1
An early history of beekeeping in Fiji
Little current information is available on the introduction of honey bees into Fiji. The bestthat¶s currently available is the assumption that bees were introduced in the middle of thenineteenth century by European missionaries. A current web page
1
of the Secretariat of thePacific Community states ³European missionaries probably first introduced honey bees intothe Pacific in the mid 19th century. Early attempts to establish national apiculture industrieswere largely unsuccessful until the 1970¶s when projects were initiated in Niue, Papua NewGuinea, Samoa and Fiji.´ Such conjecture about 19th century events is not all that improbablefor there are several records of missionary attempts, some successful, to take bees to thePacific.
y
The Rev. John Hewgill Bumby, a Wesleyan missionary headed from England for thefar north of New Zealand in September 1838,
2
was accompanied aboard the
James
byhis sister Mary Anna and her hive of bees.
y
Church of England missionary Rev. William Charles Cotton attempted to take hivesof bees to the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, in December 1841. He eventuallysucceeded through the help of his friend James Busby to introduce some hives fromSydney in August 1843.
y
The Rev. Petit Jean, a Catholic missionary based in the Bay of Islands, returned fromSydney with a general cargo of donations aboard the brig
Julia
in September 1842.
3
y
The Melbourne
Arg
us
, 18 June 1861, (p.7c) in a short entry mentions a Mr Buzacottof the
John Williams
who took one hive from Melbourne to Sydney. This was, to beforwarded to the South Sea Islands the following year.
4
Reverend Aaron Buzacott of the London Missionary Society was a pioneer missionary of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.
5
The London Missionary Society¶s barque
John Williams
1
spc.int/rahs/Projects/Apiculture1E.htm (as of June 2010 this web site is being reconstructed so thislink is not currently active)
2
Barrett, Alfred (1853, 2
nd
. ed.)
T
he life of the Rev. John Hew
g
ill Bumby : with a b
r
ief histo
r
y of thecommencement and p
r
o
gr
ess of the Wesleyan mission in New Zealand
. John Mason, London
3
Stevenson,Bruce(May 1996) ³In Search of Father Petitjean¶s Bees, Early History of New Zealand
Beekeeping´,
New Zealand Beekeepe
r
,May 1996
4
Refer also
T
he Jou
r
nal of Ho
r
ticultu
r
e, Cotta
g
e Ga
r
dene
r
, Count
r
y Gentleman
for 18 Feb 1862.
5
Mission Life in the Islands of the Pacific,bein
g
a Na
rr
ative of the Life and Labou
r
s of the Rev.
A
. Buzacott.
John Snow & Co., London, 1866.
2
Eva
C
ane s
t
a
t
es
i
n her 1999
The Wor
l
H
i
¡
t
ory o
f
Beekeep
i
¢
g
and Honey Hun
ti
n
g
6
t
ha
t
A.me
llif
era
lig
us
ti
£
a
,
t
he I
t
a
li
an or L
i
r
i
an honey bee, was
i
n
t
roduced
t
o F
iji
³by 1924´.
C
ranea
l
so supp
li
ed
t
he bes
t
known da
t
es for o
t
her Pac
i
f
i
c Is
l
ands:
R
aro
t
onga (
C
ook Is.) ³by 1890´; N
i
ue 1952 from NZ and New
C
a
l
edon
i
a
(A.m.
l)
³by 1902´.
C
rane a
l
so s
t
a
t
es, c
iti
ng ³
Bl
ack,1963´
t
ha
t
bees were common
i
n Suva, F
iji
, dur
i
ng 1955-63. (p.98)From
Farm and Fores
t
ry Produc
ti
on and Marke
ti
n
g
Pro
fil
e
f
or Honey Bees
by Tsu
t
sum
i
,Lorna H. & O
i
sh
i
, Darcy E:
7
³In 2001, a
j
o
i
n
t
pro
j
ec
t
be
t
ween New Zea
l
and and
t
heSecre
t
ar
i
a
t
of
t
he Pac
i
f
i
c
C
ommun
it
y (SP
C
) was conduc
t
ed,
t
he f
i
rs
t
phase of
t
he Feas
i
b
ilit
yof Ap
i
cu
lt
ure
i
n
t
he Pac
i
f
i
c program, wh
i
ch was des
i
gned
t
o s
t
reng
t
hen beekeep
i
ng ac
ti
v
iti
es
i
n
t
he
i
s
l
and na
ti
ons of Samoa, So
l
omon Is
l
ands, Tonga, N
i
ue,
C
ook Is
l
ands (
R
aro
t
onga,
M
anga
i
a, A
ti
u), F
iji
Is
l
ands, Tuva
l
u, P
it
ca
i
rn
i
s
l
and, Vanua
t
u, Papua New Gu
i
nea, K
i
r
i
ba
ti
,and Wa
lli
s & Fu
t
una (Dr
i
sco
ll
, unda
t
ed).
