Mar. 2, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



131 



trees grow better; they do not have that bean-pole appear- 

 ance that Rambler attributed to them once upon a time. In 

 order to make them grow rapidly the first year or two after 

 being planted in the open, and to prevent their being 

 choked out by weeds, they should be cultivated. 



I have been able to work my bees much closer since the 

 advent of eucalyptus honey in my neighborhood than I was 

 at any time previouslj'. Before we had a flow of this honey 

 there would be few wild flowers for the bees to work upon 

 after the last of Jujy. Now we have considerable honey 

 from the red-gum during the fall. As there are five good- 

 sized gum-tree forests in my vicinity — two being- on the 

 grounds of State institutions at Berkeley, and another of 

 over 100 acres a few hundred yards away — perhaps I am too 

 enthusiastic about these trees. Yet I hardly think I am, for 

 I have given them a good deal of attention as honey-pro- 

 ducing trees since 1877, as will appear from the old Bee- 

 Keepers' Magazine and the Pacific Rural Press. 



After March eucalyptus honey is not so dark and ob- 

 jectionable as that gathered during the preceding months — 



from some Australian friend. He would raise a lot of plants 

 from these, and in time they would be set out in his imme- 

 diate vicinity. In and around San Rafael there are some 

 fine specimens of eucalypti, one of which is, I believe, eu- 

 calyptus ficifolia, which produces a generous profusion of 

 gorgeous scarlet flowers in trusses. It is one of the most 

 handsome of the family ; is rather tender, and on this ac- 

 count is cultivated more largely at the place named than 

 any other place in this portion of California, because the 

 climate of San Rafael is noted for its mildness. I have 

 often seen ladies with large masses of these flowers as they 

 wended their way from the San Rafael ferry in San Fran- 

 cisco. I should judge that the tree is a rich honej'-producer. 

 At San Mateo, San Jose, and other places about the 

 Bay, I have seen many varieties, and they all seem to be 

 attractive to the bees. I should think there are more than 

 two dozen varieties grown about Oakland. It was here, I 

 believe, that the gum-tree was first planted in California ; 

 it surely seems to thrive better hereabouts than in any 

 other place I know of. On our place we have a blue-gum 



Blue-Gums in Winter — Red-Guins on the Hill at the Left. 



at least that is my experience. Possibly in the southern 

 counties of the State the honey from this source may be 

 lighter in color, owing to the difference of climate. I am 

 told that some of the honey gathered from these trees in 

 Australia is very beautiful in appearance ; that it is as 

 light-colored as one could desire. Then I have been told by 

 others that it is dark and disagreeable in flavor. I have not 

 the least doubt that my informants are right ; they came 

 from different sections, and the climatic conditions being 

 different, the honey was consequently afl'ected therebj'. 



I have not seen any gum-tree honey that I could call 

 light amber. Our light honey is produced after the eu- 

 calyptus has almost ceast to bloom. 



I have noticed that in some portions of the State more 

 of one variety of this tree is set out than there are of others, 

 aud that hardly any two places plant largely of a sort that 

 predominates in another locality, excepting, I might say 

 always, the everlasting blue-gum. What a hold this tree 

 has on the aft'ections of the people of this State ! I suppose 

 the reason of this uneven distribution is due largely to the 

 nurserymen who introduced the trees in the different towns 

 of the State. One man would get a collection of a few sorts 



tree about a quarter of a century old, that is over three feet 

 in diameter a foot from the ground, and something over 100 

 feet tall. 



In the southern portion of the State I noticed a few 

 varieties of eucalypti that I had not seen up here. I 

 shouldn't wonder but they may be better honey-producers 

 than anything we have hereabouts. 



Over a score of years ago a bee-keeper in Los Angeles 

 county asserted that the honey of a certain variety (he called 

 it eucalyptus ekostrata) of gum-tree near the City of Angels 

 yielded a nectar that poisoned all bees that sipt thereof. 

 The Herald of that city exploited the matter. It appeared 

 that it was slaughtering bees by the million ; that it bid 

 fair to destroy every bee near the city. My attention was 

 called to the article by the editor of the Pacific Rural Press, . 

 and I was askt if I ever heard of eucalyptus hone)' killing 

 bees. I answered that I had not, and I doubted very much 

 if nectar from any plant was injurious to bees. After sev- 

 eral more squibs in the local papers of Los Angeles, the 

 matter was dropt, and I have heard nothing since about 

 gum-tree honey being injurious to bee-life. 



In closing, let me advise bee-keepers, especially those 



