ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 1924 0

‘ {Issue, 10,000, May, 1905.1

Het Sealand Bepgartment of Agriculture.

JOHN D. RITCHIE, Secretary.

DIVISIONS OF BIOLOGY AND HORTICULTURE.

T. W. KIRK, F.1.S., GOVERNMENT BIOLOGIST, CHIEF OF DIVISIONS.

BULLETIN No. 5.

BEE-CULTURE.

“1, The Use of Comb-foundation.
I. Ripening Extracted Honey.
{I. Foul Brood. .

IV. The Large Bee-moth.

V. Apiculture in relation to Agriculture.

By ISAAC HOPKINS, Bez Exrzrr.

ILLUSTRATED.

Hon. T. Y. Duncan, MINISTER FoR AGRICULTURE.

WELLINGTON.
BY AUTHORITY : JOHN MACKAY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

1905.

Cornell University

The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924081073714

(Issue, 10,000, May, 1905.)

Rew Senland Department of Agriculture.

JOHN D, RITCHIE, Secretary.

DIVISIONS OF BIOLOGY AND HORTICULTURE.

T. W. KIRK, F.L.S., GOVERNMENT BIOLOGIST, CHIEF OF DIVISIONS.

BULLETIN No. 5.

BEE-CULTURE.

I. The Use of Comb-foundation.

HU. Ripening Extracted Honey.
Ill. Foul Brood.

IV. The Large Bee-moth.
V. Apiculture in relation to Agriculture.

By ISAAC HOPKINS, Bre Expert.

ILLUSTRATED.

Hon. T. Y. Duncan, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE.

WELLINGTON.
BY AUTHORITY : JOHN MACKAY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.

1905.
pw

II¢ A ¢

NODE,

Department of Agriculture,
Divisions of Biology, Horticulture, and Publications,
H.M. Customs Building,
Wellington, 27th May, 1905.

Tue necessity for the appointment of a Bee Expert has been urged
in my reports from year to year. It was therefore with great
pleasure I received intimation of the engagement of Mr. Isaac

Hopkins as Apiarian.

The attached articles are the first from his pen as Government
Bee Expert. They will prove of great interest and also instructive

to beekeepers.

The illustrations of comb are from original photographs, taken

specially for Mr. Hopkins.
T. W. KIRK.

BULLETIN No. 5.

Br TS dee

I. ON THE USE OF COMB-FOUNDATION.

So far as I have yet been among our beekeepers, I have found,
with few exceptions, almost a total absence of knowledge con-
cerning the full economic value of comb-foundation. Its use at
the present time is chiefly confined to providing ‘“ guide-combs,”
which consist of narrow strips fastened along the under-sides of the
top bars of the movable frames of the hive, to insure the bees
building their combs within the frames. The bees are thus left
free to construct nearly the whole of their combs, of whatever kind
they may choose, worker or drone, or, as is usual, some of both.

The success of modern bee-culture hinges almost entirely in
the first place on securing complete control over the breeding, and
this can only be obtained by compelling the bees to build what-
ever kind of comb is desired. Under natural conditions, or when
in hives and allowed freedom to construct their combs, they
invariably build a goodly proportion of drone-comb, which is
subsequently utilised for breeding drones. This accounts for the
large number of drones to be seen in box hives, or where no
attempt has been made to control breeding. Drones, as most
people are aware, are non-producers—that is to say, they do not
gather honey, or even do any work in the hives. They -are
physically incapable, but they consume a large quantity of food
gathered by the workers, and where many are present the yield
of honey from that hive, and consequently the profit, will be con-
siderably curtailed. The breeding of drones, therefore, when honey
is the chief object should be restricted as much as possible, and
this can only be accomplished successfully with a minimum of
trouble by making the fullest use of worker-comb foundation.*

The difference between worker and drone comb is in the size:
of the cells, the former measuring slightly over five to the inch,
and the latter a little over four. The proportions are shown it

* A sufficient number of drone-cells will always be built round the ends and
bottoms of the sheets of foundation.

8

Plate II]. Drones can only be bred in the larger and workers
in the smaller cells. The comb-foundation obtained from manu-
facturers is invariably impressed with the bases of worker-cells,
so that it is impossible, unless by accident some portion has
stretched, for the bees to build other than worker-comb on it.
The illustrations will make this clear. Plate I. shows a perfect
worker-comb built out on a full sheet of comb-foundation, while
Plate IJ. exhibits the result of the breaking-away of a portion and
the stretching of another portion due to careless fixing of what
was originally a full and perfect sheet of worker-comb foundation.
These are very interesting reproductions from photographs taken
specially for the purpose of this article. To the right of Plate IT.
can be seen where the bees took advantage of the accident to
build drone-comb, and also where on the upper left centre the
original worker-cells have stretched and been utilised for breeding
drones. At the lower right-hand corner of Plate I. a small por-
tion of the original sheet of comb-foundation upon which the comb
is built can be distinctly seen.

Securing control over breeding is not the only advantage gained
by a free use of comb-foundation. For instance, a fair swarm of,
say, 5 lbs. weight hived upon ten sheets of comb-foundation in a
Langstroth hive will have in twenty-four hours, in an average
season, several of the sheets partially worked out and a goodly
number of eggs deposited in the cells, and in thirty-six hours the
queen can henceforward lay to her full extent. In from a week to
nine days (depending upon the weather) the whole ten sheets will be
worked out into worker-combs, and a great deal occupied with brood
and honey, and the hive will then be ready for the top or surplus
honey super. In twenty-two or twenty-three days young worker-
bees will begin to emerge, and from this on the colony will grow
rapidly in strength from day to day.

‘Contrast this favourable condition of things with what takes
place when only narrow strips of comb-foundation are furnished. It
will take under the same conditions a similar swarm from four to
five weeks to fill the hive with comb, and then there will be a large
proportion drone-comb, which is the very thing to guard against.
Consider what the difference in time alone will make in the profit-
able working of a hive, especially in a short season. Then, again,
with regard to the difference in the initial expense between using
full sheets and strips, which seems to influence many beekeepers in
favour of the latter system: Even in that there is a gain in favour
of the method I am advocating. For instance, the cost of filling the
ten frames with sheets of best comb-foundation would be (with ex-
penses of getting them added) about 4s.,and with strips—say, two

9

sheets—10d.: an apparent saving in the first instance of 8s. 2d.
We must then consider the matter from another point of view.

The consensus of opinion among the most experienced beekeepers
is that there is an expenditure of about 12 lbs. of honey in making
1 Ib. of wax—that is, the bees consume that quantity of honey before
secreting lib. of wax. The ten sheets of comb-foundation weigh
1} lbs. and cost 4s. For this there would have to be an expenditure of
18 lbs. of honey, which at the low price of 3d. per pound is 4s. 6d.,
so that there is a saving of 6d. in favour of the full sheets, to say
nothing about all the other advantages gained.

I trust I have now made the matter clear enough to influence
all our beekeepers in favour of making the fullest use possible of
comh-foundation.

II. RIPENING EXTRACTED HONEY.

That ali honey should be thoroughly ripe when sent to market
goes without saying, otherwise it will sooner or later ferment and
become useless for table purposes, and injure future sales of the same
brand. It is not an uncommon thing to find honey going bad after
being on the market a short time, to the loss of the merchant and
producer. Quite recently I saw a line of 21b. tins of honey con-
demned through fermentation and sent to auction. The tins bore
the label of a well-known beekeeper, and the result, no doubt, will
be that his honey will be avoided in future, in that district at least.
All beekeepers I have visited so far appear to realise the importance
of ripening honey, but less than half a dozen had the proper apparatus
for doing so.

Nectar or honey when first gathered contains a variable quantity
of water, usually ranging from 18 to 28 per cent., according to the
weather. Mr. Otto Hehner, F.I.C., F.C.8., public analyst, and
analyst to the British Beekeepers’ Association, in a lecture before
that body some years ago stated, “Essentially, honey consists of
water and of sugar. Of the water I need say but little except
that I have found it to vary in quantity from 12 to 23 per cent.,
the normal proportion being from 18 to 21 per cent. When the
percentage falls below 18 the honey is generally very hard and
solid; when it is higher than 21 it is frequently quite or almost
clear.”

Honey even in its ripened state, as will be seen, contains some
water. When first gathered, if it contains, as it usually does, too
much, the bees after storing it allow the honey-cells to remain open

10

until the surplus moisture has evaporated, when they are capped or
sealed by the bees, and the honey so capped is then considered ripe
and fit for market. The length of time the honey-cells may remain
uncapped depends entirely on the state of the weather when the honey
was stored. I have known them to be open for several days, and in
very dry, warm weather I have seen the cells being capped directly
they were filled.

The ripening of honey within the hive always appeared to me to
be a mechanical process-——-that is to say, a process carried on by the
heat of the hive, and not due to any particular manipulation on the
part of the bees, so that it could be equally well done outside as with-
in the hive. I have always acted on this belief with very satisfactory
results. Instead of waiting until the bees had capped the whole of
the cells, I have commenced to extract directly the bees started scal-
ing the upper cells of the combs and finished the ripening in my
tanks. It is not difficult to realise the enormous saving effected by
this method in a large apiary during the season. The bees instead
of secreting wax for capping the cells are at liberty to act as field
workers, the combs are quickly available again for refilling, and plenty
of working-room is always assured, which will tend to keep down
swarming.

RivENING-TANKS.

The most effective method of ripening honey is to expose as large
a surface as possible to a warm, dry atmosphere. The “tanks”
generally in use at the present time, so far as I have seen, consist of
tin cylinders about 18 in. in diameter by 36 in. deep, similar to the
cylinder of a two-comb honey-extractor, and these have been usuallv
covered with a cloth or lid “to keep out bees and dust.” As i
have pointed out, it is simply impossible for honey to ripen under
those conditions. The tank is too deep and the surface too small.
The body of honey set to ripen should never be more than 15 in. or
16 in. deep, while showing as much surface as possible. A tank
6 ft. long by 4 ft. wide and 18in. deep, with a centre division,
would hold, when filled up to 2 in. from the top, about 2,500 lbs. of
honey. A long, wide, shallow tank in similar proportions to the
above is the proper utensil for ripening honey. (See illustration.)

Even when the honey is not removed from the hive until it is
capped by the bees it is necessary to have such a tank to properly
clarify the honey. No matter what pains are taken to strain the
honey so as to clear it of all foreign substance, very fine particles
of wax will remain or run iuto the tank with the honey. If the
body of the latter is shallow the fine specks of wax and pollen
hardly discernible, will rise to the surface, forming a scum, which,

Il

when skimmed off, leaves the honey in the very best condition for
market.

N

my

Fic. 1. DouBpie Honey-RIPENING. TANK.

B a eee SAD 4Ft 6ins, ——__—__—_———_>
10% — L104 —Hps B
Soe i
ae oe, |
@
6 by & ‘y

Fie. 2. SrcrronaL View or Same,

Fig. 1 represents a honey-ripening tank, 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 18in. deep, out-
side measurements, capable of holding about 1,250 lbs. of honey in each compartment.
It should be made of 1} in. timber, and lined with good stout tin.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the letters refer to the same parts. A, A, iron strengthening-r1od,

with screw-nut; B, B, battens 2}in. wide by lin. thick, against which the boards of
the tank are nailed; C, C, honey cut-off taps.

I must also bring forward another point of considerable import-
ance—that is, that the honey from each day’s extracting as it is run
into the tank should be left undisturbed until ready to be run off
into tins or other vessels for market. It is most unwise to run two
or more days’ extracting together in same tank, as the frequent
disturbance of the honey is both against its clarifying and ripening
properly. The tanks I recommend are divided along the centre

12

of their length (as shown in illustration), so that two days’ extracting
can be run separately into the one tank, and they may be made to
any proportions suitable to the beekeepers’ needs, but they should
uot be of greater depth than the figures already given.

The specific gravity of average-ripened honey, which may be
obtained by the use of a hydrometer, is usually given at 1350,
though I have had it as high as 1°488, or nearly half again as heavy
as water. But for the average beekeeper it will be sufficient for
him to decide that the honey is ripe enough to run off as soon as
it shows signs of ‘ clouding ”’—that is, granulating.

In conclusion, the beekeeper, working for extracted honey,
should have a bee-tight, yet well-ventilated, honey-room, in a warm,
and sunny situation, large enough to do all his extracting and tin-
ning in, and a ripening tank or tanks such as I have described, which
should never be covered except when out of use.

Il]. « FOUL BROOD” (Bacillus alvei, Cheshire) AND ITS
TREATMENT.

The germ disease of “foul brood ” has evidently caused more or
less trouble to beekeepers from very early historical times. Refer-
ences are made to some such disease before the Christian era by
Aristotle in his works on husbandry, which no doubt was what we
uow know as ‘foul brood.” It is quite possible that the disease
was not so troublesome in former times, as the facilities for its
spreading were few compared with what they have been during
the last twenty-five or thirty years. he trade in bees and queens
that has accompanied the expansion of modern bee-culture, and their
consequent transportation from district to district, and from country
to country, is accountable, no doubt, for the universal extent of its
ravages at the present time. When or where it first made its
appearance in New Zealand is not known so far as I am aware, but
I do know that “foul brood” was very prevalent in some dis-
tricts—notably in Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, and Poverty Bay—
before 1880. :

Very little, if anything, was known or understood concerning
this disease in New Zealand before the dissemination of modern bee
literature about that time, consequently it had not been recognised
previously by our beekeepers. The loss caused by “foul brood ”’
during the intervening years in this colony has been enormous, anid
calls for serious consideration. Wehave everything in our favour—

18

climate and bee-forage second to none in the world. We raise some
of the very finest honey in the world, and there is nothing but this
disease to prevent the beekeeping industry in this country from
developing into a very extensive business. We have the honey at
our feet and tie animals for gathering it, yet until some measures
are devised to prevent disease running rampant through the colony,
as is the case at present, we cannot profit to the full by these ad-
vantages.

State Lrcisiarion.

The difficulty of individual beekeepers dealing successfully with
‘foul brood,” so easily propagated and spread abroad from apiary
to apiary, lies in the carelessness and often wilfulness of many so-
called beekeepers who (as I have frequently pointed out in my
writings), in utter disregard of advice given them by more careful
men, will persist in leaving lying about old boxes with their combs
in which diseased colonies have died, for other bees to enter
and so to carry away disease-germs, and occasionally hiving stray
swarms in the same infected boxes, only to propagate and
spread the disease, and to finally perish as the others did hefore
them. It is absolutely necessary and just that the careful beekeeper
should be protected from his careless neighbour, and the only way
this can be done is by State legislation, which shall control and
compel the careless man to take such steps as will prevent the pro-
pagation and spread of disease in and from his apiary. The sale of
diseased bees, or implements that have been used in a diseased apiary
before being thoroughly disinfected, ur the transportation of diseased
bees to or from any district, should not be allowed.

Symptoms or “ Fount Broop.”’

Healthy brood in the larve stage—that is, before it is sealed or
capped—presents a clear pearly whiteness, but when attacked by
“foul brood” it rapidly changes to light buff, then to brown, coffee-
and-milk colour, and finally to black, at which stage nothing is to be
seen in the cell but a flattish 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 will be of a dull blackish-
brown colour, and flat or sunken, an indication that the cells contain

14

dead pupz. ‘The disease rapidly spreads to surrounding cells and
combs if allowed 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-coloured 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 before-mentioned black scale-like
body.

Other symptoms are “ pin-holes” and ragged perforations in the
cappings of the cells, clearly shown in Plates III. and IV., and avery
disagreeable smell resembling heated glue or tainted meat, which can
be very often detected at some yards 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 ali times.

Orner DIszAsEs IN COMPARISON witH ‘‘ Fount Broop.”

“ Chilled brood ’?’—that is, brood which has died from cold or
neglect—has sometimes, through some of the symptoms appearing
similar to ‘ foul brood,’’ been taken for the latter. Cheshire says
the discoloration in the larvae of “chilled brood” is usually a
change to grey, and not to brown, as in “foul brood.” He
also says that the characteristic odour of “foul brood” is
absent.

What is termed “ pickled brood” is due to a fungus, and is only
mildly contagious. The brood is always watery, and turns black.
The ropiness and odour of ‘‘ foul brood” is absent, and the same
may be said of ‘black brood,” which is jelly-like in consistency. I
have seen “chilled brood,” but not ‘ pickled brood” or “black
brood.”

