BEE MANUAL. 9 



of bee-keeping in his adopted country, and in 1S48 he produced his 

 ' Manual for New Zealand Bee-keepers,' published at Wellington,, 

 New Zealand. Before the introduction of the honey bee into Bew' 

 Zealand, they had to send over to England every year for the white 

 clover seed ( Tri folium repens), as it did not seed freely there, but by 

 the agency of the bees they are now able to export it. New Zealand 

 is such a good country for bees, that Mr. Cotton told me, one stock 

 had increased to twenty-six in one year. The natives call the bee the 

 white man's fly." 



Mrs. Allom, the lady before referred to, some time in 1842 

 (as I am informed by Mr. Allom), sent some cojonies of bees 

 to Nelson and Wellington ; those sent to Nelson were con- 

 signed to Captain Wakefield, the then head of that settlement, 

 and reached their destination safely, while those forwarded to 

 Wellington died before arrival. This lady's claim has never 

 before, as far as I know or can ascertain, been recognised except 

 by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Adelphi. London. 

 That Society awarded her the Silver Isis Medal in 1845, for 

 her " communication respecting her successful introduction of 

 bees to New Zealand." 



From the bees thus introduced in the years 1840 to 1842 

 have sprung the whole of the black stock of New Zealand. 



INTRODUCTION OF ITALIAN BEES INTO NEW ZEALAND. 



Previous to the year 1880 several unsuccessful attempts 

 were made to introduce Ligurian bees into this colony. I 

 believe the Honourable Thomas Russell, CMC, spent a large 

 sum of money to secure this object, but in vain. The hot 

 weather encountered in the passage from America to this 

 country, and also the imperfect knowledge as to the best mode 

 of packing bees to travel long distances, acted as almost in- 

 superable barriers to their introduction. By these repeated 

 failures, however, apiarists gained knowledge, and as a result, 

 in September, 1880, two splendid colonies of Ligurians were 

 landed in Auckland — one consigned to the Acclimatisation 

 Society, Christchurch, the other to Mr. J. H. Harrison, Coro- 

 mandel. Too much praise cannot be given to Captain Cargill, 

 who took charge of the little creatures from the moment they 

 were shipped and personally attended to all their wants on the 

 passage across. These hives came from Los.' Angelos County, 

 California, and were procured by Mr. R. J. Creighton, the 



