BEE-KEEPING.

Shannon News, 20 March 1928, Page 3

BEE-KEEPING.

DEMONSTRATION BY • APIARIST.

A practical demonstration in handling hees and instruction in beekeeping was given by Mr. D. S. Robinson, Government apiarist instructor, on Saturday afternoon, on the property of Mis • M. Coakley, Grey Street, to a fair number of persons who are interested in bee-keeping, and some most useful information was given. Mr. Robinson first explained how to firid the queen bee. He stated that the Italian was quieter and easier to find, but the hybrids and black, queen bees had a habit of dodging, and to overcome the latter it was often necessary to sift by means of driving them to the queen excluders. Referring to the excluders he showed a zinc ex- . cluder with square holes, and a wood and wire excluder which had round holes. He said the former was an abomination, as after a bee had passed through it ten or twelve times, the wings were usually worn out. He ur- • ged bee-keepers to use an excluder with ■ a round surface, as‘the bees suffered no injury to the r wings. Tire object of every beekeeper was to get a good queen, but they should not stop her work by the use of an excluder except in production of section combs. ; The next operation was the method of ; de-queening, and consisted of passing the’ bees through a queen excluder, which allows the worker bees to pass, but, as the queen is considerably 1 larger, she cannot-pass through the meshes of the frame. The instructor next proceeded to explain the method of talc- _ ing off the honey by means of a bee ' escape. The super of honey is raised / during the day-time and 12 hours later all bees are clear of the super, saying brushing. The escape is pushed under the super; the bees can pass through the escape to the brood chamber, but it is impossible for them to - return. Details oi drone traps were next given and . the waste caused by the drones, the lecturer pointing out that the use of full foundation frames was a better proposition than 'the half sheets,. the advantage being that with full sheets, worker-cplls would be built up, where as with halfsheets the bees built up. drone-cells underneath, and too many drones were a burden to a hive. Referring to smoking bees when handling them, many people, he said, were under the impiession that it was done to stupefy the bees. This ..was not so; it was done to drive them to the comb to feed, so that the frame could be handled with safety. He then explained the methods of uniting hives that might be weak, or those that might' be queenless, showing the different ways of introducing new queens. He also showed how queens should be removed from the small crates they are forwarded in, when received through the post. Queen breeding was most important and had now 'become a scientific part of beekeeping. A Southern bee-keeper had recently imported some American 1 queens, which are not only quiet, but are good for the beekeeper. The ques-

tion was often asked, “How long is the life of a bee?’* A bee hatched in the sprihg or summer lived about six weeks during honey flow, while bees hatched at th| beginning of winter would survive the winter. A bee did not die from old age, but -owing to the wings being worn out. To tell tlie age of a bee, it would be noticed that the young ones were covered with down and were slow in their motion; when old, the 'down A robber bee was .easily distinguished, having a dark, shiny body devoid oi down; - caused through trying to force his way'into the'hive. After dealing with the regulation under the new Act in connection with, beefarming, Mr. Robinson, made an appeal to bee-farmers to boost the industry, pointing out the many uses of honey, and stating that the food value of honey was twice that of. butter, lie asked those present to support the honey classes-at the forthcoming Manawatu A. and P. Shows, the committee this season having added a number of new classes in the honey section. Bee-keeping was on the increase in v Shannon, and the question of forming a branch, in the district, of the National Bee Keepers’ Association should be ; gone .into, thus helping to safeguard their interests. . As a result of the latter suggestion it is proposed to hold a meeting to fully discuss the matter; early m J. Young, of Palmerston North, in dealing with the advantage of such an association, said one does not realise the value of such, until he sees the working of it . He said it was no use an individual approaching tlie Government with his troubles, but with the backing of an association he would always - be listened to. He relt sure they would never regret forming a branch of the association. Votes of thanks to Mr. Robinson, toi his demonstration, and to Mrs Coakley,'for the use of bee hives, tenninatecT the gathering.