“Scalded brood”. The dead brood in this case has a very
moist and heated appearance, as though it had been parboiled ; it
rapidly becomes putrid, and in this condition has an exceedingly
offensive smell. “Scalded brood” may readily be mistaken by a novice
for “foul brood,” as I have known on two or three occasions, The
cause is excessive heat and insufficient ventilation, It may also be
brought about by confining brood in hives while transporting them
to a distance. On this account all brood should be removed from

hives about to be closed for more than a few hours, and then they
should be well ventilated.

15

Treatment or “ Fount Broon.”

The drug treatment for the cure of “foul brood” so strongly
recommended by Cheshire and others, who claimed to have been
successful, has, after about a quarter of a century’s trial under all
conditions, been almost universally condemned. I have no reason to
doubt that in the hands of scientific men like the late Mr. Cheshire
cures can be effected by drugs. What we have to consider, how-
ever, is not what the scientific man can accomplish by any particular
method, so much as what effective treatment is there that will come
within the accomplishment of the average beekeeper? What is
known as the “ starvation” plan, hrought so prominently forward of
late vears by Mr. McEvoy, answers to this, and it has been found to
be the most successful generally of any treatment yet tried. Mr.
McEvoy, in fact, claims to have cured thousands of diseased colonies
by the starvation method, and it is now almost the only one adopted.

It is by no means new, for in 1885 Mr. D. A. Jones, of Canada,
who was at that time one of the most extensive beekeepers in the
world, advocated the plan in a little work he published on “ Foul
Brood: its Management and Cure,” and it was afterwards known as
“* Jones’s starvation plan.” Mr. Cowan, editor and proprietor of the
British Bee Journal, in reviewing the work in December of the same
year, pointed out that “as far back as 1767 one J. G. Seydel, and
in 1775 J. C. Voight, recommended similar treatment.” Bonner
in 1789, and Della-Roux in 1790, were both practising it, while
Quinby in 1865, in his book, gives it as “ the only effectual cure.”

The Jones Method.

The treatment given in his work was to shake the bees from
the infected combs into an empty box, and to close the top aud
entrance with wire cloth; then to place the box of bees in some
dark place (a cellar if possible), turning the box on its side so as
the wire cloth is at the side to allow air to pass through. Dark-
ness and a cool temperature are important, as also that all the
bees should be equally filled with honey. They are to remain where
deposited until they show signs of hunger. This they will do in
from four to six days, and they must be carefully watched after
the third day, as they are liable to die very quickly. When suffi-
ciently starved, which is known by some of the bees dropping down
and crawling about in a slow, quiet manner, they are shaken in
front of a hive prepared with some combs, and are allowed to run
in just the same as a swarm. If there is no food in the combs
the bees should be fed. The combs from infected hives should be
melted into wax and the frames boiled for some minutes.

16

The McEvoy Treatment.

It may be mentioned that Mr. McEvoy is Foul Brood Inspector
of Ontario, Canada, and has the credit of having had a wider
experience in the treatment of “foul brood” than any man living.
He says, ‘In the honey season, when the bees are gathering freely,
remove the combs in the evening, and shake the bees into their own
hive. Give them frames with comb-foundation starters on, and let
them build combs for four days. The bees will make the starters
into comb during the four days and store the diseased honey in
them which they carried from the old combs. Then in the evening
of the fourth day take out the new combs and give them, comb-
foundation [Full sheets—I. H.] to work out, aul then the cure
will be complete.”

He further adds, ‘ By this method of treatment all the diseased:
honey is removed from the bees before the full sheets of foundatiow
are worked out. Where you find a large quantity of nice brood with
only a few cells of ‘foul brood’ in the most of your colonies, and
have shaken the bees off for treatment, fill two hives full with these:
combs of brood, and then place one hive of vrood on the other, and
shade this tiered-up brood from the sun until the most of it has
hatched ; then, in the evening, shake these bees into a single hive
and give them frames with comb-foundation starters on and _ let
them build comb for four days; then, tn the evening of the fourth
day, take out the new comb and give them comb-foundation to
work out to complete the cures. After the brood is hatched out of
the old combs the latter must be made into wax or burned, together
with all the new combs made out of starters during the four days,
on account of the diseased honey that would be stored in them.
: All the curing or treating of diseased colonies should
be done in the evening, so as not to have any robbing, or cause any
bees from the diseased colonies to mix and go in with the bees of
sound colonies.”

It will be noticed that Mr. McEvoy says nothing about confining
the bees to the hive during the first process as in Jones’s plan, nor
does he advocate giving a clean hive or disinfecting the old one,
which most beekeepers consider a very necessary precaution to
take.

While on my rounds [examined a colony at an apiary in Hawke’s
Bay, on the 17th February last, which had been badly infected with
disease and treated in the previous November, and out of some thirty-
two colonies in the same apiary it was certainly one of the strongest
when I saw it. Instead, however, of following the McEvoy plan
closely, the bees were shaken off the frames down in front of a clean,

17

empty kerosene-case placed on the old stand, and on the fourth day
after, changed into a clean hive furnished with full sheets of comb-
foundation. While at the apiary I assisted in treating another in
the same way. I am well aware that some years ago the owner of the
same apiary was near giving up beekeeping in despair owing to
“foul brood,” but he is now well satisfied to coutinue, having practi-
cally mastered the disease by his treatment.

TREATMENT RECOMMENDED.

During the course of my rounds I have discussed the subject of
treatment of “foul brood ” with quite a number of our leading and
most extensive beekeepers (to whom I acknowledge my indebtedness
for their valuable assistance), who have had many years’ experience
in dealing with the disease, and who have by care and perseverance
been able to master it, in so far that it now gives them but little
anxiety. They, however, never relax their watchfulness for symp-
toms, and treatment at once follows their first appearance, as a
matter of course. They were unanimous in their opinion that the
only certain and effective treatment that will suppress and cure
the disease is the starvation method, and there are only very
trifling differences in some of the details in their mode of carrying
it out.

The following remarks practically convey the gist of their several
opinions and my own experience, and I have full confidence in re-
commending to our New Zealand beekeepers the following slight
modifications of the McEvoy treatment.

In the spring, after the weather has become warm and settled,
and honey being stored freely, and before much breeding is in pro-
gress (some time in November), is the most suitable time to deal
with diseased colonies. Two good reasons may be advanced for this :
First, because the disease in its earlier stages is more readily de-
tected in spring ; and, secondiy, because the colonies treated at that
time have an opportunity of recovering and becoming strong before
the main honey-flow sets in. Treatment may also be carried out at
any time during the honey season, but there must of necessity be
greater sacrifice than when done in spring.

Keep a sharp look-out when going through the hives in early
spring and mark any containing disease for treatment later on. Be
cautious not to disturb the affected colonies more than can be avoided
until time for treatment, lest robbing should take place. Where
the disease is in an advanced stage and the colony very weak, it will
be more safe and profitable to destroy the bees by sulphur or other
means, and to melt the combs into wax or burn them at once. The

2—Bee-culture.

18

hive, frames, and bottom board should be either disinfected or
burned as soon as possible before other bees get near them.

To avoid the risk of the bees decamping, as they are liable to do
when suddenly deprived of their combs, especially in spring, the
queen may be caged just previous to the operation, and the cage sus-
pended between the frames after the operation and until the bees
are again changed on the fourth day, when she may be released in
the new hive. It is not absolutely necessary to cage the queen
except as a precautionary measure. Examine the bees towards the
close of the third day, and if many have fallen from the cluster feed
them at once, either with frames of clean honey from healthy stocks
or with sugar-syrup. Food should also be given when the weather
is unfavourable at this time for gathering honey. Carry out ali
such operations in the evening when the other bees are quiet; get
through as quietly and speedily as possible, and take care the
diseased bees do not have an opportunity to enter other hives.

Foop anv Frepine.

Frames of honey from healthy colonies may be given, but if
there be any doubt feed with sugar-syrup, made by adding half a pint
of water to each 1 lb. of sugar used, and bringing it to the boiling-
point ; stir for the first few minutes till all the sugar is dissolved ;
when cool it will be ready for use. Empty, clean combs make
capital feeders. They may be filled by placing them at an angle in
a Jarge milk-dish or a similar vessel and pouring in the syrup from
asmall strainer held 1 ft. or Lit. 3in. above them. The falling syrup
drives the air from the cells and takes its place. After filling them
the combs should be suspended until they are free from drip, when
they will be ready for use. In the absence of empty combs, syrup
may be given in any of the ordinary feeders sold by hive-manufac-
turers, placed above the frames, turning a corner of the mat up to
make a passage for the bees. It is advisable to put on an empty
half-story body for convenience while using a feeder above the
frames. Feeding should always be done late in the evening to pre-
vent excitement and robbing.

Disinrectinc Hives.

I certainly, in all cases, strongly recommend disinfecting hives
and other implements that have been in contact with diseased colonies.
In fact, I think it a good plan to do so with everything at the end
of each season as a precautionary measure, whether “ foul brood” is
present or not.

The hives should be well scraped free from propolis, and the

19

scrapings burned ; then brush them with a solution of carbolic acid—
loz. of acid (Calvert’s No. 5) to 4 quarts of water well mixed—
taking care the solution does not come in contact with the hands.

Let the hives remain exposed to the air for several days before using
them.

I¥. THE LARGE BEE OR WAX MOTH (Galleria mellonella,
Linn.).

This moth, so far as I am aware, has only quite recently made
its appearance in New Zealand, brought here probably from Aus-
tralia, where it is said to have been introduced from Europe about
the year 1880. The larve or grubs of the moth were first sent to
me by Messrs. H. Betts and Son, of Okaiawa, near Mount Egmont,
in the early part of 1904, and I had no difficulty in recognising them
as the larve of the large moth, having previously seen similar grubs
in boxes with bees imported from Europe.

During my recent visit to the Okaiawa district I discovered the
moth and grubs in three different apiaries a considerable distance
apart from each other, so that it may be taken for granted the
moth has now established itself in this colony. I have not yet seen
it in any other district. In each of the hives where I found the
moth the colony was very weak—a long way below the normal
strength—which would, no doubt, account for its getting a footing ;
in no case did I find it in colonies of normal strength. A favourite
haunt of the grub is on the top of the frames under the mat, or
where there are two mats it will get in between them. They are to
be found there chiefly in the daytime, where they apparently hide
from the bees, and attack the combs at night; but when the colony
becomes very weak the grubs show no such fear and attack the
combs at all times.

It is the larve or grubs of the moth which prove so destructive
to the combs, burrowing through them under the protection of
strong silken galleries which they spin around themselves secure
from the bees as they advance in their work of destruction.
Eventually the combs are completely destroyed, and fall, a mass of
web and cocoons, to the bottom of the hive (see Plate V.).

Irs Hapits anp Narurat History.

The moth itself, which is usually to be seen during warm summer
evenings flitting about the hives, watching for an opportunity to lay
its eggs within or near the entrances, can readily discover weak
colonies, when it does not hesitate to enter the hives, and thus the

20

grubs eventually get a footing, from which they are seldom or never
dislodged by the bees.

Mr. Sidney Oliff, Government Entomologist for New South
Wales, when writing some time ago on the natural history of this
moth, said, ‘“ With us in New South Wales the first brood of moth
appears in the early spring, from caterpillars which have passed the
winter in a semi-dormant condition within the walls of their silken
coverings, and only turned to pup or chrysalids upon the approach of
warm weather. These winter (or hibernating) caterpillars feed very
little, and usually confine their wanderings to the silken channels
which they have made for themselves before the cool weather sets
in. Upon the return of the desired warmth the caterpillars spin a
complete cocoon for themselves and turn to the chrysalis stage, and in
from ten days to a fortnight the perfect moth appears. The moth
then lays its eggs in any convenient spot, such as the sides and bot-
toms of the frames, on the walls of the hive itself, or on the comb.
In each case I have had an opportunity of observing the process, the
moth chose the sides of the frames, as near to the brood combs as
possible, the young larvae having a decided preference for this comb.
The larve having once made their appearance, which they usually
do in from eight to ten days after the laying of the eggs, their
growth is exceedingly rapid, the average time before they are
ready to assume the chrysalis stage being only some thirty “days.
The average duration of the chrysalis period is about a fortnight,
so it can easy be seen with what great capabilities for rapid
reproduction we have to deal. As we have said, the number of
generations, or broods, which develop in a season—i.e., between
early spring and late autumu—varies with locality and climate ;
but it may be worth while to record that, in my opinion, we have
sufficient evidence to prove the existence of four broods in the
Sydney district under ordinary circumstances.”

The average length of the grub is about lin., and “ when first
hatched it is pale yellow with a slightly darker head, and of a
greyish flesh-colour when full-grown, with a dark reddish-brown
head.” The length of the moth is about 3 in., “has reddish brown-

grey forewings, which are distinctly lighter in colour towards the
outer or hinder margins.”’

REMEDIES.

It has been frequently remarked, and no doubt with a con-
siderable amount of truth, that the moth is only the enemy of
the careless beekeeper—intending to convey the idea that with
care and attention there need be no fear of it doing damage in
the apiary. A colony of bees at its normal strength is practically
proof against all its enemies, but the box-hive beekeeper who

21

cannot control his bees has the most to fear from this moth,
for when once it gets into a box hive there is no means of getting
rid of it without cutting out all the combs, which in such a case
would practically mean the destruction of the colony. On the
other hand, the up-to-date beekeeper with movable-frame hives,
and who follows the golden rule of beekeeping—viz., keeping all
colonies strong—has nothing whatever to fear from the moth or
any other enemies of the bee.

Italian bees can protect themselves against the large moth better
than the common or black bees, therefore on this account alone it is
advisable to cultivate these in preference to the others.

Fumicatinc Comss.

It is not only the combs within the hives that are liable to be
attacked by the moth, but they become a prey to the latter wher-
ever they happen to be unprotected. No combs or pieces of combs
should be allowed to lie about; when they are of no further service
they should be melted into wax at once. Spare combs should
always be stored in a place of safety from the moth, and inspected
frequently. On the first sign of grubs they should be fumigated,
and a few days after should undergo a second fumigation. When
there are not many to do they may be suspended in empty hives
about lin. apart, and the latter piled one on the other, taking care
that the junctions of the boxes are made smoke-tight by pasting a
strip of paper round them. The top box of the pile should contain
no frames. Into this place an old iron saucepan containing live
wood-embers, and on to these throw a couple of handfuls of sulphur,
close the cover securely and keep closed for a couple of days. In
a large apiary it is best to have a small room fitted up for the
purpose. Two or three pounds of sulphur will be sufficient for a
large room.

Vv. APICULTURE IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.*

The benefits derived by both agriculturists and horticulturists
from the labours of the bee are now very generally understood and

* This paper, which constituted the nineteenth chapter of the third edition of my
“ Australasian Bee Manual’’ (now out of print), was an attempt, and I have reasons
for believing a successful attempt, to clear up several misunderstandings that had
arisen in the minds of some farmers who had come to regard the working of neighbours’
bees on their pasturage as detrimental to themselves, and to prove on the contrary that
it is really to their interests to encourage beekeeping. Shortly after the paper was
first published the subject was brought prominently forward in consequence of the
action taken by a farmer in the United States to claim damages from a neighbouring
beekeeper for alleged injury done to his grazing-sheep by trespassing(?) bees. Needless
to say, he lost his cave. The paper has been extensively quoted in several American
bee journals, and described as a ‘‘unique and valuable addition to bee literature” I
trust it may still serve a good purpose in this country where it first appeared.

22

acknowledged ; but still cases do sometimes occur, though rarely, of
farmers objecting to the vicinity of an apiary, and complaining of
bees as “ trespassers,” instead of welcoming them as benefactors.

