JANUAKV 1, 1915 



23 



By scratching the 

 hives t he bees would be 

 disturbed and run out 

 at the entiance to drive 

 away the intruders. 

 These exi)ert n i o- h t 

 robbers, without gloves 

 or veil to protect them, 

 would gobble the bees 

 up, apparently feax'- 

 less of stings, " and 

 working with a zeal 

 worthy a nobler cause" 



1 think the loss of 

 hi'.s (juite serious. I 

 ha\ e 1 !■") colonies in 

 llic yard, and most of 

 tlicni. 1 think, have 

 been worked by the 

 skunks. What the 

 skunks are doing to 

 my bees tliey are doing 

 to the bumblebees. 



Look carefully, Mr. Farmer, and you will 

 find many of the holes in the meadow and 

 pasture you thought were dug for grubs 

 were due- for the nests of bumble-bees. And 



Caii2;lit with tho 



lis on. Anotlier icniaikable flashliglit photograph. 



don't forget the nests of Bob White, be- 

 cause the echo of his sweet song is far more 

 pleasant than the '' aroma " of the skunk. 

 Collins. Ohio. 



BEEKEEPING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 



BY A. P. HABERECHT 



In my locality the season ending last May 

 was one of the best I ever experienced. My 

 average for 66 colonies was 125 lbs. extract- 

 ed honey, and all supers full of stores; 

 about 2500 lbs. of surplus, which, if I could 

 have extracted, would have brought the 

 average up to 161 lbs. per colony, but on 

 account of the coolness of the weather and 

 the thickness of honey I was unable to do 

 so. The honev-flow lasted up to the end of 

 April. 



^ly honey was so thick that I could do 

 nothing with it below 90 degrees, and only 

 M 100 would it extract freely. My reasoi) 

 for this was continual high winds dui'ing 

 the main honey-flow, the bees working only 

 mornings and e\enings, and fanning all the 

 rest of the time. My bees worked very 

 cveidy this season, 50 per cent best. 40 per 

 cent well, and 10 per cent that brought 

 about 60 lbs. of surplus — no difference as 

 to color or breeding. The best Italians seem 

 to fly earlier and faster, but do not seem to 

 put more into the comb-bucket. The only 

 conclusion I can come to is that they must 

 consume more stores. 



The red gum (Eur. rostrata) turned out 

 a complete failure with me last season; but 

 it looks very promising for next season. 



The yellow box (Euc. melliodora) bloomed 

 from the beginning of September to the 

 end of February, which happens only once 

 in a lifetime. It usually blooms from the 

 end of July to about the end of October; 

 but this season it has no buds, so there will 

 be no bloom on yellow box next season at 

 all, perliaps only an odd tree. The gray 

 box [Euc. hemiphlora) bloomed very 

 patchy, but a good sample (our fall honey). 



I sold 75 per cent of my honey to the 

 consumer at 8 cents per lb., and 25 per oe.il 

 to dealers at 7 cents, and my beeswax was 

 sold at the market at 281/2 cents, the higliest 

 price I ever had for beeswax. 



I would strongly advise all apiaris's to 

 do their best to sell as mucli as possible to 

 the consumer, get their honey up in suitable 

 lots, and make a house-to-house canvass; 

 but the honey must be put up attractively. 

 Tliere is a great future for the apiarist; but 

 he nuist keep on teacliing the people to eat 

 honey. You will find that, the more people 

 rat lioncy. the better they will like it. and 

 the more they will eat. I cannot say that T 

 know of one person who said, " I used to 

 cat honey, but now I do not care for it." 



My experience is, if a family takes 30 

 lbs. of honey this season I am sure they will 



