PRESENT AND FUTURE SOURCES OF HONEY IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XIII, Issue 1, 20 July 1916, Page 27

PRESENT AND FUTURE SOURCES OF HONEY IN NEW ZEALAND.

A. H. COCKAYNE,

Biologist

In- all . agricultural. industries • the production of the raw materials on - which the industry depends ' is of paramount importance. . In this respect beekeeping is no exception to the rule, . and thorough study of the sources of supply of the raw material, and .of methods tending towards increasing them, should be :of great value.

Beekeeping is one of the few rural industries where the production of the . raw material is not generally' carried out directly by the' person particularly interested. ’ In certain cases the apiarist may also be a farmer, but this is rare, and the beekeeper in general relies for his ' supplies of nectar on plants . that may comprise either the natural vegetation of the district or crops (intentional : or unintentional) grown by- the farmer. From - time to time suggestions have been made- for .the growing of special plants for the express purpose of. honey-production. It can, however, be said that, with extremely rare exceptions, the growing of crops for the sake of their nectar alone is not a payable proposition.' Thus, if the bee-farmer attempts'to produce his own bee pasture he must select such crops as are themselves payable, and the nectar 'produced should be looked upon as a by-product. In such cases the beekeeper has do combine the duties both of an apiarist and a farmer, and as the management of bees . and'. the work of preparing the honey for market will fully • occupy the . whole of his attention, such- dual-purpose . bee-farmers are unlikely' to .be uniformly • successful. t

.Therefore the bee-farmer is forced to rely almost entirely- on the natural honey resources of his locality, ■ and on the honeyplants that come within the scope of ordinary farming operations. It might be said that ' the apiarist, having virtually no control of the matter, need give no attention to the sources of supply, as such are factors beyond his jurisdiction. This, however, is not true, and the beekeeper . should at the least pay particular attention to the general trend :of .agricultural development, and encourage with all his power any methods that are payable < to. the farmers and at the same time are likely to increase the honey-yield of

a district. The farmer naturally will not grow crops that are primarily only of value to apiarists, but his attention can well be directed- into channels highly profitable to himself and indirectly of great benefit to the bee industry, ' -

It is thus seen that a consideration of the general trend of agricultural development in New Zealand, and in what directions these can be correlated with beekeeping, is very necessary in dealing with the sources of honey. What may be termed the botanical side of beekeeping has not as yet been given the full attention it warrants. This is due very largely to the fact that failure, so . far as profit is concerned,' has been the rule with regard to the specific growing of honey-yielding vegetation. The beekeeper simply trusts to luck for his nectar-supplies, locating himself, of course, in what are known as favourable districts, but making few attempts to regulate the agricultural development of his locality in directions beneficial in the supply of this allimportant raw material on which his livelihood depends. Before enumerating some phases of soil-utilization that may benefit the honey industry it will be well to briefly deal with the natural honey-sources.

NATURAL HONEY-SOURCES.

Honey produced from the nectar of natural vegetation may be classed under the generic name of bush or wild honey, and this includes not only the Roney harvested from forest, but also that from the natural open and heath lands.

The following is a partial list of the main native honey-plants : Manuka, various species of rata, various species of Senecio, Olearia, and similar, composites. (The composite or daisy family are nearly all important honey-plants, the introduced catsear being especially notable in this respect.) Phormium, cabbage-trees, some buttercups, Parsonsia, willow-weeds (especially in swamps), Rub us, Gaultheria, Fuchsia, certain Veronicas, Avicennia, Clematis, rewarewa, Loranthus, mahoe, Astelia, Bulbinella,' and Maori onion. There are, of course, many others that play a certain part in honey-production. Manuka, rata, cabbage - tree, Phormium, and perhaps coastal - forest trees like mahoe, kohekohe, and Fuchsia, together with the composites, can be' looked upon as the most important.

Bush honey is almost always of poor colour, and pure manuka honey is extremely difficult to extract. Southern honeys reputed to be gathered from manuka have frequently a large admixture of other nectars. In passing it will be well to mention that certain bush honeys are reputedly poisonous, and authentic cases

of poisoning appear evident. I am, however, rather dubious as to whether the nectar of the plants suspected really is the cause of the trouble. It is difficult to locate the source of bush honeys with any degree of certainty, pollen-grain examination not being very satisfactory when a large number of species have contributed to the sample.

The amount of honey produced from natural vegetation is large, but as time goes on this source will, through the breaking-in of forest, manuka, and swamp lands, steadily become less and less. It is certainly towards the flora of the lands under occupation that one must turn in order to determine the source of the highergrade honeys and to certain special developments of soil-utilization that may lead to improved conditions so far as honey-production is concerned.

