BEE MANUAL. 279 



apiarist will therefore carefully study the peculiar circumstances 

 of his immediate neighbourhood, see what he has to expect 

 from the natural or existing flora of his district, and consider 

 whether he can improve his position by raising any varieties 

 of plants or trees suited to supply the wants of his bees at 

 times when the existing resources would be likely to fail. 



ORDINARY SOURCES. 



Some of the best and most generally known sorts of bee 

 forage are of a character which plainly invites the establishment 

 of apiaries in their neighbourhoods, wherever they are found 

 extensively, such as clover, heather, wild thyme or wild sage, 

 large orchards with their abundance of fruit blossoms, or forest 

 trees of some particular descriptions. The heaths of Scotland 

 and Ireland, the wild thyme of Greece and the wild sage of 

 California, are not to be sought for in New Zealand or Aus- 

 tralia ; but, on the other hand, the clovers and the fruit trees of 

 all kinds flourish so well in all parts of these countries as to 

 hold out the strongest inducements for their cultivation, and 

 the great majority of the bush or forest trees are peculiarly 

 valuable, not only on account of their honey-bearing qualities, 

 but also because they vary so much in their times of blossom- 

 ing, that some of them are available at almost every season of 

 the year. 



NATIVE FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 



Most of the forest trees indigenous to New Zealand are 

 honey-bearing, some of them remarkably so. The following 

 are the native, English, and botanical names of the principal 



1. Rewa-rewa .. Honeysuckle, Kniqhtia excelsa. 



2. Pohutukawa . . . Christmas tree, Metrosideros tomentosa. 



3. Rata ... ... Oak-elm, Metrosideros robusta. 



4. Hinau Elaeocarpus hinau. 



5. Kahikatea . . . White pine, Podocarpus dacrydioides. 



6. Matai ... ... Black pine, Podocarpus spicata. 



7. Miro ... ... Podocarpus ferruginea. 



8. Puriri . . ... New Zealand oak, or teak, Vitex littoralis. 



9. Kohekohe . . . Cedar, Ha/rtighsea spectabilis. 



10. Tawai ... ... Leiospermum racemosum. 



11. Kowai ... ... Edwardsia microphylla. 



12. Nikau Native palm, Areca sapida. 



