HONEY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 500, 6 May 1909, Page 8

HONEY INDUSTRY.

GOOD PROGRESS MADE* ' MEN WHO DERIVE BIG INCOMES. Tho honoy-produoiug industry of New Zealand is yearly acquiring strength,. and may/in the years to como bo ono of the noteworthy activities of New Zealand fanning. Though beekeeping appears in'some respects to possess but little in. common with" agriculture as one usually knows'it, yet there is need for'tho beekeeper to havo a good knowledge of tho honey yield of the commoner flowers of pastures and other vegetation, their times of, honey flow, ■ and tho districts .whore they most <abound. Ho needs , also a knowledge of an insect life moro varied in ■■ its phases than the life history of any ordinary farm animal. For the prevention and euro of foul brood ho needs a special grasp of animal hygiene. In tho sense, however, of having any need to grow crops of his own, the beekeeper is devoid of the strenuous cares of other farmers. He is dependent to somo extent on the weather to produce a good show of flowers in the various farm plants, but. his cares do not extend to tho market price of. tho .foods needed for maintaining his stocki Apart from a little syrup required at times to supplement the winter food supply, his bees ask him for nothing. They work without wage and without, supplied food. They gather their riches from the farms of tho neighbours, but are not beholden to them, because they benefit thoso farms in the process.' On the practical side, beekeeping in *NeW: Zealand is arranging itself on good systematic commercial lines. A beo farm yield-

ing an annual income of■■ £1000 a year is not much to look at. It is a collection of scattered fragments. Rented plots of ground strown out in a disjointed group, none nearer than four miles to another, and none much bigger than a Wellington city building site, constitute a.modern beekeeper's farni. : The chief aim on the practical side is to arrange that, the bees'shall havo an abundance of honey in the , immediately surrounding country; and there shall be as overlapping of each other's labours: as possible. As tho paying radius of a bee's field for honey gathering is about two-miles, and as only a limited number of bees can b© kept profitably occupied in nuch a radius, tho colonies of hives aro limited in numbor and adequately separated, : so that the two-mile radii do not overlap. In each apiary of. the series the hives themselves are kept-compact ..to facilitate quick working. To visit tho whole of an extensive. sories necessitates. , some ; quick means, of : locomotion. A motor-car is .best, and, fortunately; the profits' beekeeping render tho purchase of this luxury possible. Tho driving gear of the motor-car (or motor "bicycle) can be used to drive the extractor during the harvest, when the honey is caused (by rapid gyration)' to run , from the combs into tanks, to. ho subsequently ripened and tinned. The. return of .the" empty comb "to the, beehives economises labour inside the ,hivo, for, in the time that the bees would otherwise have been occupied in making lib. of new comb, they can make 71bs. of'honey. '.The recently-announced discovery of a substitute for beeswax will'not greatly perturb tho beekeepers; They are not in the business for the sale of beeswax, and if tho'reported substituto should form a cheap material for making the artificial foundation of honeycomb, they will rather welcome its discovery, ■ .:• ■ '; -' . ""■ .'.'. *■''.. '"■ , •'"'' : Exactly what is the 'annual, output of", honey in-Now Zealand is very difficult to compute/ Beekeepers at present are' not registered, and. no return is : made of their output.. .however, is. now; boing 'advocated in official oircles as the next urgent step in the organisation of the industry.: Registration would enable; tho . two

Government inspectors to provide themselves with lists of all'tho bcekeepore of' the' Dominion, and they would bo.ablo'tto visit them all Mid give advice, instead of. having,-as at present,' to. waste half.'their' time in. tedious explorations' to discover ■ what; people really aro beekeepers. ..Information. ,as .to tho amount of "tho, hoiiey harvest ■ Vpnld '". also have a commercial value: Itis.jikely that a clause providing' for 'registration, (without fee) will soon be added-to the,existing apiaries law. ... . . . :. :■. ';. '■. V..

As to tho individual incomes derivable from the.industry niuch.morp.is known..''.' In the caso"' of: two Waikatb apiarists, Messrs.. Hutchinson- Bros., the season/of 1907-8 was begun with' 250 hives. During, the. season they doubled the number by natural increase, and eilded up with 10 tons of honey and 600 hives. That honey, in 101b, tins, at, : say," £40 a-ton net,wholesale, .was worth ab'out £400—-a handsome/income from-200 hives. The present. season was begun '■'■■ with §00 hives, and as tho. increase during the year. was to bo limited to, 300, tho'Output of honey, should bo at least equal, per hive, to that ofthe previous season.-. The income, therefore, should bo £800. Next. season the intention is; to reach the full 1000 hives.. If dis•tributed in groups of 50. hives, the business -would entail tho maintenance of 2p apiaries, arid- each complete round of visits would; involve a journey 'of 80. miles.'A motor-car is obviously.essential. : . . ■ , .

Another beekeeper producing a-big weight of honey annuni is Mr. Lenz; of Waira- : fapa. He is ono of the inotor car men, and 'idriyes his extractors by means of his- car •rpower.'. ••■V .' • ■■:.■■.. .. ' ' ■'.:■'<.• . ; .''The cost, of establishing an apiary is, Unforjjimatels,, heavy,-and there would seohi :to;be a good income to bo made, by merely raising colonies of bees and selling them. 'Tho; ruling price- per fell colony of Italian .'bees'.(the-variety.most favoured in New Zealand) is £2. That ; is the pKco quoted' by' some of tlio big. beekeepers,- and it-is also tbo Government's charge for hives from the State apiaries.- Theso.prices'"rather tend to tompt tlie beginner to build' up'his'apiary on swarms of tho common-black bee, which can bo purchased at prices varying from Is per swarm and upwards. ThiWourso, however, involves the. danger of getting : foul broodrin an apiary eo gathered.