8
«In 2006, a
R
eg
i
ona
l
Honey S
t
andards Deve
l
opmen
t
Workshop was he
l
d
i
n F
iji
t
o fur
t
her expand on
t
he grow
i
ng honey
i
ndus
t
ry
i
n
t
he Pac
i
f
i
c. The spec
i
f
i
c goa
l
s of
t
he workshop par
ti
c
i
pan
t
s (from F
iji
, K
i
r
i
ba
ti
, N
i
ue, Pa
l
au, Papua New Gu
i
nea, Samoa, So
l
omon Is
l
ands,Tonga, and Vanua
t
u) were
t
o
i
ncrease
t
he produc
ti
on and s
t
andards of honey,
t
ap
i
n
t
o n
i
cheand reg
i
ona
l
marke
t
s, and e
l
eva
t
e honey from a subs
i
s
t
ence crop
t
o a v
i
ab
l
e expor
t
. Agr
i
cu
l
-
t
ura
ll
y,
t
h
i
s
i
ndus
t
ry has been pr
i
or
iti
ed by many Pac
i
f
i
c
i
s
l
and na
ti
ons. Presen
tl
y, beekeep
i
ng ac
ti
v
iti
es are
li
m
it
ed on some
i
s
l
ands bu
t
are
t
hr
i
v
i
ng on o
t
hers such as
i
n F
iji
,where
t
he annua
l
honey produc
ti
on
i
ncreased by 65.8%
t
o 494
M
T (543 T)
i
n 2007 (
F
iji
T
i
mes
, 2008). The
i
mpor
t
ance of beekeep
i
ng
i
n F
iji
i
s acknow
l
edged
t
hrough
t
he
i
ssu
i
ng of F
iji
an s
t
amps show
i
ng bee h
i
ves, bees, a beekeeper, and a ch
il
d ho
l
d
i
ng a bo
ttl
e
l
abe
ll
ed F
iji
honey.´
9
(pp.9-10)The ³Honey Produc
ti
on
i
n F
iji
´ s
t
amps were
i
ssued on 16 Oc
t
ober 2006,
10
cons
i
s
ti
ng of
y
18c
B
ees on honeycomb.
y
40c
B
eekeeper co
ll
ec
ti
ng honey.
y
$
1
B
eekeeper and h
i
ves.
y
$
3
C
h
il
d w
it
h bo
ttl
e of honey.
off
i
c
i
a
l
f
i
rs
t
day cover
6
C
rane, Eva (1999)
The Wor
l
d H
i
s
t
ory o
f
Beekeep
i
n
g
and Honey Hun
ti
n
g
:
7
R
efer h
tt
p:
//
67.222.61.70
/
scps
/
Honey_
B
ees_spec
i
a
lt
y_crop.pdf
8
Dr
i
sco
ll
, J. Unda
t
ed.
Feas
i
¤
ilit
y o
f
Ap
i
cu
lt
ure
i
n
t
he Pac
ifi
c
. NZa
i
d and
t
he Secre
t
ar
i
a
t
of
t
he Pac
i
f
i
c
C
ommun
it
y (SP
C
). h
tt
p:
//
www.spc.
i
n
t/
rahs
/
Pro
j
ec
t
s
/
Ap
i
cu
lt
ure1E.h
t
m
9
Tsu
t
sum
i
, L.H., and D.E. O
i
sh
i
. 2010. Farm and Fores
t
ry Produc
ti
on and
M
arke
ti
ng Prof
il
e for Honey
B
ees (
Ap
i
s me
llif
era
). In: E
l
ev
it
ch,
C
.
R
. (ed.). Spec
i
a
lt
y
C
rops for Pac
i
f
i
c Is
l
and Agrofores
t
ry.Permanen
t
Agr
i
cu
lt
ure
R
esources (PA
R
), Ho
l
ua
l
oa, Hawa
iµi
. h
tt
p:
//
agrofores
t
ry.ne
t/
scps
10
R
efer h
tt
p:
//
www.
