1488 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



NEW ZEALAND — A GOVERNMENT OF THE 



PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE; WHAT ITS 



GOVERNAIENT DOES FOR BEE->IEN. 



For several years New Zealauil has been 

 attracting the "attention of the world in a 

 commendal)le way. It consists mainly of 

 two islands, in size abont like Illinois and 

 Indiana. Although politically a ward of 

 Great Britain, it is practically as indepen- 

 dent of the mother country as is Canada, 

 while geographically it is as far from Eng- 

 land as it can be on this globe, being 180° 

 east or west of London, and as far south of 

 the equator as that t^ity is north; so that, 

 while the New Zealanders stand quite par- 

 allel with the King of England, their heads 

 are opposite while their soles come together 

 except the trilling intervention of 7980 miles 

 of globe between them. In this pleasant 

 nook of the far south some political ques- 

 tions have been solved as to the proper 

 function of a government in relation to the 

 people; and in no other place on earth have 

 we a better example of " a government of 

 the people, by the people, and for the peo- 

 ple, " than thei-e. The political boss has no 

 job in New Zealand; the natural blessings of 

 nature are not made the subjects of monop- 

 oly; the people make their own laws, and 

 all have an equal opportunity. 



One of the best features of that far-off land 

 is its Department of Agriculture; and what- 

 ever modern science can do to place that 

 greatest of all industries on a high and firm 

 footing has been and is being done there. 

 The agricultural bulletins published in New 

 Zealand are of the highest order, and may 

 be read with interest liy all. 



These reflections were called ovit by a re- 

 cent reading of Bulletin No. 5, on bee cul- 

 ture, which industry is under the immediate 

 supervision of Mr. Isaac Hopkins, a man 

 who has thrown his exceptional energy and 

 ability into his work. The bulletin in ques- 

 tion treats on the following subjects: The 

 use of comb foundation; ripening extracted 

 honey; foul brood; the large bee-moth; api- 

 culture in relation to agriculture. I intend 

 to make liberal extracts from these later. 



I was about to say more about Mr. Hop- 

 kins and his work when the following letter 

 was received from the editor of the \\ aikato 

 Times — a man who is fully competent to 

 handle the siibject, being right on the ground, 

 and who, I am glad to say, entertains as 

 high an opinion of Mr. Hopkins as I do. He 

 says: 



bke-kbbping in .new zealand; what the state is 

 doing; eoul brood a gbeat drawback. 

 New Zealand is a great undeveloped bee country. 

 With an area of 104,000 square miles, a temperate to 



sub-tropical climate, and most of the land divided be- 

 tween aj^riculture and trrazing, there are few, if any, 

 parts of the colony where honey production can not 

 be profitably carried on. What little honey is raised 

 is some of the finest in the world, and fetches the hi^rh- 

 est prices in the European markets; but the quantity 

 is so insijirniticant that the Government Year Book 

 does not mention it. The Agricultural Department 

 has at last awakened to these facts, and has resolved 

 to make the industry a big success. 



Early in 1S)0.5 Mr. Isaac Hopkins was appointed Gov- 

 ernment Bee Expert. A better man could not have 

 been chosen. Mr. Hopkins is the author of the " Aus- 

 tralasian Bee Manual," and the pioneer of scientific 

 bee-keepinjr in New Zealand. Since his appointment 

 he has visited almost every apiary in the colony, and 

 worried and exhorted the box-hive barbarian, deliv- 

 ered many lectures, established the first State apiary, 

 prepared two departmental bulletins, and helped to 

 start bee-keepers' associations. He estimates that, 

 within the next few years, there will be 100,000 prof- 

 itable bee-colonies in New Zealand. These should 

 produce, even in a poor season, over 20,000 tons of hon- 

 ey, which, if exported, would return something more 

 than $:^00,000; and that should not be the end, for in 

 time Mr. Hopkins (and he is a cautious man, prone to 

 understatement) thinks the output may be three or 

 four times that indicated above. New Zealand alone, 

 he considers, could absorb at present 600 tons without 

 a serious reduction of price, and nothing approaching 

 that quantity is offered. 



The industry, however, is growing, for the season 

 which closed in March (New Zealand seasons are an- 

 tipodean) saw an increase in the number of colonies 

 kept, which, in some districts, must have been nearly 

 50 per cent. 



Mr. Lenz, of Masterton. is probably the biggest bee- 

 farmer in the country. His output for the season of 

 1903 and '4 was 20 tons. The few men who go in for 

 scientific bee-farming are generally quite up-to-date 

 in their methods. They read Gleanings and other 

 journals; they import and rear queens, run nuclei, and 

 control swarming. But Mr. Hopkins found that, of the 

 colonies he inspected, 16 per cent in the North Island 

 and 58 per cent in the comparatively inclement ex- 

 treme south, were housed in common boxes, and des- 

 tined to the yearly holocaust of the sulphur-pit. The 

 proportion must really be much greater, because many 

 settlers, whom the expert would never hear of, have 

 a few boxes of bees in their gardens. Wild swarms 

 the progeny of the black bees introduced many years 

 ago, are plentiful in the season, and the farmer thinks 

 it no trouble to take any that come his way and let 

 them shift for themselves until he wants to rob them. 

 It is these neglected colonies that are the chief source 

 of foul brood; but when the foul-brood bill becomes 

 law, as it probably will this year, their numbers will 

 be greatly reduced. The bill will create inspectors 

 with power to supervise apiaries and enforce the de- 

 struction or proper treatment of infected colonies. 



Foul brood is the one great drawback to bee-keep- 

 ing in New Zealand, and bee-keepers say that, if it is 

 not suppressed, it will suppress the industry. One 

 bee-keeper who has 220 effective colonies had to treat 

 30 for this disease during last season, and his experi- 

 ence is not exceptional. What is needed is a means 

 of cutting off the sources of infection, and that will 

 be supplied by the proposed legislation. 



The first State apiary is located on the Government 

 Experimental Farm, near Hamilton, in the Waikato 

 district. Two or three others will be established next 

 season. That on the Ruakura Farm began the season 

 with 33 colonies, and increased them to 55, chiefly by 

 artificial swarming. Next season there are to be 80. 



For some time to come the objects of the State api- 

 ary will be educational rather than experimental. 

 With this view a lady with English training, Miss 

 Livesay, has been placed in charge, and she hopes to 

 popularize the industry among the farmers' wives and 

 daughters. The supervisor, Mr. C. Sinton Hutchin- 

 son, is one of the best scientific bee-keepers in the 

 country. The Langstroth hive is used, as is the case 

 throughout the country, its general adoption being 

 due to the efforts of Mr. Hopkins many years ago. 

 American bee literature, too, is i-ead far more than 

 English, which, indeed, is but rarely seen. 



The bees at the State Farm are hybrids, and nothing 

 has been done yet to improve the strain; but next sea- 

 son Mr. Hopkins will import some of the best Italian 

 queens. There will also be observatory hives and 

 probably a library. 



The honey-house, built on Mr. Hopkins' plans, is of 

 timber, with iron roof. It is divided into an extractt 

 ing-room 16x14 ft., a store and workroom 10x14 ft. I- 