Are Bees TRESPASSERS 7

It is not, perhaps, surprising that at first a man should imagine
he was being injured in consequence of bees gathering honey on his
land, to be stored up elsewhere, and for the use of other parties ; he
might argue that the honey belonged by right to him, and even
jump at the conclusion that there was so much of the substance of
the soil taken away every year, and that his land must therefore
become impoverished. It is true that if he possessed such an
amount of knowledge as might be expected to belong to an intelli-
gent agriculturist, working upon rational principles, he should be
able, upon reflection, to see that such ideas were entirely groundless.
Nevertheless the complaint is sometimes made, in a more or less
vague manner, by persons who ought to know better; and even bee-
keepers appear occasionally to adopt an apologetic tone, arguing that
“bees do more good than harm,” instead of taking the much higher
and only true stand by asserting that bees, while conferring great
benefits on agriculture, do no harm whatever, and that the presence
of an apiary on or close to his land can be nothing but an advantage
to the agriculturist.

BenericiaL Inruuence or BEEs on AGRICULTURE.

We have already in Chapter III. dwelt upon the value of the
intervention of bees in the cross-fertilisation of plants, and can here
only refer the reader for further information to the works of Sir J.
Lubbock and of Darwin. The latter, in his work on “Cross and
Self Fertilisation of Plants,’ gives the strongest evidence as to the
beneficial influence of bees upon clover-crops. At page 169, when
speaking of the natural order of leguminous plants, to which the
clovers belong, he says, “ The cross-seedlings have an enormous
advantage over the self-fertilised ones when grown together in close
competition ” ; and in Chapter X., page 361, he gives the following
details of, some experiments, which show the importance of the part
played by bees in the process of cross-fertilisation ;—

_ Prifoliwm repens (White Clover).—Several plants were protected from
insects, and the seeds from ten flower-heads on these plants and from ten
heads on other plants growing outside the net (which I saw visited by
bees) were counted, and the seeds from the latter plants were very nearly
ten times as numerous as those from the protected plants. The experi-
ment was repeated in the following year, and twenty protected heads now

yielded only a single abortive seed, whilst twenty heads on the plant
outside the net (which I saw visited by bees) yielded 2,290 Lois

23

as calculated by weighing all the seeds and counting the nunber in »
weight of two grains.

: Trifolium pratense (Purple Clover).—-One hundred flower-heads on
plants protected by a net did not produce a single seed, whilst one
hundred on plants growing outside (which were visited by bees) yielded

68 grains weight of seed; and as eighty seeds weighed 2 grains the

hundred heads must have yielded 2,720 seeds.

Here we have satisfactory proof that the effect of cross-fertilisa-
tion brought about by bees upon the clovers and other plants grow-
ing in meadows and pasture lands is the certain production of a
large number of vigorous seeds, as compared with the chance only
of a few and weak seeds if self-fertilisation were to be depended
upon. In the case of meadow-cultivation it enables the farmer to
raise seed for his own use or for sale, instead of having to purchase
it, while at the same time the nutritious quality of the hay is, as we
shall see further on, improved during the process of ripening the
seed. In the case of pasture lands, such of those vigorous seeds as
are allowed to come to maturity and to fall in the field will send up
plants of a stronger growth to take the place of others that may
have died out, or to fill up hitherto-unoccupied spaces, thus tending
to cause a constant renewal and strengthening of the pasture. The
agriculturist himself should be the best judge of the value of such
effects.

The beneficial effect of the bees’ visits to fruit-trees has been
well illustrated by Mr. Cheshire in the pages of the British Bee
Journal, and by Professor Cook in his article upon ‘‘ Honey Bees and
Horticulture ” in the American Apiculturist. In fact, even those
who complain of bees cannot deny the services they render; what
they contest is the assertion that bees do no harm.

Can BEES HARM THE SOIL OR THE Crops ?

is then the question to be considered. The agriculturist may say,
‘‘Granting that the visits of bees may be serviceable to me in the
fertilisation of my fruit or my clover, how will you prove that I am
not obliged to pay too.high a price for such services?”’ For the
answer to such a question one must fall back upon the researches
of the agricultural chemist, which will furnish satisfactory evidence
to establish the two following facts: First, that saccharine matter,
even when assimilated and retained within the bodv of a plant, is
not one of the secretions of vegetable life which can in any way tend
to exhaust the soil, being made up of constituents which are fur-
nished everywhere in superabundance by the atmosphere and rain-
water, and not containing any of the mineral or organic substances
supplied by the soil or by the manures used in agriculture; and,
secondly, that in the form in which it is appropriated by bees, either

24

from the nectaries of flowers or as honeydew from the leaves, it no
longer constitutes a part of the plant, but is in fact an excrement,
thrown off as superfluous, which if not collected by the bee and by
its means made available for the use of man would either be
devoured by other insects which do not store honey, or be resolved
into its original elements and dissipated in the air.

The foregoing statements can be supported by reference to
authorities which can leave no doubt as to their correctness—
namely, Sir Humphrey Davy in his “ Elements of Agricultural
Chemistry,” written more than fifty vears ago, and Professor Liebig
in his ‘‘ Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,”
written some ten years later, and the English version of which is
edited by Dr. Lyon Playfair and Proféssor Gregory. These works,
which may be said to form the foundation of a rational system of
agriculture, were written with that object alone in view, and the
passages about to be quoted were not intended to support any theory
in favour of bee-culture or otherwise; they deal simply with scientific
truths which the layman can safely follow and accept as true upon
such undeniable authority, although he may be incapable himself
of following up the processes which have led to their discovery or
which prove their correctness.

SaccHaRINE Matter oF PLANTS NOT DERIVED FROM THE SOIL.

Liebig, when describing the chemical processes connected with
the nutrition of plants, informs us (at page 4*) that—

There are two great classes into which ail vegetable products may
be arranged. The first of these contain nitrogen; in the last this
element is absent. The compounds destitute of nitrogen may be divided
into those in which oxygen form a constituent (starch, lignine, &c.) and
those into which it does not enter (oils of turpentine, lemon, &c.)

And at page 141 that—

Sugar and starch do not contain nitrogen ; they exist in the plants
in a free state, and are never combined with salts or with alkaline bases.
They are compounds formed from the carbon of the carbonic acid and
the elements of water (oxygen and hydrogen).

Sir Humphrey Davy had already stated that, “ according to the
latest experiments of Gay Lussac and Thenard, sugar consists of
42°47 per cent. of carbon and 57°23 per cent. of water and its con-
stituents.” Now, Liebig in several parts of his work shows that
the carbon in sugar and all vegetable products is obtained from
carbonic acid in the atmosphere ; and that “ plants do not exhaust
the carbon of the soil in the normal condition of their growth; on
the contrary, they add to its quantity.”

* The edition to which reference is made is the fourth, published 1847.

25

DERIVED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AND RAIN-WATER.

The same authority shows that the oxygen and hydrogen in
these products are derived from the atmosphere and from rain-
water; and that it is only the products containing nitrogen (such
as gluten or albumen in the seeds or grains), and those containing
mineral matter (silex, lime, aluminium, &c.), which take away from
the soil those substances that are required to be returned to it in
the shape of manures. The saccharine matter once it is secreted
by the plant and separated from it is even useless as a manure,
Liebig says on this head, page 21,—

The most important function in the life of plants, or, in other
words, in their assimilation of carbon, is the separation—we might almost
say the generation—of oxygen. No matter can be considered as nutritious
or as necessary to the growth of plants which possesses a composition
either similar to or identical with theirs, because the assimilation of
such a substance could be effected without the exercise of this function.
The reverse is the case in the nutrition of animals. Hence such sub-
stances as sugar, starch, and gum, themselves the products of plants,
cannot be adapted for assimilation ; and this is rendered certain by the
experiments of vegetable physiologists, who have shown that aqueous
solutions of these bodies are imbibed by the roots of plants and carried
to all parts of their structure, but are not assimilated; they cannot
therefore be employed in their nutrition.

Nectar or PLANtTs INTENDED TO ATTRACT INSECTS.

The secretion of saccharine matter in the nectaries of flowers is
shown to be one of the normal functions of the plant, taking place
at the season when it is desirable to attract the visits of insects for
the purposes of its fertilisation. It may then be fairly asserted that
the insect when it carries off the honey from any blossom it has
visited is merely taking with it the fee or reward provided by nature
for that special service. '

SOMETIMES THROWN OFF AS SUPERFLUOUS.

There are, however, occasions when considerable quantities of
such matter are thrown off or exuded by the leaves, which effect is
taken to indicate an abnormal or unhealthy condition of the plant.
At pages 106 and 107 of Liebig’s book (speaking of an experiment
made to induce the rising sap of a maple-tree to dissolve raw sugar
applied through a hole cut in the bark) he shows (in a passage
already quoted at page 86) that,—

When a sufficient quantity of nitrogen is not present to aid in the

assimilation of the substances destitute of it, these substances will be
separated as excrements from the bark, roots, leaves, and branches

26

In a note to this last paragraph we are told that—

Langlois has lately observed, during the dry summer of 1842, that
the leaves of the linden-tree became covered with a thick and sweet liquid
in such quantities that for several hours of the day it ran off the leaves
like drops of rain. Many kilograms might have been collected from a
moderate-sized linden-tree.

And further on, at page 141, he says,—

In a hot summer, when the deficiency of moisture prevents the ab-
sorption of alkalies, we observe the leaves of the lime-tree, and of other
trees, covered with a thick liquid containing a large quantity of sugar ;
the carbon of the sugar must without doubt be obtained from the
carbonic acid of the air. The generation of the sugar takes place in the
leaves, and all the constituents of the leaves, including the alkalies and
alkaline earths, must participate in effecting its formation. Sugar does
not exude from the leaves in moist seasons, and this leads us to con-
jecture that the carbon which appeared as sugar in the former case would
have been applied in the formation of other constituents of the tree in
the event of its having had a free and unimpeded circulation.

These quotations will probably be considered sufficient to justify
the assertion that the gathering of the honey from plants can in no
possible way tend to exhaust the soil, or affect its fertility. There
is no difference of opinion amongst scientific men as to the sources
from which the saccharine matter of plants is derived. Since
Liebig first put forward his views on that subject, as well as with
regard to the sources from which the plants derive their nitrogen,
the principles of agricultural chemistry have been studied by the
most eminent chemists, some of whom combated the views of Liebig
on this latter point (the source of nitrogen and its compounds), and
Liebig himself seems to have modified his views on that point; but
there has been no difference of opinion about the saccharine matter,
as to which Liebig’s doctrine will be found given unaltered in the
latest colonial work on the subject, Maclvor’s “ Chemistry of Agri-
culture,” published at Melbourne a few years ago.

Surerrivous NEcTaR EVAPORATED 1F NOT TAKEN By INsECTS,

That the nutritive quality of the plants in any growing crop is
not diminished by the abstraction of honey from their blossoms
would appear to be evident from the fact already referred to, that
those plants have actually thrown off the honey from the superfluity
of their saccharine juices, as a matter which they could no longer
assimilate. There would appear, on the other hand, to be good
reason to believe that the plants themselves become daily more nutri-
tive during the period of their giving off honey—that is, from the
time of flowering to that of ripening their seeds. This is a point
upon which, I believe, all agricultural chemists are not quite agreed,
but the testimony of Sir H. Davy is very strong in favour of it. In

27

the appendix to his work already quoted, he gives the results of
experiments made conjointly by himself and Mr. Sinclair, the
gardener to the Duke of Bedford, upon nearly a hundred different
varieties of grasses and clovers. These were grown carefully in
small plots of ground as nearly as possible equal in size and quality ;
equal weights of the dried produce of each cut at different periods,
especially at the time of flowering and at that of ripened seeds, were
“acted upon by hot water till ali their soluble parts were dissolved ;
the solution was then evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat in a
proper stove, and the matter obtained carefully weighed, and the dry
extract, supposed to contain the nutritive matter of the plants, was
sent for chemical analysis.” Sir H. Davy adds his opinion that this
“mode of determining the nutritive power of grasses is sufficiently
accurate for all the purposes of agricultural investigation.” Further
on he reports, “In comparing the compositions of the soluble pro-
ducts afforded by different crops from the same grass, I found, in all
the trials I made, the largest quantity of truly nutritive matter in
the crop cut when the seed was ripe, and the least bitter extract and
saline matter, and the most saccharine matter, in proportion to the
other ingredients, in the crop cut at the time of flowering.” In the
instance which he then gives, as an example, the crop cut when the
seed had ripened showed 9 per cent. less of sugar, but 18 per cent.
more of mucilage and what he terms “ truly nutritive matter” than
the crop cut at the time of flowering. From this it would follow
that during the time a plant is in blossom and throwing off a super-
fluity of saccharine matter in the shape of honey the assimilation of
true nutritive matter in the plant itself is progressing most favour-
ably. In any case it is clear that the honey, being once exuded,
may be taken away by bees or any other insects (as it is evidently
intended to be taken) without any injury to the plant, by which it
certainly cannot be again taken up, but must be evaporated if left
exposed to the sun’s heat.

Question 48 TO GRAZING-STOCK.

There is, however, a plea put in by the agriculturist on behalf of
his grazing-stock, and one which he generally seems to consider
unanswerable. He says, “Even if it he admitted that the removal
of the honey from my farm is neither exhausting to the soil nor
injurious to the plants of the standing crops, still it is so much
fattening-matter which might be consumed by my stock if it had
not been pilfered by the bees.”

. Now, it may at once be admitted that honey consists to a great
extent of fattening-matter, though it may be allowable to doubt

28

whether in that particular form it is exactly suitable as food for
grazing-cattle. Although it is quite true that the saccharine matter
assimilated in the body of a plaut tends to the formation of fat in
the animal which eats and digests that plant, still one may question
the propriety of feeding the same animal on pure honey or sugar.
We may, however, waive that view of the subject, as we shall shortly
see that it is only a question of such homeopathically small doses as
would not be likely to interfere with the digestion of the most
delicate grazing-animal, any more than they would considerably
increase its weight. Admitting, therefore, that every pound of
honey of which the grazing-stock are deprived by bees is a loss to
the farmer, and therefore to be looked upon as a set-off to that
extent against the benefits conferred by the bees in other ways, it
will be necessary to consider to what extent it is possible that such
loss may be occasioned.

Quanvity or Honey FURNISHED BY Pasture Lanp,

In the first place, it must be recollected that a large proportion
—in some cases the great bulk—of the honey gathered by bees is
obtained from trees, as, for instance, the linden in Europe, the bass-
wood and maple in America, and in this country the forest trees,
nearly all of which supply rich forage for the bee, and everywhere
from fruit-trees in orchards. A large quantity is gathered from
flowers and flowering shrubs reared in gardens; from clover and
other plants grown for hay, and not for pasture; and even in the
field there are many shrubs and flowering plants which yield honey,
but which are never eaten by cattle. Pastures, therefore, form but
a small part of the sources from which honey is obtained; and in
dealing with this grazing question we have to confine our inquiries
to clovers and other flowering plants grown in open pastures, and
such as constitute the ordinary food of grazing-stock. In order to
meet the question in the most direct manner, however, let us assume
the extreme case of a large apiary being placed in a district where
there is nothing else but such open pastures, and growing only such
flowering plants as are generally eaten by stock. Now, the ordinary
working-range of the bee may be taken at a mile and a half from
the apiary on all sides, which gives an area of about 4,500 acres for
the supply of the apiary; and if the latter consists of a hundred
hives, producing an average of 1001b. of honey, there would be a
little more than 21b. of honey collected off each acre in the year;
or, if we suppose so many as two hundred hives to be kept at one
place, and to produce so much as 10 tons of honey in the season,
the quantity collected from each acre would be 4 Ib. to 5 lb.

29

PROPORTION POSSIBLY CONSUMED BY Stock.

