2G 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
The following new members were elected : 
Mrs. Clough Forest Hill, South Yarra; Mr. 
Jensen, Sale. 
The meeting broke up at 10 p.m. 
South Australian Beekeepers' 
A ssociation. 
“ON SURPLUS HONEY.” 
By Mr. E. A. Colbman, of„Moilnt Barker. 
A VERY large part of the^science and practice 
of modern beekeeping might be fairly included 
under the above title, as the obtaining of 
surplus honey is really the ultimate aim of 
almost all who keep bees, whether theyklevote 
their attention more particularly to the' direct 
production of honey or to the breeding of the 
best bees for the purpose for sale to others. 
In this paper I can only touch lightly upon 
many points which are both important and 
interesting, and shall confine myself almost 
entirely to that part of the subject which has 
come under my own observation during the 
time that I have been engaged in the pursuit, 
a period of about twenty months. 
One of the first points to be decided in 
starting beekeeping is what style of hive to 
adopt. Although 1 have had but little prac- 
tical experience with other patterns, I am 
decidedly of opinion— and I think this is 
borne out by the large majority of beekeepers 
—that the standard Langstroth is, on the 
whole, far ahead of all others. The following 
remarks must therefore be taken as referring 
to hives taking the Langstroth frame. The 
bodies and second storeys of all the hives in 
an apiary should be of exactly the same 
measurements, and rabetted top and bottom, 
so that they will tier up to any height. The 
floor board should be movable, and should 
not project beyond the body of the hive at the 
back or sides. The entrance should bo cut out 
of the floor board, Jand not out of the hivo. 
J he frames should run from back to front, to 
ensure sufficient ventilation in hot weather. 
The best kind of covering to use over the 
frames in winter is one made of sugar mat- 
ting; the bees cannot bite it, and it ventilates 
well. In summer the bees are rather apt to 
build comb between these mats and the top 
bars of the frames, so that a piece of hessian 
or somo other coarse open material answers 
the purpose best, although the bees will gnaw 
holes through it sooner or later. American- 
clotli seems to me altogether too airtight for 
this climate ; in winter the underside will 
often be drippingj,with moisture, if the bees 
are not clustering immediately under it, while 
iu summer it does not allow the heated air 
to rise through it. The only mat of this 
kind I ever tried brought on dysentery in a few 
hours. 
'1 he direction in which the hives face is ot 
comparatively small importance, though an 
easterly aspect seems to be about the best. 
They should not be placed on high ground, or 
exposed to strong winds. 
In my district overstocking is practically 
impossible in a good year ; and after careful 
observation this season — a decidedly poor one 
— I cannot find that 200 colonies interfere 
with each other to any appreciable extent in 
this respect. The main source from which 
our surplus honey is obtained is the various 
varieties of Eucalyptus. Without them this 
colony would be a very poor place for bees. 
Put they are, as a rule, very irregular in their 
times of blossoming. The “ red gum ” 
(“Eucalyptus rostrata”) which blooms about 
every other year, usually during January, 
yields an immense quantity of very richly- 
flavoured honey, and is perhaps the most 
important of our honey-bearing trees. The 
“blue gum” (“E. leucoxylon ”) remains in 
blossom for a very long period, and produces 
an exquisitely-flavoured honey, probably 
unequalled by any in the world. The flowers 
are large, and a drop of honey may often be 
shaken out of each ; while I have seen a 
sudden jerk to a branch full of blossom bring 
down quite a shower of nectar. For some 
reason the bees do not gather from it so freely 
as from the red gum. The bloom of the fruit 
trees and hedges yields a very useful amount 
of honey and pollen, but as they flower when 
broodrearing is at its height, but little surplus 
is usually stored from these sources. Another 
valuable plant for bees in our locality is a 
species of buglos, which produces a consider- 
able quantity of honey and dark-blue pollen 
during November and December ; but it is 
such an exceedingly troublesome weed that I 
should not advise its introduction to places 
free from it at present. The dandelion or 
Cape marigold, where it is abundant, yields a 
large quantity of forage, although the honey 
gathered from it is not of the best quality. 
The beekeeper should observe the date at 
which the various plants in his neighbour- 
hood come into bloom, so that his hives may be 
“boiling over ” with bees ready to gather the 
honey directly it is available, as it often 
happens that the year’s harvest has to be 
gathered iu a few days. Almost everyone 
who keeps bees will sooner or later reach the 
point at which increase in the number of his 
hives is not wished for, and the question 
will arise how to prevent swarming, and at 
the same time to produce the largest amount 
of surplus honey. If the honey flow is 
short and comes early these two conditions may 
