79 



assumed to be collected by bees from one acre of pasturage probably not 

 one-tenth, and possibly not even one-twentieth, part could under any cir- 

 cumstances have been consumed by the grazing animals — so that it becomes 

 a question of a few ounces of fattening-matter, more or less, for all the stock 

 fed upon an acre during the whole season ; a matter so ridiculously trivial 

 in itself, and so out of all proportion to the services rendered to the pasture 

 by the bees, that it may be safely left out of consideration altogether. 



BEEKEEPING AS A BRANCH OF FARMING. 



There is still one point which may possibly be raised by the agricul 

 turist or landowner : "If the working of bees is so beneficial to my 

 crops, and if such a large quantity of valuable matter may be taken, 

 in addition to the ordinary crops, without impoverishing my land, why 

 should I not take it instead of another person who has by right no 

 interest in my crop or my land 1 " The answer to this is obvious. It 

 is, of course, quite open to the agriculturist to keep any number of bees 

 he may think fit ; only, he must consider well in how far it will pay him 

 to add the care of an apiary to his other duties. No doubt every one farming 

 land may with advantage keep a few stands of hives to supply his own 

 wants in honey — the care of them will not take up too much of his time, 

 ■or interfere much with his other labours ; but if he starts a large apiary 

 with the expectation that it shall pay for itself, he must either give up the 

 :greater portion of his own time to it or employ skilled labour for that special 

 purpose ; and he must recollect that the profits of beekeeping are not gene- 

 rally so large as to afford more than a fair remuneration for the capital, skill, 

 and time required to be devoted to the pursuit. In any case, lie cannot 

 ■confine the bees to work exclusively on his own property, unless the latter 

 is very extensive. When such is the case, he may find it greatly to his 

 advantage to establish one or more apiaries to be worked under proper 

 management, as a separate branch of his undertaking ; but in every case, 

 whether he may incur or share the risks of profit and loss in working an 

 •apiary or not, the thing itself can only be a source of unmixed advantage 

 to his agricultural operations, and consequently if he does not occupy the 

 ground in that way himself he should be glad to see it done by any other 

 person. 



By Authority: John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington. — 1909. 



[25,000/3/09—3226 



