HONEY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 3

HONEY INDUSTRY.

SOME OF ITS ATTRACTIONS. THE -DREAM- OF, BEEKEEPING. Light, interesting work;, a of danger from stings, lots of profit, find a ride in a motor-car—this' is' what makes beekeeping fascinating. No man can be a. big' beekeeper without a motor-car.'. A-big'beekeeping business .inrolfbs' a wido exterisioh of tho apiaries, and to visit all tho; scattered hives as often as is* desirable necessitates a' motor-car. Then a motor-car possesses'just tho sort- of driving power that is heeded for turning the lionoy extractor'when the honey harvest has arrived and hundreds of glistening combs have to bo rolioved of their treasuro' by' rapid gyration. The up-to-date' beekeeper doing; his' rounds whizzes; along the'country roads at a high • pace; a pace which motor demons say makes you. feel that you are being lifted along on the wings of a bird—a terrible sensation that makes' scorching, irresistiblp.,: Then he alights at one: of. his many apiafies, makes attachments i to his driving gear, slips some combs into the honey extractor, and "lets her go." This time,howeverhe mustn't scorch lest his honeycombs break, but it is hotter than elbow-grease. Then he mounts his "throne," adjusts his goggles/-and speeds on to the next apiary, distant. It .is a-, life for a likes luxuries and " style." ,' . •• Then beeko'eping is inexpensive: It is'true that there aire hives ; to be bought, and their fittings-to be'paid for. But the outlay com- . pares. favourably, with that of other -more prosaic industries. ; There is not the samo extent of land to ;be'. bought. The apiarist of to-day pays,a pound;or two a year for the , lease of a- small- plot in • sonm settlers' paddocks at. placets'four-or'five .miles apart, and that is all the landed interest lie needs to possess.' From a 'small; boginning he can double his 'stock every year without'necessarily paying a penny for food, and his bees "browse" , the' pastures of' his neighbours,' ffho eah neither eject thein; shoot them', nor prosecute them for trespass. .A. beekeeper is ■ a sort of, highwayman, who lives on his neighbours without robbing them, who reaps where he has riot sown, whose thousands: of workers, gather in tons - df . precious'nectar from the farm flowers of other people, arid pay 'handsomely for what they take by fertilising the' blooms. : We might, iiv fact—with'all apologies—call an apiarist a symbiotic parasite. How fast"ho.grows! Here is the ease of Messrs. Hutchinson -Brothers, of Waikato; They began the present season with 250 hives of bees. They doubled ■ the number of the hives during, the season by natural increase of bees, - and. ended ;upi with-10. tons- of honeyand 500 ihives.. "That honey, in 21b. tins, will : sell at about £40 a ton net. Their income willthus be : £400 from the'2so hives. Next season 'will be begun with 500 hire's "in; working order. They intend' to "go ! easy"' on the next increase, and er.d-.np with only 800' hives.' 1- ' But.'the 500 hives should • give about 20 toris'Vof -honey, -Worth-£BOO. In the -following-. season ithey will increase the number ;to that mystic figure, 1000:. and then they will buy a motor-ear. 1 See how a beekeeper can plan out his I ' prosperity years' ahead,- and put his 1 finger upon; the exact date, .if need) be, -when-he -will Duy his, motorcar, w' A' sheepfarmer—the. landed gentry 'of this Dominion of ours—cannot quite, do that/ A- dairy-farmer .certainly , cannot.-; Even a fruitgrower,; who;' if he knows his business, soon' gets upon a good wicket, .is liable ;to have his calculations very rudely re-arranged. And they-may allj -in time,- .become old rnoumatics except the man wjiom the bee stings. What aI dream is beekpeping!