Manakau Notes

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 January 1914, Page 2

Manakau Notes

(By our Resident Representative)

A visit was paid by your representative to Messrs Askew Bros, bee-farm on Sunday afternoon, and a very enjoyable time was spent. Messrs Askew Bros. with great courtesy showed me all over the farm. The first place seen was the work shop, where all the Langstroth bee-boxes are made. All of the boxes and fittings needed are made 011 the place. The plant is driven by an Acme oilengine, one of the neatest and simplest kerosene engines to be seen. The planks to make the boxes are got in various lengths from the sawmill, and are then cut up into the requisite lengths with a small circular saw. Every convenience is at hand, and the boxes are put out in first class order. MesSsrs Askew Bros, not only make boxes for their own use, but sell large quantities throughout the district. The nexi place visited was the extracting room, where the honey is taken from the comb. This place is a fine new building with plenty ofispace for everything. The comb full of honey is taken from the bees and. placed in the extractor,, an affair something like an upright churn. The comb is put in the dashers inside the extractor, but not like cream; it is placed in a sort of an .upright tray inside the dashers, and is then whirled around. The honey is forced out of the comb by this action, and /strikes against the siue of the extractor; from there it trickles to the bottom, and then into the large receiving vats underneath. These vats will hold about a tun of honey. During the passage of the honey from the extractor to the vats, it is run through two strainers, the first a coarse one, the second a much finer one. The residue .left in the strainers is mostly pure wax. > The honey is left in the vats for a week or more, so as to let the if any, come to the top, unci is then run off into 21b glass jars and lib paper mache jars, all of which are imported direct from England. A gauge something like a thermometer is used to find the thickness of the honey, which is not like milk, as it cannot be watered or it would become mildewed. Messrs Askew Bros, have sold all of their output this season; in fact, they could have sold three times the quantity. The apiary, which is situated in a well-sheltered po- :i , sition, runs through the orchard, and is quite a busy site. Over two hundred boxes or swarms of bees are here. The foundation comb to start the bees off is imported from England in cwt.lots and costs about 2s 6d a lb. This substance, which is made in,the form of a sheet or block of honeycomb, is made out of pure wax. One colony of Italian bees are to be seen. These are easily distinguished from the others because of their having more colour about them, and being more plainly marked. They are not nearly so savage as the common bees; in fact, they are quite pets. This season has not been a very good year for honey, but nevertheless the combs. were seen to be well filled. One swarm of bees have a five-story box, and all the stories are quite filled with honey. There must be a very large quantity of honey in this box alone, and one man "hasn't a ghost of a chance of lifting it. The bees gather most of the pollen from the clover, large paddocks of which are to be seen on the neighbouring dairy farms. After the apiary was looked over, we got our bicycles and went about a mile and a half away to the queen-rearing colony. Here all tlie queens are born introduced, and then mated.' To introduce a queen to a swarm of bees, she is placed in a tiny cage and then' put amongst the bees for about 24 hours, after which she is let out,* and then she goes looking for a husband. One of the queens was from the South Island, and cost 7s 6d. Mr Ralph Askew introduced several queens while I was there, and every tiling was found to be very interesting. • Messrs Askew Bros, have a letter of thanks from Lacly Liverpool. Lady Liverpool said the honey presented to her by Messrs Askew Bros, was the best honey she had ever tasted. Besides this much valued letter, they have taken a lot of prizes lately. Mr Ralph Askew was expert to the Oxfordshire County Council in England for some time, and it is now his intention to go to America for 12 months to study American methods in the large bee farms. Mr Robinson has installed a Mehring milking is the much-fauied treadle machine, and now they ought to have plenty of push. The dancing have started again, notwithstanding the hot weather. Manakau is hot stuff on dancing. ■ Mr Mcßain and Mr and Mrs Andrew are leaving very shortly for the Auckland Exhibition. er umi ■ mmmmm—m*