BEE CULTURE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43093, 16 May 1907, Page 4

BEE CULTURE.

A concise bulletin written by M!r Isaac Hopkins, Government Apiarian, and issued by toe Department of Agriculture, gives an amount of .useful advice for those who contemplate commencing bee-culture as a. business. Mr Hopkins says that to become a successful bee-keeper, one must be from the outset, an enthusiast. The best time for a beginner to' start is m spring or early summer; he should 1 never commence in the autumn except under the guidance of ai practical man. The outlay in the first instance should not exceed, say £7, and this amount should furnish an ample outfit of bees and hives (4) for any beginner. Common bees are advised for the beginner to start with, as being the least, expensive, the a.piary being afterwards Italianised by purchasing queens only A couple of early swarms weighing olbs each would be required, and as each pound of bees contains about 5000 bees the two swarms would contain 10,000. The beginner is also recommended to raise comb honey in lib sections, as no extractor is then necessary. The choice of locality is an important point, and generally speaking, 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. Districts in which clover is prevalent produce toe bast honey, and the Thames Valley is mentioned •as being a suitable district., whilst Taranaki, owing to the boisterous weather and salt-bearing winds is not recommended. Slightly undulating country forms a better site for a oee farm than flat open country, but shelter should Consist of fencing or • hedges on toe windy sides; high trees near an apiary are a nuisance as swarms are likely to settle on them far out of reach. A good sized apiary and honey extracting building and store can be formed on half an acre, but an acre is recommended if available, to give room for extension of operations. Water must be provided either by a. stream or in troughs.