HONEY SCARCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26772, 15 May 1948, Page 6

HONEY SCARCE

POSITION IN CITY SALES AT “BACK DOOR” MARKETING SCHEME UNPOPULAR There will be very little honey for the people of Dunedin this year. Fewer bees have been kept, most of the honey has been sold by the producers “at their back doors,” and only negligible quantities will be available to the pub- . lie from shops in the city. These facts were obtained by the Daily Times yesterday from men associated with the honey industry. “The bees are not to blame; don't get that idea,” one man' said. “ Regular producers have been keeping fewer hives. During the year in Otago, the dry weather and winds have made it difficult for the bees in their collection of honey. Flowers yield less honey in dry weather and the winds hinder the bees in gathering it. The bees, however, did their job well in spite of those difficulties.” The quantity of honey produced in Otago this year was about average, it was emphasised, but there was little support for the Government marketing scheme. Most producers, it was stated, had preferred to sell their honey “at the back door,” where the demand is reported to have been keen. The result was that only very small quantities of honey would reach merchants for distribution to the retail shops for the public. For the past few years, the Daily Times was informed, some manufacturers had used quantities of honey instead of sugar, which was rationed. The present price of honey to manufacturers—loid a pound in bulk—almost prohibited the use of honey in place of sugar. Some manufacturers, are at present using small quantities to eke out their sugar ration, but not nearly as much honey is being used in this way as in the past.