Let us next consider what proportion of those few pounds of
honey could have found its way into the stomachs of the grazing-
stock if it had not been for the bees. It is known that during the
whole time the clover or other plants remain in blossom, if the
weather be favourable, there is a daily secretion of fresh honey,
which, if not taken at the proper time by bees or other insects, is
evaporated during the midday heat of the sun. It has been
calculated that a head of clover consists of fifty or sixty separate
flowers, each of which contains a quantity not exceeding one five-
hundredth part of a grain in weight, so that the whole head may
be taken to contain one-tenth of a grain of honey at any one time.
If this head of clover is allowed to stand until the seeds are ripened
it may be visited on ten or even twenty different days by bees, and
they may gather on the whole one, or even two, grains of honey
from the same head, whereas it is plain that the grazing-animal can
only eat the head once, and consequently can only eat one-tenth of a
grain of honey with it. Whether he gets that one-tenth grain or
not depends simply on the fact whether or not the bees have
exhausted that particular head on the same day just before it was
eaten. Now, cattle and sheep graze during the night and early
morning, long before the bees make their appearance some time after
sunrise; all the flowering plants they happen to eat during that
time will contain the honey secreted in the evening and night-time ;
during some hours of the afternoon the flowers will contain no
honey, whether they have been visited by bees or not; and even
during the forenoon, when the bees are not busy, it is by no
means certain that they will forestall the stock in visiting any
particular flower. If a field were so overstocked that every head of
clover should be devoured as soon as it blossomed, then, of course,
there would be nothing left for the bees; but if, on the other hand,
as is generally the case, there are always blossoms left standing in
the pasture, some of them even till they wither and shed their
seeds, then it must often happen that after bees shali have visited
such blossoms ten or even twenty times, and thus collected one or
even two grains of honey from one head, the grazing-animal may,
after all, eat that particular plant and enjoy his one-tenth of a grain
of honey just as well as if there had never been any bees in the field.
If all these chances be taken into account it will be evident that out
of the 4]b. or 5 1b. of honey assumed to be collected by bees from
one acre of pasturage probably not one-tenth, and possibly not
even one-twentieth, part could under any circumstances have been
consumed by the grazing-animals —so that it becomes a question of
a few ounces of fattening-matter, more or less, for all the stock fed

30

upon an acre during the whole season; a matter so ridiculously
trivial in itself, and so out of all proportion to the services rendered
to the pasture by the bees, that it may be safely to be left out of
consideration altogether.

BeekeEpine as A BrancH or FarMING.

There is still one point which may possibly be raised hy the
agriculturist or landowner: “If the working of bees is so benefi-
cial to my crops, and if such a large quantity of valuable matter
may be taken, in addition to the ordinary crops, without impoverish-
ing my land, why shou!d I not take it instead of another person
who has by right no interest in my crop or my land?” The
answer to this is obvious. It is, of course, quite open to the agri-
culturist to keep any number of bees he may think fit; only, he
must consider well in how far it will pay him to add the care of
an apiary to his other duties. No doubt every one farming land
may with advantage keep a few stands of hives to supply his own
wants in honey ; the care of them will not take up too much of his
time, or interfere much with his other labours; but if he starts a
large apiary with the expectation that it shall pay for itself, he must
either give up the greater portion of his own time to it or
employ skilled labour for that special purpose; and he must recol-
lect that the profits of beekeeping are not generally so large as to
afford more than a fair remuneration for the capital, skill, and time
required to be devoted to the pursuit. In any case, he cannot con-
fine the bees to work exclusively on his own property, unless the
latter is very extensive. When such is the case, he may find it
greatly to his advantage to establish one or more apiaries to be
worked under proper management, as a separate branch of his
undertaking ; but in every case, whether he may incur or share the
risks of profit and loss in working an apiary or not, the thing itself
can only be a source of unmixed advantage to his agricultural
operations, and consequently if he does not occupy the ground in

that way himself he should only be glad to see it done by any other
person.

By Authority : Jouw Mackay, Government Printer, —1905.
[10,000/5/1905— 3789

(Photo. by R. Walrond.

(OrntetnaL )

Worken-comB. BUILT oUT oN A SHEET oF WoRKER-coMB FounparTIon.

Pirate Is

Pee-culture.]

Fount Broop”’) WorkER-cELIS IN THE

(Orie1Nax )

REMAINDER.

Puate II. Comp sHowinc DRoNE-cELLS To THE RicHT aND Upper Lerr CENTRE, AND DISEASED (‘

(Photo. by R. Walrond.

Bee-culture.)

[Photo. by R. Walrond.

(OrntarNat.)

Foun Broop”’ (Bacillus alvei) 1s aN ADVANCED Srace.

CoMB INFECTED WITH **

Prate III.

Bee-culture.}

Pratt IV. A Portion or tHE DisEAsED ComB sHOWN IN PuateE III., ENLARGED
to Naturau Size.
Bee-culture.]

“soy “4p fq ‘0,04 ) [-aungna-aag

(‘TVNIDINQ) *(vyJaucZJaW vI4a77PH) HLOW-XVAA ADV] AM CHAOULSAC ATUVAN GNV GHNOVLLY AWOD “A BLYIG

First Edition,10,.000 May,1905. Second Edition,
Revised and Enlarged, 10,000, December, 1907. re

Slew Zealand Sepiaetnnet of Agriculture.

JOHN D. KRiVCHIE, Secretary.

DIVISION OF BIOLOGY AND HORTICULTURE.

T. W. KIRK, F.LS&., Government Biologist, Chief of Division.

BULLETIN No. 5.

BEE-CULTURE.
e
I. Practical Advice.
Il. Apicalture in Relation to active:

Br ISAAC HOPKINS, Arrarier,

ILLUSTRATED.

The Hon. ROBERT McNAB, Minister for Agriculture.
——

WELLINGTON.
BY AUTHORITY: JOHN MACKAY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER,

1907.

First Edition, 10,000, May, 1905. Second Edition,
Revised and Enlarged, 10,000, December, 1907.

Heo Sealand Department of Agriculture

JOHN D. RITOHIE, Secretary

DIVISION OF BIOLOGY AND HORTICULTURE.

T. W. KIRK, F.L.S., Government Biologist, Chief of Division.

BULLETIN Ne. 3.

BEE-CULTURE.

I. Practical Advice.
Il. Apiculture in Relation to Agriculture.

ae By ISAAC HOPKINS, Apranist.

ILLUSTRA'VED.

The Hon. ROBERT McNAB,ZMinister for Agriculture.

WEILLINGTON.
BY AUTHORITY: JOHN MACKAY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER,

1907.

CONTENTS.

PRACTICAL ADVICE.
I, The Use of Comb-foundation

Il. The Ripening and Maturing of Honey
Amount of Moisture in Honey..
Testing Honey for Ripeness
Specific Gravity of Honey a
Tests made ; a
Method of Testing
Honey Vinegar
Ripening Honey inside and outside the Hive
Ripening and Maturing Tanks
Size of Honey-tanks
EH. W. Alexavder’s Honey- ake
Heating the Honey-house at Night

III. Dealing with Thick Honey ar
Flora from which Thick Honey is gathered

Making the Best of the pe
Honey-press :

IV. Diseases of Bees and their Treatment
Foul-brood
Pickle-brood a
Chilled, Overbented, aud Starved Brood
Palsy or Paralysis ..

V. The Large Bee or Wax Moth

‘The Apiaries Act, 1907 ”
A Cheap Frame Hive

VI Spring Feeding of Bees
The Cause of Starvation
When and how to feed
Feeders ..

APICULTURE IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.

Are Bees Trespassers ?

Beneficial Influence of Bees on ieaioutone

Can Bees harm the Soil or the Crops ?

Saccharine Matter of Plants not derived from itis Soil
Derived from the Atmosphere and Rain-water

Nectar of Plants intended to attract Insects
Sometimes thrown off as superfluous ..

Superfiuous Nectar evaporated if not taken by inaeets
Question as to Grazing stock fe
Quantity of Honey furnished by Digiues Land .
Proportion possibly consumed by Stock

Beekeeping as a Branch of Farming ..

*
R
o

OOS OP p PP w ow

PREFACE TO SHCOND EDITION.

Tue increasing demand for instruction in bee-culture consequent upou
the rapid expansion of the industry throughout the Dominion has
necessitated the issue of a second edition of this Bulletin.

The matter contained in the first edition has been revised and largely
added to, and several other subjects of importance are dealt with in this
edition.

Beekeepers will be interested in learning that since the Bulletin
was in print I have received from Dr. E. F. Phillips, in charge of the
Division of Apiculture, United States Department of Agriculture, a
report upon specimens of diseased combs collected from the extreme
ends of New Zealand, and forwarded by myself to him. The results of
the investigation go to prove that we have the milder or ‘“‘American’”’
form of foul-brood, and not the dreaded ‘‘black-brood’’ prevalent in
Europe. Dr. Phillips says, ‘‘You are, then, able to say that American
foul-brood exists in New Zealand, and that it is caused by Bacillus

larve.”’

It will le well to note when reading section 9 of the Apiaries Act
(page 23) that the Act came into force on the 14th September, 1907.

I. HOPKINS.

seecessats

see
ecece
seecete

ve
es

[Sd 42%
peed erd as

wes
tei,

WorKER-cOMB, BUILT OUT on A SHEET or Worksn-comp Founnarton.

Puate I.

Bee-culture.]

(ORIGINAL)

[Photo. by R. Walrond.

MB sHowInG Dronz-cELLs To THs Ricur ano Upper Lurr Cuntre, and DISEASED

(‘Fount Broop’’) WorkER-cELLS IN THE REMAINDER.

Co

Puate II.

(ORIGINAL.)

[Photo. by R. Walrond.

Bee-culture.]

DEEZCUL TURE:

I. PRACTICAL ADVICE.

I. THE USE OF COMB-FOUNDATION.

TuE success of modern bee-culture hinges almost entirely in the first place
on securing complete control over the breeding, and this can only be
obtained by compelling the bees to build whatever kind of comb is desired.
Under natural conditions, or when in hives and allowed freedom to
construct their combs, they invariably build a goodly proportion of
drone-comb, which is subsequently utilised for breeding drones. This
accounts for the large number of drones to be seen in box hives, or where
no attempt has been made to control breeding. Drones, as most people
are aware, are non-producers— that is to say, they do not gather
honey, or even, so far as we know, do any work in the hives. They are
physically incapable, but they consume a large quantity of food gathered
by the workers, and where many are present the yield of honey from that
hive, and consequently the profit, will be considerably curtailed. Some
drones are needed for the impregnation of young queens, but it is found
in practice that a sufficient number for this purpose will be bred, even
when the breeding of them is restricted as much as possible, by making
the fullest use of worker-ccmb foundation.

The difference between worker and drone comb is in the size of the
cells, the former measuring slightly over five to the inch, and the latter
a little over four. The proportions are shown in Plate II. Drones can
only be bred in the larger and workers in the smaller cells. The comb-
foundation obtained from manufacturers is invariably impressed with the
bases of worker-cells, so that it is impossible, unless by accident some
portion has stretched, for the bees to build other than worker-comb on
it. The illustrations will make this clear. Plate I shows a perfect
worker-comb built out on a full sheet of comb-foundation, while Plate II
exhibits the result of the breaking-away of a portion and the stretching of

1—Bee-culture.

2

another portion due to careless fixing of what was originally a perfect
sheet of worker-comb foundation. These are very interesting reproduc-
tions from photographs taken specially for the purpose of this bulletin.
To the right of Plate II can be seen where the bees took advantage of the
accident to build drone-comb, and also where on the upper left centre
the original worker-cells have stretched and been utilised for breeding
drones. At the lower right-hand corner of Plate I a small portion of the
original sheet of comb-foundation upon which the comb is built can be
distinctly seen.

Securing control over breeding is not the énly advantage gained by
a free use of comb-foundation. For instance, a fair swarm of, say, 5 lb.
weight hived upon ten sheets of comb-foundation in a Langstroth hive
will have in twenty-four hours, in an average season, several of the sheets
partially worked out and a goodly number of eggs deposited in the cells,
-and in thirty-six hours the queen can henceforward lay to her full extent.
In from a week to nine days (depending upon the weather) the whole ten
sheets will be worked out into worker-combs, and a great deal occupied
with brood and honey, and the hive will then be ready for the top or
surplus honey super. In twenty-two or twenty-three days young worker-
bees will begin to emerge, and from this on the colony will grow rapidly
in strength from day to day.

Contrast this favourable condition of things with what takes place
when only narrow strips of comb-foundation are furnished. It will take
under the same conditions a similar swarm from four to five weeks to
fill the hive with comb, and then there will be a large proportion drone-
comb, which is the very thing to guard against. Consider what the
difference in time alone will make in the profitable working of a hive,
especially in a short season. Then, again, with regard to the difference
in the initial expense between using full sheets and strips, which seems
to influence many beekeepers in favour of the latter system: Even in that
there is a gain in favour of the method I am advocating. For instance,
the cost of filling the ten frames with sheets of best comb-foundation
would be (including the expenses of getting them) about 4s., and with
strips—say, two sheets—l0d.: an apparent saving in the first instance
of 3s. 2d. We must then consider the matter from another point of view.

The consensus of opinion ameng the most experienced beekeepers is
that there is an expenditure of about 12 1b. of honey in making 1 Ib. of
wax—that is, the bees consume that quantity of honey before secreting
1lb. of wax. The ten sheets of comb-foundation weigh 1}1b. and cost
4s. For this there would have to be an expenditure of 18 1b. of honey,
which, at the average wholesale price of 4d. per lb., is 6s., so that there is
a saving of 2s. in favour of the full sheets, to say nothing about all the
other advantages gained.

This shows clearly enough the advantage of making the fullest use
possible of comb-foundation.

Il. THE RIPENING AND MATURING OF HONEY:

All honey should be thoroughly ripened and matured before being
placed upon the market; otherwise it will rapidly deteriorate, to the
injury of the producer and the industry generally. All beekeepers are
fully aware of and admit this; nevertheless, occasionally unripe honey
finds its way to the markets, eventually to be condemned through fer-
mentation. In the absence, however, of any reliable method for deciding
when honey is ripe, beekeepers are not wholly blamable for being mistaken
on this point.

AMOUNT OF MOISTURE IN HONEY.

Nectar or honey when first gathered contains a variable quantity of
water, usually ranging from 18 to 23 per cent., according to the weather.
Mr. Otto Hehner, F.1.C., F.C.S., public analyst, and analyst to the
British Beekeepers’ Association, in a lecture before that body some years
ago stated, ‘‘ Essentially, honey consists of water and of sugar. Of the
water I need say but little except that I have found it to vary in quantity
from 12 to 23 per cent., the normal proportion being from 18 to 21 per
cent. When the percentage falls below 18 the honey is generally very
hard and solid; when it is higher than 21 it is frequently quite or almost
clear.’’

In Thorpe’s ‘‘ Dictionary of Applied Chemistry,’’ page 286, the
maximum, minimum, and average amount of moisture in twenty-five
samples of honey examined are given as follows: Maximum, 23°26 per
cent.; minimum, 12°43 per cent.; and the average of the twenty-five,
19°3 per cent.

Honey containing an excess of moisture is unripe and bound sooner
or later to ferment, but when such moisture is reduced below a certain
percentage the honey is said to be ripe, and it will in that condition
keep good for any length of time. There is in the Agricultural Museum
at Wellington a sample over sixteen years old, in splendid condition. At
what point the ‘
knowledge. The different works available contain no guidance on the
question.

Jt is extraordinary that, considering the importance of the subject.
the ripening and maturing of honey has never been discussed in bee
literature —at any rate, in the best that has appeared for over thirty
years. We have had volumes of vague statements and assertions by
correspondents in the various-bee journals, but nothing of value.

excess’? of moisture commences we have no definite

1*

4

TESTING HONEY FOR RIPENESS.

My former experience as a honey-merchant brought me into contact
with all sorts and conditions of beekeepers, and all sorts and conditions
of heney—-in its qualities of ripeness and unripeness. I then realised
the need there was that beekeepers should have some simple but reliable
method of testing honey for its ripeness before putting it up for the
market. It was frequently very difficult to decide whether honey was
ripe or nob while it was in liquid form; and to-day the same difficulty
obtains, demanding every effort to remove it.

It is beyond the accomplishment of the average beekeeper to determine
the exact amount of moisture a given sample of honey contains, neither
is it necessary, as we shall be able to arrive in time at the knowledge we
require by very simple means--that is, through the density or specific
gravity of the article. A very great number of tests must be carried
out before anything approaching a reliable standard of the specific gravity
for ripe honey of different varieties can be established.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF HONEY.

