APIARY NOTES.

Shannon News, 28 October 1927, Page 3

APIARY NOTES.

(By D; S. Robinson, Apiary Instructor, Dept, of Agriculture, Palmerston Is.) The present is a most important time to the beekeeper. Careful note .must be made of the stores, in each hive, and where there is only a small amount, additional food must be given, for from now onward the hives should be worked up so as to contain a large number of field bees when the mam. honey non

starts. „ . ' , * During this spring a fair amount or nectar is being obtained from the , ™ lows and spring flowers, and be ers having hives diseased with tou brood will do well to treat these colonies now. By so doing the bees will have an opportunity to build up again, m time for the main honey flow and suiplus may be looked for from these colThe treatment of foul brood is fuUy explained in the bulletin No. H 9 v 11c 1 may be obtained free from any office ot the Department of Agriculture. Swarming may be looked for from now on, especially in the warmer districts, and the beekeeper should have the necessary hives, etc., in readiness. Building up Colonies. —As soon as the beekeeper notices queen cells being built ill any of the strong colonies, he may delay swarming and assist the weakei colonies bv taking one. or two frames of sealed brood from the strong colony, shaking off the adhering bees, and giving these frames of brood to the weaker colonies, filling the spaces in the strong hive from which frames have been taken with frames fitted with full sheets of foundation. Should the beekeeper have only one or two colonies all of equal strength,- instead of taking brood away, the beekeepei may put on an extra super of drawn-out combs, or frames fitted with foundation, and at the same time raise one or two frames from the lower super to the one newly added, placing the raised frames in the centre of the super, in no case must combs be interchanged unless all colonies are free from disease, otherwise the disease will be spread. And extra frames of brood must not be given to colonies that have not sufficient bees to cover them and keep the brood ivarm. Hiving Swarms.—When a swarm hat issued, is usually between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., as soon as it has settled, take a fair sized box ; and if the swarm is on a branch, place the box under the swarm. Then give the branch a quick shake, to the bees into the boY, next turn the box carefully upside d,own, and prop up one end of the box to allow any bees that failed to fall into the box to crawl up and join the others. If the shake was successful the bees will soon all clustei in the box, and as soon as this talced place the box may be taken to the position it is to occupy in the apiary. Should, however, the bees be inclined to leave the box and re-cluster where they were, it is a sign that the queer was not hived in the box. The bee. should be allowed to re-cluster as be fore, and then repeat the operation oi shaking, and brush off any bees tha. may be left on the branch, in case tin. queen is amongst them. Bees will not always swarm, and settle where they may be shaken down, and for other places no orthodox meth ods can be laid down. Here the beekeeper’s own initiative must come intc operation, but violent smoking will sometimes move a swarm into a mort get-at-able place, or the swarm maj be scooped up and put into a box, cart being taken pot to injure the bees as the queen also might get injured. Should the beekeeper not wish foi increase, the swarm may be returned to the hive from which it has issued by placing on an extra super and shaking the bees into it. Hirst, however, tlu beekeeper must "go earefuly through tlu lower supers, and remove all queen cells that may be present. It is important that every queen cell be removed, otherwise they would very soon swarm out again. When this method is resorted to a queen excluder should--be tacked in front of the entrance to prevent the queen from leaving the hive. This may be removed after three or four days. ’ ' . Swarming may be controlled to a certain extent by the beekeeper whe owns only a.few hives, going through each hive weekly and cutting out all queen cells, but this method disturbs the bees, takes time and is not to be recommended. When a swarm lias been safely caught in a box, the next process is to hive it in the permanent hive. The swarm box is carried to the quarters where the hive is fitted with drawn-out combs, or with frames fitted with full sheets ot foundation. Lay a sack from 'the ground up to the alighting board, raise the ~ front of the super up an inch or so, the bees should then be shaken or dumped from the swarm box on to the sack. It is a good plan to place a comb oi unsealed brood in the .centre of the hive. This will help to hold the bees. A few minutes after swarm -ias been shaken, the bees will be seen running in and out. of the hive. \\ hen once the queen enters, the remainder will soon follow. Sometimes the bees are reluctant to stay in the new hive, and will 'swarm out again; this can be prevented, by placing a queen excluder over the entrance. The queen not being able to leatfe, the bees will soon settle down. The first swarm contains the old queen, and mostly old bees, leaving the parent hive with young bees and queen cells. The beekeeper should go care-

fully through the hive and cut out every queen cell except the largest and fattest, which is to be left. This if carefully done will prevent swarms. See that the entrances of hives are

now enlarged, and that the bees are not cramped for room. Give an extra .super now wherever required to prevent crowding. /