EARLY HONEY FLOW

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 299, 17 December 1937, Page 12

EARLY HONEY FLOW

SEASON'S PROMISE. BEEKEEPERS AT WORK. BEST PROSPECTS SINCE 1029. The mild spring and early summer have been ideal for bees. Hives all over the North Island are in full strength, and the bees have begun early to gather honey. The (low lias begun, and already some beekeepers have dune some extracting, though they <lo not usually begin in earnest till the end of January. Itecent rain has brought on clover and other flowers for the. bees to work, and all they need now Ls. line weather and sunshine. Continued rain would stop them from work and spoil the season's prospects. The beekee|>cr is probably more dependent on the weather than anyone else. Jn December and January lie must have enough rain to bring on the flowers, but not too much, or the bees will stay in their hives, as they did last summer. Hiph winds, too, will stop the bees from gathering.

In South Canterbury and North Otago the outlook lias not l>een promising, due to continued dry weather. Rain in the last fortnight, however, has improved matters, though the season in the South does not hold the same promise as does that in the North.