1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



327 



were entirely separate and distinct from that 

 inside. At tlie former we were permitted to 

 sell honey, honey-cakes, and the like. To 

 draw crowds we put one of our men inside 

 the cage with a colony of bees. The various 

 stunts that he performed have been given 

 before in these columns, and we will not re- 

 peat them now. But it is sufficient to state 

 that it was a drawing card and a great suc- 

 cess. 



The view here shown is a fair average of 

 the crowds that assembled around the cage, 

 not of the big jams that at times were seen 

 there. 



Perhaps it would be well to explain that 

 dental wax is now coming to be quite a com- 

 modity. It was for that reason that the ar- 

 ticle is mentioned on one of the blocks of 

 the pyramid. 



«««« 



EUCALYPTUS. 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



The eucalyptus family are famous honey- 

 yielders in their native home, Australia, 

 New Zealand, and Tasmania, and, to a cer- 

 tain extent, in California, where thirty or 

 forty species have been introduced out of a 

 total of nearly two hundred recognized spe- 

 cies. The eucalypts are all either tropical 

 or sub-tropical in their habitat, and to a 

 great degree are drouth-resisters. Perhaps 

 no tree is better entitled to be largely plant- 

 ed for its lumber, which is equal to the best 

 mahogany, redwood, oak, or rosewood, in 

 appearance, and excelled by none in tensile 

 strength and durability; but it has a great 

 advantage over all rivals in that it gi'ows 

 with wonderful rapidity, and this, too, where 

 other trees fail for lack of water. The rate 

 of growth in California of the blue gum of 

 Tasmania, over a term of years, has been de- 

 termined to be 19 inches per month. The 

 blue gum grows to a great height, and is an 

 excellent honey-bearer. It is known to bot- 

 anists as EucalyjJtus glnbitlus. It has been 

 extensively planted in California, Algeria, 

 and South Europe. The Australian bee- 

 keepers are unanimous in stating the red gum 

 (E. rostritta) to be the best honey-producer, 

 and, luckily, it is considered to be probably 

 the best of all the eucalypts for timber pur- 

 poses. It grows in the Hats near the Aus- 

 tralian rivers, and probably can not stantl 

 quite as much cold as the blue gum. It 

 grows to be an immense tree (430 feet) and 

 eucalyptus-trees have been noted in Qi;eens- 

 land 500 feet in height. Eucalyplns rnclidora 

 i-! also a good bee-keeper's tree. It is hardier 

 t han some others, as it grows at high eleva- 

 tions in Australia. It would probably do 

 well on the Gulf Coast and in Southwest 

 Texas, and it is quite possible it will grow 

 where the palmetto grows on the coast of 

 South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Flori- 

 da, South Texas, Arizona, and California are 

 the States most likely to benefit l)y the in- 

 troduction of the eucalypts. To an American 

 the leaves of the gum-tree appear to be 

 scanty; but there are species, not so well 



known as yet, which have a fine umbrageous 

 foliage of large leaves. 



The seeds of eucalyptus are extremely 

 small — almost incredibly so. Here are speci- 

 mens: 



Blue gums, one ounce sifted fertile seed, 

 10,113. 



Stringy bark, unsifted, one ounce, 31,080. 



Swamp gum-tree " " " 33,364. 



Peppermint gum " " " 17,600. 



The seeds are easily grown, and in six weeks 

 are ready for transplanting. 



The most popular plan of planting seems 

 to be to plant them 6 feet by 6 feet till they 

 are five years old, when they are thinned 

 out to 300 trees per acre. This is estimated 

 to give a net return of $100 per acre, or $30 

 per acre per annum. At five years the trees 

 are of a considerable size. Mr. Elwood 

 Cooper, of Santa Barbara, Cal., records one 

 tree at three years of age to be 9^ inches in 

 diameter and 43 feet high, and another 45| 

 feet in height, or over 14 inches per month. 

 This is a great rate of growth for a hard- wood 

 tree. In mere size the I'edwood-trees of Cal- 

 ifornia excel the gum-trees; but the former 

 are slow growers. Eucalyptus globulus ap- 

 proaches the redwood closely, as it has been 

 recorded in Tasmania 30 feet in diameter 

 and 300 feet high. Eucalyptus-trees are so 

 readily grown where the climate is suitable 

 that it is probable a business can be done in 

 selling young trees to neighbors. Perhaps 

 this is the best way for a bee-keeper to do 

 who wishes to improve the honey-bearing 

 flora of his locality. The seeds are not hard 

 to get, and, being so small, can be sent by 

 mail long distances. 



The Australians have another family of 

 trees nearly as valuable as the eucalypts, 

 and perhaps better as bee-nectar producers. 

 These are the wattle barks of the colonists, 

 and the acacias of botanists. The principal 

 variety is Acacia decurrens, or black wattle. 

 It is in great demand for dyeing and tanning 

 purposes, and great forests of it have been 

 destroyed. It blooms at a different season 

 from the eucalyptus family. 



Another Australian honey-yielder and rap- 

 id grower is the Grcvillea robusta, or silk 

 oak, also an excellent tree. It may be well 

 to state that none of these trees will grow 

 in the North. If they did it would be a great 

 thing for the bee-keeper's industry. 



It is rather difiicult to get literature on 

 these trees in this country. Only one book 

 has appeared on the family in this country, 

 if I am not mistaken, and this is by the Unit- 

 ed States Department of Agriculture. Baron 

 Mueller, of Victoria, is the great authority on 

 the genus, and where possible he mentions 

 the honey-bearing value of the different spe- 

 cies. It would probably be easier to send to 

 Melbourne, Aus., for his books, though some 

 are out of print and hard to find. 



The forestry division of the LTnited States 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. 

 C, sells the book on the eucalyptus for $1.00, 

 which will probably answer all require- 

 ments. It may be secured direct from the 

 Supt. of Public Documents, Washington. 



