THE HONEY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2479, 4 June 1915, Page 8

THE HONEY INDUSTRY

SYSTEM OF GRADING SOME ADVERSE CRITICISM Before tile annual conference of the Rational Beekeepers' Association was continued yesterday, a general meeting of shareholders of tlie New Zealand Cooporativn Honey Producers' Association, Ltd., was hold. Mr. W. H. Killing, chairman of directors, presided, and tho majority of the members attending tho conference were present. The election of six directors m place of those who have resigned took place, and resulted as follows:—Messrs. W. E. Barter (Peel Forest), E. G. Ward (Christoh:urch), J. S. Cotterell (Thames), K. W. Brickell (Dune<lin), E. J. Pu>k (Ohau), and J. N. B. Nicholas (Hawera). Air. H. W. Gilling remains on the directorate. # Special resolutions broadening the .basis of the association's work were considered to enable the beekeepers to take full advantage of the contract entered into ior the annual export of honey to England. Tor the purpose of electing directors the Dominion was divided into seven disof the most important special resolutions carried provided that a shareholder of the company should not without the consent of the directors in writing, directly or indirectly, compete with tho companv in the sale or disposal ot hone.v, whether by selling to competitors or otherwise, or be engaged or concerned in any business competing directly or indirectly with the. company in the salo of lionev. Power was also given tho directors io forfeit tho shares of any member who acts in contravention of tlie provision. A resolution was passed to increase the oapital of the company by X'3ooo, by the creation of 1500 new shares of £i each. When tho conference resumed the president (Jlr. Jas. Allan) took tho chair, and moved the adoption of the balancesheet, which was presented the previous day, and adopted provisionally. No discussion took place, and the balance-shcet Has adopted. Grading of Honey. Sir, A. Ireland read a paper of interest to honev-produccrs, entitled "Scum; What is it, and how can it bo avoided? During tlie reading of the paper the important question was raised as to how far the Department was justified in penalising producers for tlis white scum on top of' honey. There were two kinds of scum, and if was held that the white sediment would disappear when the honeywas liquified by the importer. Mr.. \V. I,'. Barker aiso read a paper entitled "What is Special,; Prime, and Good' Quality Honey?" dealing With the question of honey grading. He said that he thought they were all agreed that, there 'was something wrong with the present method of grading, and some change would be necessary from the producers' point of view. He had headed his paper, "Is the Fancy Grading of. the Honey Department Advisable?" His own opinion, he said, was that grading as at present conducted was a delusion and a snare, and that the Department should confino itself solely to seeing that no bad honey was sent out of the country, and should leave colour and aroma alone. He instanced cases where honey rejected here had been sent Home, where it commanded the highest market prices.. lie held that it was impossible to grade honey as butter was graded. It seemed to him absurd to set a man to judge such a delicate commodity as honey, when his whole system might be vitiated by nicotine if he happened to be a smoker. It might be advisable to appoint lady honey graders, whose taste for sweet things was •well known. (Applause.) "A hint for you, -Mr. Kirk," said a member. Mr. Kirk: Find the money and we will appoint them. Mr. yv. B. Bray read a paper on the same subject, with tho idea of letting the Department know where, improvement was desired by the beekeepers. The Department, ho pointed out, welcomed criticism, and ho held that the Government servants should grade not according to an individual desire, but according to the desire of the majority of the producers. The system at present had mainly emanated from Department officials, who had had no reports from Home as to what ■was a first or second quality honey. They had also hod no comments from Home on the grading. This year tho standard of grading had been put-up a stale, and ■where there were two grades before there •were three now. H did not remember that the producers were ever notified about that. Tho English Market. 'An interesting discussion took place on the papers, and Mr. C. A. Jacobsen contended that the Government grading had been of benefit to produce's, and carried a good deal of weight in England. They should aim, he held, to get their honey into' the best possible appearance, otherwise it would never compete with honey on the English market. New Zealand honey had been put up in England and sold as English honey, proving that it was quite as.good. .They should aim to put it up as wanted by the English consumers, and then they might get the same pTice. English honey sold for .£GI per ton, but they did not get that price for New Zealand honey. Tho chairman said that he was one of those in favour of the grading, and tho ir.ore ho saw of it the more he liked it. Mr. Kirk in Reply. Mr. T. W. Kirk, Government Apiaries Inspector, contended that tlie same arguments were being brought forward against honey grading as >vcro brought against the grading of meat, butter, hemp, etc. Yet now you could not find an English meat buyer who did not demand a grading report. .Air. Kirk slated that grading of honey was now optional, but would nof. be so next season, lie pointed out that many of the grading alterations were the result of recommendations made hy the conference last year, but when a new system started it was on its trial. They did not anticipaie tlial; they had struck n perfect system of honey grading, but they did contend that it was of advantage, and with (ho modifications that might he made after experience, it would bo of even more value. As soon as experience showed the necessity for alteration he would do his best to have tbo nler.'itions made. Tho Deportment was doing everything ir. its power to ensure conformity in tho grading. Tlie.v did not intend to grade liquid honey, for advice had been received from Home not. to ship this, owing to accidents' whi<-h had occurrcd. If Hroko it spoilt the apoearance of the whole consignment.. The final paper read in the afternoon | session was one by Mr. ,F A .Tacobsen, entitled "Improving the Quality of Our Produce." Evening Session. In the evenintr delegates took part in a general discussion on the subject of tho improvement of the flora to provido hHior qualities of lionev. in the course of"v.'hich Mr. .1. Tfentone suggested that if members could rjet on to the local domain boards they could get a lot of t'hines planted that would suit them. A . member suggested that a. top-dressing of Msic slag would improvo I no growth nf white clover, and ll»f chairman in"iar'eed the case of the Edendale estate. <?i'nce the Government cut it mi, lie said, nnd the settlers begm tMnz lime, there been a great improvement ill Mie nncl it showed 'that it was possible to improve a district bv hundreds of tons. Mr T' \ Jacobwn. Government, grader, ortH sfr. Kentone in the. suggestion K eucalyptus mig.it be grown_ to ge the 'break between the going out 'il,e willow and tho coming in ot the cl'.ver He held that a combination of l, -ih,- -uid white clover made some r l.™/ oblainable. Tree lucerne was another good honey-produc-"V 1 w" K. Barker contributed a. panet on' "The Importance of tllO t,i tho Fruit-growing Industry.. The dis. cussioiL that ensued, ,tss

direction of showing that bees were essentially valuable to fruit-ffrowors. Regarding the poisoning of bees, Mr. Barker pointed out that two kinds of poisonous spray were used, namely, arsenate of lead and nrsenaito of zinc, and apparently from experiments made arsenate of zinc 'did not alfect the bees' economy. Tho difficulty could, therefore, be got over by using arsenate of zinc for a spray. The session concluded by a general discussion on apiary management, and instructions to beginners and tjma.ll apiarists. The conferenco resumes this morning. Another gain to anyone supplying its with milk and cream is that our factory is always working, 363 days in the year. We nover stop. We can therefore tako delivery of your supply at any time and on any day you send it. If you havo cream from only ouo cow or from 100 cows does not matter to us. You are also free to come and go, just as you please. We only want and only get satisfied suppliers. Wanganui Fresh Food Co. —Advt. Dairy Faotory Managers should get particulars of the celebrated Victor Cheese Vat. Everyone that has used a "Victor" says they are the best made. Albert J. Pnrton, Dairy Specialist, Carterton.