1S9G. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



89 



ing. Eucalyptus globulus, or blue- 

 gum, is tbe common one. Tbis tree 

 bas an entirely different foliage wben 

 young from tbat of lat( r growlb and 

 years. 'JMie wbite blossoms are sbowy, 

 and are freely visited by tbe bees. 

 But it blossoms in winter when the 

 bees are not numerous and when they 

 are mostly shut in tlie hivea, so that 

 the amount of honey is not great, 

 though I knew bees to get not a little 

 blue-gum honev during the last win- 

 ter. I have some of this honey now, 

 and have just sampled it. It is ara- 

 ber-colorcd, very sweet, and has a 

 very peculiar flavor, which I think 

 might become very pleasant with use, 

 but I doubt if it would be as well lik- 

 ed at first. It is claimed that this 

 honey has rare medicinal properties, 

 which seems not at all improbable. 

 The deep-red showy blossoms of 

 eucalyptus fissi folia, which will make 

 this tree a great favorite, blossoms 

 from August to October, and attracts 

 the bees. By proper selection of spe- 

 cies we can have blossoms from Aug- 

 ust to April. 



Eucalyptus robusta is quite a favor- 

 ite for planting in this locality at pres- 

 ent, because of its beautiful habit, 

 and foliage, and the strong, thrifty 

 growth which it makes. It blossoms 

 at the same time with the common 

 blue-gum. 



Eucalyptus corniocalyx, so called 

 from the long, horn-like cap that cov- 

 ers the bloom in bud, blossoms in Oct. 

 and Nov. It is so curious and inter- 

 esting that it may well be planted. I 

 saw the bees thick about the blossoms 

 in November while the cap was only 

 slightly raised and not yet failing 

 from the blossoms. I have much hope 

 from these encalyptus. They come 



from arid Australia, and more than 

 likely they will be indifferent to the 

 most severe drouths. Indeed, this is 

 more than a guess, for the winter of 

 1893-189-4 was one of the driest ever 

 known iu this region. The bees were 

 idle— entirely idle — all through the 

 following summer. I saw not the least 

 evidence of honey-gathering after 

 fruit in March and April. Yet my 

 bees gathered quite an amount of 

 honey in December and January of 

 the following winter from the blue- 

 gum. 



I think it behooves all of us in 

 Southern California to keep close 

 watch of our bees and their storing 

 from eucalyptus, and at all such times 

 be sure to make note of date of bloom, 

 earliest and latest, and unless the spe- 

 cies is surely known, send bark, leaves, 

 bud and blossom to some one who can 

 identify it, that we may learn the 

 most valuable species. Bee-keepers 

 near Smiley Heights, Redlands, where 

 there are over 80 species of this genus, 

 or at Santa Monica, where the State 

 Forestry Station is located, and where 

 there are a large nu^nber of species of 

 the eucalyptus, can do excellent ser- 

 vice in this direction. I am trying to 

 secure such data, and already have a 

 long list of species with rate of growth 

 and time of bloom. 



I think bee-keepers may well do all 

 in their power to encourage road-side 

 and field-planting of eucalyptus. Such 

 plantations as are being made all over 

 the grand Elysian Park at Los Ange- 

 les, are large with promise to bee- 

 ' keepers. It is said that there are over 

 1,000 colonies of bees in buildings in 

 the city. No doubt they get much of 

 their food from the eucalyptus groves 

 that are so numerous and so attractive 



