THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
79 
wholesome for the use of man. The best honey 
mostly always granulates very quickly ; but 
there is in some parts of this colony, chiefly in 
those districts where the heather abounds, a 
honey which does not crystallise at all, because 
it does not contain a sufficient quantity' of 
saccharine matter. This honey is of a greenish 
semi-transparent colour, and has a peculiar 
flavour. I have met with people who were 
not judges of good honey, and when I did 
show them the very best, they said they would 
not have it, for they feared it was mixed with 
sugar. I do not think it would pay a bee- 
keeper to mix the honey with sugar, although 
it certainly does pay a jam manufacturing firm 
to take 2d. worth of sugar, mix it with water, 
subject it to a boiling heat, and then sell it at 
3d per lb.; but this article does not granulate, 
and it is easily discernible that there is no 
honey in it. As it may be both interesting 
and instructive to show in how many instances 
honey may be used for food and medicine, I 
shall in my next quote a few recipes I got 
from Mr. T. G. Newman’s valuable work, 
Bees and Honey. 
Bee-farming. 
15 y W. Abram, Italian Bee Farm, Parra- 
matta, N.S.W. 
That profitable bee-farming can be attained by 
experience and practice, we have proof of in 
America as well as in Europe, and there is no 
doubt but that the same result is attainable in 
Australia. But be this as it may, the fact is 
that before my’ arrival in Sydney, no well- 
trained bee master had landed on these shores 
with the intention of making beekeeping his 
only occupation ; and it is in consequence of 
my company T ’s persevering efforts that bee- 
keeping here now stands acknowledged as an 
industry. It is over four years since my 
arrival here. Although devoted to bees all my 
life, and trained by one of the greatest authori- 
ties in bee culture, and having successfully 
managed large bee-farms in the low plains of 
North, and in the high mountains of South 
Europe ; also having been accustomed to the 
black bee, the Carniolian, the Ligurian or 
Italian, the Egyptian, Syrian, and Caucasian ; 
and having had experience with about twenty 
different hives, from the old-fashioned straw 
skep, with its immovable combs, to the most 
improved frame-hive, I was well aware that 
it would require at least two years to become 
familiar with the flora and climate of Australia, 
and that I must gain experience sufficient to 
enable me to appear before the public, not as 
a mere adventurer, but to show that well- 
established facts testify the truth of my 
assertion. Difficult and trying were those 
two years ; but my troubles and cares have 
proved successful. I commenced operations 
with only a few stocks, the Italian queens of 
which I brought out with me ; and soon after 
we imported some from America. I increased 
in the hummer 1882-83 to 50 stocks; in 1883- 
84 to 98 stocks, and yielded 4000 lbs. of 
honey ; in 1884-85 to 160 stocks, the yield 
being 10,000 lbs.; and in 1885-86 to 240 stocks, 
and 15,000 being the honey-harvest. 
The few months of last winter were very 
mild, and the bees commenced breeding in 
July. With the beginning of the orange- 
blossom— this year exceptionally plentiful in 
September and October — the wonderfully 
favourable weather made it a pleasure to see 
the busy little creatures hurrying in and out 
from early morning to sunset, as if they were 
never tired of their pleasant occupation of 
honey-gathering. My Italians forgot swarm- 
ing, decreased their brood, and filled the cells 
with honey ; and I could begin extracting in 
September, while in former years not before 
December. What splendid honey it was ; so 
white and clear, and with a delicious flavour 
and aroma! 'the yield was over 3000 lbs. of this 
honey. I left plenty of honey in the hives, as 
I expected less favourable times to follow. 
But soon after, different trees in the bush 
commenced flowering, and continued to furnish 
plenty of sweet nectar till March. 
In November and December the ti-tree 
opened its flowers ; but the honey is of a dark 
colour and too tough for extracting. Although 
the yield was over 1 000 lbs., I do not place 
much value on it. The comb filled with this 
honey has a dark brown appearance. The 
honey of the white gum is also dark, but easy 
to extract when fresh. Some persons like this 
honey very much, and I extracted 4000 lbs., 
the flowers being so plentiful and the weather 
suitable. Ironbark, some box and stringy 
bark followed. That honey has a nice colour 
and good taste, and yielded 6— 7000 lbs. 
Taking into consideration the increased sale of 
hives, extractors, queens, and stocks, as well 
as the yield of honey and the increased stocks, 
I am satisfied with this season’s results. I 
was further successful in keeping mv Italian 
bees pure, and in improving them. There are 
no black bees found on our bee-farm, they eve 
decrease around hero, partly in consequence of 
no care being taken by their owner to save 
them, partly because it seems as if the Italians 
were earlier and later, and everywhere to 
gather honey, not leaving enough for their 
black fellows to exist. I have reared over 
500 queens this season, which required a great 
deal of my time, and I was able to do all the 
work connected with the bees, while in the 
extracting a boy assisted. 
When I arrived here not much was known 
| about different races of bees. I could have 
