THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
59 
Peel Island for a long time, on account of 
some cases of cholera having occurred on 
board. The bees did not thrive in quarantine, 
and Mr. Spry lost many of his Ligurian 
queens, and thirteen out of fourteen Cyprians 
he had brought out ; and more unfortunately 
still, the remaining Cyprian died afterwards, 
but not till some of her progeny were reared. 
This unfortunate termination to an expensive 
and spirited undertaking for the introduction 
of the best European varieties of bees, is 
stated to be due to an ignorant and foolish 
assertion by some writer in the local press, 
that if the bees were admitted without fumi- 
gation with sulphur (which, of course, meant 
destruction to bees) they might possibly 
spread the germs of cholera. To save what 
he could, Mr. Spry caught and caged the 
queens, and put them in his pocket, leaving 
the hives to their fate. The yield of honey 
in the Flowerdale Apiary last season was 
forty-seven tons from 160 colonies of bees, and 
this season, which has not been so good, 
twenty-three tons from 180 colonies is 
expected. The writer of the article in 
question remarks, in conclusion : “ These facts 
show at a glance what a marvellous country 
for honey production Queensland will become.” 
Queen Bee sent from Munich to Victoria . — 
In “ Bees ,” a small sheet on bee matters, issued 
in Munich, Bavaria, appears the following 
paragraph : — “ Benton, sen., and Benton, jun., 
had a big time of it tossing up their old hats 
the other day over here in Germany, when a 
letter came, saying that the first queen sent by 
mail to Australia had arrived in fine order : 
only four dead workers out of thirty-five j 
queen, a Cyprian, laying three days after her 
arrival. The box was posted in Munich, 9th 
Oct., and received or. the fortieth day there- 
after at Hamilton, Australia, some distance 
inland from Melbourne.” 
The Best Bees. — In reply to a selected 
query in the British Bee Journal, as to which 
are the best bees for honey-producing, Mr. F. 
Lyon replies that he prefers the first cross 
between a Ligurian queen and a black drone, 
better than the pure Ligurians. Our own 
experience in Australia leads to the same con- 
clusion. Mr. Lyon also remarks, that he has 
found small Ligurian queens produce better 
workers than the fine handsome ones. The 
most spiteful bees in his experience are the 
progeny of Black queen crossed with a 
Ligurian drone. Mr. < arr, in reply, states he 
considers the pure Ligurian the best honey 
gatherer. Mr. R. K. Godfrey says Blacks are 
as good as any, but the first cross of Ligurian 
queen and Black drone are excellent breeders, 
pleasant to manipulate, and capital workers. 
He also considers the cross between Ligurian 
and Carniolan among those best worth culti- 
vating as honey gatherers. Mr. A. Neighbour 
says, cross-bred bees are the best honey 
gathers ; a cross between English (Black,) 
Italian, and Carniolan would produce the best 
progeny. You then have hardiness, prolific- 
ness, and docility combined. 
Mr. J. M. Hooker says Carniolans are the 
most gentle of all; pure Italians are handsome 
and gentle, if quietly handled, are good 
workers early and late. He finds them how- 
ever delicate subject to spring dwindling 
and to loss of queens. He considers the dark 
leather coloured Italian queens the best bees 
he ever had. Blacks, he says, are best for 
supers and sections, and are the best comb- 
builders, and are also less liable to swarm. 
Bees and Grapes . — The case of Randall and 
Noyes against Gustave Bohn, which was 
decided in Justice Knox’s court in February, is 
probably without a parallel in the history of 
lawsuits, the plaintiffs are raisin-growers in 
the highlands, seven miles N.E. of this city, 
Adjoining their vineyard the defendant has "a 
bee ranch. The action was for damages 
which the plaintiffs claim to have suffered in 
consequence of the frequent visitations of the 
defendant’s bees to their grapes. In support 
of their claim, they introduced numerous 
witnesses, who swore that they had, in 
various instances, witnessed with their own 
eyes the perforation and destruction of 
plaintiffs’ grapes when alighted upon by the 
“busjr bee” of the defendant. The latter, in 
turn, introduced evidence to show the impossi- 
bility of this condition of things. He proved, 
by a score of witnesses, that the bill of the 
insect is tubular and not pointed, and can, 
therefore, be used only as an extractor of 
sweets, not as a borer after them. The 
evidence of the eye-witnesses of the plaintiffs, 
however, had the weight with the jury, and 
they accordingly returned a verdict against 
the defendant for seventy-five dollars and 
costs of suit, which amount to over sixty 
dollars. The plaintiffs were represented by 
Curtis and Otis, and the Hon. H. M. Willis 
watched the interests of the defendant. This 
case is one of great interest to bee-ranchers and 
raisin-growers, and is attracting much atten- 
tion. — “San Bernardino Index ” (California.) 
Cheap Boole on Bees. — That most useful 
little book published for the British Bee- 
keepers’ Association, entitled Modern Bee- 
keeping^: a Handbook for Cottagers,” costing 
6d. or 7d. posted, can now be obtained from 
Mr. Mullen, bookseller, or by members of the 
Victorian Beekeepers’ Club from the Secretary, 
on application. 
Marks in Italian Bees. — From the American 
Apiculturist we gather that Mr. Bertrand, 
