Lecture on Bee-Keeping.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXII, Issue 42767, 19 August 1905, Page 2

Lecture on BeeKeeping.

CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE. An action was taken by au American farmer to recover damages from a neighbouring bee-keeper for tres - pa-siug bees,” needless to say he lost ilia case. There is reason to believe that this did a deal of good in America as it was extensively quoted and whether it helped or not, that idea was soon exploded. When we come down to the bed-roak, cattle are probably deprived of an ounce or two of honey ! o the acre. Farmers and bee keepers should be quite friendly in this matter. la starting an apiary Mr Hopkins always advises beginners to buy one hive made up and the rest in the flat th’t is, all parts ready to nail together, the made-up one serving as a pattern for putting the others together. In setting out a hive the main thing is to get the bottom boards level from aide cu side with a slight slope towards the front : solidity is also essential. The lighting-board should not be too steep, ihe original Langthorn hive is the ten-frame —Mr Hopkins always maintained that this was ;ho proper size to have, and in vviiting since 1885 has always advocated this line. With regard to the frame, most beekeepets w *u!d recollect the old pattern, ho had u self-spacing one in 1889, but it was formed with nails diiven through the sides and were a nuisance. Those formed with wires he thought to be the best.

In some districts there may be some objection to the self spacing frames as where there are a lot of pines, the gum is smeared all over the hive by the bees. Mr Hopkins would not mind this himself, and belives in aelf-spaeing frames, as they are so quickly compared with the old pattern. USE OF FOUNDATION. Mr Hopkins thought that a large number of those who had been bee<keepers a long time should have known better than to use strips instead of a full sheet. The main object was to keep down drones. Before securing success you must have control over the breeding—where there is no con trol there are a lot of drones and those eut a lot of honey which you should get: it is only necessary to have a few drones in a hive to keep it in a healthy condition. Most foundation made now was impressed with worker cells, but there were always a few drone cells round the edges, sufficient for purposes of breeding. It is true that strips cost less than full sheets, but he explained that the extra cost of full sheets was more than made up afterwards. Full sheets should not only be used in the lower hive, but in each storey. Many people used a perforated lid to keep the queen bee iu the lower hive, so that she would not go into the upper hive to lay, The worker bees can get through the perforated lid but the queen cannot: he had always condemned the perforated lid as it hinders workers from getting into the upper hive, making them fill the lower cells, which hinders the queen from laying, and when all the lower cells are filled, off they go in a swarm. Anything that hinders ventilation tends o swarming. Never mind where the queen lays : let her go anywhere, bntif you can keep her down by taking same honey out of the lower combs, do so, Mr Hopkins then related how he had once advised a bee-keeper t > dispense with perforated lids iu his hives, with the gratifying result that at the end of next season there was just double the weight of honey usually expected. If the perforated lid be considered of any use at all, don’t put it on the lower box, but on the second storey, but money is better spent on another storey, This is the first time that Mr Hop. kins has introduced the subject of perforated lids into his lectures. With regard to surplus boxes, it depended what class of bee-keeping it was intended to go in f >r. He advised the beginner to go in for section honey instead of extracted honey, thus saving the expense of extraction, and far this purpose he recommended a hive with twostoieya. In working for comb honey, afeer the hive wa> swarmed, prop up the first storey, lay a sack across, and dump the swarm down in front of the hive, and the bees will not be long in going in. In about a week the top box should be put ou, that is, when they worked abou three parts across the top storey, this soon occurs ia fine weather and is easily seen. When the first storey is full, put the second on. but below the first, as bees will work downwards, and not upwards. They will still fill the top storey until there is a force of bees to spare to go to the lower one. A number of sec ions will .fion be ready to remove from the top s’orey — take out the full ouesand replace wi.h

empty ones then put the top storey below the first one. always keepiug the empty one lowest otherwise the bees will probably swarm.