I would like to point out here that it is the custom to treat nearly all the better-coloured lines of honey as white-clover honey. The term has to a large extent become a trade one, and it by no means follows that all white-clover honeys are mainly gathered from white clover. In certain cases catsear nectar is really the more important one from which such honeys are made, and various members of the composite, leguminous, wild borage, labiate, and crucifer family provide honey that on general appearance could be called white-clover honey. Clovers (and more especially white clover), alsike, suckling, lotus, trefoil, and lucerne . (especially in a pastoral country like New Zealand) will probably in the future always supply the bulk of the honeys, but the important part played by other groups of plants should not be overlooked.

FORESTRY.

Each year from two to three thousand acres of land are forested by the Government, and the annual foresting and plantation -work of local bodies and private individuals runs into many hundreds of acres. Forests are the longest maturing of any agricultural crop, and the attention of beekeepers has been in other countries directed from time to time to the problem of whether beekeeping and afforestation can be combined. Before detailing any possibilities in this connection with regard to New Zealandit will be well to outline briefly the general trend of afforestation in. New Zealand. The report of the Forestry Commission (1913) clearly demonstrated that the only trees likely to pay in forestry operations, are those of short duration, half a century being placed as the maximum period for any planted forest crop. Again, the main types of trees required are those providing a

rapid growth of timber suitable for constructional and conveyance purposes, and those of a hardwood nature suitable for withstanding long periods of exposure. For constructional and conveyance purposes various pines are the most suitable for New Zealand conditions, especially such a rapid-growing species as Pinus radiata, better known as Pinus insignis. For hardwood purposes various species of Australian eucalypts stand out as pre-eminent.

So far as the pines are concerned, they 'are valueless for beefarming purposes, being nectarless and producing a resinous pollen unsuitable for bee-fodder. . All the species of Eucalyptus secrete nectar abundantly, but in general the quality of the honey is inferior, of bad flavour, and difficult to extract. In this latter respect it resembles pure manuka honey, and it is interesting to note that the manuka and the gums are botanically related. . It would appear as though the gums were not suitable for honeyproduction, but the quality produced by different species varies enormously. It is quite probable that certain species would produce good marketable honey, as is the case with E. rostrata. If certain species combine good timber, and honey production it would certainly be advantageous to restrict the planting to these. This matter requires careful investigation, and such an inquiry is recommended to beekeepers' organizations. Again, certain species of acacia might be found to combine good timber- and -producing qualities.

It will thus be seen that I am not very enthusiastic on the part that afforestation in New Zealand may be made ■to play in the furtherance of the bee industry. Certain trees like the false acacia (Robinia) might, however, be profitably planted and fulfil the dual purpose 'of providing fencing - material and beeforage, as has been done with this tree on an extended scale on the sandy soils of Hungary. It may be asked, Why not plant important nectar-producing trees like the limes, perhaps better known to beekeepers under the name of basswoods ? The answer is that broad-leaved trees of this • description are unsuitable for general planting in New Zealand, and efforts in. this direction have been quite unsuccessful in the past. The limes are not tolerant of exposure, and' even for street or avenue planting are far excelled by many other trees, such as the Oriental plane. In sheltered situations limes have grown well, and' many beautiful trees of both the European and American lime may be. seen as specimens, especially in Christchurch gardens ; but on the whole they can be looked upon as quite unsuitable for forestry purposes. From the beekeepers' standpoint the timber is valuable, but not more so than many other quicker and more readily grown trees.

It is possible that certain species of willows might prove valuable, but their timber is not of such general utility as that of either poplars or pines.

Let it' be understood that I am fully seized of the importance of deriving revenue from forest-trees during the long period between planting and conversion. If such could be accomplished, that bugbear of forestry compound interest might be obviated ; but with the exception of the eucalypts and with them even it is more or less conjecture there appear to be nd trees suitable for extensive general planting that might combine timber and honey production. Of course, for ornamental planting, and to a limited extent in plantation - work, certain nectar - producing trees, such as the acacias, false acacias, willows, and perhaps in special localities limes (especially of the smaller-leaved and more readily grown . European species), might be planted. Other trees naturally suggest themselves for this limited purpose, but their extensive planting need not be entertained.

SEED-RAISING.

