THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3455, 1 June 1920, Page 9

THE APIARY.

By J. A

BEEKEEPING FOR A LIVING

That oft-repeated question is asked again, Is beekeeping all it is said to be? Could a man with a youiig family, not over strong, expect to win through all-right? Would it do it alone, or would it be necessary to add something else Without knowing the man we could not answer, this question so far as he individually is concerned; but we can state the position for beekeeping, and allow him to make the personal application. .Nothing, perhaps, is all that it is said to be, but we can say lor beekeeping that it wili sustain its reputation as well as most things. Mainly through co-operation in the forming of the H.P.A. beekeeping has of late years gained an established place, and is increasing all over the Dominion at a very rapid rate, and with good prospects of continuing to do so tor inany years to come. Formerly, when the box hive was largely used and but little commercial beekeeping was done, and only smail quantities of honey were produced, the market_ was a poor one, and beekeepers had to take a very low price for their honey. In those days no one thought of making beekeeping alone a means of livelihood. That position, however, is ■ altered now , or rather, I should say, is being altered, for_we are only at the beginning oi it yet. .Last year our H.P.A. handled 624 tons of honey, of a. probable net value of not less than £40,000. That indicates that the product in honey for the Dominion is a, fairly large one oven now. What it will grow to we cannot say, but old beekeepers are sanguine about it. The unit in beekeeping is the colony of bees, and if we state what can be done with a colony of bees it is then onlv a matter of multiplication for our questioner to find out his position. An experience extending over 66 years m .Southland enables us to speak With some degree of certainty as to a fair average return. This varies according to the season, but it may bo taken as running from- about. 601 b to 1201 b of honev, or a value of from 30s to £3 per colony. The latter figure was about our average in the last three years' of our Oakleigh apiary. As showing the possibilities, we have taken from a smgle hive, wjth no assistance beyond attention, 3501 b of honey of a net value of £8 15s, and we know that others have exceeded this, but that is unusual. Our estimate of a fair average in a good district, with good attention, is about SOib or a value of £2 5s per colony. A few words as to the size of the apiary will probably be of service. We have compared notes on this point with several large'beekeepers, and for the most cart our own opinion has been confirmed that about 120 colonies was a fair average handling for one man. An old friend of ours was once asked the question how many colonies can one man keep, aiVd his answer was 300, and that is quite possible; but we question if, after all, from 320 to 150 will not, by getting better attention, give better results. The real problem is to keep as many bees as possible in as few hives as possible. If one strong colony will get 1201 b of honey where three weaker ones would only get 401 b each, then the single colony pays best. With 120 colonies that will average from year to year SOlb each the beekeeper has an annual return of £270 at 6d per lb. His work is largely summer work; there is no outside drudgery in the winter time. For four to five months in the summer .he will be kept fairly busy, for the remainder of the year his time will be largely available for other occupations. If you are going to be a tradesman an apprenticeship is necessary. To be able to handle a saw, a hammer, and a chisel several years are required. Some thinly that for beekeeping one summer is sufficient; We havo been 56 years at it, and it has been all apprenticeship. Were we to approach any other trade in the way that beekeeping is usually started there "would be a lot of poor work done. Our advice has always been: begin small and work up gradually. . f THE CONFERENCE. We are looking f orward ot a most interesting meeting on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of June at Christchurch. Probably the attendance; will be the 1 largest that has ever -been* yet. The adjourned annual meeting of the H.P.A. is to be held at the same time, and both meetings promise to be more than usually interesting. Among other things comes our forward movement in dealing with foul-brood —and' also we hope to find that progress will he made in the methods of marketing our honey. This function in June is coming to be regarded as the beekeepers' annual holiday, and it serves a good purpose in bringing beekeeners into touch with one another, and in inviting them to conserve the interests of their craft. Wo hope ,to meet many Southla.pders thei'e, and Canterbury should surely be well represented.

APPRECIATION OF OUR SYSTEM OF TESTING HONEY.

In our April issue last year, a copy of an article on the "Use of the Hydrometer im Commercial Beekeeping," I had written for the American Bee Journal, was published. This article interested Mr F. Dundas Todd, "Foul Brood Inspector" for British Columbia,, who wrote me in November last wishing "to compare the results of our system" of ascertaining the density of honey with that of the Dominion Chemist of 8.C., and requested a sample , of oiir honey marked with its specific gravity for comparison. I put our honey grader, Mr Wc?tbrooke, in touch with Mr Todd, and a sample of honey, together with full particulars of our system, were forwarded in -Tamfavv. A reply has just been received from the latter, and some particulars of the comparative tests made by the Dominion Chemist of 8.C., have been sent, and they correspond' as near as possible with the "specific gravity notification of the honev forwarded by Mr W>sthro°keviz., 1.430. Mr Todd is enthusiastic over the simple means adopted in New Zealand for detecting unripe honey, and advises its adoption in America. He has written two articles on the subiect for publication in the "American Bee Journal," and as soon as they appear, I will give our readers a summary of them. I may here mention that -analytical chemists oh+iin the specifio gravity or density of different substances by the use of tfce Abbe refractometer. but for oil the purposes reruiired in beekeeping, the hydrometer is all that is needed; it is a simple

and cheap instrument to use.—N.Z. Fruitgrower.