FEBRUARY 1, 1916 



many. That gathered last season by reason 

 of the war still remains unsold. It is at the 

 present time in storage, and will probably 

 I'emain there nntil the end of the war. 



The only real honest-to-goodness honey, 

 worthy of the name, is that gathered from 

 the algaroba-tree. The native name is 

 " kiawa." In the United States, along the 

 Mexican border, it is called " mesquite ;" in 

 the Spanish countries it is called " algaro- 

 ba," and the botanical name is Prosopis 

 juliflora. 



The first algaroba was brought to the 

 Hawaiian Islands by father Bachelot in 

 1826. He was given the seed at the Royal 

 Gardens in Paris. The seed was given to 

 him there with the seeds of several other 

 plants — ^several that were thought suited to 

 the conditions existing in the islands. It is 

 not known just how the seed got to Paris; 

 but the supposition is that it came from 

 South America. From the original seed 

 brought by father Bachelot there is still one 

 tree alive. It stands on Fort Street of 

 Honolulu. 



Of all the trees on the island, the alga- 

 roba is considered the most valuable. Fol- 

 lowing its introduction it spread like wild- 

 fire, and thrived under every condition it 

 met. And there are many conditions that 

 exist in but few places. At one place the 

 annual rainfall may be over a hundred 

 inches, while at a distance of a few miles 

 the fall will average but a few inches. The 

 cause of this varied rainfall is the moun- 

 tains, which have the effect of spilling the 

 rain out of the atmosphere, causing it to 

 precipitate near the mountain-peaks. 



Stock was the agent that distributed the 



105 



seed. Cattle are very fond of the sj-d- 

 pods; and since the introduction of the 

 algaroba the pods have been one of the 

 principal stock foods. The seeds, however, 

 are very hard, and are not digested unless 

 they have been ground, and so were distrib- 

 uted. Wherever the seeds were dropped 

 they grew as readily as any weed. Low 

 land, whether wet or dry, seemed to be ex- 

 actly suited to the algaroba. In fact, any 

 kind of land on which a tree could grow 

 seemed to be all that was asked. In some 

 places they groAV in dense thickets, in other 

 places they are tall trees over three feet in 

 diameter. Every piece of land on which it 

 is possible for a tree to grow, if not dom- 

 inated by the hand of man, is dominated by 

 the algaroba. 



The trees reach a height of fifty feet; 

 have small pale-yellow flowers in cylindri- 

 cal spikes, abruptly bi-pinnated leaves, hav- 

 ing from six to thirty pairs of leaflets. The 

 pods are gray, sickle-shaped, and from five 

 to seven inches long. The trunks of the 

 trees are not, as a rule, well formed, being 

 either crooked or gnarled; but the foliage 

 is beautiful. The wood is the best fuel to 

 be found on the island; and as the growth 

 of the tree is rapid it is possible to grow 

 it for that purpose. The wood is used for 

 other purposes than fuel, being very hard, 

 with a beautiful color and grain. 



The algaroba blooms during the summer 

 months; yields nectar in a copious manner, 

 which is of good flavor, color, and body; 

 and it is the only good surplus honey ob- 

 tained on the island. 



Honolulu, T. H. 



AS GLIMPSED THRU THE CAMERA 



Some Common and Uncommon Sights among the Bees 



BY H. H. ROOT 



Every season we get a lot of reports from 

 beginners, telling of the bees of some colo- 

 nies being very large while those of other 

 colonies are small. Frequently we receive 

 samples of large and small bees. Of course, 

 there is sometimes a difference in the size 

 of bees in different colonies. But in the 

 great majority of instances the difference 

 in the size of the workers is due to the 

 difference in the size of the abdomen, de- 

 pending upon whether they are distended 

 or contracted. Bees that have been feeding 

 heavily, or those whose abdomens are swoll- 

 en because of an overcharged condition of 

 the intestines, look very different fi'om 



other bees whose blunt contracted appear- 

 ance makes them look very much smaller. 



The first illustration shows two worker 

 bees, both of which are distended, the one 

 at the left rather more than the one at the 

 right. Altho both looked large there was 

 an actual difference of about 1/16 of an 

 inch in their length. 



The second illustration shows a worker 

 bee with a distended abdomen, then a work- 

 er with a contracted abdomen, and, last, an 

 old shiny bee — from all appearances a rob- 

 ber. These bees were all taken from the 

 same colony at the same time. So far as 

 head, legs, and thorax were concerned they 



