AUSTRALIAN HONEY PLANTS 



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Sugar Gum. 



considered one of the best hardwood timbers in Aus- 

 tralia for all railway purposes, sleepers, etc., and as for 

 bees they are on the bloom from when it is first light until 

 dark at night ; I believe it to be a fair pollen-tree, but I 

 am sure of it as a good honey-tree. I have heard of a 

 bee-keeper up North in a Wimmera township securing 

 three tins of honey per colony from the plantations in 

 the streets in an apiary of 

 twenty-five colonies. The 

 tree is very hardy and 

 adapted to warm climates ; 

 a good shelter tree if 

 topped before getting too 

 high, as it naturally 

 grows tall. I think it will 

 grow on any soil, and 

 bloom every year without 

 failing. Five hundred trees should be a good investment 

 for any established bee-keeper to plant." 



Snap Gum or Silver Gum, {E. vitrea). This tree is 

 sometimes known as White topped gum. In portions of 

 New South Wales the flowering stage is spread over a 

 number of months, viz., November, December, January, 

 February. About the Snowy Eiver and Paupong, New 

 South Wales, this is the prime favourite as a producer 

 of good honey, dark amber in colour. It is also splendid 

 for pollen. Known also as "White gum." 



Tallow-wood, {E. microcorys). One of the late- 

 blooming Eucalypts. It is useful for a limited supply 

 of pollen and golden-coloured honey. Habitat, New South 

 Wales. 



WooUybutt, {E. longifolia). Blooms from January 

 to March and valuable for pollen and light amber- 

 coloured honey. 



"White Gum," {E. pauciflora). How this tree came 

 by its name is a mystery. It has a good crop of bloom 

 some years, so that "paucity of bloom" is not true. It 



