THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. m 



Bees in South Africa, 



(To the Editor Agricultural Journal.) 



SIR, — I am sending you enclosed a 

 number of the " British Bee Journal," 

 in which you will find an article on bee- 

 keeping in South Africa, by Mr. Martin, 

 of Port Elizabeth, which you may think 

 worth taking over for the Jouj^nal. 



It is interesting to know the opinion of 

 anyone of Mr. Martin's experience, as he 

 holds the certificate of the British Bee- 

 keepers' Association as an expert, and my 

 own experience quite coincides with his, 

 although, of course, the climate up- 

 country may make a difference. 



There are a good many people' in the 

 Colony keeping bees, and it will be useful 

 for them to know that the rules laid down 

 in the books published in Europe should 

 not be too strictly adhered to, bat the 

 hive itself should be studied.— Yours, &c., 



A. C. Sbwell. 



The following is the article referred to 

 by Mr. A. C. Sewell :— 



Although it is some time since I wrote 

 to the " B.B.J.," I often think of the bees 

 and friends left behind in the dear old 

 country, and although only four years 

 have passed since I came out here, some 

 of the friends have already passed away, 

 and correspondents unknown to me have 

 appeared as contributors to our journal. 

 We have the war curse still with us, and 

 although not very close to the seat of 

 hostilities, we see evidences in the shape 

 of maimed and wounded soldiers from 

 the front. It makes those who are near 

 these sights pray for the time when some 

 other way of settling disputes may be 

 found than the arbitrament of the sword. 

 In my last note to the " B.B.J.," I ex- 

 plained how different were the conditions 

 of bee-keeping in South Africa, so that 

 it was like starting afresh. One of your 

 readers out here, dwelling some distance 

 up-country, took exception to my state- 

 ment, and wrote me to that effect, and 

 wished to correspond with me on the 

 subject, but I have no time for private 

 discussion, and so will answer him in the 

 •' Bee Journal." At the same time, it may 

 possess interest for readers at Home. 



To begin, then, the bees are quite 

 different. Of the kinds I have come 

 across, one is a very small dark bee, 

 another somewhat larger ; some have 

 three bright bands round the abdomen, 

 and these latter are easily subdued. I 

 seldom require a veil when at work with 

 them ; the only time they are at all 

 spiteful is in the middle of very hot days ; 

 they are great crawlers, especially by 

 night, and are more apt to get up your 

 sleeves than the English bee. If you 

 first hive them in a straw skep, as at 

 home, and then shake them down in front 

 of the frame-hive to let them run in, they 

 will often take wing and fly right ofE. All 

 the honey I have tasted here is of peculiar 

 flavour, quite different from British 

 honey. The bee-flox-a also —with the ex- 

 ception of fruit trees — is not the same. 

 A lot of the honey plants out here are 

 such as I never saw before, and there is 

 no book or record of their names here to 

 be had. Then the seasons are not a bit 

 like they are at Home. It is no v (July 6) 

 mid-winter, yet I have the bees working 

 in shallow frames and sections, and am 

 expecting to get more off the hives this 

 winter than I have had since I arrived 

 here. Fancy having a natural swarm at 

 Christmas in the middle of winter ; and 

 yet I have this afternoon hived a splendid 

 swarm. Several others of our hives have 

 also swarmed this week. I have found 

 out that after we have had rain, no matter 

 what time of the year, you will get honey. 

 In this way, then, the showers are the 

 salvation of our honey crop. We have 

 some difficulty in getting the swarms to 

 stay in frame-hives, and require excluder- 

 zinc to confine the queen to the hive until 

 the bees settle down. 



Most of our houses here are made of 

 galvanised iron, lined with board ; indeed, 

 this is a noted place for these iron build- 

 ings, and the bouses generally contain 

 two or three swarms between the wood 

 and iron. The bees seem to have a con- 

 tempt for our new hives, never having 

 been used to them, I suppose. The 

 queens are very prolific. I have stocks 

 with twelve or fourteen frames crammed 



