378 AUSTRALASIAN 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



BEE FOKAGE. 



The vegetable origin of both honey and pollen being under- 

 stood, and the facts being borne in mind, that bees can only 

 collect the substances they require from plants and trees that 

 are in blossom, and that the quality, colour, and flavour of the 

 honey vary very considerably according to the source from 

 which it is obtained, it will be easily seen how necessary it is 

 for the bee-keeper to make himself acquainted with the 

 resources within his reach ; and not only with the names of 

 the different plants and trees, but with the character of the 

 honey or pollen afforded by each, and with the usual periods 

 of their coming into and remaining in blossom. These circum- 

 stances, as well as their bearing upon the practical operations 

 of the apiary, vary very importantly in different countries and 

 climates. In high latitudes, where the Winters are severe, and 

 the bees confined to their hives for four or five months 

 of the year, it is clear that even if there were plants which 

 blossomed in winter, they would be useless to the bees, and 

 the bees equally useless to them. In temperate climates, how- 

 ever, where the bees can work more or less freely all through 

 the winter, though only producing surplus honey in summer, 

 it becomes a matter of great importance that there shall be a 

 variety of nectar and pollen-bearing plants coming into blossom 

 at different periods of the year, even in the depths of winter, 

 in order to afford forage at all times, and keep up the health 

 and strength of the bees without artificial feeding. And hi 

 more tropieal climates, where the bees can not only work, but 

 also breed, swarm, and store surplus honey, more or less, all 

 the year round, such a variety in the habits of the plants and 

 trees as will afford a succession of bloom at all seasons becomes 

 essential to the prosperity of the apiary. An intelligent 



