154 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



CHAPTER XXV. 



THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

 APIARY. 



With the object of increasing the facilities for practical instruc- 

 tion in agriculture at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, the 

 Minister for Agriculture decided some time ago, to have a new 

 apiary laid out on an extended scale, and to equip it with every- 

 thing calculated to be of educational interest not only to the- 

 college students, but visitors. I have had the privilege of super- 

 intending this work, and now take the opportunity of affording, 

 readers a very full account of what has already been accom- 

 plished in the arrangement and equipment of ■ this important 

 branch. The site chosen for the new apiary is about a hundred 

 yards distant from the old one, and to the front of the old honey- 

 house, which is being retained in its present position with sundry 

 alterations. There were too many twists and turns from the old 

 apiary to reach the extracting-room. By referring to the ground 

 plan it will be seen the present apiary is directly in front of the 

 last-mentioned room, and the footpath leading from the one to the 

 other is direct. 



In shape this new area is the same as the old one — oblong ; 

 but the area is greater, being 120 yards long by 80 yards wide. 

 The site is a little too flat; but by artificial means the drainage- 

 can be made fairly effective. It is enclosed by a post 

 and wire fence with a top rail. The site is laid out 



lawn-like, or, perhaps more correctly speaking, as a par- 

 terre, being interspersed with flower beds and flowering shrubs. 

 All these have honey-bearing characteristics. Of course, all bee- 

 keepers know the uselessness of planting flowers solely for the- 

 honey they produce. Nevertheless, here and on other parts of 

 the college grounds honey-producing plants are and will be 

 planted for experimenting in their honey-yielding value. The 

 apiary is intersected with a series of paths. These are 4 feet wide,. 