Seed-raising opens up a very promising field for the apiarist. This is especially, true of the growing of clover of those types suitable for honey-bee forage. Each year about 300 tons of the smaller-seeded clovers are annually imported, and there seems to be no 'valid reason why all the required local supplies should not be grown in the Dominion. If. this were done about 5,000 acres additional to that already devoted to these crops would consist of pure clover, and provide excellent bee-forage. To the clover-grower the presence- of bees is indispensable, so that in this respect cloverseed growing would be mutually beneficial both to the apiarist and to the seed-raiser. . Another seed which is largely imported and which should be grown locally is rape, a valuable honey-producer. Between 600 and 800 tons is annually brought into the country, and were the seed grown here some 2,000 acres of high-class beepasture would be secured. Certain crops such as buckwheat might be. thought offhand as likely to prove valuable, but there is no likelihood of this crop being grown except in extremely limited amounts. Still, an increase in clover - seed production and the development of the rape-seed-growing industry would of themselves materially increase the honey resources ■of the country.

INCREASING THE CLOVER-CONTENT OF PASTURES.

An increase in the clover-content of New Zealand pastures would enormously increase the nectar-supply for honey-production. In this connection nearly all the species of short-tubed clovers are valuable,

the most important, however, being white clover, alsike, trefoil, and perhaps some of the hop trefoil, lotus, and suckling - clover types. Red clover, of course, until such time as a race of honeybees with longer tongues or a race of clover with shorter flowertubes is evolved, is of no value in this . connection. In certain dry seasons, when the red-clover flowers are small, a certain amount of nectar may be gathered from them by honey-bees, but this condition is too unusual for red clover to be looked upon as of any value.

It is highly probable and the experiments at present being carried out at the Department’s farms will determine this point — that an increase in the clover-content of pastures is a desirable feature. This should be more particularly true of pastures of a temporary or semi-permanent nature, and such types of pastures are on the increase. I look upon increasing the clover-content of pastures as probably the greatest forward movement that could be given to beekeeping, and apiarists should be well advised to study this question in their respective districts, and determine from the farmers’ point of view whether to increase clovers in pastures is a payable policy to adopt. It cannot be too strongly impressed that an increase in bee-forage must be correlated with some advantage to the farmer before he will adopt any method that may indirectly secure this end.

On the whole the pastures of New Zealand must be looked upon as the main bee-forage. That in this respect they are easily capable of being improved can be seen by the fact that the total number of bee colonies in New Zealand is less than 80,000, and the sown pastures occupy some 16,000,000 acres, or one colony to every 200 acres of pasture. Moreover, this does not take. into consideration the large number of colonies that gather from natural vegetation. With regard to grass lands, those devoted to cattle are in general better from the apiarist’s standpoint than sheep pastures, as with the latter the close cropping of the turf lessens flower - production. The general trend of the better - class lands towards dairying should prove valuable to the beekeeper, ; provided there is a tendency towards increasing the clover-content of the pastures. The high prices of clover-seed , during recent years has, however, • led to a curtailment of the quantities used, but such prices need only be looked upon as temporary.

LUCERNE-GROWING.

One of the most important agricultural movements in New. Zealand, although as yet quite in its infancy, is the cultivation of

lucerne on an extended scale. This plant is probably destined to become the premier agricultural crop in all districts suited to ' its production. From the beekeepers’ point of view lucerne •is extremely valuable, yielding as it does large supplies of nectar during the greater part of the summer, and rarely failing in its annual supply once the crop has been established. The honey is rather light in colour, but this is not a serious defect, and the flowers produced after midsummer yield a darker honey than those produced earlier. The main objection to the growing of lucerne from the apiarist’s point of -view is that the crop is likely to be very largely . used as a grazing one and be kept closely cropped, thus limiting the production of flowers. It is, however, certain that a great deal will be cut for hay, and although for this purpose the crop should be cut soon after the expanding of the flower-buds, n many cases , crops would yield large amounts of nectar before being cured into hay.

Again, with an increase in lucerne-growing, seed crops will be numerous, and these will 'provide magnificent bee - forage. Beekeepers are well advised to do all in their power to foster the growing inclination of farmers to cultivate lucerne on an extended scale. The direct advantages to the apiarist are so great that work in this direction is as important as any I can think of in furthering the honey . industry. The virtually unfailing source of nectar which this plant is capable of supplying in New Zealand renders it particularly important, all beekeepers knowing the difficulty with what are termed “ bad . seasons ” in regard to most honey-plants. ■ ■

ORCHARDING.

