives with large numbers of bees are wanted everywhere, and while the bees can be numerous in rich districts, they must inevitably be few in number in poor districts.

■ Some time has passed since a Beekeeping Congress tried .without sue-, cess, to clear up the question as to the size of the frames. The devisible hive, with superimposed sections, which has become more teommon of late, has led to the adoption of smialler frames, which ihay be either high or low.