THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3912, 5 March 1929, Page 11

THE APIARY.

By

J. A.

REGISTRATION. At the Southland beekeepers’ field day meeting I was told by one of the local inspectors that in his district practically every commercial beekeeper was in the habit of reading the apiary column in the Otago Witness, and he thought it would be of practical value if a reminder was given of the need of registration. There are some even among commercial apiarists who treat the need for registration very lightly, regarding it as a bit of officialism which has practically no importance. That, however, is not the case. With work such as the cleaning up of disease, which is going on at the present time through local inspection, it is invaluable that the inspectors should be able to have a list of the apiaries within their districts. Most of the local inspectors are commercial beekeepers themselves, devoting a portion of their time to this work at only a very reasonable remuneration, and their time for the work is very limited. It is therefore of supreme importance to them that instead of having to waste time hunting up the position of apiaries they should have a properly tabulated list of the apiaries within their district.

Registration no doubt serves for many other purposes, but to the beekeepers themselves this organisation for the elimination of disease is most important. It saves time for the inspector, it prevents hole-and-corner work (to keep an apiary without registration is an offence against the law, and is punishable by a severe penalty), and it is valuable in manyunexpected ways. It is a registration that has to be repeated frequently because of the continual changes that are going on in the position and number of apiaries; but it is done in a verysimple way' through a card which is sent out by' the horticultural division, and which can be filled up in a few minutes and lodged in the nearest post office. Beginners whose apiaries have not yet been registered can obtain a registration card from the post office. The point to remember is that it is unlawful for beekeepers to keep even one hive of bees without registration, and that after investigation by a local inspector (and there are 16 of them on the warpath in our southern district) such beekeepers are almost certain, to find that there is an information laid against them and that they have to visit a magistrate. That, however, is not the chief point which I wish to make. It is this: that the elimination of disease, especially' a disease as infectious as is foul brood, is absolutely essential to the progress of our industry, and it is up to every commercial apiarist to do his part in everyway possible to ensure that the work of the inspectors shall be effective.

HOME AGAIN. The. position of the writer of these notes is familiar to most of our southern beekeepers. About 13 years ago, for health reasons principally, I had to shift my home to Nelson. For .32 years I had been a beekeeper in Southland, and was loath to part with my bees, so, through the kindness of my son-in-law. Mr William Caldwell, in a corner of whose farm the bees are safely lodged, I was enabled by going back to them for three months in summer time to keep them going. Hence during December, January, and February these notes are written directly from the apiary, but for the. rest of the year they are sent from Nelson. At Nelson it is through the kindness of another son-in-lay, Mr T. T. Wards, that I am able to leave my work there and annually to take the trip to care for the bees.

The question may be asked, Why not raise an apiary in Nelson? Well, the principal reason is that the manuka honey will not compare with the fine clover 1 honey of Southland; but. in any case, it appears as if the summer dryness of Nelson would make beekeeping very uncertain. It has, however, become absolutely essential to keep bees in Nelson also for fertilising purposes, particularly for pears, and an apiary of 30 colonies has been raised for this purpose, the result of which from a honey point of view is being closely watched. My work in Nelson is the running of a 15-acre orchard—l2 acres of apples and three acres of pears. Both employments are congenial, and have been made to fit into one another and considerably to help one another, for, as is well known, fruitgrowing for export has passed through rather difficult times. It is with pleasure that I forget the rainy days of Southland for a time, and take up the bag to begin picking apples in Nelson sunshine.