To any one acquainted with the modern development of agriculture in New Zealand, that of fruitgrowing naturally occupies an important position. By the beekeepers, however, orchards are not looked upon with the favour that might be expected when viewing one in full bloom in the spring. Commercial orchards are now planted with few varieties, and the' blossoming period is short. For the greater part of the year an orchard provides exceedingly bad bee-forage, except in those . instances where cultivation is neglected, and honey-producing ■ weeds such as yarr, smartweed, fumitory, shepherd’s purse, thistles, and groundsels are produced in abundance.

The fact that neglected orchards are better from a beekeeper's standard than properly cultivated ones suggests the idea that the use of certain cover-crops in orchards might lead to their becoming valuable from a honey-producing, point of view. At the same time

they- would be..'important in improving the fertility of the soil. This is a matter to which the Horticulture Division of the Department has given considerable attention; but, of course, the main objection is that most cover-crops require to be ploughed in before having completed flowering. This difficulty might be got over by using comparatively low-growing plants, even if on ordinary farm lands they are looked upon as weeds. Smartweed and yarr have always impressed me in this particular. With regard to yarr, troublesome weed as it is, it is a valuable honey-producing plant, a fact which Southland apiarists know full well. Crimson clover and certain vetches such as grass-peas are suggested as useful honey-producing leguminous orchard cover-crops.

If some method of increasing the period during which bees may profitably work in orchards is not formulated, such areas must be ranked as of little importance for honey-production, and as bees should always be kept in or near orchards for pollinating purposes this would be very regrettable.

LIVE FENCES.

Live fences are not particularly favoured in New Zealand, but their capability of producing supplies of , nectar should not be overlooked. One has only to think of the value of the African boxthorn .in the production, in combination with white clover, of much of the excellent Taranaki honey to appreciate the value of live hedges of useful honey-plants. Unfortunately, the main plant originally used for .this purpose in New Zealand gorse does not appear to be a large nectar-producer, and in this it seems to behave differently to what it does in other lands. It is, however, valuable from the pollen point of view. Hakea, although a noxious weed in the districts where most abundant, yields considerable quantities of nectar. In many localities certain species of barberry and hawthorn have been popular for fences, and are useful honey-plants. . The tagasaste, again, is reputedly valuable. In general, however, the trend is towards the elimination of live fences and their substitution, so far as shelter purposes are concerned, by plantations of trees that are of nd moment in honey-production. Still, so far as the beekeeper is concerned, he should favour living fences when they are composed of ■ honeyproducing plants. It is not, however, really known whether they are an economic • proposition in. such a country as this . where labour is neither , easily nor cheaply available. Whether, therefore, their value fully compensates for the expense of keeping them in order has yet to be determined. ; < .

WASTE-PLACE PLANTING AND WEEDS.

In considering the feasibility of profitably growing any special crops for honey-production alone one is forced to admit that the only case in' which' this ;• is at all practicable is with regard to waste land, especially waste sandy land near the sea. If it is possible merely by surface-sowing a few pounds of cheap seed to produce. a permanent crop rich in nectar, then‘possibly such an operation is justified. . Melilot' clover is especially suggestive in this connection, and . certain of the brooms also might prove valuable. With regard to the latter, ordinary broom is a noxious weed in many districts, and this brings me to the point, of . the really great part that weeds, or at least plants not intentionally cultivated, play in our present honey-production. Looking up the Noxious Weeds Act, I noticed that out of thirty gazetted, noxious weeds no less than twenty are . good honey-plants. , One . has only got to think of the value of the following plants in order to appreciate the part played by weeds: Catsear (probably as important as white clover), capeweed, dandelion, hawkbit, ragwort, smartweed, yarr, blackberry, Californian thistle and other members of the thistle family, wild* turnip, shepherd’s purse, viper’s bugloss, burr clovers, melilot, . ox-eye daisy, pennyroyal, and a host of others. .

It is clear that the modern trend of agriculture, will be in the direction of very greatly reducing the amount of our weed flora at present available as bee-forage. Extraordinary as it appears, the systematic control of weeds, important as that, work is to the country. as a whole, would, unless their place be taken by equally valuable honey - plants, prove quite harmful to the bee industry. However, certain weeds such as catsear, which forms an integral part of all .pastures on certain types of land, will always be with us.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion, I would, again urge on all beekeepers the importance of keeping an eye on the general trend of agricultural development. It may be shown to be quite feasible to modify .certain agricultural operations with good results from the apiarist's point of view, and it is one .of the duties of the beekeeper to prove that such modifications are. payable propositions from the farmer's standpoint, apart from being of value to the honey industry. If this is done systematically and thoroughly there seems little reason why the sources of . honey-supply should. not be very appreciably increased. . ■ .