WHAT IS A FAIR LIVING ?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5700, 20 October 1896, Page 3

WHAT IS A FAIR LIVING ?

The ideas of the sous of a> professional man, of a mechanic, or of a labourer, would vary very considerably as to what -amount of money return for his. labour would constitute a fair living, and eacliones/whatevor class he lives in, wovtld doom, it necessary that the bees should return) him a : profit, or pay, for his labour at least equal to what he could eavn if he gave the- same amount of time and energy, to any otherbusiness ; if it did not, he would soon forsake the one for the other, lm tJieae days of keen competition it is necessary that a person's time and energies be fiilly: occupied ; if there is any pai't of: the day or year when he has nothing to do, then his income must be reduced by jusfrthat proportion of wasted time. At the outset,, therefore, persons contemplating; keeping bees as a means of living, must consider this : That they will not fully' oeoupy their time : that there is a considerable portion' of the year when there will be nothing to do; from the beginning of March to>the beginning o f . August the bees- will be better if left entirely alone ; during August and September, one day per week will be sufficient to care for one hundred colonies ;. from October to March, two hundred colonies would keep a man fully, occupied 1 during the middle of the day; and probably he would want the, assistance 1 of a boy during the swarming season.. Now,, what return per hive is a fair estimate;, taking an average over a series -of years, and with a hundred colonies at least in. oneapiary? I think 15s per hive — that! is 601 b. of honey at 3d per lb net. A capableapiarist, well up to nis work, will probably increase this estimate, and could, .without being overworked, look after and .care for four hundred colonies, with the help of two or three boys during the swarming season to take swarms and help in the extracting. The foregoing applies only to those who make bee-keeping their principal source of income, and who will combine some other rural industry, such as fruit-growing or dairying with it, work that can be- done in the early and late part of tlie-dayv leaving the . caw , ,of , the bees to the-, middle.

The great majority of bee-keepers are*, however, those who keep, bees quite as a side issue ; who keep from two to twenty colonies. From these, of course,, muchi larger returns may be expected, partly because the forage field is not so closely worked and partly because the honej r , being sold in a semi-retail way, realises more money. As an instance of what can be done with good management in a good locality,, a friend of mine, who has kept thirty colonies for the last eight years, has averaged over that period 1201 b per colony, the largest yield being 1651 b per colony, and the smallest yield 851 b, the whole of. the- work being done in odd times, and the. swarms taken by members of the family. The honey realizing an average of a-- fraction over 4d per lb.