Shallow extracting frames are very suitable for some districts ; tli-y were at one time wired vertically hut this plan was a failure, longitudinal wir°s, however, were a great sqpce-8. The disadvantage of large frames wheie there is foul brood is that the comb cannot be cut out without the frame being re wirfcd. Shadow frames eta- d a'good comb without being wived. In summer, push tl;a hive over tljo edge of ’.he lighting board if ventilation is required, The hives should '

have a sloping roof and be painted a light colour, ;IXo had seen flut qov> ers get very h t in summer and s mqbtimes known oombs to he melted down. It is also a bad plan, the lecturer said, to place the hives under trees, except perhaps fruit trees : the open is much the best both for btes and keepers. Inlaying out an ap'a y the hives should be about 8 feet apart in the rows and about 10 feet between the rows. 150 hives in one apiary is sufficient. OPENING A ELITE. Mr Hopkins advised the wearing of n bee-veil which \yas best made of line black bo >k muslin a tached to an old straw hat. Poi’ioualiy he hasau

objection to wearing a bee-veil and only wove one once—that because the owner of some bees th p tn vicious. The lecturer showed the latest pattern of smoker, which he highly ; recommended. All that was required was to give a few puffs of smoke into the hive and then wait; the smoke is not to stupefy, but to frighten Then lift the corner of mac ami give a few pnffs of smoke —the bees then run to the honey, each carrying about four day’s supply with themiout of the hive. Never jar a hive —if the cover sticks raise it steadily with a screwdriver or similar lever. A switch brush or a sprig of titri will sweep all the bees off the board : never attemnt to use a hair-brush for this purpose as bees instinctively sting when la contact with hair, imagining it to be a spider’s web. Mr Hopkins showed a drone trap which he said should never be used on any account, as even when the drones are caught then cells are still in the comb. Where bee-keeping was properly carried on there should not be much feeding required : he did not advocate robbing the bee of honey too closely at the end of the season, as by leaving some honey, breeding would commence rapidly at the beginning of spriug. Plenty of food at breeding time means plenty of bees. At breeding time a tremendous lot of honey‘is used. It is he said, astonishing how quickly bees got into a s arvmg condition when they cannot get out owing to bad weather. Almost every bee-ikeeper said that they lost auv amount of bees in spring.

This, Mr Hopkins said, was simply through want of feeding, but the bee keepers never thought of that.. If a spell of bad weather comes after a spell of good weather at bleeding time, the bees will want food in less than a the whitoe pupae are drawn out of the hive, that shows that the bees are in a starving condition, and great care should be taken to tide them over that time. They should be fed with syrup diluted with water. At feeding time there will probably be only one storey on the hive. To feed the bees, after removing the cover, turn up one corner of the mat, lay the feeder on the mat and put a train of syrup leading from the feeder to the corner of the comb to lendlthe bees up. The cost of feeding will be much more than m >de up afterwards. With the American feeder the mat is removed altogethsr, and the feeder laid on top of the frames, and then covo-od with the mat. This concluded the address. The chairman then remarked that in listening to Mr Hopkins they must feel that they were listening to a practical man who had plenty of experience in the colony. It was always better to take lessons from a practical man. Many people learnt lessons after they came ito the colony, but Mr Hopkins undoubtedly knew his business thoroughly. The chairman then announced that questions could be asked, and that Mr Hopkins would answer them Loud Applause. The questions were put and answered sis follows: — Which direction do you recommend the hive should fiice ? Preferably north-east or north, but never to the west; better, let it face east than west. What Is the.reason you advised beginners to start with the black bee when the others are so much mo-ie profitable ? To keep down expense. To get a colony of Italian bees would cost £2 ss, and you might have to wait until November for them. The colonial black bee may range from five to, ten or twelve shillings. This is a big difference, as you have to send great distances for the Italian variety and also to wait for them. By introducing an Italian queen, costing ten shillings, into a hive of black bees, you would have a colony of Italians in six weeks. Mr Hopkins said his only interest with suppliers was to get them to supply good materials and reasonable prices, and to assist bee-keepers to get their supplies. If they found they could not obtain certain materials, he would tell them where they could get

them. Is Mr Hopkins drawing up rules for beekeepers to work under ? The Foul Brood Act was being introduced and if bee-keeping was not going to be thrown away, the Act was very necessary. In America they had one Act in operation, in Canada two, and three in the Commonwealth and other parts of Australia. The Act in Canada was introduced into the central part of the bee-keeping industry with the result that ninety-five per cent, of the foul broofi had been stamped out. Mr McEvoy said that Ontario was rotten with foul brood when he took charge, and now it was stomped out. If others laiow what lie knew and had seen what he had seen, they would go for it at once. Applauso. Mr Cooper thought he had scon something in the Act which would compel bee-keepers to use certain hives, which would bo hard on those in the country, uy who had not sufficient coppers in their pocket, In reply Mr Hopkins said that lie