Previous to carrying out, recently, a series of tests of « number cf
samples of honey (which I shall explain directly) I consulted several
works in hope of getting some assistance from them, but was disappointed.
The British Bee Journal for December, 1885, contained the only item
on this matter in all my bee literature. The then editor, in reply to a
correspondent, gave figures from different works representing the specific
gravity of honey, ranging from 1°261 to 1°450, and then suggested taking
the mean of these figures—viz., 1°355—‘‘ as a conventional standard for
ripe honey,’’ admitting, at the same time, that ‘‘ clover honey in a dry
season is found to be 1°370.’’ This was a very haphazard way of deciding
so important a question. Thorpe’s work, already referred to, gives, on
page 287, a range from 1°439 to 1°448 as the specific gravity of honey;
another equally well-known work gives from 1°425 to 1429 for ‘‘ virgin
honev *’—whatever that may be—and from 1°415 to 1°422 for ‘‘ honey
from old bees’’(?); and the ‘“‘ Encyclopedia Britannica ’’ gives 1°410.
The foregoing figures, instead of affording any assistance, are, on the
contrary, rather misleading with regard to the actual density of ripe
honey.

TESTS MADE.

Some little time since I purchased from grocers in the crdinary way
twenty tins of different varieties and grades of honey, and tested them
very carefully for their specific gravity with a Twaddel’s and a Fletcher’s
hydrometer. Before testing, the condition of each sample was noted, in
order to compare the specific gravity with its appearance. Eleven

13)

samples 1anged from 1°400 to 1:430, with an average of nearly 1°418,
while the remaining nine ranged from 1°350 to 1:390. Those above 1°410
were very firm and dry before testing, and the whole twenty samples were
granulated. Those from 1'400 to 1°410 appeared to be well ripened,
but were not so firm as the others; there was a marked difference in those
below 1°400, which were soft and moist. My opinion is that the first-
mentioned were thoroughly ripe and would keep any length of time;:
the second lot, ranging from 1'400 to 1°410, were, as I said, well ripened
and fit for the market; while all the samples registering below 1°400
were very doubtful regarding their keeping-qualities—one at 1:385 had
already begun to ferment. These figures will be valuable for comparison
with those of future tests. I am keeping a portion of each sample sealed
to test by time. It was very noticeable that the better the honey the
higher was its specific gravity.

In addition to these tests Mr. Robert Gibb, of Tuturau, Southland,
honorary secretary of the Southland Beekeepers’ Association, at my
request collected samples of honey from different parts of Southland, and
made seven tests, of which I have full particulars. Six of the samples
ranged from 1°420 to 1°450 in their specific gravity by Twaddel’s hydro-
meter, and are described generally as ‘‘ clover honey, granulated very
hard, fine grain and flavour, thoroughly ripened.’’ The seventh sample
is described as of ‘‘ poor quality compared with the others, and doubtful
as to its keeping-qualities, granulated, but soft; specific gravity, 1:402.”

I have no doubt that we shall find that honey from the same district
and apiary varies considerably in its specific gravity according to the
season, just as it does in quality.

METHOD OF TESTING.

Each sample was liquefied by slow heat in a closed vessel (to prevent
the moisture evaporating) placed in a water bath. It was then reduced
to a temperature of about 60° Fahr., poured into a test-glass and the
hydrometer inserted (see Fig. 2). The hydrometer will gradually sink
until it finally registers the specific gravity. In the case of honey being
too dense to be treated in this manner weigh up, say, 8 oz. of honey, then
add the same weight of warm water, and thoroughly mix; when reduced
to 60° Fahr. it will be ready for testing. Supposing, for instance, the
hydrometer then gives 1-190, by adding 190 it will give 1°380, which
will be the specific gravity of the honey.

The cost of the appliances is a mere nothing compared with the im-
portance of making tests, as every beekeeper should assist in arriving
at a reliable standard for ripe honey. A Twaddel’s hydrometer (Fig. 1),
or two instruments with a range from 1°350 to 1°400 in one and 1:400 to
1450 in the other, with a suitable test-glass and thermometer, cost about
7s. 6d. or 8s.

==

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nN

[Sls[Sle[sleisis lalel sy

Ha

eheucdels Hytlvomele t.

“TRIRIS|

The instrument is made with various scales, according to the density of the liquid
to test which it is required.

Hach degree is equal to 5 degrees specific gravity ; for example, 80 degrees Twaddel
is equal to 1-400 sp. g. as 80 x 5 = 40041000 = 1°400 sp. g.

TESTING STRENGTH OF LIQUID FOR MAKING HONEY VINEGAR.

The washings of cappings (when there are any), the skimmings and
washings of the tanks, honey-extractors, &c., broken honey-combs, and
other odds and ends of honey need not be wasted; all can be utilised in
the making of vinegar or mead, or both. A hydrometer comes in very
useful here again to test the strength of the liquid. For vinegar there
should not be more than 1}Ib. of honey to each gallon of water, the
specific gravity of which is 1:040, so that when the honey cannot be
weighed the hydrometer will at once show whether the strength is right,
instead of deperding on guesswork.

RIPENING HONEY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE HIVE.

This subject has caused no end of controversy in the bee journals, but
chiefly by those bitterly opposed to any other method of ripening honey

7

than within the hive. Although I have closely followed most of the
writers on this side of the question, I have failed entirely to discover
anything beyond mere assertions that their method is the right one, and
all others wrong. No proof by tests or experience of both methods has
been adduced to support their assertions, so that to a close cbserver they
have been valueless. On the other hand, we have the experience and
testimony of some very eminent beekeepers who have practised with great
success and advantage the ripening of honey outside the hive.

Ripeninc Ingipe THE Hive.

This can readily be done, and is, no doubt, the best plan for those
who are not prepared to exercise great care—that is, who are somewhat
careless. All that is needed is to leave the honey in the hive until all the
cells are sealed or capped over before removing the comb for extracting.
The capping of the honey-cells denotes that the contents are ripe—that is,
that the surplus moisture has been evaporated, which in my opinion is
all that takes place. The time required for this depends in a great
measure on the state of the weather and the condition of the honey when
stored; it may be several days before the honey is capped, or in dry
warm weather only a few hours after the cells are filled. Even honey
that is ripened in the hive should remain in a shallow tank after
extracting, to mature before tinning it—but more of this later.

Ripening QCursipe tas Hive.

If there were no disadvantages in the foregoing process, or no other
method of reaching the same end without disadvantages attached to it,
we should, as a matter of course, have to follow it; but I maintain we
can ripen our honey equally as well outside as within the hive, and by
so doing effect an enormous saving of time, labour, and material, and
secure a larger crop of honey. Nothing has yet been brought forward to
refute the theory that the ripening of honey, as previously stated, is
simply a mechanical process—evaporating the surplus moisture by means
of heat, whether inside or outside the hive.

In the season of 1883-84, after much thought, I determined to give the
process a trial, and had shallow tanks made, such as I recommend now.
The crop was ten tons of clover honey, none of which was more than par-
tially capped on the upper parts of the combs, and plenty was not capped
at all when extracted. It was duly ripened and matured in my tanks,
and finer honey I never had. It was sent to England and all over the
colony, and gave no cause for complaint. I followed the same process
with the seme success all the time I was raising honey, including that
raised at the Exhibition Apiary, 1907.

It gave me much pleasure some seven months after the publication of
the first edition of this bulletin, wherein I had suggested the adoption

8

of this process, to find that the well-known E. W. Alexander, one of the
most extensive and experienced beekeepers in the world, was working on
the same method. His articles on the subject in Gleanings, early in
1906, created quite a sensatiun among beekeepers in America, sume of
whom rather fiercely criticized him and his method, and in reply he wrote,
“But I do say that the man who has had experience, and has the
necessary storage-tanks, can ripen his honey after the bees commence to
cap it so that it will be just as good as if left with the bees all summer.
In this way we not only get twice the amount, but we save our bees much
labour and waste of honey in capping it over, and ourselves at least half
the work in extracting.’’ I may add that by ripening honey outside the
hive swarming can be better kept under control.

During a heavy flow of honey when it is left in the hive to ripen it
is necessary to keep adding top boxes to take advantage of the flow, as
the honey will be stored faster than it-can be ripened. This means the
providing of a large quantity of extra material and combs, at considerable
cost. Each top box would be worth at least 2s. 6d., and the nine frames
of comb at ls. 3d. each, 11s. 3d., making a total of 13s. 9d.; and two
of these extra boxes may sometimes be needed for each hive if full ad-
vantage is to be taken of the conditions mentioned.

RIPENING AND MATURING TANKS.

The most effective method of ripening and maturing honey is to ,
expose a large surface of comparatively shallow mass to a warm, dry
atmosphere. Many of the ‘‘tanks’’ in use at the present time consist
of cylinders similar to those of a honey-extractor, about 18 in. or 20 in.
in diameter, by 36in. deep. These, besides being small, are wrong in
principle—they are too deep, and the surface is too small. Even when
the boney is allowed to ripen within the hive it is necessary to have shallow
tanks to mature or clarify it, for, no matter how small in the mesh the
strainer may be or how carefully the honey is strained, it is impossible
to prevent very fine particles of wax and pollen-grains running from
the extractor into the tank with the honey. If the body of the honey is
deep these particles cannot rise to the surface as they do in a shallow
tank, forming a scum, which, when skimmed off, leaves the honey in the
very best form for market. Air-bubbles, which in themselves may con-
tain moisture (and it is absolutely certain that honey .containing air-
bubbles quickly deteriorates), cannot rise or escape through a deep mass
of honey.

With regard to the scum just mentioned, it is by no means uncom-
mon to find an unpleasant-looking film, or layer, anywhere between } in.
and }in. deep on the top of honey in tins sent into the market. This
is the result of tinning it before it has been matured and skimmed,

9

probably in most cases through not having a suitable tank for the purpose.
Honey, like other commodities, must be put upon the market in its most
attractive form if we wish to encourage the demand for it.

SIZE OF HONEY-TANKS.

I prefer tanks not deeper than 20 in., and they should not, even when
working on a large scale, exceed 24in., but with regard to superficial
area the only limit need be the convenience or requirements of the user.
Mr. E. W. Alexander (whom it is a pleasure to quote) is using deeper
tanks, but he finds them too deep, and recommends shallower ones.

For an apiary of, say, two hundred colonies, two such tanks as the
double tank illustrated would in most cases answer the purpose. There
is a great advantage in dividing the tanks into compartments, so that
the honey from each day’s extracting may be left undisturbed until it
has matured and is ready to run into tins. It is unwise to run two or
three days’ extracting into the same tank, as the frequent disturbance
is against the honey maturing properly.

(hs
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N

a

p
\
w

<Ht
Pe:
aS
fom eau ees Stee Oe

Fic. 1. Dovuste Honey-pirentne Tank.

(Not drawn to scale.)

Fig. 1 represents a honey-ripening tank, 6 ft. long, 4 ft. wide, and 20in. deep, out-
side measurements, capable of holding about 1,250 Ib. of honey in each compartment.
It should be made of 1jin. timber, and lined with good stout tin.

10

<—_—-—___-__-——_ FF rh Gins.

ee B
{0 —> 7, kt 110%’

———>

ay
on
or
ra

Fig. 2. SECTIONAL VIEW OF SAME.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the letters refer to the same parts. A, A, iron strengthening-
rod, with screw-nut; B, B, battens 24in. wide ky lin. thick, against which the
beards of the tank are nailed ; C, C, honey cut-off taps.

The iflustrations, so far as the measurements are concerned, repre-
sent the tanks in use at the Government experimental apiaries, and, in
whatever size may be considered desirable, something near the same
proportions are advisable, and at most not more than 24 in. deep.

E. W. ALEXANDER’S HONEY-TANK.

The following illustration represents one of Mr. Alexander’s honey-
tanks, which is portable, and holds something near 5,000 lb., but, as I
said before, he considers its depth too great.

WE

hi A

ial

ieee if i

, x

ae

ALEXANDER’S STORAGE AND EVAPORATING TANK.

HEATING THE EXTRACTING-HOUSE AT NIGHT.

It has been suggested by experienced beekeepers that as the tempera-
ture frequently falls very low at night during the extracting season,
causing the honey to partially crystallize prematurely in the tank, it
would be advisable to adopt some means of keeping up the temperature
on such occasions by artificial heat until the honey is matured, a sugges-
tion I agree with. One of the modern oil-stoves would answer the pur-
pose well, providing it does not cause a smell that would taint the honey,
and the cost of heating would be very small.

Il

REMARKS.

The object of the foregoing chapter is to bring about a condition of
things generally whereby we shall have a reliable system for preparing
and placing on the market our honey in its best form, in place of the
haphazard imperfect manner in vogue among many beekecpers at the
present time. Our most careful apiarists give this matter their greatest
attention, but’ every beekeeper should adopt a proper system, and so
bring credit to himself and to the industry.

With regard to the remarks on ripening honey outside the hive, no
doubt some beekeepers will differ from them; but they shovld remember
that what I have said is based not upon theory, but upon actual practical
experience. It remains, however, for each individual beekeeper to please
himself as to whether he will ripeu his honey outside or inside the hive;
but the question is of such vast economical importance in the matter of
profit and loss that it will be well for all to give both systems a trial
and decide for themselves.

JII. DEALING WITH THICK HONEY.

One of the few serious drawbacks beekeepers in certain districts have
to contend with occasionally is thick honey—that is, honey that is too
dense to extract from the combs in the ordinary way. \ way ‘‘ occasion-
ally,’’ because fortunately it is not met with every season, except, it may
be, in apiaries situated near heavy bush, or where little else than flax
or tea-tree abounds, in which case it would be folly to attempt to raise
extracted honey.

Now and again beekeepers in the Waikato districts suffer considerable
loss, @nd are put to extra trouble through the storage of thick honey,
although in the midst of clover country. The same occurs in a few
other districts in the colony. There are some parts—notably, nearly the
whole of the country north of Auckland—where the honey is continuously
of so dense a nature that the honey-extractor is of no use whatever.
Such country is not suitable for bee-farming, as only comb-honey can
be raised there, and the demand for this is limited, while it is too fragile
to be sent to distant markets with profit.

12

FLORA FROM WHICH THICK HONEY IS GATHERED.

It is still an open question with many of the Waikato beekeepers,
as to the particular flora from which the thick honey is gathered, but
I am inclined to the opinion of one of the oldest and most experienced
apiarists in the district—Mr. Joseph Karl—that it is gathered from tea-
tree blossoms. There are two varieties of this plant—one known as
‘‘red’’ tea-tree, from the colour of the wood, and the other ‘‘ white.’’
They frequently grow together, and the blosso.nas are much alike in
appearance, but a difference can be distinguished on close inspection.
I have seen the hive-bee working on the “‘red’’ variety, Lut never on
the white—the little native bee works on the latter. In warm, dryish
seasons—what may be termed good clover seasons—there is no trouble
with thick honey, but in wet, unfavourable seasons, like that of 1906-7
in the Waikato, the difficulty is very serious, owing, no doubt, to the
clover yielding very little honey and the bees being forced to the tea-tree
or other forage. Waikato beekeepers may console themselves with the
fact that the tea-tree scrub is rapidly disappearing from the country,
and clover pastures taking its place.

MAKING THE BEST OF THE DIFFICULTY.

For the benefit of the many beekeepers who meet with the same
drawback, I will describe the practice followed by Mr. G. S. Pearson, of
Hamilton, Waikato, president of the Waikato Beekeepers’ Association,
which is that generally followed in the district.

The storing of thick honey commences early in the season, but ceases
as soon as the weather is favourable for gathering clover honey. Should
this latter condition not come about, the first continues and gives
troubly. Should there be a comparatively small quantity of thick honey
stored, but more than is needed for immediate use as food, the combs
when sealed are removed and stored away for the bees’ future use, every
particle of extractable honey is taken from the hives to the end of the
season, and the thick honey returned for winter stores. Should, however,
there be more of the latter than can be utilised in this way, as there
frequently is, it is put through the honey-press.

HONEY PRESS.
(See Plate VI.)

Mr. Pearson’s press is similar to those in general use in the Waikato.
It is, as can be seen, an ordinary single cheese-press of the latest design,
with screw and compound lever, fitted up for the purpose required.

The ‘‘ receiver,’’ into which the honey runs as the combs are pressed
(shown at bottom of Fig. 2), is 20hin. square and 6 in. deep, outside

1 In Operation. 2. Dismantled, showing Parts.

PuatE VI. CHEESE-PRESS CONVERTED INTO HONEY-PRESS.

Bee-culture.]

