Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 2
Number 6 June, 1961 Article 13
1-1-1961
Successful commercial beekeeping Successful commercial beekeeping
R S. Coleman
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Coleman, R S. (1961) "Successful commercial beekeeping," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 2: No. 6, Article 13.
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Bee Farming
By R. S. COLEMAN, Officer-in-Charge, Apiculture Section
SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL BEE-KEEPING
T
HE eye of the master fattens the cattle. One of the oldest farming proverbs this is as true of bee-keeping as any other branch of farming. Careful husbandry is the basis of all successful bee-keeping; anything else is secondary.Proper n u t r i t i o n is t h e first require- ment. Wherever possible t h e bees should be on a pollen a n d honey flow, a n d the hive never allowed to fall back in strength.
The hive field force m u s t be kept
"rolling" to m a i n t a i n production. A hive with a full work force will get t h e most from any flow, b u t a colony which h a s been off a flow for t h r e e weeks will take up to three weeks before it completely recovers from t h e break in t h e brood raising. A hive which h a s been off a flow for six weeks or more will often t a k e up to t h r e e m o n t h s t o become fully produc- tive again.
The reason for t h i s is to be found in the division of t h e labour force of t h e hive, and t h e reaction of bees to a period of d e a r t h .
Their first reaction is to slow down t h e laying of t h e queen. This i n t u r n m e a n s
t h a t six weeks from the time of the flow cutting out there will be a smaller n u m - ber of bees emerging from their cells, progressively growing less as t h e number of nurse bees decreases.
A worker-bee has milk glands in her forehead with which to feed the larvae.
When she first emerges from t h e cocoon, t h e young worker-bee cleans cells in preparation for t h e next b a t c h of eggs, t h e n starts to feed the older larvae with honey and pollen, progressively feeding t h e younger larvae as her milk glands m a t u r e . After about three weeks t h e young worker goes onto other duties.
After she h a s matured t h e worker can still feed t h e larvae, but less efficiently, so a colony with a smaller proportion of n u r s e bees c a n n o t raise as m a n y larvae as a well balanced hive. It is for t h i s reason t h a t any break in egg laying 511
m e a n s t h e equivalent b r e a k in t h e n u r s - ing population a little m o r e t h a n t h r e e weeks later, a n d t h r e e weeks later still a decrease in t h e foraging population a n d a continuing effect from t h e lack of n u r s e bees showing u p in t h e n u m b e r s of bees emerging.
All t h i s m e a n s t h a t t h e hives m u s t be kept up in s t r e n g t h a t all times, unless a n o t h e r flow is not likely for some time, or a c o n t i n u i n g flow is not available a t all.
T h e secret of success in commercial beekeeping is therefore t o keep t h e bees on a pollen or h o n e y flow consistently t h e whole year r o u n d if possible. A consistent pollen flow is more i m p o r t a n t t h a n a consistent honey flow, for pollen is r e - quired to supply t h e p r o t e i n s and o t h e r necessary food for t h e young growing bees.
I t is more i m p o r t a n t to produce honey of a n y kind t h a n only first grade honey.
From t h i s arise four subsidiary b u t still i m p o r t a n t factors.
1. Keep only young queens whose daught- ers have t h e genetic make-up to be prolific honey gatherers.
While it is necessary for t h e beekeeper to be able to breed his own replacement queens it is extremely doubtful a t t h e present price of queens w h e t h e r it is economically sound for h i m to produce his own queens r a t h e r t h a n buy t h e m from recognised a n d reliable queen breeders.
T h e queen breeder of good r e p u t a t i o n is proud of h i s good n a m e , a n d besides m a k i n g sure t h a t h e sells only good queens h e is c o n s t a n t l y t r y i n g to improve his breed. Few honey producing bee farmers h a v e t h e t i m e t o p a y t h e same sort of a t t e n t i o n to t h e quality of t h e i r breeding stock.
A refinement which helps t h e bee- keeper produce more h o n e y during t h e honey flow is t o keep a n u m b e r of nucleii always available to requeen hives which show any sign of failing. Any failing hive noticed d u r i n g t h e e x t r a c t i o n round and immediately reinforced w i t h a nucleus containing a h i g h producing young queen will on t h e n e x t r o u n d be producing as well as a n y o t h e r in t h e apiary.
2. The bee-keeper must have a thorough knowledge of honey and pollen flora.
The successful commercial bee-keeper knows completely t h e potentialities of every honey plant within 100 miles r a d i u s of his home.
He m u s t visit all possible sites every year to keep abreast of t h e honey flow available, a n d to p l a n his moves.
