1944
A competition was announced for the next issue of the magazine. It called for suggestions for a plan for the NZ honey industry for the post war period, given that the current regulations would lapse six months after the war. While no prize was to be provided, the “honour and glory of contributing something constructive” was used to encourage entries.
In the January issue obituary was printed for Mr WM Sage, 25 years of age, who died while on active service. He was the son of Mr Ernie Sage of Ohaupo, and had been in the honey business with his father and brother.
In a letter to the Editor, Mr TF Penrose, a member of the executive and an opponent of co-operative marketing, wrote to disapprove of the special marketing issue of the magazine. He felt that such “propaganda” should have gone out without being “camouflaged by our cover”.
In early 1944 the Executive met the Minister of Marketing and his advisors to discuss the price of honey and the formation of an Advisory Committee. The Executive put the case for an increase of 1.67d per pound, which the Minister found unacceptable. The Executive found the Minister’s proposal for two members to join an Advisory Committee was not acceptable while the present Honey Control Board continued its functions.
Proposed changes to the Association Conference aimed to give voting right more in proportion to one’s stake in the industry. The moves would place a 600 hive maximum, at 3d per hive, on subscription and voting entitlement. Hive holdings would be dealt with in 30 hive multiples, with maximum voting and subscription being “capped” at 20 votes and £7/10/-. While the proposal was only for branch consideration, the Executive asked that the principle of “one group of hives one payment and one group of hives one vote” be adhered to. The proposal was designed to make £590 available to the Executive to run the Association.
The opposition to the regulated marketing of honey had established itself clearly enough that it was sometimes being referred to as “the Canterbury viewpoint”. While Mr WB Bray, President of the Canterbury branch, made the views quite clear in many meetings, he was not alone in his opposition. Mr RE Hansen of “Beeville” (Taupiri), Mr Alexander Mawhinney (Te Kawa), (Miss?) MA Shepherd (Rangiora) and Mr WJC Ashcroft (Havelock North) all openly criticised the marketing regulations in the pages of the journal.
With the July 20, 1994, issue of the magazine came an important announcement – the NBA annual conference was postponed. A general application for permits to travel was refused by the Minister of Railways on the grounds that he was unable to grant further permits to any organisation. Rather than appear to defy the Government and risk an inequitable attendance from the membership (permits to travel were able to be obtained by some individual members, but not by the organisation as a whole) the Executive made the decision to postpone the conference.
The Executive did manage to hold a meeting in Wellington on 5, 6 and 7 July, 1944. This meeting coincided with a delegation from the South Auckland Branch (Mr Holt and Mr Barber) who had placed production cost figures before the Honey Control Board. The delegation had also take the opportunity to meeting with the Minister to press for the early consideration of the registration of apiaries proposal. Mr Holt made some strong criticisms of the executive, saying he didn’t think they were doing their job.
The Executive met with the Internal Marketing Division (Mr Rentoul, Manager of the Honey Section, and and Mr HF Stoupe, Assistant Manager of the Honey Section) as well as the Honey Control Board (Mr Nelson, Mr Penny and Mr Robins). In the course of these talks Mr Nelson proposed that as the seals fund now stood at £17,013 he felt that the future seals levy should be paid out to suppliers of the Division. The immediate goal was that the Internal Marketing Division’s need for 500 tons for the war requirements and a further 500 tons to supply honey for citizens in the city areas. This amount would allow the IMD to both meet the demands and also maintain its existence as an economic unit. The IMD had received about 1,200 tons in the previous season. As beekeepers were supposed to be supplying 70% of their crop, it was clear that many beekeepers had not complied.
Mr Nelson, when questioned about how this could be achieved, put forward an idea originally proposed by Mr Stoupe. Rather than commandeer 70% of the total crop, he calculated that 30 or 35 pounds of honey per hive, or approximately 50% of the crop, should be sufficient to meet the IMD’s requirements. This idea had the support of both the IMD and the Honey Control Board, and the Executive eventually adopted a variation as a preferred option for the coming season.
The Executive felt that 30 pounds per hive should be commandeered during the war period from beekeepers with 20 hives or more. Should there be a crop failure, beekeepers would be allowed to retain a minimum of 10 pounds per hive.
Following a meeting with the Minister Hon B Roberts, the Executive also agreed to support a Honey Marketing Council consisting of five elected representatives of producers, the Manager of the Honey Section of the IMD, a representative of the Department of Agriculture and the Director of the IMD as Chairman. The previous opposition to this advisory body was primary related to the desire for the beekeepers’ representatives to be elected rather than appointed. In an early expression of the industry’s attitude to equity in voting, the Executive said the voting should be “with a proportional vote limited to one vote on a minimum basis, to a maximum of ten votes on the level of production that provides the producer with a living.”
The retirement of Mr Rentoul from his position as Manager of the Honey Section of the IMD was announced in July, though it was indicated his serviceswould still be available to the division for the next 12 months. Mr Rentoul had had a 30 year association with the marketing of honey. He was one of the directors of the 1914 Honey Producers’ Association, becoming Chairman in 1916 and holding the position until 1924. In 1924 he was appointed Manager of the HPA. He was also elected as the producer’s representative on the Honey Control Board at its inception and was appointed chairman. In 1933 he resigned from the Honey Control Board to become join manager of the Board and of the NZ Honey Ltd, the company formed after the liquidation of the HPA. When the Government took over NZ Honey Ltd in 1938 Mr Rentoul was appointed manager.
Several members of the NBA Executive were also involved in local body politics. Mr E Field, Dominion President, was a Borough Councillor of Foxton. Mr E Kirk, Executive member, was on the Wanganui Harbour Board. Mr L Robins, member of the Honey Control Board, was also the Mayor of Temuka.
The licensing of apiary sites remained a topic of interest. With the expected return of servicemen after the war beekeepers were keen to ensure that there was a regulatory framework to restrict unfair encroachment on existing production sites. The Government had taken no action on the issue during the previous years and the Executive was under considerable pressure to get the regulations into place. In late September 1944 the Minister of Agriculture Mr B Roberts wrote to the Association saying that he did not feel there was enough agreement within the industry for the proposal to go further at that time.
In some personal notes in the October 1944 issue of the magazine was the note that the second son of Mr E Sage (Ohaupo) was missing in air operations.
Mr WB Bray, President of the Canterbury Branch, had spoken at a beekeepers’ meeting in Hamilton to say he felt the NBA was “falling to pieces”. He felt there some was some possibility of a new organisation being formed in opposition and that it was unlikely the NBA would ever hold another conference. Mr EA Field, Dominion President, replied that membership had increased substantially during the last three years, and felt the Association still had the support of beekeepers.
In a report from the Department of Agriculture it was announced that research work would commence on various problems confronting apiarists. The officer chosen to carry out the diagnostic and research work was Mr T Palmer-Jones, B Sc. Mr Palmer-Jones had field experience as a beekeeper before joining the staff at Wallaceville before the war.
In late 1944, Mr IW Forster was appointed as an Apiary Instructor in charge of the Invercargill-Dunedin district, replacing Mr LI Box who had resigned. Mr Forster had trained for two years with “one of New Zealand’s largest beekeepers” and had altogether twenty years practical commercial experience.