THE 
JOURNAL. 
Vol. I.— No. 6.] 
MAY-JUNE, 1886 . 
[Peice 6d. 
EDITORIAL NOTICES, &c. 
USEFUL HINTS. 
Feeding Stocks . — Those who want their 
stocks to be strong for the first honey flow from 
early spring flowers, must look after them now, 
and feed if short of stores. The best food now 
is honey or thick syrup — -5 lbs. of sugar to the 
quart of water, with a teaspoonful of salt; 
if honey is used, scald it — unless you are 
quite sure it has come from healthy stocks, — 
for fear of introducing disease. As soon as 
ever the early wattles come into bloom, feed 
with thin syrup (3 lbs. to the quart) or honey 
thinned down with two parts of water to five 
or six of thick honey. If hives have plenty 
of honey, unseal some of it by scraping off 
cappings directly wattle blooms. By adopt- 
ing these courses the queen is stimulated to 
early breeding, and the hives get filled with 
workers by the time honey-bearing spring 
flowers commence to yield. 
Planting for Bees . — Although garden plant- 
ing for bee food makes but little difference 
directly on the amount of honey collected in 
the season, it will, if judiciously carried out, 
make a considerable difference indirectly by 
stimulating the queen to early and regular 
laying, and the bees to greater activity, and 
giving them profitable amusement on wet or 
cold days, when they will not venture far 
from their hives. All beekeepers should 
therefore do something in the way of planting 
for their bees. Now, what are the best things 
to plant or sow for them ? There are numer- 
ous bee plants which do well in England, and 
in parts of Europe, and in the United States, 
but concerning which we have as yet had no 
experience in Australia, although the mints 
and sages, such as Catnip and the White Sage 
of California, are certainly successful. We 
don’t know so much of the Cleomes (Spider 
Plants,) Basswood, &c. But there are quite 
sufficient plants about which we have ex- 
perience in Australian climates, and which 
furnish pollen or honey in plenty, that can be 
safely recommended for garden planting. For 
kitchen garden, nothing beats broad beans and 
peas, or the flower of the turnip, cabbage and 
mustard for early supplies, and it is worth 
while to plant a crop of the latter now, to 
blossom early in spring. Borage grows well 
in this climate, and should be sown any time 
before September, the earlier the better : it is 
a capital honey plant. All garden herbs, 
more especially common thyme, savory, mar- 
joram and sage, are great favourites Fennel 
and aniseed are also excellent. In the flower 
garden the early bee flowers are wallflower, 
cornflower, or corn cockle (splendid bee plant 
in this climate,) the early liliacious plants, 
such as jonquils, crocus, hyacinths, &e. 
“ Phacelia ” blossoms early too, and is usually 
covered with bees. Later on the sweet 
mignonette becomes a favourite ; but there is 
a scentless variety called the mammoth or 
giant mignonette which is very hardy and 
grows like a shrub, with long spikes of 
flowers, is most highly spoken of; and no 
flowers are greater favourites than golden rod 
and vipers bugloss (“ Echium Candicans.”) For 
summer and autumn sunflowers, asters, holly- 
hocks, the tree mallow, and any of the clover 
tribe are the most useful. If the season is 
favourable, successions of cornflower should be 
sown. There are some plants being sold in 
England in large quantities for the flower 
garden for bees — the “ Linmanthis Doug- 
lassii,' 1 or Californian Lake flower, and the 
