New Zealand Beekeeping HistoryMarketing, people and beekeeping politics…
It was January 20, 1939, that Volume 1, Number 1 of The New Zealand Beekeeper magazine was published. Prior to that, there had been various other magazines and beekeeping publications. For a time back in the 1920s beekeeping was covered in one section of a magazine also containing poultry and other animals. In the 1930s […]
It wasn’t until the Labour Government took office that any actions were taken on the issue of a single authority for both local and export markets. In 1938 the recently formed Internal Marketing Division took over NZ Honey Ltd’s business and plant at valuation. NZ Honey Ltd was wound up by paying back all shares […]
The New Zealand Smallholder ceased publication in early 1937, leaving the NBA without an ‘official organ’. At some point, probably early in 1937, the Dominion Beekeepers’ Association was formed. The 1936/37 season was described as one of the worst in over 20 years for the Waikato. While some areas of the country had a satisfactory […]
Shareholders of the HPA faced legal actions brought by the liquidator of the company. Messrs E and E Morton Ltd, the HPA’s agents in England, still had a claim of £17,000 against the company for overpayment of advances, which the shareholders were liable for. The Government agreed to loan the industry the sum of £10,000 […]
The 1934/35 season was very disappointing. Many districts had only half of an average crop. It was estimated the crop would be overall about three-quarters of a normal season’s crop. Local prices had risen somewhat over the previous two seasons. Mr WE Barker of Peel Forest died in early 1935. Mr Barker had been a […]
NZ Honey Ltd began operations in earnest in 1934, claiming the control of 75% of the Dominion’s production. Price cutting continued, however, on the local market. The 1933/34 honey season had been relatively disappointing, with unselttled summer conditions. With many producers having to pay back the over advances from the HPA from previous years’ exports, […]
The cessation of the HPA as a stabilising agent on local pricing was immediately felt. One packer was offered 10 tons of 92 point honey at 2½ d per pound. The situation was so bad that even with the disappointments and the liabilities in the windup of the HPA most of the larger producers formed […]
Though economics of the industry were not particularly sound, bee colony numbers grew for the third year in a row, to 110,635, and a total of about 7,500, an increase from the mid-1920s. On 26 July, at a meeting immediately prior to Conference, the HPA placed itself into voluntary liquidation. At a subsequent meeting it […]
An unnamed Waikato beekeeper (Mr TJ Mannix of Waihou, Thames?) secured a crop of 75 tons, a record for New Zealand. There were 99,855 colonies of bees. Mr EW Sage and Mr PA Hillary were elected to the Board of Directors of the HPA. The 1931 Conference was held in Christchurch on 17 and 18 […]
The 1929/30 honey season was the worst for 15 years, probably only one third of the previous season’s record crop. There were, at the time, 88,716 bee colonies. The 1930 Annual Conference was held at the Agricultural and Pastoral Society’s Hall in Auckland from 15 to 17 July. The Conference was presided over by the […]