THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 307 



It runs into nearly a dozen species. They bloom alternately : Red 

 Gum, Yellow Box, and White Box bein^^ the main ones in the on 

 season and the Gray Box, Stringy Bark, and Messmate in the off 

 season. 



The on season opens generally in Noveml:)er with a nice flow 

 from white box and then comes red gum and yellow box almost 

 simultaneously. The former lasts only four or five weeks, but the 

 latter nearly two and a half months. Honey suckle (a tree) yields 

 well as a rule in a wet fall, but in most case? the weather will not 

 permit the bees to get to it. Red Gum is an exceptionally heavy 

 yielder and Yellow Box, when the weather is clammy and moist, 

 secretes freely. I have known hives to put twelve pounds a day on 

 when the flow was at its zenith. 



In Gippsland their source is mainly Stringy Bark and occurs in 

 our off season. I have never heard of a big average there — three 

 tins — one hundred and eighty pounds, I believe is a good yield. 



One apiarist works an apiary here and one in the Gippsland bor- 

 der, so he has no off year, and always has a good marketable flow. 

 I have known oft' season yields in the Glen Isla district that came 

 up to 150 pounds — a little dark but nevertheless it ran to nigh third. 

 It was from a species of eucalypt called apple or bastard box. 



The bee men from here run their bees in the Glen Isla country. 

 Out apiaries — all of them — fifty miles from home. Several lost heav- 

 ily, but the ones who make it a practice of wintering in the ranges 

 here near Dunkeld came out lightly, with all colonies strong. The 

 past season, as regards wintering, has been the severest for some 

 considerable time. 



Where you have an ideal honey gathering site it is as a rule 

 deficient in pollen in the oft' year. Scarcity of autumn pollen causes 

 the bees to get the dwindle in the following spring. Bastard Box, 

 or Apple Box — as it has two names, and smells like apples when cut 

 in its half dry state — as I have before stated, yields well in some 

 off seasons. It blooms every fotir years, but may be preceded 

 twelve months earlier by the bud that has outdone in maturity its 

 sister bud. Thus may a light flow come in advance, twelve months 

 prior to its general flow. It is one of the best known pollen sources 

 for the breeding of bees. Cape weed is also one of the great spring 

 builders at home. It is plentiful in the vicinity of towns, but entirely 

 absent in the forest. 



Dandelion is another pollen plant that helps considerably. I 

 know of big fields of it adjacent to the forest. It yields in the 

 spring and then again in the fall. The fall crop is much lighter 

 than its predecessor. The bees within reach of this field never suf- 

 fer from dwindle, while the ones farther in the forest sufl'er badly 

 when the pollen dearth is on. 



