NEW ZEALAND HONEY

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 260, 29 July 1932, Page 13

NEW ZEALAND HONEY

Scientific Research Work CAWTHRON EXPERIMENTS The complaints which have been levelled against the quality of some samples of New Zealand honey may not be heard in the future. - > ■ Professor T. H. Easterfleld, Director of Cawthron Institute, reported to the annual conference of the National Beekeepers* Association of New Zealand yesterday that experiments had been carried out at the institute in treating inferior honey in order to remove colour and unpleasant flavour. A series of experiments, he said, had been carried out in the laboratories of the institute by Mr. Fitzgerald, of Canterbury College, in 1931. It was found, said Professor Easterfield, that manuka honey procured locally and pennyroyal and birch honey, which the association had secured for the Institute some years ago, were amenable to dilution with water, treatment with charcoal, filtration, and. vacuum evaporation. On a large scale, the cost would be small, but on a small scale the cost would be comparatively, heavy, as the smallest plant which could be considered would probably need to stand idle for several months in the year. On the other hand, the same plant could be used in connection with fruit-preserving or milk-sugar concentration in sumnier, and could run •for honey work during the winter, when little fruit or ihilk was coming forward.