13

measurement, formed of Gin. by 2in. boards. Two Gin. by 2in. bearers
are nailed across the inside, as shown, at equal distances from the sides,
and are chamfered on tops. They are to help bear the weight of the
body when under pressure. A I}in. batten is nailed around the top
edge to act as a stop, inside of which the lower edge of the body fits when
in place. The bottom should be of lin. or 1}in. timber, and should be
leakage-proof, and the honey should be free to run from each compart-
ment to the spout.

The “‘ bedy ”? (shown in centre of Fig. 2) is 18 in. square and 154 in.
deep, outside measurement. Battens 3in. by 2in., chamfered on upper
edge, are nailed on edge across the bottom lin. apart, and in the
opposite direction or at right angles to the bearers in the receiver.
Fillets 3 in. square are nailed vertically 3 in. apart all round the inside,
and ove: these and the battens on bottom galvanised wire netting of
4 in. mesh is fastened, and small fillets are nailed over raw edges at the
joints and around the top edge.

The ‘‘ follower’? (shown in upper part of Fig. 2, just under the
screw) is a large box 6 in. deep, a trifle smaller than the inside dimen-
sions of the body in the square. The top and bottom should each be in
one piece, and before nailing on the top a bearer the fuil depth should be
nailed across the centre. The whole of the follower is made of sound
lin. timber. A chain with hook and strap is attached to each side for.
the purpose of drawing it out of the body after use, and the body should
be secured from below to keep it in place when lifting the follower. The
two blocks on the ground in Fig. 2 are 6in. square and 12in. long
in one case, and 6in. by 3in. and 12in. long in the other. These are
shown in place on top of follower in Fig. 1.

Pressing: Before the combs to be pressed are put into the body,
sufficient cheese-cloth is placed in the latter to hold the combs and lap
over the top under the follower. The latter is then placed in position,
and the screw brought into play. As the screwing proceeds the arm of
the compound lever rises, and when full pressure is on it can be left, as
the lever then acts and retains the pressure till the arm falls to its lowest
point.

Mr. Pearson states that one man pressed out 75 1b. honey in an hour
and a half. He also remarked that, if fitting up another press, he would
make the receiver 4 in. deep instead of 6 in., and the body 13 in. instead
of 154 in. deep.

The press without the fittings cost, when new, about £5, but a second-
hand one in good order may often.be got for much less.

Pressed honey is not nearly so good as that extracted in the ordinary
way. It is not of so high a grade in the first place, and the flavour is
not improved by pressing. Honey to be pressed should be thoroughly
ripe before removal from the hive—that is, all capped over, as it -is. so
dense that there would be little chance of getting rid of any surplus
moisture afterwards.

14

1V. DISEASES OF BEES AND THEIR TREATMENT.

The hive-bee (Apis mellifica), like all other animals, especially those
under domestication, is subject to several diseases, some fortunately of
minor importance. The most injurious are those which attack and
destroy the brood, thus preventing the normal development of young
bees, and of which, when allowed to run their course, the inevitable
result is the rapid decline and ultimate extermination of the colonies
affected.

FOUL-BROOD.

The most pernicious of bee-diseases is what we know as ‘‘ foul-brood ”’
(Bacillus alver), a germ disease of a very infectious nature, and only too
familiar to the majority of beekeepers. It is, without doubt, the greatest
drawback to successful bee-culture known at the present time, and seems
to be prevalent in all countries where bee-culture is followed.

HistTorIcaL.

Without delving into the history of foul-brood deeply, it may be
mentioned that Aristotle mentions some bee-disorders in his works on
husbandry, and it is quite likely that he was familiar with this disease.
Schirach seems to have known it well, for in his ‘‘ History of Bees”’
(1769) he gave it the name of “‘ foul-brood ’’ (‘‘ Bacteria of the Apiary ’’).
It has occupied the attention of a number of investigators at different
times, with the view of discovering its cause and cure, but hitherto with
comparatively small results, though some headway has been made of
late in checking and curing it by careful treatment. It is quite possible
that the disease was not so troublesome in former times as now, as the
facilities for its spreading were few compared with what they have been
during the last thirty years. The trade in bees and queens that has
accompanied the expansion of modern bee-culture, and their consequent
transportation from district to district, and from country to country,
is accountable, no doubt, for the universal extent of its ravages at the
present time. When or where it first made its appearance in New Zea-
land is not known so far as I am aware, but I do know that foul-brood
was very prevalent in some districts—notably in Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay,
and Poverty Bay—before 1880.

‘Foun Bnoop’”’ (Bacillus alve?) IN AN ADVANCED STAGE.

CoMB INFLCTED WITH

II.

PLATE

(ORIGINAL.)

[Photo. by R. Walrond.

Bee-culture.]

[aenpyno-aag
“AZIG ‘IVEALVN OL GMOUVING ‘[[] BIVIgG NI NAOHS ANOD AASVASIG AHL AO NOILNOT Yo AT Ghvi

cS

<4
& Ae
&

a
a

_ eed '. a BS > 4 , = > ay Ask Seay aes

15

Current INVESTIGATIONS.

The Department of Agriculture of the United States of America is
taking the lead and carrying out a great work just now in the investiga-
tion of bee-diseases. At the latter part of 1906 the Department issued
a pamphlet of some forty-five pages, entitled ‘‘ The Bacteria of the
Apiary,’’ in which some startling announcements were made, quite up-
setting the results of many previous investigations. The statements
were challenged by some able men, and this has put the American
authorities on their mettle, with the good result that they are now pro-
secuting their investigations more thoroughly than ever, and, whatever
may he the outcome of them, the beekeeping world must benefit more or
less.

State Leais.ation.

The economic value of the beekeeping industry is being generally
recognised in all countries, and the knowledge of the losses sustained
through the disease has caused an energetic movement in the direction of
stamping it out if possible, or, at all events, to bring it more under con-
trol. The good resulting from the action of the Canadian Government in
this respect has given a great impetus to legislation on the same lines in
other countries. The necessity for forcing careless beekeepers to either
stamp out the disease from their apiaries or give up beekeeping is now
recognised everywhere, including New Zealand, where foul-brood in the
past has caused incalculable loss from one end of the colony tc the other.

Symptroms or Fou.-Broop.

As the treatment is the same in either case, we need not feel concerned
as to any distinction of germs, or whether we have in New Zealand the
European or the American foul-brood. Experienced beekeepers know
our own disease when they see it, and that is sufficient at present. The
following description of the symptoms is given for the benefit of be-
ginners :—

Healthy brood in the larva stage—that is, before it is sealed or
capped—presents a clear pearly whiteness, but when attacked by foul-
brood it rapidly changes to light buff, then to brown, coffee-and-milk
colour, and finally to black, at which stage nothing is to be seen in the
cell but a flattish 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, charac-
teristic of healthy brood, they will be of a dull blackish-brown colour, and
flat or sunken (see Plate II), an indication that the cells contain dead pupe.
The disease rapidly spreads to surrounding cells and combs, if allowed 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-coloured mass will be

16

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 before-mentioned black scale-like
body.

Other symptoms are ‘‘pin-holes’’ and ragged perforations in the
cappings of the cells, clearly shown in Plates IJ] and IV, and a very
disagreeable smell resembling that of heated glue or tainted meat, which
can be sometimes detected at some yards 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.

TREATMENT OF FoUL-BROOD.

Treatment by drugs, so prominent at one time, has all but universally
been abandoned as useless. Mr. 8. Simmins, a well-known English bee-
keeper and the author of ‘‘A Modern Bee-farm,’”’ still swears by the
Izal treatment, but after giving it a thorough trial at the Ruakura
Apiary in the season of 1906-7, my assistants reported that it utterly
failed to cure, but, like other well-known drugs, it seemed to check it a
little. Except for disinfecting hives and appliances, I do not recommend
the use of drugs in the apiary.

THE STARVATION CURE.

The so-called ‘‘ starvation ’’ method for treatment of foul-brood or
brood-diseases is now recognised as the most effective, and has been
universally adopted by leading beekeepers. Where the disease is so far
advanced as to have left few bees in the colony, then it will be safest to
destroy everything that has been in contact with it by fire: “‘ tinkering ”’
with such a colony would be both useless and dangerous.

Treatment may be successfully undertaken at any time when honey
is being freely stored. When going through the hives in spring make a
note of those showing signs of diseased combs (which are readily detected
at that time), for treatment later on, and be very careful that robbing is
not started. When the honey season has set in, keeping the bees busy,
treatment should begin. All operations in this connection should be
carried out in the evening, when the bees are quiet.

Prepare a clean hive and bottom board with narrow starters of comb-
foundation in the frames. Remove the infected hive and stand to one
side, and put the prepared one in its place, prop up the front about an
inch, lay a sack near the entrance, and shake and brush the bees as
quietly as possible close to the entrance, and when finished remove every
vestige of the infected hive away where bees cannot get at it. The combs,
if not too badly infected, may be melted into wax, or, if insufficient in
quantity for that purpose, they, with their frames, had better be burned
right away and the ashes buried. The hive, bottom board, and cover,

17

if sound and worth saving, should be cleaned and thoroughly disinfected
with a strong solution of carbolic acid or izal.

On the evening of the fourth day following, the necessary number of
frames for the hive should be furnished with full sheets of comb-founda-
tion, to be exchanged with those the bees have been working on. This
can be done by removing the frames one at a time, shaking the bees back
into the hive, and inserting the others. The comb built on the starters
during the four days may be cut out and melted up, and the frames
disinfected.

The theory of this treatment is that during their four days’ comb-
building the bees use up all the infected honey contained in their honey-
sacs when taken from their old hive, so that when shifted again at the
end of the four days they start clean.

AFTER-INSPECTION.

In from three to four weeks, when the new brood begins to emerge,
keep a look-out for any suspicious-looking brood-cells, and if any are
seen cut them out at once, together with the adjoining cells. ‘‘ Eternal
vigilance ’’ should be the watchword of every beekeeper’ who hopes to
keep down disease.

To PREVENT SWARMING OUT.

On rare occasions colonies swarm out during treatment, but this is
not likely to occur when honey is being gathered freely. It can be
guarded against by caging the queen for a few days, or by giving a wide
entrance and placing queen-excluding zine across.

Savinc Heauttuy Broop.

When several colonies are to be treated and there is a large quantity
of healthy brood in the combs, put a queen-excluding zinc honey-board
over the frames of one of the least-affected hives, and put all the healthy
brood above this to emerge. When this has been accomplished remove
everything and treat the colony in the manner advised. The zinc pre-
vents the queen making use of the affected combs while the brood is
emerging

Autumn TREATMENT.

When it is desired to treat colonies in the autumn after brood-rearing
has ceased, just put the bees into clean hives provided with ample winter
stores in the shape of frames of honey from clean colonies. The disease
is not likely to reappear.

Frepinc AND DISINFECTING.

In all cases when treatment is going on and honey is not being stored
freely, feed sugar-syrup liberally after shifting the bees on the fourth
day. Mix half a pint of water with each pound of sugar used, stir well,
and bring it to the boil; when cool it is ready. Always feed within the
hive and in the evening.

18

Be sure to remove out of the way of the bees, and disinfect or burn,
everything used during the operations of treatment; and a solution
of izal should be kept for disinfecting the hands, knives, &c., after
handling an infected colony. Directions are given on the bottles, and
the solution will not harm the skin.

Youne QUEENS.

There can be little doubt that bees from young vigorous queens can
better cope with disease than those bred from aged and weak mothers.
It is therefore advisable to change the queens at the time of or shortly
after treatment if those in the affected hives are not up to the mark; in
any case it is profitable to do so if young queens can be obtained.

SoMMARY.

The following interesting items bearing upon foul-brood are taken
from the ‘‘Summary’’ of the author of ‘‘The Bacteria of the
Apiary 7’ :—

1. There are a number of diseased conditions which affect the apiary.

2. The disease which seems to cause the most rapid loss to the apiarist
is European*(?) foul-brood, in which is found Bacillus alver—first iso-
lated, studied, and named by Cheshire and Cheyne in 1885.

3. The distribution of Bacillus alver in the affected hive is as
follows :—

(a.) The greatest number of infecting germs are found in the
bodies of dead larve.

(8.) The pollen stored in the cells of the foul-brood combs contaius
many of these infecting organisms.

(c.) The honey stored in brood-combs infected with this disease has
been found to contain a few bacilli of this species.

(d.) The surface of combs, frames, and hives may be contaminated.

(e.) The wings, head, legs, thorax, abdomen, and intestinal con-
tents of adult bees were found contaminated with Bacillus
alvet,

(f.) Bacillus alvei may appear in cultures made from the ovary
of queens from European(?) foul-brood colonies, but the
presence of this species suggests contamination from the
body of queen while cultures are being made, and has no
special significance.

OTHER DISEASES.

The following description of symptoms of other diseases than foul-
brood is taken partly from ‘‘ The Bacteria cf the Apiary,’’ published in
1906 by the United States Department of Agriculture, and partly from

“The Brood Diseases of Bees,’ by Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the same De-
partment :—

* Ihave queried this word, because there is a good deal of doubt at present as to the

correctness of differentiating the disease common in Europe from that found in
America.—I.H.

19

PICKLE-BROOD.

‘‘There is a diseased condition of the brood called by beekeepers
‘pickle-brood,’ but practically nothing is known of its cause. It is
characterized by a swollen watery appearance of the larve, usually
accompanied by black colour of the head. The larvee usually lie on their
backs in the cell, and the head points upward. The colour gradually
changes from light yellow to brown after the larva dies. There is no
ropiness, and the only odour is that of sour decaying matter, not at all
like that of American foul-brocd. In case the larve are capped over, the
cappings do not become dark, as in the case of the contagious diseases,
but they may be punctured. So far no cause can be given for this
disease, and whether or not it is contagious is a disputed point. Usually
no treatment is necessary beyond feeding during a dearth of honey, but
in very rare cases when the majority of larve in a comb are dead from
this cause the frame should be removed and a clean comb put in its place
to make it unnecessary for the bees to clean out so much dead brood.’’

CHILLED, OVERHEATED, AND STARVED Broop.

‘* Many different external factors may cause brood to die. Such dead
brood is frequently mistaken, by persons unfamiliar with the brood
diseases, for one or the other of them. Careful examination will soon
determine whether dead brood is the result of disease or merely some
outside change. If brood dies from chilling or some other such cause,
it is usually soon carried out by the workers, and the trouble disappears.
No treatment is necessary. Brood which dies from external causes often
produces a strong odour in the colony, but wholly unlike that of American
foul-brood—merely that of decaying matter. The colour of such brood
varies, but the characteristic colours of the infectious diseases are usually
absent, the ordinary colour of dead brood being more nearly grey.’’

Pausy or PaRatyrsis.

‘‘The disease known to apiarists as palsy or paralysis attacks adult
bees. The name is suggestive of the symptoms manifested by the diseased
bees. A number of bees affected were received from apiaries in New
York State in 1903; bacteriological examinations were made, and several
species of bacteria were isolated and some experimental inoculations
made, but no conclusions as to the cause of this disorder could be drawn
from the results obtained.

“From a study of the normal flora of the bee it was soon found that
there were quite a number of species of bacteria present. This fact
stimulated a study of the normal flora. . . . From this point
the work can be carried on with the hope that if the disease has a
bacterium as an etiological factor it may be found.”

20

V. THE LARGE BEE OR WAX MOTH (Galleria
mellonella, Jinn).

The first intimation of this moth’s presence in New Zealand was when
Messrs. H. Betts and Son, of Okaiawa, near Mount Egmont, in the early
part of 1904, sent me some larve or grubs found in their hives, and
which were strange to them. I had no difficulty in recognising them as
the grubs of the large wax-moth, having seen them previously in boxes of
bees imported from Italy. It is quite likely the eggs or grubs of the
moth may have reached here from Australia with bees, as it is known
that the moth has been plentiful there for more than a quarter of a
century.

When going through the Egmont district in March, 1905, I discovered
the moths in three different apiaries a considerable distance apart,
showing that they were spreading. A beekeeper in the district, who had
trouble with the moth when he commenced beekeeping and has since
taken great interest in the matter, recently informed me that he had seen
it in a good number of apiaries, but that it only causes trouble ‘‘ in the
cases of careless beekeepers, and where bees are kept in old box hives.’’
He remarks, ‘‘ Personally, I consider they can easily be kept under, but
as long as we have careless beekeepers we shall have the large moth in
Taranaki.’’

