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 
ones :— 
1. Rewa-rewa .. Honeysuckle, Knightia excelsa. 
2. Pohutukawa .., Christmas tree, Metrosideros tomentosa. 
Bh TRAUB) tne ... Oak-elm, Metrosideros robusta. 
4. Hinau ... ab Hiaeocarpus hinau. 
5. Kahikatea .... White pine, Podocarpus dacrydiovdes. 
6. Matai ... ... Black pine, Podocarpus spicata. 
7. Miro... us Podocarpus ferruginea. 
8. Puriri .. .... New Zealand oak, or teak, Vitex littoralis. 
9. Kohekohe ... Cedar, Hartighsea spectabilis. 
10. Tawai ... tee Letospermum racemosum. 
11. Kowai ... ie Edwardsia microphylla. 
12. Nikau ... ... Native palm, Areca sapida. 
