THe JOURNAI9 



OF 



JBRARY 

 EW YORK 



.i>TANiCAL, 



Garden. 



Tfie ©eparfment of Moricufture. 



Vol. VI. Part 11. 



10th November, 1908. 



THE PROSPECTS OF AN EXPORT TRADE IN HONEY.* 



Report by INIr. R. Beuhne. 



I left Melbourne on March 26th, arriving in London May 5th, and 

 after making preliminary arrangements for the collection of information, 

 left for New York on May 9th arriving there May i6th. After visiting 

 seme of the prinicpal cities of the Eastern States as far west as Chicago, 

 and interviewing a number of the most prominent apicultural experts, 

 honey producers and dealers in honey, I returned to England on June 

 21st, and attended the congress of Franco- British beekeepers at the 

 Exhibition on June 25th, as representative of Victoria. I interviewed 

 the principal honey importers, dealers, and expert beekeepers of England, 

 and visited some of the most up-to-date apiaries. On June 30th I left 

 for Germany arriving at Hamburg the following dav. I had interviews 

 with members of the principal honev importing firms in Hamburg as well 

 as with dealers and retailers in that city, Berlin, Dresden and smaller 

 towns. I also visited the Government Institute of Apiculture at Erlangen, 

 in Bavaria, the Avell-known honey district known as the Luneburger Haide 

 and beekeepers in other localities. 



Prejudice Against the " Eucalyptus " Flavour. 

 The first point which I investigated was that of the alleged eucalyptus 

 flavour so persistently urged as an objection against our honey. I sub- 

 mitted samples of the principal Victorian honeys to leading honey experts, 

 importers, dealers, retailers, beekeepers and' even casual acquaintances in 

 the countries I visited, and without exception the opinions expressed were 

 that the honeys tasted had a distinct and unusual flavour. Amongst my 

 samples was one of scrub-honey and this was usually classed as the best, 

 or the least objectionable, although in Victoria it ranks as inferior honey 

 and is only periodically gathered bv the bees in very limited quantities. 

 I also carried with me samples of Jamaica honey and on occasions sub- 



*Mr. R. Beuhne, President of the Victorian Apiarists' Association, and a leading 

 authority on apiculture, was commissioned by the Minister of Agriculture to inquire 

 into the prospects of establishing an export trade in Victorian honey, and report 

 generally on apiculture as it is practised in the United Kingdom, Germany and the 

 United States of America. 



12274. X 



