422 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 16, 1904. 



stand at the head, with the Root long^- 

 tongue next, and the Hutchinson superior 

 stock as third. All the rest can be classed 

 as fourth, which include queens from many 

 noted breeders. 



In testing the many queens I receive from 

 others, I generally take them to the out- 

 apiary, as I do not try to keep any certain 

 strain there, and these, with queens of my 

 own rearing from the home yard, constitute 

 that apiary ; and this past unprecedentedly 

 long, severe trial of over six months of winter 

 confinement has shed quite a ray of light on 

 which bees would stand the test the best, as 

 given above. 



I must tell the readers of one particular 

 colony of goldens. When we first went into 

 the cellar at the out-apiary and took down 

 the first hive, no sign of life was heard. 

 The hive was set on the cellar-bottom and 

 knocked upon ; but no response. This was 

 repeated three times when it was set aside as 

 "dead." The next was taken, which was 

 one of those that had starved. They were 

 also pronounced " dead ;" and my heart be- 

 gan to fail me for fear all were dead, as no 

 precautions are taken here, only to set the 

 hives in this cellar, with the entrances toward 

 the wall to exclude the light a little, the 

 family and farmer using the cellar just as 

 they would were no bees in it all winter, I 

 placing no restrictions on them. 



But to cut the story short : After all were out, the 

 farmer asked me if he should carry out the 7 hives of dead 

 bees and pile them up where I wished them. I assented. 

 All went well till he came to the seventh hive and last, (or 

 what was the first one we touched in entering the cellar), 

 when I heard an outcry. I went to see what the matter was, 

 and found that the bees were just fairly boiling out of the 

 hive he was bringing out of the cellar. The wet cloth used in 

 removing them was hastily thrown over the hive and it was 

 carried to its stand. And, strange to say, that ''dead" 

 colony was the nearest to a perfectly wintered colony of any 

 I ever saw. No dead bees on the bottom-board, no spotting 

 of things on their first flight, and no dwindling since, even 

 after three days over half a year of confinement. 



Mr. E. R. Root has told in the past of colonies which 

 were so nearly dormant as to be lifeless, apparently, when 

 in winter quarters ; but this colony was the first thing of 

 the kind I ever saw, and I do not know how to account for it, 



No. 5. — CHERRY-TREES IN BLOSSOM — PAGODA HILL IN BACKGROUND. 



even now. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



The Eucalyptus— An Australian Honey-Tree 

 Americanized. 



BY W. A. PRYAL. 



THE eucalyptus is an Australian tree, there being sev- 

 eral hundred varieties. Many varieties have been in- 

 troduced into California, where they thrive fully as 

 well as in their native home. The year when the first 

 eucalyptus (or gum-tree, as it is called in California) was 

 introduced into that State is not well known as a matter of 

 history, but it was fully 35 years or more ago. To-day 

 forests of goodly size are to be found in many a valley and 

 on many a hill in the Golden State. The variety most com- 

 mon in central and northern California, and, from what I 

 have been able to observe in the southern portion of the 

 State as well, is Eucalyptus globulus, or blue-gum. 



This article will be confined to the tree just mentioned, 

 and, in a general way, it will cover all that might be said of 

 other varieties of eucalypti as well. 



In California, the tree was set out largely about 25 years 

 ago, and moderately ever since. The wood can be used for 

 a great number of purposes. Up to the present its principle 

 use here is for fuel ; in the southern portion of the State it 

 being a boon on this account, owing to the non-existence 

 of native trees growing near the largely inhabited settle- 

 ments. Its rapid growth makes it a valuable tree, besides, 

 when once started into vigorous life, it is no easy matter to 

 kill the tree. Cut it down as you may, it will at once send 

 forth shoots from the stump, and in a few years perhaps 

 two or three lusty trees will be growing where but one grew 

 before. It is nothing uncommon to see a large crop of fire- 

 wood or fence-rails harvested from a row of gum-trees. A 



farmer easily keeps himself and neighbors supplied with 

 fuel from a row of these trees planted some 16 to 24 feet 

 apart around his fences, roadsides, or along the bank of a 

 creek. When near water, the tree grows in a two-fold ratio. 

 It seems to absorb water like a sponge, and for this reason 

 it has been called the " fever tree." 



As the eucalyptus has to reach a respectable age before 

 the wood is matured for uses in the building line and in the 

 arts, it has not yet been voted a valuable tree for such pur- 

 poses in California. But the time is coming when it will 

 be so considered. It is a valued wood in Australia, so I 

 have been informed. For a shade-tree it is invaluable. No 

 farm is complete in California unless it has several gum- 

 trees about the barn-yard, and, possibly, near the house, for 

 shade. Though for shade near or in the garden, some other 

 tree is preferred, preferably the fig, almond, English or 

 California walnut, magnolia, locust, or the likes, as the tree 

 under consideration exhausts the moisture from the soil to 

 such a degree that no other plant can get a living for some 

 rods near it. 



The eucalyptus is the tree par excellence for the hills 

 of California, of which there is an everlasting supply, and 

 no mistake. It will grow on any hill, if it is looked after 

 during the first year. I have observed that the tree is 

 spreading of its own accord. Where the seed falls in suit- 

 able soil, it slowly nurses itself for the first year or so, and 

 thence on it seems to spring skywards by metes and bounds, 

 as it were. 



It is as a honey-producing tree that the eucalyptus 

 claims our attention at this writing. The bee-keeper pre- 

 fers a tree that is useful to him in more ways than one. 

 The locust is a great honey-producing tree, but as it is a 

 rather slow-growing tree, he is not apt to plant it with a 

 view of its helping the bees or enriching himself. But the 

 eucalyptus covers the want as no other tree can. Its merits 

 as a honey-secreting tree is well known to those who live 

 near forests of the tree in this State. For a quarter of a 

 century I have noted its value in this portion of California. 

 It never fails of a crop of blossoms — and such yields of 

 flowers are wonderful 1 I know of no plant that has a longer 

 period of inflorescence than has the blue-gum. It often 

 commences on one side of the tree toward the close of 

 November, and around with the sun it gradually circles the 

 tree. Thus, if it begins on the east side in November it 

 may reach the south side by January, and toward May it 

 will get to the north. The honey is pretty dark in the win- 

 ter, but the color cuts no figure commercially with the bee- 

 keeper, as it is not likely that any of it will ever be ex- 

 tracted, much less stored in sections. It was in 1877, I 

 think, I referred to the color and quality of this honey, in 

 the Bee-Keepers' Magazine. I have had no reason to 

 change my opinion since. 



The flowers of the difi'erent varieties (No. 1) are of all 

 sizes, and of several colors, that of the /■'. globulus being of 

 a creamy white, and for decorative purposes it is pretty ; 

 its slender stems, glossy bluish-green leaves, long, narrow 



