30 



"4th. — Beeswax is rated under class 

 A, and the charge per ton for 100 miles 

 is £2 0/4. 



"oth. — Of apiarian implements only 

 bee-'hives are mentioned, and these are 

 rated under the highest class (A), the 

 same as beeswax, and the charges are 

 ■the same. 



"6th. — We are given to understandi 

 that goods not specified in the 'Gazette' 

 are rated under class A, so that all 

 apiarian implements are charged the 

 'highest rates. 



"With regard! to the carriage of honey 

 you will notice there is a difference in 

 the charges between the highest and 

 lowest rates of 15/ per ton for 100 miles. 

 Your sub-committee cannot see any 

 reason ivhy there sliould be this or any 

 difference in the charges. Honey, if 

 properly packed, is as easy of carriage, 

 whether in cases or casks, as any other 

 class of goods, and it cannot possibly 

 affect the cost of carriage to the Rail- 

 way Department whether the honey is 

 intended for export or for local con- 

 sumption. We notice that beer in casks 

 is carried at a lower rate than honey 

 in casks. We are of opinion that honey 

 securely packed, either in cases or casks, 

 in large or small quantities, should be 

 rated under class D, the same as fresh 

 fruit, to which (so far as they may both 

 be considered as country produce) honey 

 can be compared. 



"Beeswax, though a raw material pro- 

 duced in the country, chiefly used here 

 for apiarian purposes, and exported, is 

 at present charged an exorbitant rate 

 compared with other country produce, 

 and we can see no reason why it should 

 not be rated the same as recommended 

 for honey, in class D. 



"Beehives and all other apiarian appli- 

 ances which can fairly be compared with 

 agricultural implements, we are of 

 opinion, should be carried at the same 

 rates as the latter, imder class C. 



"Taking into consideration the fact 

 that a great deal of the material con- 

 nected with apiculture has to pass twice 

 over one or other of the railway lines 

 of the colony, and the complaints con- 

 stantly 'being made of the high rates for 

 carriage, we are of opinion that if our 

 recommendations are carried out, it will 

 be the means of giving an impetus to the 

 industry of beekeeping throughout the 

 colony, and cause an increase to the 

 revenue of the Railway Department from 

 this source. 



"We would suggest that if our recom- 

 mendations meet with your approval, 

 and the report be adopted, copies be 

 sent to the Hon. the Minister of 

 Public Works, Mr. Lawry, M.H.B., and 

 Mr. C. Hudson, Traffic Manager, Auck- 

 land Railways, with a request from 

 your committee that the recommenda- 

 tions be favourably entertained. — G. L. 

 Peacocke, chairman sub-committee." 



The report was unanimously adopted, 

 and it was decided to act as suggested. 



Subsequently a reply was received 

 from the Minister of Public Works, in 

 which he regretted he could not see his 

 way to alter the railway tariff in the 

 direction suggested. 



THE FIRST ONE-PIECE SECTIONS 



MADE IN NEW ZEALAND. 

 At the commencement of the season of 

 1888-9 I was agreeably surprised by re- 

 ceiving from the late Mr T. G. Brickell 

 some samples of one-piece sections manu- 

 factured by himself on machinery im- 

 ported from A. I. Root, United States, 

 America, and soliciting orders, which 1 

 gladly gave him. The samples he sent 

 were plain, and my first order for 5,000 

 was contingent upon his grooving one 

 end to fasten foundation in without the 

 use of melted wax. This he did, and 1 

 subsequently had many thousands from 



him. They were a great boon to our 

 beekeepers raising comb honey, and were 

 the same as those now in use. Tlie bass- 

 wood sections from America, however, 

 proved the best, as none of our native 

 timbers are so suitable for the purpose, 



and we now import them from the A. I. 

 Root Company. 



DENSE HONEY. 



"Thick" honey, as it is usually called, 

 that is, honey that cannot be thrown 

 from the combs by the ordinary pro- 

 cess — the extractor — has been more or 

 less of a nuisance to New Zealand bee- 

 keepers, ever since T can remember. It 

 does not seem to be confined to any 

 particular district, but it evidently 

 gives more trouble in the North Island 

 than in the South, especially in the 

 Waikato, and districts north of Auck- 

 land. Much of our native bush yields 

 dense honey, and my first experience of 

 it in 1879 came from the bush. It still 

 remains more or less of a query as to 

 what it is gathered from, and I think 

 our apiary inspectors would benefit 



