BEEKEEPERS CONFER

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14601, 26 February 1921, Page 6

BEEKEEPERS CONFER

THE WAIPA BBC OLUP A meeting of the Walp a Bee Club was held yesterday at Te Awamutu, Mr H. B&rtlett Miller oocupylng the chair. . It was deoided to affiliate with the Auckland Provlnoial Branch of the Na - t'unal Beekeepers' Association as a subtrffn'oh of that body. The following officers were elected: President, Mr H. Bartlett Miller; vioerrsldents, Messrs C. Smedley, Bert Holmes, E. L. Jones, T. Clarke, Ward sr.d Lenihan. Mr Hugh C. Jones was appointed seoretary. A discussion of a somewhat informal nature ensued, in which Mr W. J. Rygeneral manager of the H.P.A., gave an interesting and informative survey of the honey position general!... Mr Ryland stated that in very few countries was commercial bee-keeping undertaken at all, but in little New Zealand, with a length of a thousand miles ry a few hundred' miles broad, then were over a thousand beekeepers, of whom over 200 looked to that profests.'on as their sole means of livelihood. The majority of these beekeepers looked to the H.P.A. to protect their interests and allow them to obtain a livelihood from the produce of the bees. Getting down to bedrock, the main object of the H.P.A. was to get the pro.Ucer the most for the money, time and labour he had expended. He appealed t" them to always maintain a live interest in the H.P.A. He was please I t-i be able to observe that there was so much of a I've spirit among the beekeepers that it had manifested itself in di mging them together that afternoon. Mr Ryland criticised the report of u previous meeting of beekeepers held h. Te Awamutu which appeared in the Waikato Times. He thought the report somewhat misleading, especially the heading, "Beekeepers Confer." The report would havo been all right if it hal mentioned that therj were not more than about a dozen beekeepers present, However, in one sense it was a splendid thing to get suc:i a lengthy report iu a powerful paper. Mr F. Jones: Woko. them up, didn't it It showed what i. terest the Waipa Pee Club has arouse l. (Laughter and rear, hear.)

Mr Ryland: You don't want to get up ir. the morning and read ■'BeekeeperConfer," with an intimation that they were dissatisfied with the 11.P.A.

Mr Jones: If that report states that ti'oro was dissatisfaction, I must say that I said that the bee club here was formed to foster the interests of the heney producer. Mr Ryland: What I am objecting to is the insinuation anJ the alleged dissatisfaction with the H.P.A. For instance, so far as the shareholders falling away is concerned there has been, on the contrary, a steady increase in the number of shareholders. I consider the progress of such a young body remarkable. (Hear, hear.)

The speaker went en to say that the amount of honey bandied by the Association had increased enormously. Las. season was a bad on: throughout Hi- 1 I) nninion, but if the season was a gooi.' one this year then t:.ey should handle over 600 tons, and possibly much more. Mr Ryland referred to the question of disease. The question of foul brood was the worst thing they had to contend with. Throughout .New Zealand fever 200 tons was lost yearly. As this was valued at between £7O and £BO ton, it could be realised what a serious thing it was for the industry. He had been in touch with the Agricultural Department for the last 12 months in retard lo this matter, ar.d. something was being done lo combat it. Foul broo.t was not being spread throughout New Zealand by the company. There wen: very few keepers throughout New Zealand who did not have a touch of foul brood, and thus there was no possibility of preventing dissemination in the Dominion until the Government was compelled to take action. Mr Ryland thought that the Beekeepers' Association should develop the local market to the exclusion of everything else . .Hear, hear.) There were approximately over 200,000 families in Is'ew Zealand, and if each family purChased a pound tin of honey a week they would absorb almost over four times Bie amount of honey in New Zealand He /ailed to understand why they exported honey at all, although the expert market was very good to them. Air Jones proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Ryland, who had given them a lot of interesting information. He hoped that the Ii.P.A. would not send Mr Ryland to England, hut would retain him in New Zealand, as he was Uo valuable' a man lo be spared. The motion was carried with acclamation.