THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3336, 20 February 1918, Page 7

THE APIARY.

By J. A

DIARY OF A BEEKEEPERSEASON 1917-1918. February 7,8, and 9.—Very close ■weather prevailed during theso three days. The air. was moist, witn a good deal of haze and an occasional shower. It did not prove- a great success from a beo point of view, only 3lb being recorded for three days. The bees were flying strong, and autumn flowers are all that one could wish; still something was wanting. Our work was extracting, following exactly the routine wo have already described, and putting out about 8001 b per day. On Saturday night our little honey stack contained 155 641 b boxes. Although not nearly as good as last year, our season is likely to prove above the average. February 11 and 12.—Busy wax-melting. We put through our cappings and some old brood-nest combs for 2801 b wax. It is, of Course, much easier to get the wax from the cappings than from the old combs, so on our first day we put out 1751 b. On tho second clay, when wo dealt only with the tough old combs, 1051 b was the output. That cleans us up for. the present, and our object was to get the honey-house cleaned of honey and wax combs and cappings, as the 'strong honey odour of these means a constant tcmptation_ to tho bees to come inside —so strong, in fact, that they were coming down the chimney and in at the door on every opportunity. We find that it pays, and pays well, both in pleasure and otherwise, to give the bees as few opportunities to thieve as possible, and that is why wo like to work with covers when taking off honey, and also why we like to put back the combs the last thing at night. February 13.—A strong nor'-wester is blowing to-day. Nothing is doing in the apiary, though the heat is sufficient to make the bees cluster outside. Our first L work was to clean up after wax-melting, SO that we could leave the honey-house door open without tempting the bees. Wo then brought in 20 supers of honey to extract. These supers gave an average of 32Jb of honey. So far _ the quality is very good. We were afraid that February this year would see a lot of ragwort honey come in, but so far the flavour is not affected by it, nor does it show_ in the combs. Dandelion or capeweed is much more in evidence. -

THE PRICE OF HONEY.,

The value of honey seems to be somewhat of a puzzle—in fact, it has always been more or less difficult to understand. Some years ago, when bulk honey was selling at 4d to 4id per lb, 10lb tins were being quoted by the agents at 3s 3d. In the case of tho bulk honey the 601 b tin costs Is. In the case of the 101 b tins, six of them to hold 601 b would cost from 3s to 3s 6d; and yet the beekeepers were powerless. They just simply had to accept the position. Now, in last—week's market reports bulk honey is quoted at 9d for first grade and for second grade (prices guaranteed), while 101 b tins stand at 5s 6d, or just 6id per lb. This anomaly should make beekeepers realise that something is wrong. The fact of the matter is that honey in bulk in grading store commands English prices, while that in smaller and more expensive packages goes on to the local market, and is at the mercy of the trade. In the past there has been no way out of position. Beekeepers wero isolated, and for the most part produced honey as a side line, and if they sought a price more in keeping with th.e actual value of their product tho other man's honey could bo bought cheaper, and consequently the tradesman was unwilling to give moro. Now, however, that we have our H.P.A. Co-op. there is no reason for 'this things to continue. The H.P.A. is out to put the very best article on the market, got up to satisfy the trade, and its listed price is from lOd to 10£d per lb, at which price it has more .orders than it can supply. Every pound Wo as beekeepers sell at a lower price is making it more difficult for our own company to sustain its own price, and, in reality, when we stand out, we are working against our own industry. Some may claim that this is making a monopoly and " bearing" the market for the local consumer; but is *it reasonable to ask beekeepers to accept 6id for honey when its value for shipment is lOd per lb? Just as in butter and cheese and meat, so from henceforth will it be with honey —the local value will be ruled by the value for export, and what the H.P.A. is trying to do now is to make these two values as nearly equal as possible. At the present time the value for shipment is greater 'than that on the local market, and as a ■.;onsequence the honey sold in the local market Dy the H.P.A. reduces the average value of the lot, and _ consequently reduces the bonus, which shippers naturally expect to be high. It is very hard to get beekeepers to see that co-operation is a good thing. For the most part, they have regular customers whom they wish to supply, and it feels like doing tho wrong thing to go past these customers. But in the past we have had too much of this kind of philanthropy. We want business now, and we want every beekeeper who goes past his ''co-op." to realise that he is doing tho Wrong thing, that he is injuring himself as well as his fellow beekeepers by standing out. As beekeepers we have our opportunity now. If we let it fail—well, it will probably be a long time before such another chance comes along. Wo have an enthusiast in co-operation in Mr Gilling, our. managing director, and, if any man can. he will make .a success _of it. There is, however, no use suggesting 'the possibility of failure. We are out to succeed, and succeed we will. The Bristol and Dominion Company has been patient with us in our lean years; we will yet show them what we can do when our industry comes to its own, and tho fat years come along.