140 BEE-FJRMING. 



from the nature of the vegetation. The honey of the Jpis 

 Peronii, found in the island of Timor, may be considered 

 an exception to this. For our knowledge of this we are 

 indebted to M. Peron, the intrepid French navigator, who 

 describes it as having a yellowish tinge, more liquid than 

 ours, and of an exquisite flavour. It is called by the natives 

 bee-sugar. The distinctive characters of the insect itself 

 consist of the two first rings of the abdomen (with the ex- 

 ception of their posterior edges), the base of the third, and 

 the greater part of the breast, being of a reddish yellow, 

 and the superior wings of a brownish hue. It appears, 

 from recent accounts, that in the distant regions of New 

 South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, besides the in- 

 digenous insect, the bee of Europe has obtained a firm 

 footing, and already rivals the prolific race of South Caro- 

 lina. The following account is from a periodical of ex- 

 tensive circulation and great utility {^Loudon's Magazine). 

 " The native bee is without a sting, and is not much larger 

 than a common house-fly. It produces abundance of 

 honey and wax, but has not yet been subjected to culti- 

 vation ; and from its small size, and its building in very 

 high trees, probably never will be so. The European bee 

 has been oftener than once introd- ced into Sydney, but 

 vsfithout success ; the swarms having left the hive for the 

 woods. A hive was carried to Van Diemen's Land, in 

 the autumn of the year 1830, by Dr. T. B. Wilson, at 

 the suggestion of his friend Mr. R. Gunter, of Earl's 

 Court, brought from London in a wire case. It arrived 

 in safety, and the bees swarmed several times the first year ; 

 and in the True Colonist (a Hobart Town newspaper) of 

 Feb. 14th, 1835, it is stated that a hive descended from 

 Dr. Wilson's, belonging to a gentleman in the neighbour- 

 hood of Hobart Town, had already swarmed eighteen 

 tuiies." 