WHERE THE GRUBS MAY BE FOUND.

A favourite haunt of the grubs is on the top of the frames under the
mat, or where there are two mats they will get in between them. In the
daytime they apparently hide from the bees, and at night attack the
combs; but when the colony becomes very weak the grubs show no such
fear, and attack the combs at all times.

It is the larve or grubs of the moth which prove so destructive to
the combs, burrowing through them under the protection of strong silken
galleries which they spin round themselves, secure from the bees as they
advance in their work of destruction. Eventually the combs are com-

pletely destroyed, and fall, a mass of web and cocoons, to the bottom of
the hive (see Plate V).

Hasits ann Natura History.

The moth itself, which is usually to be seen during warm summer
evenings flitting about the hives, watching for an opportunity to lay its

~ssoy ty fig 020Y4d] ss [-a4ngjno-90g

(IVNIDIUQ)
CX¥M HOU] A@ GHAOULSHC ATUVEN GNV CHHOVLLY BNO) ‘A @LVIg

‘(pyauoqjaus Di497]0) HLO1

22

Fumrcatina ComBs.

Not only the combs within the hives, but also any which may happen
to be unprotected, are liable to be attacked by the moth. No combs or
pieces of combs should be allowed to lie about; when they are of no
further service they should be melted into wax at once. Spare combs
should always be stored in a place of safety from the moth, and inspected
frequently. On the first sign of moths or grubs they should be fumi-
gated, and a few days afterwards they should undergo a second fumi-
gation. When there are not many to do they may be suspended in empty
hives about lin. apart, and the latter piled one on the other, taking
care that the junctions of the boxes are made smoke-tight by pasting a
strip of paper round them. The top box of the pile should contain no
frames. Into this place an old iron saucepan containing live wood-
embers, and on to these throw a couple of handfuls of sulphur, close the
cover securely, and keep closed for a couple of days. In a large apiary
it is best to have a small room fitted up for the purpose. Two or three
pounds of sulphur will be sufficient for a large room.

““APIARIES ACT, 1907.”

The fcllowing is a digest of the Apiaries Act now in force :—

INTERPRETATION.

2. In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—
‘“‘ Apiary ’’? means any place where bees are kept:
‘‘ Beekeeper ’’ means any person who keeps bees or allows the
“same to be kept upon any land occupied by him:

“Disease ’? means foul-brood (Bacillus alvei and Bacillus larve),
bee-moths (Galleria mellonella and Achrea grizzella), and any
other diseases or pests from time to time declared by the
Governor in Council to be diseases within the meaning of
this Act:

“Frame hive’’ means a hive containing moveable frames in
which the combs are built, and which may be readily removed
from the hive for examination :

‘Inspector ’? means any person appointed by the Governor as an
Inspector under this Act.

BEEKEEPER TO Give Notice or DIsEAsn.

3. Every beekeeper in whose apiary any disease appears shall, within
seven days after first becoming aware of its presence, send written notice
thereof to the Secretary for Agriculture, at Wellington, or to any In-
spector of Stock.

Powers or Insprcrors.

5. Any Inspector may enter upon any premises or buildings for the
purpose of examining any bees, hives, or bee appliances, and if the same
are found to be infected with disease he shall direct the beekeeper to
forthwith take such measures as may be necessary to cure the disease;
or, if in the opinion of the Inspector the disease is too fully developed to

Open, showing Frames.

Closed.
Prats VII.—FRramr Hive constRucTED FROM KEROSENE-CASE.

page 23.

{Face

Bee-culture.}

23

be cured, he may direct the beekeeper within a specified time to destroy
by fire the bees, hives, and appliances so infected, or such portions thereof
as the Inspector deems necessary.

Removat or Bers To NEw Hives.

6. In any case in which it is found by an Inspector that the bee-combs
in any hive cannot, without cutting, be separately and readily removed
from the hive for examination he may direct the beekeeper to transfer
the bees to a new frame hive within a specified time.

InsPpectoR’s DiRECTIONS TO BE OBEYED.

7. (1.) Every direction by an Inspector shall be in writing under his
hand, and shall be either delivered to the beekeeper personally or sent to
him by registered letter addressed to him at his last-known place of abode.

(2.) Every such direction shall be faithfully complied with by the bee-
keeper to whom it is addressed, and, in default of compliance within the
time specified, the Inspector may within one month destroy or cause to
be destroyed by fire, at the expense of the beekeeper, any bees, hives, and
appliances found to be infected with disease.

InFrectED BEES, ETC., NOT TO BE KEPT OR SOLD.
8. No beekeeper shall—

(a.) Keep or allow to be kept upon any land occupied by him
any bees, bee-combs, hives, or appliances known by him to
be infected by disease without immediately taking the
proper steps to cure the disease; or

(6.) Sell, barter, or give away any bees or appliances from an
apiary known by him to be infected by disease.

Frame HIVES TO BE USED.

9. No beekeeper shall, after the expiry of six months from the passing
of this Act, keep or knowingly allow to be kept on any land occupied by
him any bees except in a properly constructed frame hive.

OFFENCES.

10. Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds who—
(a.) Obstructs an Inspector in the exercise of his duties under
this Act, or refuses to destroy or to permit the destruction
of infected bees or appliances :
(8.) Fails to comply with any direction given under the pro-
visions of this Act by any Inspector :
(¢.) Commits any other breach of this Act.

A CHEAP FRAME HIVE.
(See Plate VII.)

Though there may not be much gained in the long run by making any
other than good substantial hives in the first place, there may be settlers
to whom the question of a shilling or two extra per hive is a consideration.
In such cases the following directions for making a cheap frame hive
which will comply with the provisions of the Apiaries Act should be of
service :—

24

Secure a complete kerosene case, and carefully knock off one of the
broad sides; nail on the original cover, which will now form one of the
sides. If the sides of the case are not level all round build them up level
with fillets of wood. The inside depth should be 10in. Next nail on at
each end, half an inch below the inside upper edges of the case, to suspend
the frames from, a fillet of wood Zin. thick by #in. wide, and the length
of the inside end of the case.

I would strongly recommend the purchasing of ‘‘ Hoffman ’’ frames
from the manufacturers, as they require to be very accurately made, and
are rather difficult to make by hand. If, however, it is desired to con-
struct then make the top bar 43 in. wide by Zin. deep, and 18 in. long.
Shoulders should be cut out on ends Zin. long, leaving a thickness of
fin. to resi on the fillets. The ends should be 84 in. long, the same width
as the top bar, and gin. thick; bottom bar 17}in. long, %in. wide,
and fin. thick. There are ten frames, and as they only cost ls. in the
flat and about 10d. postage, or, say, a trifle over 2d. per frame, it may
in many cases pay to purchase them.

An entrance $in. wide by 6 in. long should be cut out of the lower
part of one end of the case, and a small alighting board be nailed on
underneath, projecting from 2 in. to 3in. in front. (See Plate VI.)

The ccver can be made from the side knocked off, and should have
small fillets, lin. wide, nailed on right round the edge, to overlap the
body. Cover the top with rubercid or other waterproof material, and
let it overlap the edges. (See Plate VII.)

With regard to comb-foundation, see Chapter I.

Top or surplus honey boxes can be made in the same way, but will
not require a bottom.

When setting them out for the bees the hives can be placed on four
half-bricks, one at each corner; cr, better, still, sink four beer-bottles
neck downwards in the ground, and set the hive on these.

The cost of this outfit, if the settler makes frames and all, will be
under Is., after paying, say, 4d for the box; and if the frames are
purchased, under 2s. 6d., and his own labour.

Mr. Stewart, of Crookston, Southland, had over 200 of such hives in
use last season (1906-7), from which he secured between 11,000 lb. and
12,000 lb. of first-class honey.

25

VI. SPRING FEEDING OF BEES.

Next in magnitude to the losses of bees which result from inattention
to disease are those which occur in the spring months through starvation.
Few but experienced beekeepers and those who suffer financially from
losses realise how readily the food-supply may become exhausted after
breeding is in full swing in spring. In my rounds hitherto I have found
it a general complaint that numbers of colonies have died off in the spring.
The owners did not know the cause, and when starvation was suggested
they were quite surprised, as they ‘‘ had left plenty of food in the hive

”? and it had never occurred to them that the supply

the previous season,
might run short.

THE CAUSE OF STARVATION.

Given a fair supply of stores in late autumn, when fixing the bees up
for winter, a colony will use comparatively little during the winter
months, but as soon as breeding begins in the latter part of July or early
August the stores are largely drawn upon for feeding the brood, and
unless nectar can be gathered to help them out, the stores will rapidly
diminish. As a rule willows and other spring forage afford a good
supply in fine weather, but the weather is frequently far from fine at
that time—generally unsettled, and against the bees securing nectar.
Take a case, for example, where the bees have come oul of winter
quarters with a fair supply of food in the hive, the weather fine, and
some nectar is being brought in from the fields. Under these conditions,
where there is a good queen, breeding will go ahead very rapidly, and
in a short time there will be a big lot of brood to feed, and a large
quantity of food needed. If at this time bad weather should set in
and last for several days, preventing the bees gathering nectar, probably
within a week pretty nearly all the reserve stores within the hive will
be used up, and if the bees are not seen to before they arrive at this
stage they will probably die of starvation. This is not a fancifully
drawn case, but a real practical one, and shows just how such large losses
occur in spring.

These remarks apply, but in a vastly less degree, to other seasons of
the year.

26

WHEN AND HOW TO FEED.

Experienced beekeepers can judge in a moment by the weight of the
hive, without opening it, whether the supply of food is running short
or not, and every beekeeper should learn to do this. By putting one
foot on the back of the bottom board to keep it steady, and with one
hand raising the back of the hive, one can get the weight at once, and
after a little practice can judge to within 11h. the amount of honey
inside. In this way a large number of hives can be examined in ten or
fifteen minutes, and those needing food should be marked.

The safest and best food to give, unless frames of honey from known
clean hives are available, is sugar-syrup. Make it as described in
Chapter IV, under the heading of ‘“‘ Feeding and Disinfecting.’’ Never
purchase honey or accept it as a gift to feed your bees with—it is too
risky, and to sterilise it would require two or three hours’ boiling, which
would be more trouble than the honey would be worth.

FEEDERS.

There are several kinds of feeders advertised by those who cater for
beekeepers. Clean, empty combs make excellent feeders, and they can
be filled by placing them on an inclined board in a large milk-dish or
other similar vessel, and pouring the syrup through a fine strainer held
a foot or so above them. The force of the falling syrup expels the air
from the cells, and the syrup takes its place. After filling, the combs
should be suspended over a vessel (to catch the drip) before placing them
in the hives.

There are “‘ division-board ’’ feeders to hang in the hive like frames,
and others to place over the frames, such as the ‘‘ Miller’’ and ‘‘ Sim-
plicity ’’ feeders; also the ‘‘ Alexander ’’ feeder under the bottom board,
either of which will answer the purpose, provided attention is given to
replenishing the food when needed. The inexperienced should always
feed within the hive, and in the evening.

Finally, remember that a little food given in the spring to tide the
bees over a spell of bad weather will save them to give you a large return

in honey later on, whereas neglect in this respect will result in their
Joss.

i. APICULTURE IN RELATION TO
AGRICULTURE.*

THe benefits derived by both agriculturists and horticulturists from the
labours of the bee are now very generally understood and acknowledged ;
but still cases sometimes occur, though rarely, of farmers objecting to
the vicinity of an apiary, and complaining of bees as ‘‘ trespassers,’’
instead of welcoming them as benefactors.

ARE BEES TRESPASSERS?

It is not, perhaps, surprising that at first a man should imagine he
was being injured in consequence of bees gathering honey on his land,
to be stored up elsewhere, and for the use of other parties; he might
argue that the honey belonged by right to him, and even jump at the
conclusion that there was so much of the substance of the soil taken away
every year, and that his land must therefore become impoverished. It
is true that if he possessed such an amount of knowledge as might be
expected to belong to an intelligent agriculturist, working upon rational
principles, he should be able, upon reflection, to see that such ideas were
entirely groundless. Nevertheless, the complaint is sometimes made,
in a more or less vague manner, by persons who ought to know better ;
and even beekeepers appear occasionally to adopt an apologetic tone,
arguing that ‘“‘ bees do more good than harm,’’ instead of taking the
much higher and only true stand by asserting that bees, while conferring
great benefits on agriculture, do no harm whatever, and that the presence
of an apiary on or close to his land can be nothing but an advantage to
the agriculturist.

BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF BEES ON AGRICULTURE.

The value of the intervention of bees in the cross-fertilisation of plants
is dwelt upon in Chapter III, ‘ Australasian Bee Manual,” third edition,

* This paper, which constituted the nineteenth chapter of the third edition of
my ‘‘ Australasian Bee Manual,’ was an attempt, and I have reasons for believing
a successful attempt, to clear up several misunderstandings that had arisen
in the minds of some farmers who had come to regard the working of neighbours’
bees in their pasturage as detrimental to themselves, and to prove on the
contrary that it is really to their interests to encourage beekeeping. Shortly after
the paper was first published the subject was brought prominently forward in con-
sequence of the action taken by a farmer in the United States to claim damages from
a neighbouring beekeeper for alleged injury done to his grazing sheep by trespass-
ing(?) bees. Necilfexs to say, he lost his case. The paper has been extensively
quoted in several American bee journals, and described as a ‘‘ unique and valuable
addition to bee literature.’’ I trust it may still serve a good purpose in this country,
where it first appeared..—I.H.

28

and the reader is referred for further information to the works of Sir
J. Lubbock and of Darwin. The latter, in his work on ‘‘ Cross and Self
Fertilisation of Plants,’’ gives the strongest evidence as to the beneficial
influence of bees upon clover-crops. At page 169, when speaking of the
natural order of leguminous plants, to which the clovers belong, he says,
“The cross-seedlings have an enormous advantage over the self-fertilised
ones when grown together in close competition’’; and in Chapter X,
page 361, he gives the following details of some experiments, which show
the importance of the part played by bees in the process of cross-fer-
tilisation :—

Trifolium repens (White Clover).—Several plants were protected from
insects, and the seeds from ten flower-heads on these plants and from ten
heads on other plants growing outside the net (which I saw visited by
bees) were counted, and the seeds from the latter plants were very nearly
ten times as numerous as those from the protected plants. The experi-
ment was repeated in the following year, and twenty protected heads now
yielded only a single abortive seed, whilst twenty heads on the plants
outside the net (which I saw visited by bees) yielded 2,290 seeds, as
calculated by weighing all the seeds and counting the number in a weight
of 2 grains.

Trifolium pratense (Purple Clover).—One hundred flower-heads on
plants protected by a net did not produce a single seed, whilst one hun-
dred on plants growing outside (which were visited by bees) yielded 68

grains’ weight of seed; and, as eighty seeds weighed 2 grains, the hundred
heads must have yielded 2,720 seeds.

Here we have satisfactory proof that the effect of cross-fertilisation
brought about by bees upon the clovers and other plants growing in
meadows and pasture-lands is the certain production of a large number
of vigorous seeds, as compared with the chance only of a few and weak
seeds if self-fertilisation were to be depended upon. In the case of
meadow-cultivation it enables the farmer to raise seed for his own use
or for sale, instead of having to purchase it, while at the same time the
nutritious quality of the hay is, as we shall see further on, improved
during the process of ripening the seed. In the case of pasture-lands,
such of those vigorous seeds as are allowed to come to maturity and to
fall in the field will send up plants of stronger growth to take the place
of others that may have died out, or to fill up hitherto-unoccupied spaces,
thus tending to cause a constant renewal and strengthening of the
pasture. The agriculturist himself should be the best judge of the value
of such effects.

The beneficial effect of the bees’ visits to fruit-trees has been well
illustrated by Mr. Cheshire in the pages of the British Bee Journal, and
by Professor Cook in his articles upon ‘‘ Honey Bees and Horticulture ”’
in the American Apiculturist. (See also ‘‘ Bulletin No. 18, Bee-culture,”’
New Zealand Department of Agriculture.) In fact, even those who
complain of bees cannot deny the services they render; what they contest
is the assertion that bees do no harm.