3. Adequate mechanical equipment is essential.
His truck controls t h e n u m b e r of hives t h e bee-keeper can r u n , a n d t h i s is t h e most i m p o r t a n t item of his p l a n t . I t m u s t be big enough to allow t h e apiary t o be shifted quickly and efficiently.
The average bee-keeper working on h i s own can h a n d l e t h r e e loads of bees easily;
four c a n still be h a n d l e d b u t five become a poor proposition because by t h e time t h e last load is shifted t h e flow to which t h e bees are being moved h a s often been going for a t least 15 days. If t h e distance shifted is over 250 miles—as is sometimes necessary—the flow can be going for u p to 4 weeks before t h e last load is placed on it. I t is t h e n t h a t bee-keepers t e n d t o leave one or two loads of bees in t h e bush while they extract a n d care for t h e loads they have shifted. This n o t only wastes capital investment, b u t t h e bees left o n the old site get down in s t r e n g t h a n d when t h e y c a n be shifted a r e quite often no longer producing hives. Therefore a truck which can carry 120 hives is b e t t e r t h a n a smaller truck which is fully extended carrying 80 hives.
Added to this is t h e shifting cost factor.
If t h e cost of shifting is £6 a hive using the small truck t h e cost a hive w i t h t h e larger truck will be about £4. One m a n with a small truck c a n n o t comfortably h a n d l e more t h a n 240 hives while one m a n with a larger t r u c k could h a n d l e 350 hives.
The o t h e r major item is t h e e x t r a c t i n g van. This should be designed to e x t r a c t all hives in 10 working days. One m a n should be able to h a n d l e t h e van b u t it should still be convenient a n d efficient when used by two m e n d u r i n g a heavy flow.
There are m a n y different views on t h e layout of t h e interior of t h e e x t r a c t i n g vans. Any bee-keeper should m a k e h i m - 512
self familiar w i t h as m a n y extracting vans as possible before h e builds or buys.
4. Material in t h e hives must be m a i n - tained a t a h i g h s t a n d a r d .
T h e combs a r e t h e most i m p o r t a n t . They must be kept in good condition and free of drone comb if t h e hive is to remain productive a n d a t full s t r e n g t h . The drone combs should be weeded out at regular intervals. Any frame with more t h a n 25 per cent, drone cells should be melted down.
If the hives are kept constantly on a flow wax m o t h is not a worry; it becomes a n active t h r e a t only when t h e hive dies out and t h e colony is not inspected for some time.
All these factors make t h e successful bee farmer and each one is i m p o r t a n t ; each is needed to complete t h e whole commercial beekeeper.
(Future articles in this series will dis- cuss each of these four major require- ments in detail.)
CAUTION NEEDED IN ANTIBIOTIC FEEDING OF PIGS
D I G breeders are warned to be cautious in their approach to the use of antibiotics in pig feeding.
Feeding broad spectrum antibiotics has been widely advocated for making young pigs more thrifty and improving growth rates, and low level feeding of antibiotics can indeed be valuable when used carefully where sanitation is not ideal.
But if feeding with these antibiotics is injudicious they can be harmful, warns Chief Veterinary Pathologist, Dr. M. R. Gardiner. A recent case of bowel upset in- vestigated at the Animal Health and Nutrition Laboratories proved to be caused by an imbalance of the intestinal flora, following over-enthusiastic use of antibiotics.
The farmer in question had been troubled by epizootic diarrhoea in his herd for about two years, and despite all treatment it persisted, and even became worse in succeeding litters.
Study of the history of the case suggested the trouble was co-incident with the use of several broad spectrum antibiotics, particularly the tetracycline group.
Intestinal cultures showed that coliform bacilli (organisms common in the gut but normally harmless) were completely resistant to tetracyclines, Chloromycetin and erythromycin, but were sensitive to streptomycin. These organisms had become predominant in the gut and there had been a corresponding decrease in other organisms, due to prolonged treatment with antibiotics to which the coliforms had become resistant.
The resulting imbalance of micro-organisms in the gut apparently affected the normal end products of digestion in some way, producing the diarrhoea—and a bad setback to the growth of young pigs. This is in line with overseas reports of coliform organisms developing immunity to broad spectrum antibiotics following misuse of the drugs.
In this case, the owner was advised to switch to a different antibiotic. There was apparently no good reason for his use of broad spectrum antibiotics in the first place, as sanitation was unusually good in his shed.
Unless there is some definite indication that broad spectrum antibiotics are needed they should not be used, says Dr. Gardiner.
513
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