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Wellington Beekeepers Association Inc. About the Apiary - May 1996 |
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May 96 Well for most of our area, hives are now set for winter with the bees forming a cluster on the centre frames and only venturing out on warm days. However, in the Otaki area, the Kohekohe (also known as native cedar) has just started flowering. This tree flowers from May to July in the costal forests and is unusual in that the flowers form on long branched stalks which spring from the bare parts of the trunk and branches. The flowers are waxy in appearance and produce water white honey which is too late in the autumn to extract (Ref R.S. Walsh). I have noticed this week that hives close to these trees are bringing in a large amount of nectar and putting it into the second super. The only problems with the great autumn weather we have been experiencing is that the late flows have stimulated some queens into brood rearing which has used up precious winter stores. One hive had 7 full frames of brood in the second super. I’ve had to leave a third super of honey on the hive for them to winter over on. (I also left an empty honey super on in the vain hope they may actually fill it up. I’ll check again in a month’s time). Production has varied between my apiaries also. Those in full sun and shelter produced twice as much as others less than a kilometre away in partial sun. I’ll be doing a little sorting out before spring in an effort to get better production from my hives. With the arrival of frosty weather, I notice condensation building up in a few hives. All that’s necessary to clear this is a match stick under the crown board or under the lid. Keep the entrances small as wasp numbers are now peaking and mice are looking for nice dry winter quarters. I also saw evidence today where a rat had been trying to gnaw its way into the top of a hive. Long splinters of wood covered the ground below the point where it tried to enlarge the entrance to a split board I was using as a crown board. They are very destructive and once inside the hive, make a real mess of the frames. (They eat straight through them, wood and all, then bring in their nesting material. The bees don’t seem to attack them and die of starvation). Best if you put bait pellets in a pipe under the hive (the pipe stops birds and hedgehogs getting at the bait). They’ll take it away and die after a while with a bit of luck. |
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