THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3312, 5 September 1917, Page 8

THE APIARY.

By J. A. The editor of the New Zealand Bee Journal writes as follows in the August number: —"After feeing in the grading store, and seeing the amount of extra time it takes, also the care necessary to prevent breaking the lids of the cases that aro wired and stapled, instead of being strapped with iron and nailed, we are convinced that it would bo a wise thing to bar the use of wire and staples, particularly when some men use ordinary fencing wire and staples. which split the timber badly, and make it a hopeless job to get the lid off in onepiece." If the cases were to be shipped without being opened there wouJd not be a better binding than Avire and staples—that is, provided one used wire about the thickness of a lin nail and _ fin staples; but as they must be opened it spoils the job and the case, and many suppliers have to bear an extra expense to put this right, which would be avoided if strapping were used. There is also a right and a wrong way in nutting on the strapping. The right way is to have the two ends come together on the lid, not somewhere down the sides. A little care exercised on this job will save you shillings on your H.P.A. account." We think tho journal is quite right in the idea that ordinary fencing wire and staples that split up the boxes should nothe used. If wire is. used, at all it should bo similar to that used on cheese cases. Wo agree that strapping is hotter, and that it should meet over the lid of tho box; better still if. until it is graded,, if is covered over by the lid. leaving the nailing down for the grader. In calling attention to this matter hero, however, it is not to patch up tile present package at all. but to show how our bnttnr-box package scores in this connection. We can perhaps best arrest attention in the matter by surrsrostmcr that, sepimr butter and honey are in every way so similar, a shipment of butter should ho pont to tho prvnnin<T store strapped with ordinary fencing wire and staples. Tho ,<-'-'for would like, m company w'th Friend B'lines, to watch the grader (accustomed to present nsofre) tret *o work on the eonsijmrtrmts. Tho drawing of those hip; staples and tho hon.rl : ncr back oT that No. 8 st'-l ■.vivo nnd if? general effect m tho lids would rml-o the grrndcr T-i-"mVarb - sonsit'vo to n.nv Htrht remarks Jokinrr asi-10. would it not. ho much bettor to send tho as butter is sent—to tack down tho lids wi+h llin fir?" wire nnils. and to surmlv n •f"w more ?i<)'*l<; so that th« grader ?s done ho could nail down properly and cut out srrnpTvnw rdtorrothov ? CHr graders will not touch honor until it has granulated.

.Alter griuuUtion it is for cawying purposes identical with butter. Wliy not realise that thr-i is so, and get the department to realise it also .' HOW TO SELL HONEY. This ought not to bo a very difficult proposition at the present time. The following quotation from the New Zealand Bee .Journal.. however, shows some of the vagaries of our marketing:—"'Having-an hour to spend idly whilst in Auckland recently, wo went to have a look round the auction marts, and very soon we saw some familiar tins. Yes, there it was, all the way from Waikaia, Southland—lß 101 b tins, and one ease of 21b tine. It seems a most extraordinary thing- that, in spite of the H.P.A. wanting' honey and offering a fair price, and the merchants offering tempting prices, it should be necessary for any beekeeper to have to resort to the auction mart to get rid of his output—withal to send it from one end of the Dominion to the other. The only redeeming feature about the matter was the price, which was 7d per lb. A few years ago auction mart honey could be bought for about 2d. This particular honey was a very good sample, and should never have seeii an auction room. We suggest the H.P.A.take a trip round Southland and see what is doing there." Nothing extraordinary about it all. At the beginning of last season Southland was scarcely conscious that the H.P.A. existed — they (the H.P.A.I were cither asleep or gone on a journey or something else had happened. So late as mid-season a gentleman in Dunedin well qualified to give an opinion believed that 101 b tins would sell at 3s 6d—that is, pre-war rates. At the Southland Association's field-day meeting ou January 17 it was reported that one beekeeper had already sold his honey at 4d per lb in bulk; and the Government inspector (Mr Earp) took occasion to counsel the beekeepers not to jump at the first offer for their honey, but to have confidence in the market, which he felt sure would bo good. Now if the H.P.A. were asleep, the Dunedin merchants were awake, and they did their work quickly and well, with the result that when later the H.P.A. offer of an advance of 4|d came to hand the honey was alreadv sold at from 5d to bd per lb. Had -an agent of the H.P.A. attended that meeting on January 17, not with a share list, or to advise, but with a notebook and pencil, prepared to offer or 5d per lb, he would probably have done good business. How the Waikaia consignment came to reach Auckland I don't know; but certainly no Southland honey is ever sold at 2d per lb. It was in bad company, and the only way it could hold up its head was to hold fast to Southland values—namely, 7d per lb.