thoroughly understood heo-keeping, tuid that if there was going to ho any Act at all it must provide that tho oombs lie in a position to ho examined without cutting, which would only spread foul brood. It would take tho inspector too long to examine an apiary of a uiunbor of box hives. If a man cannot keep his bees properly then ho would say “ don’t keep them at all.” Loud applause. There was nothing in tho Foul Brood Act wliicli would harm anyone who wants to go iu for tho thing.properly. What about wild bees in the bush; is there any foul brood amongst them Y If you propagate bees and lot thorn go into the bush with fold brood it will never be

got down. A man in Napier got his bees clear qf foul breed by Mr McEvoy’s starvation plan, hut found signs of it at. times. Ho Went to a neighbour who hud ho.\ hives and who, it turned out, know nothing about foul brood. The next day ho saw swarms of bees clemming away at the honey which had been turned out of the hives. This was how foul brood was spread. Mr Hopkins did not think anyone would growl af the Act. when it csomes into force, Do you think hoes know tho difference of individuals Y They sting mo tuid wont sting (Vijyono elso! Laughter. In reply Mr Hopkins said bo did nut think I

they could discriminate, Ho thought tho man who says bees sting him is nervous, and docs scunotliing instinctively whioh onuses the boos to sting him, Sometimes people said of Mr Hopkins : “ Oh, tho bees know him and wont sting,” or/some words to that effect. If you go for vghco’s honey and don’t go for it properly thopeo will go for you. Mr Cooporjiiid that, a young follow who worked for Lilt never felt stings. He yuis a heavy smoker. Would that any difference Y When first- starting beo-kenping tho stings were vary, painful, hut when the blood hi" comes inoculat xl with formic acid the sting is felt less and'less until it swaps only like the prick of a pin. Mr Hopkins said that through long practice, lie knew what the ..bees were going to do tho next moment, uni

knew how to stop them. He claims, through long practice, to be able to distinguish differences in the sound of the hum, and thus know the bee’s mood. How do you detect foul brood in a hive ? _ Healthy brood in the larvte stage —that is, before it is sealed or capped-—presents a dear pearly whiteness, but when attacked by foul brood it rapidly changes to light buff, then to brown, coffee and milk color, and finally to black, at which stage nothing is to be seen in the cell but a flatfish scale-like substance when examined closely. It . is, however, when the brood has been attacked after it has advanced to the pupa period of its existence —that is, when it has been capped over 'that the novice is better able to detect the presence of foul brood. In the early stage of an attack a capped cell here and there will appear somewhat different from the surrounding healthy brood. Instead of the cappings or seals being bright, full, and of convex form, characteristic of-healthy brood, they y, will be of a dull, blackish-brown color, and flat or sunken, an indication that the cells contain dead pup®. The disease rapidly spreads to surrounding cells and combs if alio ved to take its course, till finally no brood can hatch, and the colony succumbs. On opening some of the cells a thin glue-like coffee-colored mass will be noticed, which on the insertion of a splinter of wood will adhere to the point, and can be drawn rope-like for some little distance out of the cells. This is one of the most distinctive features of foul * brood, and where present is generally considered conclusive of the disease. Later on this glue-like substance dries up into the be-fore-mentioned body. Other symptoms are pin-holes and ragged perforations in the cappings of the cells, and a very disagreeable smell resembling heated glue or tainted meat, which can be very often detected at some y:irds away from a badly infected hive,. especially in close weather. The characteristic odour cannot easily be detected in the earliest stages, even when an infected comb is placed close to the nose, but some slight difference can be noticed between that and healthy comb at all times. What is tho cost of hives ? Mr Hopkins recommended the questioner to write to Bagnull Bros,, Auckland, for their price list which contained all particulars. A good hive can he bought for ■22 s. . > . Mr Hopkins then added that bee-keeping was very suitable for ladies, aud that where they took to it they made far better beekeepers than men. What is the handiest thing for smoking bees? A piece of dry sacking rolled up in tho smoker and ignited. If wished to ignite quickly, dip the sacking in kerosene. A vote of thanks was then proposed by the chairman, and carried by acclamation. Copies of Mr Hopkins’ Bulletin on BeeCulture were then distributed.