GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



■lit and fiiinily in their apiary in New Soutli Wales, Australia. 



BEEKEEPING IN NEW SOUTH WALES 



BY A. P. HABERECHT 



The conditions in the Tnited Slates are 

 altogether different from ours in the south- 

 ern Revernia of New South Wales. Our 

 average I'ainfall is 22 inches ]Der annum. 

 The coldest morning I can remember was 

 2G degi-ees F., and the warmest day 118 in 

 the shade. Our produce is cliieily wheat 

 and wool. 



I am a builder by trade, and keep a few 

 bees as a hobby as well as for profit. I 

 have at present 70 colonies of bees, a few 

 golden Italians, a few blacks, but mostly 

 hybrids. The golden Italians I procured 

 from H. L. Jones, Queersland. The queens 

 wliicli I raise myself go back in color every 

 year; but as for honey-gatherers there 

 seems to be no difference. 



I am sending- a picture of my apiary and 

 honey-eaters. I have most of my bees in 

 ten-frame Langstroth hives from one to 

 three stories. 1 sell all my honey (extracted) 

 in 60-lb. cans at the apiary. Tliere is no 

 sale for comb honey. I keej) only one hive 

 going with sections for my own use. I have 

 exhibited extracted honey for six years, and 

 have not yet been beaten. My locality is all 

 riglit for quality, but no good for quantity. 

 The best average I had for one season was 

 120 lbs. per colony; but the average for the 

 last ten years would be about 30 lbs. per 

 colonj'. I always leave about 30 lbs. of fall 

 honey per colony, whicli has always been 

 sufficient to see the bees through the winter, 

 and to rear their brood. 



The winter here lasts about three months 

 (May, June, July); but on any calm and 

 sunny day, even in the midst of winter, the 

 bees will fly. About the fiist of September 

 ihey will begin to gather j'ollen from cape- 



w e e d , and swarm 

 about the middle of 

 October. Our honey is 

 gathered chiefly from 

 eucalyptus trees, 

 which begin to bloom 

 in September. Our 

 locality has three spe- 

 cies — the first one and 

 the best, the yellow box 

 {Eucalyptus melliodo- 

 ra A. Cum), then the 

 red gum [Eucalyptus 

 rost rata Schlecht ) , 

 and, lastly, the gray 

 box {Eucalyptus hem- 

 iphlora), which gives 

 us our fall honey, and 

 is dark in color, and 

 gi-aniilates quickly. The yellow box and 

 red gum honej- seldom granulate. Some 

 of it never granulates. I have had samj^les 

 since 1898, and they are just as I put them 

 aside. 



So far I have had only one case of foul 

 brood. I at once sulphured the bees and 

 burned the whole of the brood-nest with 

 the bees, and I have never had any since. 

 I kept bees in box hives about 20 years ago, 

 on the Wimmera River, in Victoria, and 

 lost 53 colonies out of 57 in a few weeks 

 with foul brood. 



In 1902, if I remember rightl}', I lost in 

 this locality 45 colonies out of 53 from what 

 was called the " disappearing trick." Since 

 that time I have not seen it. 



Some seasons I have a good deal of 

 spring dwindling, and sometimes a little 

 paralysis; but the latter is not contagious 

 here. 



If any of your readers would care to 

 exchange samples of honey I should be 

 pleased to do so. I read some time ago that 

 our eucalyptus trees are grown in some 

 parts of America. I am sui-e they should 

 flourish on your soils. Red-gum plantations 

 should prove very profitable in America in 

 the long run. 



Witli reference to railway freight on 

 honey in New South Wales, I interviewed 

 the station master here, and he tells me he 

 k;:ows nothing about changing from B to ^ 

 rate. His book says honey goes as B rate, 

 minimum on ton (no difference in freight 

 on comb or extracted honev) ; 50 miles, 10 

 shillings per ton; 100 miles, 18-10; 200 

 miles, £1-13-5 ; 300 miles, £2-3-10 ; 500 miles, 

 £2-16-1 ; and 600 miles, £3-2-7. 



NUMBERING OF HIVES. 



The numbering of liives on their stands 

 seems ridiculous. In the first place, one 

 woiihl want to have a lunnber on ever,- side 



