248 MONEY IN BEES IN AUSTRALASIA 



Again, bees will winter better, and in spring build up 

 stronger, where the stores of the colony are well ripened 

 — not necessarily sealed — so that the moisture content is 

 not too high. Consequently, when some of the late- 

 blooming varieties like Ironbark (E. sideroxylon) yield 

 a flow of honey during wet, cold months, the mortality 

 rate per hive is unduly inflated. Why ? Is it because the 

 late-gathered honey is not sufficiently ripened and the 

 excess moisture causes bowel distension and its attendant 

 dysentry! During bad spells of weather the bees are 

 unable to fly and so clear the bowels of the accumulated 

 residue. The cold, inclement weather may chill the tiny 

 foragers so that they are unable to return home. Perhaps 

 the honey has some obnoxious properties. 



However, when the Gippsland Stringybark {E, 

 eugenioides) blooms in the winter months the trees build 

 up and have almost as much brood as at any time during 

 the summer. The author is unable to decide which, is the 

 correct reason. For a real good bumper crop of honey 

 from the Eucalypts a showery "muggy" season is the 

 best. It is particularly noticeable just before a thunder 

 storm, the trees fairly drip nectar, but when once the wind 

 veers to a cold quarter the honey-flow comes to an end. 



Some years ago the author harvested a large honey- 

 crop from "Stringybark." Each morning the sun rose 

 in a clouded sky and in consequence of numerous showers 

 the atmosphere was very humid. The honey odour could 

 be detected 500 yards from the apiary. About 2 o'clock 

 a slight thunder shower and a change of wind — which 

 was always accompanied by a cessation of the honey-flow 

 — would come along, and thereafter until night, hardly a 

 bee would be visible. Yet this showerj^ thundery season 

 yielded one of the largest crops the author ever harvested. 



Other apiarists have experienced good seasons even 

 when the rainfall was only half the average. In this case 

 the subsoil previously had a good soaking, which stood 

 the trees in good stead during a prolonged dry spell. 

 Generally all Eucalyptus blossom takes on a rusty colour 

 and looks "pinched" during a drought, and though the 



