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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, NOVEMBER 2016
Frank Lindsay, Life Member PREPARING FOR THE FLOW AND EXTRACTING HONEY ABOUT THE APIARY Some of the spring sources around our house are a few days late in flowering this season. Although the weather hasn’t been good for spring build-up, the bees are doing fine thanks to a little feeding. Cabbage tree and hawthorn are yet to flower down here but further north some are flowering, stimulating swarming.
My bees had only one good flying day during October to pollinate the peach trees in my garden, so hopefully they did the job on that day. Most other days they have only been out for an hour or so, closed in by southerly winds and low cloud, while up the coast 100 kilometres away, it’s been fine and warm. In cities and urban areas where reflected heat and sunlight from pavement and buildings stimulate early growth, some of the summer sources are already flowering. Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) is in flower in the southern suburbs of Wellington. Kōwhai (Sophora tetraptera) and tree lucerne (Cytisus proliferus) have had a long, sustained flowering and are still going in some coastal areas. A lot of kōwhai trees are being planted to provide food for native birds but our bees can also take advantage. However, the nectar from this tree can cause bee losses as it’s a narcotic, and it takes the bees an hour or so before they can fly back to the hive. A sudden weather change can see these foraging bees chilled and lost to the hive. Kohuhu (Pittosporum tenuifolium) has flowered and dropped its flowers without a bee visit due to cold, wet weather. Mānuka is starting to flower on odd bushes on north- facing slopes but it’s too early to come to anything. Hangehange (Geniostoma rupestre) is budding up and ready to flower. This under- story shrub is the first of the bush sources to produce an excess of nectar. You will know when it’s flowering as it puts out a heavy perfume in the bush. Many ornamentals are flowering that are attractive to bees, such as Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata) . Any citrus is good for bees. Look around your area and see what your bees are visiting. Squash any queen wasps gathering nectar. This act could save you lots of grief later in the season.
Hangehange.
Despite the weather, bees have been powering ahead and in too many hives I’m finding queen cell development starting. If hives are showing early swarming tendencies, I’m splitting them and moving the old queen and a good proportion of the brood to another position. The field bees will return to the old site, which greatly reduces the population in the queenright hive and increases the population of the hive on the original stand with a queen cell. Sometimes I just take capped brood and bees to make nucs. I’m not equalising hives by spreading brood as I’m still finding a few hives with AFB and don’t want to spread it. Managing hives to peak on the flow The honey flow in my area comes in two parts: early bush/kāmahi flow, followed by a dearth in November and then the main honey flow in December. By early to mid- January, it’s all over. Unfortunately, not all flowers turn off during the summer drought, so the bees start eating their stored honey
and turn it into brood. We have to time the peak bee population to be available to capitalise on when everything starts flowering in December. With this in mind, the main honey flow starts in only four weeks from the time you receive this journal, so we must all keep an eye on hives to alleviate swarming while continuing to feed them during this changeable season. Supers should be going on early as hives expand in bee numbers. Don’t wait until you see white wax appearing under the brace comb on the inner cover. Populations are expanding enormously so must have somewhere to hang out. Bees hanging out of the front of the hives during the day, or staying in the top feeders, are sure signs that a hive needs supering and is possibly making preparations to swarm. For new beekeepers with only foundation or plastic frames without drawn comb, bring up a couple of outside frames from the super below to encourage the bees into
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