PROSPECTS OF FUTURE BEEKEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND. [New Zealand "Bee Journal."]

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 12, 25 August 1883, Page 4

PROSPECTS OF FUTURE BEEKEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND. [New Zealand " Bee Journal."]

During the ten years of our experience of bee culture in this country, more especially the last four yems of it, we have had opportunities of forming a pretty correct id.-.i o!' whaL the future ol bee-keep ing in New Zealand is likely to h\ Through business and privately, we have been in communication with bee-keepers in all ports of 1 lie colony, from the most or' whom we Kceivcd repoits of their doings each season. Fiom tln^e reports we have le.unt that the majority of (joiintty settlers have Ihvu in the h.ihit of keeping a few hives of bees under the old bov-lnvc system, and that iargo quantities •)[ honey have been i.ii^ed annually, which has ptincip.illy been X pt ff»r home consumption. Tho dillicultics attending the culture of bees on I !ie box-hive principle deteired many from having isnylhinu to do with them, and also prevented others keeping as many hives as they otherwise wottld have done. Bui, notwithstanding the disadvantages of tho system, the reports wuit to show th.it bee-keeping was made highly profitable to those who devoted tlio necessary care and atlcntion to their bees. The eagerness ,\ith which enquires were made from all p<irts of the country — when we fir.st began to give a description of modern apiarian appliances, and ihe nieihod of using them, in the local papers — as to where tho appliances could he procured, showed at one; Lh.it bee-keepers were fully alive to the profits that would be attached to bee-keeping under an improved sy&tein. One valuable item of knowledge we have gained by experience, and which has assisted us considerably in forming an opinion as to the future of bee-keeping" in New Zealand, is the fact that wo *re not 80 liable hero to those excessive fluctuations in the honey season experienced in most other countries. During our ten years of bokeeping we have found the hoasons average remarkably well ; only once in that time have we had what

might be called a poor one— the season oi 1880-81; even then, with the aid of modern appliances, we were enabled to toke a consideiable amount of Burplus lionoy. This equality of honey seasons we look upon as having 1 a very important bearing upon the matter before us, for with nd vantages in this respect, a lower average yield par season would pay better in the long run than if we were getting an extraordinary crop one season, and little or none for the two or three following. Taking into consideration the mildness of our climate, the variety and excellence of our native flora as a hue pastuiiigc. and the suitableness of the country generally for bee culture, it must be admitted thatthojjeekeeping industry in New Zealand has a bright future before it. Looking at the extraordinary progress th.it has been made in the industry in countries not nearly so well adapted for it as oura, and after taking an impartial view of the question in all its bearings, we firmly believe that as soon as scientific bee culture is thoroughly understood by the majority of our beekeepers, New Zealand will stand out as cue of the foremost honey-producing oountries of the world.