j
o
ll
.co.nz
/
s
t
amps
/
F
iji
.h
t
m
l
3
An 1872 introduction
B
ees were undoub
t
ed
l
y
i
n
t
roduced,
i
f no
t
for
t
he f
i
rs
t
ti
me,
i
n 1872. James
C
arro
ll
, aQueens
l
and beemas
t
er, s
t
a
t
ed
i
n
t
he
B
r
i
sbane
C
our
i
er
, 12 December 1872, ³I have grea
t
p
l
easure
i
n s
t
a
ti
ng
t
ha
t
I have sen
t
h
i
ves s
t
ocked w
it
h bees
t
o a
ll
par
t
s of
t
he co
l
ony and
t
o New Sou
t
h Wa
l
es, V
i
c
t
or
i
a, and
t
he F
iji
Is
l
ands, w
it
h
t
he grea
t
es
t
success.´ (p.4) I
t
a
li
an beeswere no
t
t
hen
i
n Queens
l
and so
C
arro
ll
cou
l
d on
l
y have sen
t
t
he Eng
li
sh bee. From h
i
s arr
i
va
l
i
n
t
he co
l
ony
C
arro
ll
had been us
i
ng modern frame h
i
ves so a h
i
ve of
t
h
i
s
t
ype wou
l
d have been sh
i
pped con
t
a
i
n
i
ng
t
he bees. The h
i
ve was mos
t
li
ke
l
y of
t
he same spec
i
f
i
ca
ti
ons
t
o
t
heone he sh
i
pped
t
o
C
ardwe
ll
t
ha
t
same year. From
t
he
Queens
l
ander
, 6 Ju
l
y 1872 ³Transpor
t
of
B
ees. ±
M
r.
C
arro
ll
ca
ll
ed on us on Thursday w
it
h a coup
l
e of mode
l
bee-h
i
ves, s
t
ockedw
it
h bees, prepared for a
t
r
i
p by s
t
eamer
t
o
C
ardwe
ll
, and
t
hence
t
o
t
he Va
ll
ey of Lagoons.The h
i
ves are each 15
i
nches
l
ong, 9 deep, and 3 1
/
2 w
i
de, arranged w
it
h ven
til
a
t
ors, p
l
acesfor feed
i
ng
t
he bees and supp
l
y
i
ng
t
hem w
it
h wa
t
er. They are screwed
t
oge
t
her f
i
rm
l
y, and soarranged
t
ha
t
a man can carry
t
hem
t
oge
t
her or s
i
ng
l
y on horseback. Each box con
t
a
i
ns aqueen and a med
i
um s
t
ock of workers, w
it
h a supp
l
y of honey suff
i
c
i
en
t
t
o keep
t
hem for amon
t
h. Wa
t
er mus
t
be g
i
ven a
t
t
he ra
t
e of abou
t
t
wo
t
ab
l
espoonfu
l
s da
il
y, and a wa
t
er bo
ttl
eaccompan
i
es
t
he h
i
ves for
t
ha
t
purpose. The boxes are so cons
t
ruc
t
ed so
t
ha
t
,
i
n
t
he even
t
of
t
he
i
r hav
i
ng
t
o rema
i
n
i
n
C
ardwe
ll
for a
ti
me, a ven
til
a
t
or can be opened a
t
each end so
t
ha
t
t
he bees can f
l
y ou
t
i
n search of s
t
ores. ...´ (p.3)
Jas.
C
arro
ll
11
1886-88 bees have been introduced
From
Her Ma
j
es
t
y's co
l
on
i
es: a ser
i
es o
f
or
igi
na
l
papers
i
ssued under
t
he au
t
hor
it
y o
f
t
he Roya
l
C
omm
i
ss
i
on
(1886)
12
³
B
ees have been
i
n
t
roduced, bu
t
it
i
s sa
i
d
t
ha
t
t
he f
l
ora of
t
he
C
o
l
ony
i
s no
t
i
n a
ll
p
l
aces su
it
ab
l
e for
t
he
i
r sus
t
enance. Th
i
s defec
t
, however, cou
l
d eas
il
y beremed
i
ed.´ (p.267) How recen
tl
y
t
he bees had been
i
n
t
roduced was no
t
made c
l
ear. From
The Aus
t
ra
li
an handbook:
i
ncorpora
ti
n
g
N
e
w
Zea
l
and, F
iji
, and
N
e
w
Gu
i
nea; sh
i
ppers,
11
M
ackay, Angus (1885)
E
l
emen
t
s o
f
Aus
t
ra
li
an A
g
r
i
cu
lt
ure
12
Her Ma
j
es
t
y's co
l
on
i
es: a ser
i
es o
f
or
igi
na
l
papers
i
ssued under
t
he au
t
hor
it
y o
f
t
he Roya
l
C
omm
i
ss
i
on
. (1886, 2
nd
ed.) London, W.
Cl
owes and Sons.
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