GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oruuge blossoms aud leaves. Photographed by 

 Ventura, Cal. 



sons of the year, while others have several 

 periods of bloom. The blossoms, as a rule, 

 fj'row in clusters or umbels, very seldom 

 being single. The blossom consists of 

 stamens, these stamens in the different spe- 

 cies varying from 1/9 to IY2 in. in length. 

 There is always the cap over the immature 

 blossoms, this cap being part of the calyx, 

 and always coming off in one piece resem- 

 bling a lid or cup. 



As a honey-producer, a number of the 

 species are profuse yielders. In examining 

 the various authorities on the subject there 

 seems to be no species but that some one 

 claims it yields honey. So it seems a safe 

 proposition to state that all of the different 

 species of eucalyptus at some time or other, 

 in some localities, yield honev. There is 



considerable variation in 

 the quality of the honey. 

 Some is strong and 

 rank, and of inferior 

 quality ; some of the nec- 

 tar has a distinctive odor 

 or aroma of the euca- 

 lyi)tus-tree, and is not 

 disagreeable. In fact, 

 some people after hav- 

 ing eaten eucalyptus 

 honey prefer it to good 

 white honey from other 

 sources. 



The practical value 

 of the eucalyptus to the 

 beekeeper is that it fur- 

 nishes pasturage for the 

 bees when there is 

 nothing else, the bees 

 here on the coast this 

 past winter having 

 stored surplus f r o m 

 eucalyptus during De- 

 cember, January, aud 

 February. The value 

 of the different species 

 as honey-i^roducers is 

 as yet far from being 

 exactly determined, even 

 thougli the tree has been 

 lecognized of value to beekeepers for a 

 numbei- of years. Prof. Kinney, in his 

 v/ork which was publislied some twenty 

 years ago, states that his attention wa.s first 

 called to the value of the eucalyptus to bee- 

 men by Prof. A. J. Cook, Claremont. It is 

 safe to say, however, that within the next 

 ten years eucalyptus culture will make more 

 progress than has been recorded in the past 

 sixty years. It is the only tree that can be 

 grow)i and show a profit per acre with other 

 ranch crops. Each year, for the past few 

 years, large tracts of land have been planted 

 to eucalyptus; and in a few years, perhaps, 

 eucalyptus honey will be filling just such a 

 plaee in the honey market of the West as 

 buckwheat honey fills in the East. 

 San Diego, Cal. 



Flora Mcliityre, 



SOME NEW ZEALAND HONEY- PLANTS 



BY W. B. BRAY. 



1. Fuschia. — This is an t)rnamenlal gar- 

 den variety. The bees work the red flowers 

 vigorously. In New Zealand we have a na- 

 tive variety similar to this, only the flower 

 is green. It is a great honey and pollen 



yielder, and flowers for over three months, 

 lasting well into clover bloom. It is a 

 standby for spring feed, and is not affected 

 by rain, the flowers hanging doAvnward. 

 The pollen is blue on all varieties. 



