December, 1915. 



American ^ec Joarnal] 



— therefore acid — and of a bright fer- 

 rous-red color. White, red, alsike, 

 crimson and strawberry clovers grow 

 in abundant profusion as do also all 

 English grasses. The cape-weed flour- 

 ishes likewise, and the plants approxi- 

 mate in size America's best specimens 

 of dandelion. 



Northward, 50 miles distant, are the 

 extensive plains of Gippsland. The 

 shallow, gravelly, hungry soil has been 

 composed — through the centuries — by 

 the "breaking down," if we may use 

 the term, ot the original conglomerate 

 rock forming the higher levels. The 

 climate is distinctly drier and hotter. 

 In spring, especially if it be a wet one, 

 the rather dreary landscape is trans- 

 formed into a succession of fairy fields 

 gloriously " powdered " with the pro- 

 lific blossom. It is ubiquitous for even 

 the roadsides fiaroe like golden rib- 

 bands. It is overwhelming for no other 

 plants are discernible amid the floral 

 glow. Cattle grow sleek and milk 

 profitable on the feast of flowers, yet 

 the most fastidious critic would fall to 

 detect any abnormal taste in either 

 milk or butter. 



From morn till dewy eve the bees 

 gather the harvest of pollen a^ , 

 tar. Colonies breed up in quite '^^''' 

 derful manner, and even st„,.^ won- 



'"'^ a sur- 

 pounds 



plus of honey. An average of 3^ 

 per hive was recorded from tjj. 

 ■ - j^g honey is n ' 



The density of the honey i 



s source, 

 as that from the eucalypt°' as great 

 course the product of the "s- ""* 01 

 tioned is exceptionally h trees men- 

 flavor is best described as eavy. The 

 nutty one not acceptable ta distinctive 

 while the ripe golden hue resembles 

 the color of American goldenrod 

 honey. Like that of most ground flora 

 the honey quickly candies with a 

 coarse grain. The crystals are murky 

 drab in color and very large. Bees- 

 wax produced during the flow also 

 partakes of the pervading yellowness. 

 So swiftly has the cape weed traveled 

 since its advent to Australia that it is 

 now common to all States, and has 

 been described as "the most valuable 

 pollen plant in the commonwealth." 

 While the writer regards this dictum 

 as too sweeping, it serves to indicate 

 the Austral beekeepers' esteem for the 

 weed. 



In New Zealand, which is a typical 

 clover country, the pennyroyal (Mcnl/ia 

 fulegium) has monopolized whole tracts 

 of country in a most alarming manner, 

 so much so that the plant has mate- 

 rially altered the flavor of the Domin- 

 ion butter. After the controversy in 

 America regarding the merits of sweet 

 clover, it is not irrelevant to point out 

 that Vincent Jackson, B. A.— an au- 

 thority in New Zealand — states the yel- 

 low sweet clover there develops an ob- 

 jectionable woody fibre so that stock 

 rarely eat it. On a small speck of land 

 south of the Australian mainland, the 

 " King Island melilot" {Meli/olus alba) 

 flourishes. It covers many thousands 

 of acres, but as the writer is aware no 

 apiarist has "tried out" the island. 

 King Island is famed throughout the 

 continent for its fat cattle raised on 

 melilotus. 



The difficulty of discovering the 

 right name for each plant is quite a 

 desideratum when speaking of foreign 

 species. For instance, the American 

 viper's bugloss or blue thistle " is an 



old Victorian identity masquerading 

 under the title of "Patterson's curse" 

 {Jichium I'iolaceum). It was named after 

 a misguided settler who introduced it 

 to Victoria. The " bugloss " or " curse " 

 — whichever is preferred — is not of 

 course a true thistle, though it is a 

 good honey-plant. 



In conclusion, the writer has tried 

 many American plants, but the results, 

 with few exceptions, were not encour- 

 aging. The honey locust is a beautiful 



success, but the tulip tree, goldenrod, 

 buckwheat, and spider plant were 

 downright failures for producing nec- 

 tar. Borage is very good in the heavy 

 rainfall districts. The clover country 

 rarely produces much over HO pounds 

 per hive, and this where the hills are 

 quite covered with red or white bloom. 

 On the other hand, the river-flats 

 clothed with strawberry clover — a dis- 

 tinct creeping variety — are very good 

 for honey. Victoria, Australia. 



1915. 



THE CAPE WEED OF AUSTRALIA 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



I)K. C. <^". MlI.I.ER. Makenco. Ii.'.. 



He does not answer bee-keepint questions by mail, 



I 



Miscellaneous 



I. I liived a second swarm of bees on frames 

 with (nil foundation, and they had been 

 hived only seven days when late in the after- 

 noon I noticed them tiehting. They did not 



look like bees trying to rob. but Held bees 

 cominB in from work. As soon as they would 

 liKht. the bees comine out of the hive would 

 pounce upon them. 1 reduced the entrance. 

 The next morninK they were still lii^htini;, 

 and there was a big pile of dead and crip- 



