32 



FROM 1892 TO 1905. 



The various notable events in the pro- 

 gress of commercial beelceeping in New 

 Zealand from its inception up to the 

 year 1892, have all, I thinlc, been set 

 forth, it now only remains to deal with 

 the last but most important stage in its 

 ' history. 



The time that elapsed between the 

 years 1892 and 1905 was, without doubt, 

 the most dreary and disheartening 

 period experienced by advanced beel<eep- 

 ers in New Zealand. Box-hive men and 

 bee disease (foul brood) held sway, ulti- 

 mately reducing the industry of commer- 

 cial beekeeping to near the vanishing 

 point, while, in the absence of legislative 

 power, nothing could be done to mitigate 

 the evil. Hundreds lost heart and 

 dropped out of beekeeping, while only 

 the pluclciest, and those who had sunk 

 all their little capital in tlie busine.'^s 

 struggled on in the faint hope that things 

 would be better some day. Only those 

 who laboured through that weary time 

 with their bees, constantly engaged in 

 an uphill flglit against foul-brood, wliich 

 the box-hive and other careless bee- 

 keepers were propagating, can realise to 

 the full the blessings of our present con- 

 ditions under legislation. 



THE ADVENT OF THE DEPARTMENT 

 OF AGRICULTURE. 



It was to be expected, under the fore- 

 going condition of things, that numerous 

 complaints reached the Department of 

 Agriculture. These met with a sympa- 

 thetic response from Mr. T. W. Kirk, 

 chief of the Horticultural Section of the 

 Department of Agriculture, to whom 

 they were submitted. He strongly ad- 

 vised in his annual reports the appoint- 

 ment of someone experienced in modern 

 bee culture to imdertake the duties of 

 placing commercial beekeeping on a 

 sound footing. As the result of Mr. 

 Kirk's advocacy, a sum of money was 

 voted by Parliament in the session of 

 1904 for the promotion of bee culture. 

 In November of that year I received a 

 letter from the late Secretary of Agri- 

 culture—Mr. J. D. Ritchie— asking me if 

 I would undertake the position of Gov- 

 ernment Apiarist. A.lthough I had then 

 settled upon going to England, having 

 retired from business more than two 

 years before, the opportunity of getting 

 at the box-hive man was too great an 



allurement for me to miss the oppor- 

 tunity. Consectuently I accepted the 

 position, and gave up my trip. 



RAPID PROGRESS. 

 On January 23rd, 1905, my duties com- 

 menced, and as I had all along urged, 

 legislation to control our difficulties, it 

 was now fully expected that such meas- 

 ures would soon receive attention. Our 

 advanced beekeepers looked forward 

 with confidence for better times, the 

 Department's action had put new life 

 into the industry, and everything prayed 

 for in the past seemed about to be ac- 

 complished. 



During the interval between my ap- 

 pointment and submitting my first official 

 report — about ten weeks — I had seen 

 sufficient in my inspection of 119 apiar- 

 ies containing 2,450 colonies of bees 

 (nearly 25 per cent of which were in 

 common boxes), to further confirm the 

 necessity of at once taking steps to 

 bring about legislation to control the 

 industry, and oust the careless box-hive 

 men. Subsequently I found in some dis- 

 tricts as many as 60 per cent of box- 

 hives, hundreds of them empty of bees, 

 but still on their old stands, the inmates 

 having succumbed through disease and 

 starvation. These diseased boxes were 

 free for other bees to enter and carry 

 away infectious germs, yet in the ab- 

 sence of legislation there was no legal 

 power under which I could destroy them 

 or their combs. Some few box-hive men 

 were amenable to reason, and made 

 away with their diseased bees and boxes, 

 while the majority did not care a rap, 

 and would neither destroy nor allow 

 them to be destroyed. I, therefore, 

 strongly urged legislation in my first re- 

 port—March 31st, 1905— which was sup- 

 ported by my chief, ilr. T. W. Kirk. 



FORMATION OF BEEKEEPERS' 

 ASSOCIATIONS. 

 Knowing that any reform in the way 

 of legislation would receive the support 

 of all our advanced beekeepers, but 

 realising at the same time that to have 

 the desired eflect this support would 

 need to come from united bodies of bee- 

 keepers, instead of from individuals, 1 

 set about the formation of beekeepers' 

 associations in the chief centres of bee- 

 keeping, as we could not then foresee 

 what, if any, opposition we might en- 

 counter. 



