"DELETERIOUS HONEY."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 17, 20 January 1905, Page 2

"DELETERIOUS HONEY."

(To tue Editor.) Sir, —In Wednesday's issue, under the above heading, uppeared a paragraph beginning as follows:—"Mr I. Hopkins, Government Apiarist, asks us to warn all people living in or near swampy districts in the northern half of the North Island not to eat any wild honey they may come across during the next four months," etc. Now, Mr Editor, an there is scarcely an apiary or beehive in the northern half of New Zealand which is not within flight of swamp, this is very sweeping advice, and I believe altogether unnecessary, and if carried out would involve the throwing aside of many tons of good honey. Before stating my obJ'ections I will state my experience. I iave raised and' tinned something between 50 and 60 tons of honey, and have had as many as between SCO and 400 hives of bees, and have samples from all over New Zealand and from Australia, etc. Now for objections. Under Mr Hopkins' condemnation a great deal of the, say, 50 tons of honey I raised would have been condemned, as a large portion of it was raised after the middle of January and in swampy districts. Bees do not hang about all the summer waiting for the "waoriki" to blossom so as to gather honey to poison people.. If there happens to be any in their neighbourhood it will probably be stored in the lower edges of the combs, which the bees have built through the summer, or in the very centre, in cells which l>ave been vacated by young bees when, they hatch. In any case it will bs stored as an additional supply in hives which in most cases are already well stocked with a good hoard of sweets gathered from good sources for winter use by the littk* workers. Honey from the. different iiowers is usually stored separately by bees, and the various kinds may be det?cteJ at sight by the experienced apiarist—not so, however, by the novice; ?o I would recommend that in districts where s>ny case of poisoning haj= over occurred all honey should be taken by the honey extractor, when the one pound of "deleterious honey," should it be present, will be mixed with the ten of other honey and rendered harmless. Failing a honey extractor, strain the whole taka of honey from one or several hives toge'her through scrim, cheesecloth, or muslin, when the thorough mixinp will effect the same purpose. Honey poisoning is usually the effect of a gorge of ciub honey frequently indulged in by natives, In conclusion, I believe that the localities where danjjercus ropej' is raised are very few indeed, but if any doubtftexists mix the honey by graining it into one vessel, and cat only sparingly to start with.— I am, etc., ANTITOXIC. P.S. —The bane of beekeeping in New Zealand is foul brood (bacillus alvei), which doubles the work in an apiary and halves the profit. Its eradication in New Zealand would baffle the skill of an army of experts under existing conditions. The larger the apiary the greater the loss and work to euro it, when r. infection may take place from cn@ unhealthy hive in a neighbour's yard.