MONEY IN HONEY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 141, 17 June 1913, Page 6

MONEY IN HONEY.

organs.

ITS VALUE AS A FOOD.

BEES AS FARM LABORERS

During the present week a big conference of bee-keepers from all parts of New Zealand is to be held in Wellington, and it is confidently expected that as the result of its deliberations there will shortly be a revival of th© business of honey-

raisins: in New Zealand. There is at present a'full demand for all the honey that is produced, but there -is jjpracticallj no limit to the way that demand isoight easily be extended within our own shores, without considering the export trade. Sugar is only a product of the last few centuries, and it is only within the last generation that refined sugar has become cheap enough to. be within tihe reach of all. In pre-sugar days honey' was the universal sweetener. £ipart from the frequent Scriptural Mention of bees and honey and the allusion to bees in the Egyptian

hieroglyphics'' of four thousand years

f;o, Aristotle, the philosopher, ill c . fourth century. 8.C., and 200 .Years later Virgil, the poet, and Pliny, the naturalist, all wrote about bees and bee-keeping. In medieval times, too, it is recorded that the Saxon lords often accepted their tithes and rents in, honey.. The pro-

duction of honey is, therefore, one of the oldest of Nature's industries, and one of the most necessary up to

the days of cheap sugar. But sugar, whether it be produced from beet or cane, cannot be considered so healthy a product as honey. The latter Makes less demand on th© digestive

When cane-sugar is taken

into the system it cannot be assimilated (says Dr C. C. Miller) until first changed by digestion into grape sugar. Only too often the overtaxed stomach fails properly to perform its functions, and our sour stomach with its various dyspeptic phases ensues. Professor A. J. Cook says: "If cane-

sugar is absorbed without change it will be removed by the kidneys, and iaay result in, their breakdown; and physicians may be correct in assert-

ing: that iihe consumption of canesugar by the nineteenth man is harmi ful to i:he great eliminators—the kidneys—and so becomes a menace to health and long life." These quotations are made to emphasise the abounding wealthful- / ness of honey as a food-stuff, arid an industry that every farmer might consider a part of his homestead equipment, if not ' for the express purpose of making money, for the benefit of having always a fresh stock of honey for the home larder. HOW TO COMMENCE BEEKEEPING.

According to Mr Isaac Hopkins, late Apiarist to the Government, • the

best time for a beginner to start is in the spring or early summer. He should never commence in the autumn, except under the guidance of a practical man. The outlay in the first instance should not exceed what is required to make a small beginning. ':Go slow" should be the maxim of all beginners. The hives should bo ready in the early spring, and arrangements shoxild then have been made with a neighboring beekeeper for a. couple of early swarms, which should not weigh less than 51b. each. There are approximately 5000 bees to the pound, so that a 51b. swarm would contain some 25,000 lvees. To ascertain the weight of the swarm, a swarm-box should be supplied by the purchaser in which xo put the bees. Weigh the box before using and again when the bees are in it. Deduct the weight of the box from-'the gross weight, and thedifference will be the weight (and .approximate number) of the swarm of bees. A swarm of 51b. and over is practically certain to have a laying queen at its head as a "second or after-swarm with a virgin queen weighs much less. -A good swarm is invariably free from all disease, otherwise the colony could not have thrown it off. Take the advice of the nearest successful bee-farmer and let him bring and hive tlie swarms for you if possible,^ as it will give you a good lesson in handling bees. It is best always to commence with common bees, -and later on to Italianise the hives with good queens* from reliable breeders. .

WHO SHOULD NOT KEEP BEES

In one of his pamphlets Mr Hopkins says: — "All beginners suffer more or less from the effects of the beer Sting Doison, but in most cases the bad effects wear off gradually as the system becomes innoculated against the poison, till, finally, little inconvenience is felt from * a sting than would be caused by the prick of a needle. In rare instances, however, people are to be found who suffer so severely that a sting is positively dangerous to them, ;their systems aeemine never to become immune to the poison. It is scarcely necessary to say that such, persons should not keep bees. Again, there are individuals too nervous to go among their bees without being armor-clad, as it \ffere, from head to foot. I have Jjnown manj such who have kept bees £or a long:time, and yet have never been able to get overl their nervousness. In lay opinion such people should not k»ep bees. No person vtho manages, bos bees properly can escape being stung occasionally, though I am sometimes told about individuals (I have never come into contact with them) who can do anything; with bees without being stung. I have to listen, but never contradict a person who tells me this —it is suggestive, though." Bee-culture offers a splendid opportunity for our settlers' wives and daughters, who would care for a healthy, out-door, and profitable occupation. As the result of encouragement given by the Department of Agriculture, quite a number of ladies are taking up the industry, and are finding both pleasure' and profit in it. Ladies who take to it make excellent apiarists—much better on the average than, men. In America they rank amongst.the most successful bee-keepers, and peasants' wives on the Continent usually look after the household bees, from which a considerable, portion of the household revenue k derived; ' There is nothing to preyeijt a healthy] young woman from managing and doing the work (with a little assistance during the height of the season) of an apiary of 100 hives. The work carried out by the lady apiaristsat Ruakura and Wcreroa State Farms, where in addition to their actual bee-work they put together and paint the hives, make the frames, and do everything necessary on a bee-farm, affords practical proof that there is nothing connected with bee-farming but what a woman can accomplish.

PROFITS IN BEE-KEEPING

It is reasonable, Mr lETopldna supposes,, that the prospective , be&farmer should waiiifc to know something; as to the probable profits

attached to the business. All industries require, more or less, the combination of three elements—capital, • labor, and skill. Although beefarming cannot be carried on without -the aid of the first two aids, it mainly depends on. the skill of the apiarist to determine what the profits will be. "It would be easy," says Mf Hopkins, "for me to show some surprising results that have been achieved in New Zealand, but, xt would perhaps be dangerous to quote suctb: even as maximums. As an (vs<bimafce. however, I may state that from a well-conducted apiary, in an average good district, the net profits per colony of bees should reach from 17s to £1 through a number of successive seasons, which estimate I consider well within the mark."

TEXT BOOKS.

Those who think seriously of taking ut> bee-keeping will be. interested to learn the niames of reliable text-books on the subject of bee-keeping. The following; may be said to be reliable: —"The ABC and XYZ of BeeCulture," "Langstroth on the Honey Bee," ''Cook's Manual of the Apiary," "Advanced Bee-Culture,.' "British Bee-Keepers' Guide," and "The Australasian Bee. Manual" (by Isaac Hopkins).—Dominion.