35 



with Dr. Cockayne as its fii'st presi- 

 dent) for the good that had been done 

 to Canterbury beekeeping by the 

 example of the Exhibition apiary. The 

 Exhibition opened on November 1, 1906, 

 and closed in May, 1907. During its 

 currency the Euakura Apiary was prac- 

 tically neglected, as the manageress 

 (Miss Livesay) assisted me at Ohrist- 

 ehuroh the whole si.x months. 



APPOINTMENT OF THE FIRST 

 INSPECTORS. 



At the beginning of 1908 two apiary 

 inspectors were appointed, one for each 

 Island (Mr. R. Gibb for the North, and 

 Mr. W. B. Bray for the South Island), 

 their duty being to do everything pos- 

 sible to assist legitimate toeekeepers, to 

 cope with disease (foul "brood), and to 

 abolish box-hives. A permanent im- 

 provement soon set in, which has been 

 going on ever since. Subsequently the 

 two first inspectors resigned to take up 

 bee farming themselves, and four were 

 afterwards appointed, Messrs. G. V. 

 Westbrook and F. A. Jacobsen for the 

 North, and L. Bowman and E. A. Earp 

 for the South Island. These have been 

 supplied with motor cycles, which en- 

 able them to do much more work than 

 formerly; they also act as graders of 

 all honey for export. Under the fos- 

 tering care of the Department of Agri- 

 culture our industry of commercial bee- 

 farming is advancing rapidly, and I ven- 

 ture to say stands at the head of the 

 bee-keeping world. 



FOUL BROOD AT THE RUAKURA 

 STATE APIARY. 



The districts around that in which the 

 Ruakura State Apiary is situated were 

 among the worst in the Dominion for 

 foul brood. I saw some of the very 

 worst eases there that I have seen in 

 any part of the country, not alone in 

 single hives, !but in whole apiaries, and 

 over the whole country there about. 

 The colonies I started the State Apiary 

 with that were already on the farm 

 were affected. By constant attention 

 and treatment we were able to keep the 

 disease from spreading, and when we 

 left for the Christchurch ExTiibition 

 there were six colonies out of over 70 

 slightly affected with foul brood. When 

 iwe returned in the following June, 1907, 



we found disease had spread through 

 robbing to nearly every colony. Being 

 winter we could not then undertake 

 treatment, but early in the following 

 season we treated a number of the worst 

 cases, and replaced bad with clean combs 

 in others. As this did not turn out so 

 satisfactory as we hoped, I decided to 

 treat the whole of the colonies together 

 the next spring, and did so between the 

 4th and 9th November, 1908. There 

 were in all 72 colonies, which, in the 

 treatment, were reduced to 64. The re- 

 sult was very satisfactory indeed, for 

 although we still get a touch of disease 

 in one or two colonies every season, by 

 strict vigilance it gives us no trouble. 

 Disease still lurks in the district, but is 

 now in a fair way to be suppressed 

 altogether. 



AN ANXIOUS PERIOD DURING THE 

 TREATMENT. 



The process of treatment was that 

 popularly known as the "McEvoy," and 

 during the course of the operation we 

 had a most anxious time through a sud- 

 den change in the weather. We had 

 waited till the first week in November 

 (as stated), when the weather is usually 

 settled and warm, before undertaking 

 treatment, and it was so on this occa- 

 sion, with a fair flow of nectar on, but 

 no sooner had we put the bees on to full 

 sheets of comb-foundation on the fourth 

 day than a sudden change took place, 

 and a severe cold snap came on which 

 cut off the flow of nectar, and put comb- 

 building out of the guestion. The bees 

 were now in a starving condition, and on 

 the next (fifth) day began to drop from 

 the .sheets of foundation. The situation 

 was most critical, as we were threatened 

 with the loss of the whole of the 64 colo- 

 nies. While in an almost hopeless state 

 of mind it suddenly occurred to me to 

 feed with warm syrup. This we did, 

 and placed the feeders on the bottom 

 boards after making room for them, and 

 sprinkled a little syrup over the bees. 

 Although many of the colonies were 

 much weakened, the scheme saved the 

 situation. Fortunately, favourable wea- 

 ther soon set in again, and comb build- 

 ing started. This circumstance acted as 

 a warning against starting treatment 

 too early in the season. The middle of 

 November, I think, is quite early 

 enough. 



