19 



This was followed soon after by the 

 formation of the "Ooromandel Bee- 

 keepers' Assoaation.'' in October, 1884. 

 Mr. J. H. Hai-rison president, and Mr. 

 J. D. Colebrook secretary and treasurer. 



At this time there was some talk of 

 forming an Otago Beekeepers' Assooia- 

 tion. It was eventually formed, but not 

 till some time later. 



Although there ttas no association at 

 Timaru, Coil. C. S. Bailey, who was an 

 enthusiastic beekeeper, and one of the 

 executive commitlee of the .N.Z. Bee- 

 keepei-s' Association, was, so far as the 

 work of promoting advanced bee culture 

 is concerned, an aesociation in himself. 

 The gallant colonel, who had kept 'bees 

 in the Old Country, did an immense 

 amount of good for the industry in 

 South Canterbury. He promoted the 

 first bee and ■honey show iield. in that 

 part in Deeemiber, 1884. The local press 

 spoke very highly of the exhibits and 

 of the energy the gallant colonel dis- 

 played in getting up suoh a fine exhi- 

 bition both at Waimate and Timaru 

 shows. 



Instead of referring to them again, 

 it may be well to give here the dates 

 of the formation of associations wliJch 

 took place later on: The New South 

 Wales Beekeepers' Association was 

 established in July, 1887, Mr. Angus 

 Mackay, Instructor in Agriculture, 

 K'.S.W. Technical College, being chosen 

 as president; The Otago, Beekeepers' 

 Association, with its headquarters in 

 Dunedin, was formed in October, 1887, 

 the late Mr. I. G. Brickell being presi- 

 deu/t, and Mr. W. C. Brown hon. sec- 

 retary. Mr. Brickell, assisted by other 

 members, gave demonstrations periodic- 

 ally in the Botanical Gardens, Dunedin, 

 in the way of handling and transferring 

 bees. 



The formation of the Queensiand Bee- 

 keepers' Association took place in 1885, 

 and the first annual meeting was held 

 on August 20, 1886. President, 3. B. h. 

 Isambert, M.L.C., and E. C. Cusack sec- 

 retary. The Maitland (New South 

 Wales) Beekeepers' Association was 

 formed in the latter part of 1887, and on 

 August 27th of the same year the Hunter 

 River Beekeepers' Asso'ciation was estaib- 

 lished, with Mr. E. Sco'bie president, and 

 E. F. ]\Iunday secretary. Ot'her associa- 

 tdons formed at mTich later daites will 'be 

 enumerated later on. 



It will be seen from the foregoing that 

 the new bee culture made very big 

 strides ibofch in the Australian Colonies 

 and New Zealand during the first seven 

 or eight years after its introduction into. 

 Australasia. These notes are all taken, 

 from my "Bee Journal," so are correct. 



THE FIEST SIX-COMB REVERSlBbJi' 



HONEY EXTRACTOES USED IN NEW 



ZEALAND. 



For the first few years after the new 

 beekeeping had become well established, 

 the type of honey extractor in general 

 use in America and elsewhere was the 

 fixed basket, two-comb "Novice" (A. 1. 

 Eoot's). 



One of the first to realise the need ot 

 larger extractors was my friend R. Wil- 

 kin, of California, and in the latter part 

 of 1882 he constructed an eight-frame 

 reversible one. On May 7th, 1883, he 

 wrote me (I have this letter before me) 

 explaining details, and also sent diagrams 

 of the parts of his big extractor — by the 

 way his letter was published in the "N.Z. 

 and A. Bee Journal" for August, 1883- 



Shortly after this date I drew out the 

 plans for a six-comto reversible-basket ex- 

 tractor, which was constructed by Messrs 

 Masefield and Co., Auckland. Owing to 

 my being unable to superintend the mak- 

 ing of it, it was constructed in a more 

 expensive manner than I expected. The 

 whole of the internal gearing was made 

 of brass tinned over, and the body of 

 stout kauri lined with steel tin — its cost 

 was £28 10/. This price, when the biU 

 came in, gave me a shock, and was the 

 tragical part of the business ; the comical 

 part came when the firm advertised tha 

 same extractors at £15, immediately 

 after mine had been delivered. The ex- 

 planation from the firm was that I had 

 to pay for the making of all the moulds 

 in the first place, which the firm claimetk 

 they could use in making others. 



The extractor was a very fine one. 

 There was, however, one drawback, the 

 handle was on top of the vertical shaft, 

 there being no side gearing to govern tlie 

 speed of the revolutions. The conse- 

 quence was that when set going with 

 six hea-sy combs in the basket, one had 

 to let go the handle and wait till the 

 extractor slowed down. Eventually side 

 gearing was fitted — quite a number. came 

 into use in the next few years. 



