Bee=Keeping in Victoria. 



By F. R. Beuline, Govfrnnient Apicullurtst. 



No other rural occupation will f^ive a better return for the capital invested 

 and the labour applied than bee-keeping, if intelligently pursued. 



In the State of Victoria, and in Australia generally, bee culture is still in 

 Its infancy. Large numbers of colonies are still kei)t in box-hives, and, there- 

 tore, the statistics of production do not conve)' a correct idea of the possible 

 scope of the industr)-. There are, however, a limited number of specialist 

 bee-keepers, working with the most modern appliances, and their return.s for 

 a number of years indicate the great possibilities of development of the 

 industry. 



A Typical Victorian Apiary. 



I. — Location. 



Bee-keeping in Victoria is carried on under different jonditions to those 

 existing in other countries. In the Northern Hemisphere, and also in New 

 <iealand, the principal supply of nectar comes from ground flora on 

 meadows, roadsides, fields and woods. In Victoria, we depend almost 

 exclusively on our eucalypts and a few other native trees and shrubs. 

 OAving to our liot summers, which prevent the secretion of nectar in soft 

 herbaceous plants, except on irrigated land and in exceptionally cool 

 districts, the amount of honev obtained from other than native flora is 

 small in comparison with tJie quantity harvested from eucalypts. 



Even where climatic conditions are favourable to the secretion of 

 nectar, the svstem of closely feeding" down pastures, which is largely 