29

CAN BEES HARM THE SOIL OR THE CROPS?

is, then, the question to be considered. The agriculturist may say,
‘“Granting that the visits of bees may be serviceable to me in the fer-
tilisation of my fruit or my clover, how will you prove that I am not
obliged to pay too high a price for such services?’’ For the answer to
such a question one must fall back upon the researches of the agricul-
tural chemist, which will furnish satisfactory evidence to establish the
two following facts: First, that saccharine matter, even when assimi-
lated and retained within the body of a plant, is not one of the
secretions of vegetuble life which can in any way tend to exhaust the soil,
being made up of constituents which are furnished everywhere in
superabundance by the atmosphere and rain-water, and not containing
any of the mineral cr organic substances supplied by the soil or by the
manures used in agriculture; and, secondly, that in the form in which
it is appropriated by bees, either from the nectaries of flowers or as
honeydew from the leaves, it no longer constitutes a part of the plant,
but is in fact an excrement, thrown off as superfluous, which if not
collected by the bee and by its means made available for the use of man
would either be devoured by other insects which do not store honey, or
be resolved into its original elements and dissipated in the air.

The foregoing statements can be supported by reference to authorities
w'.ch can leave no doubt as to their correctness—namely, Sir Humphrey
Davy in his ‘‘ Elements of Agricultural Chemistry,’’ written more than
seventy years ago, and Professor Liebig in his ‘‘ Chemistry in its Applica-
tion to Agriculture and Physiology,’’ written some ten years later, and
the English version of which is edited by Dr. Lyon*+Playfair and
Professor Gregory. These works, which may be said to form the founda-
tion of a rational system of agriculture, were written with that object
alone in view, and the passages about to be quoted were not intended to
support any theory in favour of bee-culture or otherwise; they deal
simply with scientific truths which the layman can safely follow and
accept as true upon such undeniable authority, altnuugh he may be
incapable himself of following up the processes which have led to their
discovery or which prove their correctness.

2

a?

SACCHARINE MATTER OF PLANTS NOT DERIVED FROM THE
SOIL.
Liebig, when describing the chemical processes connected with the
nutrition of plants, informs us (at page 4*) that—

There are two great classes into which all vegetable products may be
arranged. The first of these contain nitrogen; in the last this element

* The edition to which reference is made is the fourth, published 1847.

30

is absent. The compounds destitute of nitrogen may be divided into
those in which oxygen forms a constituent (starch, lignine, &c.) and
those into which it does not enter (oils of turpentine, lemon, &c.)

And, at page 141, that—
Sugar and starch do not contain nitrogen; they exist in tne plants
in a free state, and are never combined with salts or with alkaline bases.

They are compounds formed from the carbon of the carbonic acid and
the elements of water (oxygen and hydrogen).

Sir Humphrey Davy had already stated that, ‘‘ according to the
latest experiments of Gay Lussac and Thenard, sugar consists of 42°47
per cent. of carbon and 57:23 per cent. of water and its constituents.”
Now, Liebig in several parts of his work shows that the carbon in sugar
and all vegetable products is obtained from carbonic acid in the atmo-
sphere; and that ‘‘ plants do not exhaust the carbon of the soil in the
normal condition of their growth; on the contrary, they add to its
quantity.”

DERIVED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AND RAIN-WATER.

The same authority shows that the oxygen and hydrogen in these
products are derived from the atmosphere and from rain-water; and that
it is only the products containing nitrogen (such as gluten or albumen
in the seeds or grains), and those containing mineral matter (silex, lime,
aluminium, &c.), which take away from the soil those substances that
are required to be returned to it in the shape of manures. The saccharine
matter, once it is secreted by the plant and separated from it, is even
useless as a manure. Liebig says on this head, page 21,—

The most important function in the life of plants, or, in other words,
in their assimilation of carbon, is the separation—we might almost say
the generation—of oxygen. No matter can be considered as nutritious
or as necessary to the growth of plants which possesses a composition
either similar to or identical with theirs, because the assimilation of
such a substance could be effected without the exercise of this function.
The reverse is the case in the nutrition of animals. Hence such sub-
stances as sugar, starch, and gum, themselves the products of plants,
cannot be adapted for assimilation; and this is rendered certain by the
experiments of vegetable physiologists, who have shown that aqueous
solutions of these bodies are imbibed by the roots of plants and carried

to all parts of their structure, but are not assimilated; they cannot, there-
fore, be employed in their nutrition.

NECTAR OF PLANTS INTENDED TO ATTRACT INSECTS.

The secretion of saccharine matter in the nectaries of flowers is shown
to be one of the normal functions of the plant, taking place at the
season when it is desirable to attract the visits of insects for the purposes
of its fertilisation. It may, then, be fairly asserted that the insect,
when it carries off the honey from any blossom it has visited, is merely

31

taking with it the fee or reward provided by nature for that special
service.

SOMETIMES THROWN OFF AS SUPERFLUOUS.

There are, however, occasions when considerable quantities of such
matter are thrown off or exuded by the leaves, which effect is taken to
indicate an abnormal or unhealthy condition of the plant. At pages
106 and 107 of Liebig’s book (speaking of an experiment made to induce
the rising sap of a maple-tree to dissolve raw sugar applied through a
hole cut in the bark) he shows that,-—

When a sufficient quantity of nitrogen is not present to aid in the

assimilation of the substances destitute of it, these substances will be
separated as excrements from the bark, roots, leaves, and branches.

In a note to this last paragraph we are told that—

Langlois has lately observed, during the dry summer of 1842, that
the leaves of the linden-tree became covered with a thick and sweet
liquid in such quantities that for several hours of the day it ran off the
leaves like drops of rain. Many kilograms might have been collected
from a moderate-sized linden-tree.

And further on, at page 141, he says,—

In a hot summer, when the deficiency of moisture prevents the ab-
sorption of alkalies, we observe the leaves of the lime-tree, and of other
trees, covered with a thick liquid containing a large quantity of sugar ;
the carbon of the sugar must, without doubt, be obtained from the
carbonic acid of the air. The generation of the sugar takes place in the
leaves, and all the constituents of the leaves, including the alkalies and
alkaline earths, must participate in effecting its formation. Sugar does
not exude from the leaves in moist seasons, and this leads us to con-
jecture that the carbon which appeared as sugar in the former case would
have been applied in the formation of other constituents of the tree in the
event of its having had a freé and unimpeded circulation.

These quotations will probably be considered sutticient to justify
the assertion that the gathering of the honey from plants can in no
possible way tend to exhaust the soil or affect its fertility. There is
no difference of opinion among scientific men as to the sources from
which the saccharine matter of plants is derived. Since Liebig first
put forward his views on that subject, as well as with regard to the.
sources from which the plants derive their nitrogen, the principles of
agricultural chemistry have been studied by the most eminent chemists,
some of whom combated the views of Liebig on this latter point (the
source of nitrogen and its compounds), and Liebig himself seems to have
modified his views on that point; but there has been no difference of
opinion about the saccharine matter, as to which Liebig’s doctrine will
be found given unaltered in the latest colonial work on the subject,
Maclvor’s ‘‘ Chemistry of Agriculture,’’ published at Melbourne a few
years ago.

SUPERFLUOUS NECTAR EVAPORATED IF NOT TAKEN BY
INSECTS.

That the nutritive quality of the plants in any growing crop is not
diminished by the abstraction of honey from their blossoms would appear
to be evident from the fact already referred to, that those plants have
actually thrown off the honey from the superfluity of their saccharine
juices, as a matter which they could no longer assimilate. There would
appear, on the other hand, to be good reason to believe that the plants
themselves become daily more nutritive during the period of their giving
off honey—-that is, from the time of flowering to that of ripening their
seeds. This is a point upon which, I believe, all agricultural chemists
are not quite agreed, but the testimony of Sir H. Davy is very strong
in favour of it. In the appendix to his work already quoted, he gives
the results of experiments made conjointly by himself and Mr. Sinclair,
the gardener to the Duke of Bedford, upon nearly a hundred different
varieties of grasses and clovers. These were grown carefully in small
plots of ground as nearly as possible equal in size and quality; equal
weights of the dried produce of each, cut at different periods, especially
at the time of flowering and at that of ripened seeds, were ‘‘ acted upon
by hot water till all their soluble parts were dissolved; the solution was
then evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat in a proper stove, and the
matter obtained carefully weighed, and the dry extract, supposed to
contain the nutritive matter of the plants, was sent for chemical
analysis.’”” Sir H. Davy adds his opinion that this ‘‘ mode of deter-
mining the nutritive power of grasses is sufficiently accurate for all the
purposes of agricultural investigation.’?’ Further on he reports, ‘‘ In
comparing the compositions of the soluble products afforded by different
crops from the same grass, I found, in all the trials I made, the largest
quantity of truly nutritive matter in the crop cut when the seed was
ripe, and the least bitter extract and saline matter and the most saccha-
rine matter, in proportion to the other ingredients, in the crop cut at the
time of flowering.’’ In the instance which he then gives, as an example,
the crop cut when the seed had ripened showed 9 per cent. less of sugar,
but 18 per cent. more of mucilage and what he terms ‘‘ truly nutritive
matter ”’ than the crop cut at the time of flowering. From this it would
follow that during the time a plant is in blossom and throwing off a
superfluity of saccharine matter in the shape of honey the assimilation
of true nutritive matter in the plant itself is progressing most favourably.
In any case it is clear that the honey, being once exuded, may be taken
away by bees or any other insects (as it is evidently intended to be
taken) without any injury to the plant, by which it certainly cannot be

again taken up, but must be evaporated if left exposed to the sun’s
heat.

33

QUESTION AS TO GRAZING STOCK.

There is, however, a plea put in by the agriculturist on behalf of his
grazing stock, and one which he generally seems to cousider unanswerable.
He says, ‘‘ Even if it be admitted that the removal of the honey from
my farm is neither exhausting to the soil nor injurious to the plants of
the standing crop, still it is so much fattening-matter which might be
consumed by my stock if it had not been pilfered by the bees.’’

Now, it may at once be admitted that honey consists to a great extent
of fattening-matter, though it may be allowable to doubt whether in
that particular form it is exactly suitable as food for grazing cattle.
Although it is quite true that the saccharine matter assimilated in the
body of a plant tends to the formation of fat in the animal which eats
and digests that plant, still one may question the proprietv of feeding
the same animal on pure honey or sugar. We may, however, waive that
view of the subject, as we shall shortly see that it is only a question of
such homeeopathically small doses as would not be likely to interfere with
the digestion of the most delicate graziug animal, any more than they
would considerably increase its weight. Admitting, theretore, that every
pound of honey of which the grazing stock are deprived by bees is a loss
to the farmer, and therefore to be looked upon as a set-off to that extent
against the benefits conferred by the bees iu other ways, it will be
necessary to consider to what extent it is possible that such loss may be
occasioned.

QUANTITY OF HONEY FURNISHED BY PASTURE-LAND.

In the first place, it must be recollected that a large proportion—
in some cases the great bulk—of the honey gathered by bees is obtained
from trees, as, for instance, the linden in Europe, the bass-wood and
maple in America, and in this country the forest-trees, nearly all of
which supply rich forage for the bee, aud everywhere from fruit-trees
in orchards. A large quautity ‘is gathered from flowers and flowering
shrubs reared in gardens; from clover and other plants grown for hay,
and not for pasture; and even in the field there are many shrubs and
flowering plants which yield honey, but which are never eaten by cattle.
Pastures, therefore, form but a small part of the sources from which
honey is obtained; and in dealing with this grazing question we have to
confine our inquiries to clovers and other flowering-plants grown in open
pastures, and such as constitute the ordinary food of grazing stock.
In order to meet the question in the most direct manner, however, let
us assume the extreme case of a large apiary being placed in a district
where there is nothing else but such open pastures, and growing only
such flowering-plants as are generally eaten by stock. Now, the ordinary

2—Bee-culture

34

working-rauge of the bee may be taken at a mile and a half from the
apiary on all sides, which gives au area of about 4,500 acres for the
supply of the apiary; and if the latter consists of a hundred hives,
producing an average of 100 ib. of honey, there would be a little more
than 2 1b. of honey collected off each acre in the year; or, if we suppose
so many as two hundred hives to be kept at one place, and to produce so
unuch as 10 tons of honey in the season, the quantity collected from each
acre would be 4 1b. to 5 lb.

PROPORTION POSSIBLY CONSUMED BY STOCK.

Let us next consider what proportion of those few pouuds of honey
could have found its way into the stomachs of the grazing stock if it had
aot been for the bees. It is known that during the whole time the clover
gr other plants remain in blossom, if the weather be favourable, there
1s a daily secretion of fresh honey, which, if not taken at the proper time
by bees or other insects, is evaporated during: the midday heat of the sun.
It has been calculated that a head of clover consists of fifty or sixty
separate flowers, each of which contaius a yuantity not exceeding one
five-hundredth part of a grain in weight, so that the whole head may be
taken to contain one-tenth of a grain of honey at any one time. If this
head of clover is allowed to stand until the seeds are ripened it may be
visited on ten or even twenty different days by bees, and they may gather,
on the whole, one, or even two, grains of honey from the same head,
whereas it is plain that the grazing anitual can only eat the head once,
and consequently can only eat one-tenth of a grain of honey with it.
Whether he gets that one-tenth grain or not depends simply on the fact
whether or not the bees have exhausted that particular head on the same
day just before it was eaten. Now, cattle and sheep graze during the
night and early morning, long before the bees make their appearance
some time after sunrise; all the flowering plants they happen to eat
during that time will contain the honey secreted in the evening and
night-time; during some hours of the afternoon the flowers will contain
no honey, whether they have been visited by bees or not; and even during
the forenoon, when the bees are not busy, it is by no means certain that
they will forestall the stock in visiting any particular flower. If a field
were so overstocked that every head of clover should be devoured as soon
as it blossemed, then, of course, there would be nothing left for the bees 5
but if, on the other hand, as is generally the case, there are always
blossoms left standing in the pasture, some of them even fill they wither
and shed their seeds, then it must often happen that after bees shall
have visited such blossoms ten or even twenty times, and thus collected one
or even two grains of honey from one head, the grazing animal may,
after all, eat that particular plant and enjoy his one-tenth of a grain
of honey just as well as if there had never been any bees in the field.

36

lf all these chances be taken into account it will be evident that out of
the 4 lb. or 5 lb. of honey assumed to be collected by bees trom one acre
of pasturage probably not one-tenth, and possibly not even one-twentieth,
part could under any circumstauces have been cousuimed by the grazing
animals—so that it becomes a question of a few ounces of fattening-
matter, more or less, for all the stock fed upon an acre during the whole
season; a inatter so ridiculously trivial in itself, and so out of all pro-
portion to the services rendered to the pasture by the bees, that it may
be safely left out of consideration altogether.

BEEKEEPING AS A BRANCH OF FARMING.

There is still one point which may possibly be raised by the agricul-
turist or landowner: ‘‘If the working of bees is so beneficial to my
crops, and if such a large quautity of valuable matter may be taken,
in addition to the ordinary crops, without impoverishing my land, why
should I not take it instead of another person who has by right no
interest in my crop or my land?’’ The answer to this is obvious. It
is, of course, quite open to the agriculturist to keep any number of bees
he may think fit; only, he must consider well in how far it will pay
him to add the care of an apiary to his other duties. No doubt every
one farming land may with advantage keep a few stands of hives to
supply his own wants in honey-—the care of them will not take up too
much of his time, or interfere much with his other labours; but if he
starts a large apiary with the expectation that it shall pay for itself, he
must either give up the greater portion of his own time to it or employ
skilled labour for that special purpose; and he must recollect that the
profits of beekeeping are not generally so large as to afford more than
a fair remuneration for the capital, skill, and time required to be
devoted to the pursuit. In any case, he cannot confine the bees to work
exclusively on his own property, unless the latter is very extensive.
When such is the case, he may find it greatly to his advantage to establish
one or more apiaries to be worked under proper management, as a
separate branch of his undertaking; but in every case, whether he may
incur or share the risks of profit and loss in working an apiary or not,
the thing itself can only be a source of unmixed advantage to his agri-
cultural operations, and consequently if he does not occupy the ground
in that way himself he should be glad to see it done by any other person.

By Authority : Jouw Mackay, Government Printer.—1907.
oo [10,000/9/07—9537