The Bee Keeper.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 27 April 1910, Page 4

The Bee Keeper.

7 — {Written for the "Dairyman.") 11l this month's issue of the "Dairyman" J think I cannot 1 do better than diverge a little from the strict adherenco to "bee farming" and write on the subject of the disposal of the honey crop. Most of us have morO or less honey now on hand, and it has become a moot question \vith us what to do with it. Somo of us, at least, .have interviewed our local merchants with the object of selling a few of our tins or glasses of honey to them, and even where we have been successful in placing some, the quantity was woefully small, as a rule. ' The writer lias found a large supply has been left on the merchant's 'hands from last season and under such circumstances they could not see their way to increasing their stock. To invite sales and to advertise the. honey by ocular demonstration, the writer put up several gross of 211) white glass jars of honey of railly fino pale straw colour. This sold fairly readily Jit the same price as 21b tins, but worked out at a less price when breakages and trouble of packing to travel at all safely were taken into consideration. It also tended to educate the public to require honey in glass always, so that the tins were passed by, and if this were continued our position as sellers would become still more difficult, as shortly wo would perhaps be obliged to supply only in glass, which would entail a lot more trouble. The question then remains what are we to do to dispose of our honey without undue trouble? Can it bo mndo a standard article of commerce and an everyday article of consumption, so that we may see it quoted in commercial columns of the papers as "in demand," instead of "slow of sale" as it now too often is?

'Well, in my opinion, we must just follow the same lines as the 'butter men did. At one time, not so far back either, every farmer who had dairy cows made his own butter, with the consequence that there were just so many grades of butter as there- were farmers. This produce (of the various qualities) was hawked from store to store for sale. Some of course, found a market at a, fairly low price: more, again, was at last sacrificed for a few pence per pound, and the buyer had to find some wholesale buyer of grease to whom he could sell it again; and this was the state of the butter market until co-operation ! My! wlii.it a magical word that is: "Cooperation!" Why, that word sold butter right away—all tho butter that the existing cows then produced; it doubled, trebled, and quadrupled the number of cows; it sold all the increased yield of butter, and couldn't get enough. It paid the farmer's mortgage, bought him new things, saved him endless lalK>ur and worry ; it increased the price of land twice over 'and more; it made New Zealand famous; and let me impress on you, if the bottom is ever knocked out of th<> Xev Zealand butter business, then you can take down your notice boards and write "depression" on them. Now, then, you beekeepers, you have arrived at the "parting of the ways." Tf you would take the way marked "to success" then you must write "Co-operative Hee Farmers' Association" over your business premises, and each bee farmer must be a producer of honey only, and leave the selling to his co-operative business manager. It is a foolish cut-throat method at present in vogue. We daren't tell one another wluib we are doing with our honey, for fear lie slips in and endeavours to forestall us in the next order we hoped for.

Xo doubt, most of my readers will bo heartily in agreement with me. Very many, if not all, will have met with the difficulty of selling readily before now, so tho question is: how sliall we go to work to attain the desired end?

At present our whole crop is not large; then the qualities are many, and buyers demand the light in colour quality; so, how about our darker shade? This matter will have to be thrashed out and overcome in conference. No one 'head, so far as L have been in contact with that head, has been able to solve that very knotty question. However, in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom, and many a harder problem has been satisfactorily solved; so we can rest assured this will also be solved. And not all dark coloured, honey is tabooed in the great market of England for the far-famed, much-sought-after heather honey is darker than any New Zealand honey I've yet seen. What we want now is some co-operative scheme that will place our honey in acceptable packages, before the English honey-buy-ers ; and, most necessary of all, a real good agent in London to do our .selling. Australia has failed to capture the English market on account of the flavour of their honey, but New Zealand has no such disadvantage to hanclica.p her; and with good honey in good packages, in the hands of a good agent, we ought to have no trouble in getting a good return for our labour in producing the honey. Unless something along these lines is soon undertaken, we as honey producers will be no better off than the dairymen before the advent of such associations as now exist for the handling of the New Zealand butter.

Perhaps before this desired state of r.ffairs is reached, it will be necessary for us to improve our local market to relieve the market of its present supplies. Tin's can be done, and witibout a,ny great effort on. the part of those who have honey to .sell. I would suggest an agency in Auckland, which would send out a canvasser or two with a cart to hawk 21b tins of honey from door to door. This would probably pay expenses from the "jump," but it would do more, much more in the way of accustoming people to the eating of honey; and many who had never thought of it before would in this way become consumers. It is often, for want of thought, rather than because honey is not liked that .more is not bought. However, a, little united action would help things along a good deal. At present the honey miarket is in a bad way, and not likely to improve without some move by those interested. I would be glad if some of my readers would write to the "Dairyman" and comment on this idea, and give their own views and suggestions. _Tt is quite possible some very admirable plan may already have suggested itself to some -beekeepers nntl I feel sure the "Dairyman" would be pleased to give space to any suggestions =:ent to it.