734 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTUHK 



Nov. lo 



ports to the contrary from those who have 

 tested the matter on only a small scale, and 

 who can not be certain, therefore, that their 

 failures were due to the ((uality of the sugar 

 used. 



We did not intend to discriminate against 

 beet sugar in the editorial referred to, for we 

 were using the term "cane sugar" in a 

 broad sense. As you know, the chemical 

 term cane sugar includes the sugar made 

 from sugar-cane, sugar-beet, maple sap, etc. ; 

 but not honey, glucose, corn syrups, etc., 

 as these latter come under the general class 

 of grape sugars. Perhaps our statement 

 was misleading; but we did not intend it to 

 be so. We have before mentioned that we 

 never make any efTort to ascertain the source 

 of the granulated sugar that we use, and we 

 never have any trouble. — Ed.] 



COTTON FURNISHED HONEY IN SPITE OF 

 LONG DROUTH. 



BEE-KEEPING IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 



BY. C. J. HAESE. 



Bee-keeping in the Golden West is quite 

 different from that in America, as we depend 

 solely upon the gum-tree blossoms for hon- 

 ey. Clovers are receiving consideration 

 by the farmers now; but it will be several 

 > ears before this plant will be of any value 

 to the bee-keeper. In this part of the coun- 

 tiy the yate gum and red gum are the main 

 sources of nectar, although we get a little 

 from yarrah and white gum, bub to an ex- 

 tent hardly worth mentioning. 



March is our main month for honey; and 

 if we do not have too much rain during the 

 month a strong colony will average from 

 seven to ten pounds gain per day. We have 

 a honey-yield every year, my average for 

 the last few years being about 200 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey per colony. In 1908 my crop 

 would have been doubled had it not been 

 for so much rain when the honey-flow was 

 on. We have rain every month in the year, 

 the total amount for this locality being 30 

 inches. 



This is an ideal locality for apples and 

 pears, but it is too cool for oranges or vines, 

 the temperature seldom going above 90 de- 

 grees in the shade in the summer, the nights 

 always being cool. However, we never have 

 snow, and the bees can fly every day in the 

 year except when it is raining. 



Italian and hybrid bees do the best here, 

 the ten-frame Langstroth hives being used 

 almost universally. Bee diseases are un- 

 known. 



There is not much demand for comb hon- 

 ey. I receive 5 to 6 cts. per lb. for extracted 

 honey, mo^t of which I sell in 14-lb. lever- 

 top tins. The market is limited, for the pop- 

 ulation of the state is as yet very small, as 

 our country is only in its infancy. How- 

 ever, thousands of people are now coming 

 in from England, a homestead of 160 acres 

 of first-class land being given free to any 

 male applicant over sixteen years of age. 



Mount Barker, Western Australia. 



Although No Rata Fell from June to October, 



Cotton did Well and Furnished a Fair Crop 



of Extra-fine Honey. 



BY O. SAUNDERS. 



The winter of 1908 was mild, and was fol- 

 lowed by a rather cool windy spring, which 

 necessarily left our bees much depleted in 

 stores and numbers. June 1 found the col- 

 onies in fair condition, and gradually gain- 

 ing from day to day. The weather was 

 warm and sunny; and horsemint, hoar- 

 hound, and various oiher plants and vines 

 of more or less value, furnished plenty of 

 stores for all brood-rearing purposes, and so 

 we naturally began building casiles in the 

 air. The first blooming of alfalfa passed, 

 giving the be* s their initial start toward a 

 honey crop. Then cotton began blooming 

 the 20th of .Tune; and when the second cut- 

 ting of alfalfa was at its best, the way those 

 bees tumbled over each other was enough to 

 stir the blo3d of a veteran. The only requi- 

 site remaining for a bumper crop was an oc- 

 casional rain; but, alas! the much-needed 

 clouds gave this locality a wide berth, the 

 last rain being on June 10. Then followed 

 the longest drouth ever known in these 

 parts, for not a quarter of an inch of rain 

 fell until the 8th of October, and during this 

 time there were many days when the tem- 

 perature registered from 110 to 114 degrees 

 in the shade. A great many bees were lost, 

 as well as considerable honey, by combs 

 melting down; but by giving careful atten- 

 tion to the matter, not over a dozen combs 

 gave way in my entire apiary. 



At the proper time, the weather being 

 favorable, alfalfa was mowed; and cotton 

 was then our last chance. It did well on 

 our rich bottom land, and yielded a fair 

 crop of the finest honey it has ever been my 

 pleasure to see. It was so thick that it was 

 almost impossible to extract it, and entire- 

 ly out of the question to strain it through 

 even a single thickness of cheese-cloth. It 

 was light in color, mild in flavor, and very 

 heavy; and in my opinion it was superior 

 to any honey ever shipped to this locality, 

 not excepting even the guajil la (or cat-claw) 

 honey of the Southwest. The long drouth 

 and consequent absence of all other bloom 

 enabled us, I believe, to get a purer coiton 

 honey than we had ever been able to secure 

 before. 



Again, in the late fall, when the weather 

 began to get cool, our cotton took what we 

 farmers term a "second growth," soon 

 blooming profusely; and by accident, rath- 

 er than otherwise, we got also a fair fall crop. 

 During this long drouth, when cotton and 

 every thing else had ceased blooming, we 

 extracted the entire crop; and as we made 

 rather poor work of it, owing to the honey 

 being so thick, the supers containing the 

 extract ing-combs were placed back on the 

 hives indiscriminately to be cleaned up. 



