38 



was puzzled — I am certain there was 

 not half an ounce of wax in a ton of it; 

 there may not have been any. 



The climax came when the merchant 

 stated in his letter that with regard to 

 the foreign article, "We only deal in 

 Narbonne honey, but we will offer 2Jd. 

 per lb. landed in London for similar 

 honey to sample." The whole of it was 

 sold in Auckland at the rate of 7d. per lb. 

 This, I felt absolutely certain, was the 

 first New Zealand honey raised under the 

 modern system to reach England. 



The first commercial transactions of 

 any note in the export trade that really 

 constituted the opening of the English 

 market for our New Zealand honey, 

 were made by myself in 1888. For sev- 

 eral years afterwards I shipped a good 

 deal each season to England and New 

 South Wales, until "foul brood" had 

 played svich havoc among the bees that 

 there was little or no first grade lioney 

 to be obtained. From that time (189i> 

 until the last few years there was no 

 systematic export trade, a small consign- 

 ment was sent now and again by indi- 

 vidual beekeepers, the market was unre- 

 liable, and there was frequently a loss on 

 the transactions due to the heavy ex- 

 penses. In the past, the best of our 

 honey has been retailed in England as 

 "English" honey at lOd. and 1/- per lb., 

 while the New Zealand producer has been 

 lucky if he netted 3d. These are facts. 



USE OF THE HYDROMETER. 



Many years ago I realised the neces- 

 sity of working out some scheme by 

 which a given sample of liquid honey 

 could be tested accurately for its ripe- 

 ness by the average beekeeper; that is, 

 to make certain the water content of the 

 sample is within the point which might 

 set up fermentation. It at once oc- 

 curred to me that if we found out the 

 minimum specific gravity by the hydro- 

 meter at which we could depend upon 

 honey keeping any length of time with- 

 out deteriorating, our purpose would be 

 served. I therefore set about the inves- 

 tigation, and, after making some 250 



tests, I came to the conclusion that any 

 honey showing a specific gravity of 1.420 

 or over can be marketed without risk. 

 These figures are now accepted by the 

 N.Z. Honey Producers' Association, and 

 the hydrometer is coming into general 

 use among our beekeepers. 



BRISTOL AND DOMINIONS 

 PRODUCERS' ASSOCIATION. 



This Association, which has been re- 

 cently formed with its headquarters at 

 Bristol, England, deals, as its name indi- 

 cates, with New Zealand produce. It has 

 already got practical control of the 

 whole of our honey export trade to the 

 mutual benefit of the Association and the 

 producers. It deals direct with the New 

 Zealand Honey Producers' Association, 

 as previously stated, and the honey pass- 

 ing through its hands is put up and sold 

 in England as New Zealand honey, under 

 the latter's brand. The price guaranteed 

 for all honey of first grade is 4d. per lb. 

 in bulk, f.o.b. in New Zealand, without 

 recourse, and any surplus after sales, 

 less cost of bottling and 5 per cent, com- 

 mission, is returned to New Zealand. 



GRADING HONEY FOR EXPORT. 



The event which I consider will have 

 the greatest influence for good in the 

 advancement of our export honey trade 

 is the compulsory grading regulations, 

 which came into force on December 1st, 

 1915. The Government brand on the 

 cases denoting the quality or grade of 

 the contents, will give confidence to the 

 purchaser, and ensure the bona-fides of 

 the transaction. 



CONCLUSION. 

 I hope those of the bee-keeping frater- 

 nity who have taken the trouble to read 

 through these reminiscences will have 

 found something to interest them in the 

 brief account of some of the pioneering 

 work of the old beekeepers of New Zea- 

 land. 



KepriDted from "New Zealand iFarmer." — 13891.' 



