Reporter's diary

Press, 21 December 1981, Page 2

Reporter's diary

Ant spotters

'DARWIN’S ants aren’t going to be able to 101 l about in the sun in privacy these holidays. Last summer they took a pounding from “Operation Ant,” This year the Christchurch City Council health department intends running an ant reconnaissance programme with students on Labour Department. holiday work. The students will locate all colonies of the pesty insects and, monitor any population movement or increase since last year., Then, if the ants are enough of a hazard, the health inspectors will advise affected households how to get rid of the invaders. But, the supervising health inspector, Mr N. Eves, says he is having trouble recruiting ant spotters. He expects the programme to start after Christmas. “But starting depends on when we get ■ enough bodies from the Labour Department and the university. Over the last fortnight we’ve only got one person—we need four,” he said. Stickers sell

PRODUCT STICKERS and swing tags bearing the legend, “Produced in Canterbury,” seem to have caught the imagination of local manufacturers and producers. Nearly 160,000 were used by local firms during the last three weeks as part

of the “Let’s Help Canterbury Grow,” campaign being conducted by the Canterbury Promotion Council. Stocks of the labels have almost run out, and the 60 firms which have used them are being surveyed to see how many more will have to be produced to keep pace with demand. Wu identified

THE MYSTERY of “Wu Fyi Mawa,” which was the strange three word response to our Telex inquiries into an American information service, has been solved. Further investigation revealed that Wu Fyi Mawa was not the name of a -person or a company as we had assumed, but a monstrous acronym. Wu Fyi Mawa stands .for “Western Union— for your information—Mahwah, New Jersey.” How people wanting to find out more about the information service are supposed to know that, however, remains a mystery. . Cheers

THE LATEST figures on New Zealanders’ alcohol consumption have been released by the Statistics Department. They show that from 1979 to 1980 beer consumption rose slightly, wine consumption rose by 18 per cent and spirit Consumption declined. The average consumption of pure alcohol per head of population rose from 8.4 litres to

8.64 litres, nearly reaching the 1978 figure, which was the peak year in our drinking history. The average New Zealand household, whatever that means spent $7.53 a week on booze — 3.2 per cent of its total expenditure. An interesting pointer to our priorities is provided by comparing that figure to what the average household spent on fruit and vegetables ($3.80) and fuel, light and power ($6.47). Lover bull

FARMYARD BULLS in England are enjoying a change in their fortunes. They are getting their own back on the English Milk Marketing Board. For years they have been robbed of true love by the white-coated artificial inseminators who have put a stop to farmyard frolics. But now farmers , are going back to nature, and “do it yourself” breeding is putting a real strain on the board’s service. A spokesman for the board, which artificially inseminated about two million cattle last year, said:

“We are not anti- D.I.Y. but farmers could be losing thousands of pounds by using bulls which are not as reliable. Evidence from both Britain and the United States has shown that D.I.Y. servicing is up to 10 per cent less reliable than artificial insemination. Of course, it is 100 per cent more enjoyable for the cattle.