23 



When the season of 1887-8 set in I 

 employed a man to go through the auc- 

 tion marts every morning, report to me 

 what honey had come in, and its condi- 

 tion, then either he or I bought it all. 

 In that way we kept the market clear, 

 and although we had to buy good, bad, 

 and indifferent honey, and sometimes 

 made a loss, as we only put the best on 

 the market, we gradually worked the 

 prices up to 10/ and 10/6 per dozen 21b 

 tins, and 4/6 per dozen for section honey, 

 with return of crates or payment for 

 them. This meant an increase in the 

 price of nearly 50 per cent in the one 

 case, and about 100 per cent in the other, 

 most of the increase going into the 

 pockets of the producers. Before the 

 commencement of the second season I 

 had practically secured the whole of the 

 honey trade. Although I had strong 

 opposition at first from the middlemen, 

 the increased demand for honey brought 

 about by placing a good article on the 

 market pleased them so much that I had 

 their trade up to the close of my busi- 

 ness. 



STARTING THE "AUSTRALASIAN 

 BEE JOURNAL." 

 Scores of letters expressing regret 

 reached me from all parts of Australia 

 and New Zealand after the first bee 

 journal ceased publication. The writers 

 hoped I would soon start another, and 

 these letters increased in number after 

 I left Matamata. As my inclination 

 was in sympathy with the writers I 

 started the first number of the "Aus- 

 tralasian Bee Journal" in July, 1887. 

 This journal was entirely mv own, and 

 as in the former one, I had many able 

 contributors, who came forward as 

 friends to assist me with their articles 

 without fee or reward. I look back with 

 very great pleasure to the many bee- 

 keeping friends I made in those days, 

 both in Australia and New Zealand. 

 Among my Australian contributors of 

 articles were: Messrs. C. Fullwood and 

 C. G. Cusaek (Queensland) ; T. E. Wil- 

 lis and (Miss) S. A. B. (New South 

 Wales) ; Herman Naveau and Z. Sum- 

 ner (Victoria) ; A. E. Bonney (South 

 Australia) ; and Thomas Lloyd Hood 

 (Tasmania), besides a num^ber of others. 

 My New Zealand contributors were very 

 numerous, residing in all parts of the 

 country, from Southland to North 

 Auckland. Among the principal were 



Messrs. T. J. Mulvany (Katikati) ; Obed 

 Poole (Auckland) ; Rev. Father Madan 

 (Matata); G. A. Green (Auckland); W. 

 C. Brown and G. B. Morris (Dunedin) ; 

 and many others, tlieir only, object 

 being to push the industry ahead. 



Unfortunately, the long-threatened 

 breakdown in my health came before the 

 close of the third annual volume, and, 

 much to my regret, I was compelled to 

 cease publication of the journal, which 

 was incorporated with the "New Zea- 

 land Farmer." 



REVIVAL OF THE NEW ZEALAND 

 BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



It was no fault of the Executive Com- 

 mittee that the Association had practi- 

 cally ceased its operations some twelve 

 months or so before I left Matamata. 

 The loss of the bee journal had contri- 

 buted more to its decline than any want 

 of sympathetic action on the part of the 

 committee. The journal was the 

 ■medium of communication between the 

 widely-scattered members, and when 

 that ^^•ent it was impossible to keep up 

 that friendly and business intercourse 

 between them so necessary to the suc- 

 cess of such an institution. 



One of the first suggestions made after 

 the starting of the "Australasian Bee 

 Journal" was the revival of the N.Z.B.K. 

 It was first mooted in the third number 

 (September, 1887) of the new bee jour- 

 nal, and was followed by a number of 

 letters in support. Eventually a meet- 

 ing of all interested in re-establishing 

 the "National Beekeepers' Association 

 of New Zealand" was called by adver- 

 tisement by myself for the 7th March, 

 1888. There was an enthusiastic meet- 

 ing, the Association was re-established, 

 and the following ofiiceriii were elected: 

 President, Mr. Frank Lawry, M.H.R.; 

 vice-presidents, Mr. Obed Poole and G. L. 

 Peacocke (editor "New Zealand 

 Farmer"); secretary and treasurer, Mr. 

 I. Hopkins; executive committee, Messrs. 

 G. A. Green, H. Haves, T. Herbert, S. 

 Hooker, J. Oldham, W. Esam, W. Dig- 

 nan, F. Stephens, R. J. Kendall; corres- 

 ponding committee (with power to add 

 to their number). Messrs. L. J. Bagnall 

 (Turua), T. J. Mulvany (Katikati), W. 

 A. Neale (Hawke's Bay), N. Shoemaker 

 (Taranaki), C. Jans (Inglewood), C. 

 Morris (Otago), Rev. Father Madan 

 (Bay of Plenty), and H. Hyatt (Wai- 

 kato). Other members of the committee 

 were subsequently appointed. 



