THE APIARY

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 7

THE APIARY

By J. A.

In an article in this column a few weeks ago I commented rather severely on the grading schedule used by the department tor grading honey. In doing so I used, to illustrate my points, my own grading note, as received from the iocal grader, and hi at least one case it has been brought to my knowledge that it has been regarded as reflecting on tho grader, I want to disavow any such intention. The fact is that in my article I distinctly said I did not wish to criticise tho grader. . I have had an experience of 33 years, in which I havo handled several .tons of honey annually, and during at least one-third of that time I havo put it up in Jrlb and lib pats, and thoreforo claim to know honey fairly well; and it is my honest conviotion that no grader who does not rise above the present grading schedule can ever do justioe in grading our honey. I_ am well aware that tho present instructing staff have given a great deal of study to this question, and that the Director (Mr Kirk) has systematised their work so as to get as good results as possible. To me, howover, the attempt eeems too ambitious. The judging or grading of tho honey on seven distinct issues is altogether unnecessary, and the tondenoy is with every added issue to lower the total of points attainable Tjy tho honey being graded, or, to speak more correctly, that is likely to be attained by such honey. In my last article I suggested tho cutting down of these issues to four, and I do not wish now to say more under that head, but will refer readers of this column back to that article. There is, however, another aspect which will repay close attention. In the grading of butter every Issue on which it is graded is under the control of the manufacturer. It can bo improved. In honey every flower gives its own particular flavour, aroma, grain, and colour to the honey—neither bee nor beekeeper can alter it. Of course, I am aware that there is such a thing as blending, but that is outside the region of ordinary practice. My point is this: that if you take your standard of perfection in each of the above issues from more than one variety in honey, then you penalise the' lot. If you make the flavour of one variety your standard in flavour and the colour of another variety your standard in colour, the grain of another variety your standard in grain, and the aroma of still another your standard in aroma, then no "variety can reach your standard in all of the issues, and the more issues you have the more you penalise the different honeys. From this it will be readily conceded that honeygrading is a much more complex business than is the grading of butter. In the case of butter it is narrowed down to issues that are all under control. In the case of honey a number of issues are brought in that are nob under control, and I maintain that under such circumstances more attention should be given to simple classing, and that tho issues for grading should be reduoed in number, and the important ones be such as can bo controlled or at least partly controlled. It is going to be necessary for beekeepers to realise that thero aro two points of view with regard to grading—the departmental point of. view and that of the apiarist,— and it is to be hoped that these will not be allowed to conflict. Naturally, the grader's point of view will follow closely on what has been and is being done for dairy produce; but it will be necessary for the apiarist to see that the more complex work of honey-grading- does not get into a groove, but is altered and amended until we get something that is satisfactory. Probably not sufficient attention has been focused on this matter hitherto, so far as the beekeepers are concerned, and now that our annual conference gives > such a good opportunity to discuss everything pertaining to beekeeping this subject should not bo lost sight of, but should be carefully and thoroughly thought out and discussed.

LETTERS FROM A BEEKEEPER'S WIFE. Home, June 1 ; 1917. • Dear Sis., —If it has been raining as much and as long with you as it has with, us, I pity you 1 I wonder if the pent-up energy of your three boys would equal that of my one boy and a man 1 Billy is always a problem during a rainy spell, but this time I've had Rob on my hands as well, and it has been a groat relief to have the sun come out and stay out. Ten days of steady drip with only short recesses made Rob like a caged lion; _ he was so wild to be out in the apiaries, and to have the bees flying again, that ho could scarcely contain himself. He was extremely busy every day, however, for he knew that these rains keep the bees in tho hives, and that swarming would be bad just as soon as they could fly. Such an interruption as this in tho work is hard to bear. It is one of the uncertainties of a beekeeper's life that has to bo counted upon. No man who is not a good gambli ;• should ever bo a beekeeper. You know they all always figure on a " bumper crop,'' but there are so many factors upon which tho crop depends that it really is a gambler's chance. A beekeeper can control his bees to a certain extent —have them ires from disease and in good condition for gathering,—but ho cannot control the clover crop nor the flow of nectar in the clover, nor the weather. Rob is really philosophical, for he says that if the weather holds from now on we will have a bumper crop this year anyhow. The rains made a fine growth of clover, and I never saw so much of it. I wish your boys had been here to see the swarms wo had one day right after the rainy spell. It was the worst swarming time we have had for years, _ and the fun has just begun I This swarming happened here in the home apiary. One colony started and the others seemed to eaten the swarm spirit, and followed suit. Such a time as wo had. hiving them, with five swarms in the air at a time! We caught all but one with an undipped queen that lodged high in the big oak that the swing h on. Rob couldn't get to it, and, in despair, resorted to throwing stones, hoping to dislodge it, so that it might settle again in a more convenient spot. Instead it flew off to the woods, and we had our hands so full that we couldn't follow it. - Six swarms settled one after the other on the little pear treo in the middle of tho yard, which makes Rob more firm than ever in h's conviction that it is odour which attracts bees in swarming. Ho thinks the odour left on tho treo by one, swarm attracts another, and that tho swarm odour in the yard excites bees from other colonies to swarm.

Rob always feels discouraged if swarming seta in, although he knows that it

cannot always bo controlled. He seems t<> think he is to blame, and has failed in hill beekeeping practice. I told, him, in an effort to cheer him, that bees are still wila animals, and if ihoy have not been domestic cated In all these centuries, ho needn t think he can do it. He replied impatiently that he does not expect to tarne them J but lie does think it is about time thai scientists found out the cause of swarming, so that there would be a sound basis iot methods of control. At that Bill spoko up and said, " Why do you wait for somebody else, daddy? Yon could find out for jour* self." Rob looked thoughtful, and a "littld shamefaced, as he replied? "Billy, I believe you are right. Wo can't expect the melj in the laboratory to find out these thingfl* It is the men who know bees thoroughly that will have to learn scientifio experiment ing and do it themselves." So do not be surprised if wo set up a, laboratory next! We shall not look for you until we hear that Howard is better. Poof little phap! Ido hope that it is no* whooping-cough. Our fresh country aw will do him lots of good, I feel sure, Wita love to all of you.—Your loving sister, Mart*