gradually expand until October when the whole stem 

 bursts into floral flame. The flowers — crimson and yellow 

 —are shaped like a pea-blossom, only about one-third 

 the size, and yield delicately-flavoured honey almost 

 colourless. This is probably the palest honey gathered 

 in Australia; in the candied form its fine snow-white 

 grain cannot be beaten. Unfortunately its flowering 

 period is often contemporary with cold showery weather 

 and consequently a lot of honey is lost to the apiarist. 

 This honey would sell readily enough against the best 

 sample in the world's markets. Wild hop grows very 

 luxuriantly in several of the indigenous forests, and large 

 yields have been recorded from it under favourable 

 circumstances. 



Wild Hop, (false), (Dodonaea viscosa). A native 

 plant with a yellow primrose-like flower often called Wild 

 hop. It is not a member of the Leguminosce, and the 

 author has watched in vain to see honey-bees work on the 

 flowers. It is probably of little value to them. 



Yellow-wood, (Flindersia Oxleyana). Comes into 

 bloom in Queensland about November, and assists things 

 along with a little honey and pollen. The timber of this 

 tree is valued for cabinet making. 



Before closing this chapter on the Honey-plants of 

 Australasia, it is necessary to point out that the colour 

 of honey and pollen is largely influenced by the soil. 

 There are variations in colour and flavour that cannot 

 reasonably be explained, but it is generally conceded that 

 honey is paler in colour and milder in flavour when 

 gathered during a fast heavy flow. When honey secretion 

 is slow and long drawn-out, the nectar apparently accu- 

 mulates minute quantities of some other juices of the 

 tree. Honey gathered from ground flora will usually 

 congeal much quicker than that from the Euealypts. 

 Even they vary so much that it is extremely difficult to 

 generalise. 



Englishmen, and Australians too, in speaking of 

 honey from the indigenous flora, i.e., Euealypts, often 

 describe the characteristic flavour as Eucalyptus. They 



