1 '. M )4 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



187 



Swarming was very general througli- 

 liiii New Zealand last season, whicli 

 w.is donbtless a result of the scarcity 

 (>r lorage. This seems to be the case 

 111 re every alternate year. 



There is now a great quantity of 

 • ululterated honey on the market, 

 branded, "Pure Clover Honey."' There 

 is scarcely any honey about it, it lie- 

 ii:i: composed chiefly of sugar with a 

 slight admixture of honey. At the rate 

 tins stuff is getting into the markets 

 it will be but a short time until the 

 liouey trade is ruined. 



State aid is to be again brought be- 

 lurc the govenment this winter ses- 

 sion, by :Mr. Isaac Hopkins of Auck- 

 land and the writer. It is proi)Osed to 

 Hist have an experienced bee-keeper 

 u(i around and lecture on bee-keeping 

 and at the same time form bee-keep- 

 irs" associations. By this system the 

 l:(i\ eminent will then see by the report 

 sent in by the one lecturing what is re- 

 I mired and then take steps to carry 



ip.t the proposed system of helping to 

 <\\ell the industry. It was rumored 

 that an expert had been appointed "at 

 !i(ime'' but thi.s, I am glad to relate, is 

 initrue and a good thing, too. for by 

 ^uch an action as that, it would sim- 

 ply kill the prospects of the industry 

 fdi'ever more. 



Another honey poisoning case has 

 taken place at Auckland. The follow- 



iig I take from an Aukland paper. This 

 is the fourth case of its kind that has 

 happened up there and is due to the 



ircsence of a plant called '"waikariki," 

 \vliieh blooms in May: 



POISONED BY HONEY, 



A Shooting Party's Experiences. 

 Thames, Thursday. 



A most regrettable honey -poisoning 

 ncident occurred yestei'day to a duck- 

 hooting party up the Piako River, as 

 :he result of which two men are now 

 n the hospital dangerouslj' ill, whilst 

 wo others had a narrow escape from 



similar result. 



The party comprised four well- 

 mown Ponsonl)y gentlemen — viz., 

 Messrs. G. Carder. E. Owen dioth of 

 he firm ofc Carder Brothers and Co.), 

 Arthur Cooper, and .Tames William 

 )ldham; also a ^Maori named Thomp- 

 lon Hughes, the latter having joined 

 he party at Kerepehi as a guide. 



On Friday night last the party pro- 

 'eeded up the Piako River in an oil 

 aunch, and went about 12 miles above 

 he junction with the Waitoa River. 



All went well until yesterday morning, 

 when the party discovered n quantity 

 of wild honey in an old Ma< ri whare. 

 situated in the k.-iliikatea l)usli, near 

 Moi'risville. 



At first the Em-opean meml)ers held 

 aloof from eating any of the honey, 

 but being eventually assured ))y 

 Hughes (the Maori), who partook of it 

 pretty freely, that it was all right, 

 Cooper and Owen finally sampled it, 

 the former especially eating a fair 

 (luantity. This was at eleven a. m. At 

 two p.m. they ate some mcf-'e of the 

 honey, being joined on this occasion 

 by Carder, but Oldham declined to par- 

 ticipate. 



About half past two the honey be- 

 gan to affect the Maori, who was taken 

 in the form of a tit, and soon after- 

 wards Cooper developed symptoms of 

 poisoning by violent vomiting. 



Shortly afterwards Carder and Ow- 

 en also began to feel bad, but Owen 

 at once took an emetic and kept on do- 

 ing so. the others, however, declined 

 to follow his example. 



Immediately on the Maori and Coop- 

 er being taken ill theif comrades put 

 them on lioard the launch, and made a 

 start for the Thames, but by the time 

 Kerepehi was reached the former two 

 were unconscious, and Carder and Ow- 

 en were gradually becoming weaker. 

 Owen, however, was the only one who 

 could manage the oil engine, and bad 

 as he was he manfully remained at his 

 post until Thames was reached, at 

 about half past nine p.m., whilst Old- 

 ham did what he could in looking after 

 those who were so ill. 



As soon as possible, Oldham came 

 ashore, informed the hospital-author- 

 ities through the telephone what had 

 occurred, and then assisted by Consta- 

 ble Blake, the four sufferers were con- 

 veyed in a cab to that institution, 

 wlxei-e emetics were administered, and 

 the stomach pumi» used. 



Carder's and Owen's condition at 

 this time, however, was not considered 

 serious enough for them to remain in 

 the hospital, but at a later hour Owen 

 began to feel bad again, and was re- 

 admitted. He, however, is now nearly 

 all right again, and so is Carder. 



Cooper and the ^laori were in a bad 

 condition, and remained unconscious 

 all through the night and today, de- 

 spite the efforts made l)y Dr. Aubin 

 and the hosjiital staff to relieve them. 

 Towards evening, however. Cooper be- 

 gan to show signs of regaining con- 

 sciousness, and now seems to be in a 



