118 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
blossoming of some of the Eucalypts has given 
a good harvest, while in some generally good j 
districts the returns have, as yet, been con- 
siderably below the average. Mr. Naveau, at 
Hamilton, says, 10th January: “The honey is 
coming in abundantly,” but from what source [ 
he cannot tell, as no honey flowers were then ■ 
to be found in the neighbourhood. 
The Cyprian queens Mr. Naveau imported, j 
and which he at first thought he had lost in 
introduction, have become thoroughly cstab- I 
lished. He has now three imported Cyprian I 
queens established at Hamilton, besides one he 
disposed of ; and from these he has had swarms, 
and has now six young Cyprians laying. He 
states they are difficult to manage at swarming, 
as they have no respect for orthodox times; 
one swarm came out at 7 a.m., another at 6 
p.m. 
Beekeepers must now keep a good look-out 
for the appearance of foul brood, for it often | 
comes on just after the first honey flow is over. | 
We were sorry to hear of its appearance in 
Tasmaniaafew weeks ago ; hitherto we believe 
the “ little island” has been free from it. The 
numerous cures all seem to fail one after 
another, and prevention seems almost impos- i 
sible. We have carefully collected evidence 
from experienced beekeepers in several parts 
of Australia, and the result appears to be that 
the “ new hive " method is the most successful ; 
that is, putting queen and all the bees into a 
new hive with full frames of foundation, and 
feed freely with syrup, to which a little 
salicylic acid is added (syrup 1 quart, salicylic 
acid 30 grains, dissolve salicylic acid in spirits 
of wine and stir it into the syrup.) The bees 
should be brushed from the old combs into a 
box that can be covered up for an hour or two, 
and in the evening allowed to run into the new 
hive on the old stand. The old combs and 
frames had better be burnt in a good fierce 
fire, so no bees can get any of the honey from 
them during the burning. The main points 
are : — 1st. To prevent the disease spreading to 
other hives. The obvious way to do this is to 
prevent other bees from entering the diseased 
hive or getting at any of the combs or honey, 
and also to prevent bees from the diseased 
hive entering healthy ones and carrying the 
contagion. Therefore, while brushing the bees 
from the combs of the diseased hive, the 
entrances to all the other hives must be 
closed up with wire net or perforated zinc, or 
some of the bees will beg their way into 
the healthy hives. The night before you 
shift the foul-broody bees, close up the 
entrances of all the other hives in the 
apiary and get your bees from the diseased 
combs into the covered box very early next 
morning, before any of the bees are out, and 
open up the closed entrances later in the day. 
Und. To stop the disease in the colony itself. 
This is done by giving them a clean hive and 
new combs to build from clean foundations, and 
feeding freely with sugar syrup rendered some- 
what antiseptic by the addition of salicylic 
acid. It is all the better to keep the bees in 
the covered box, which must be well ventilated, 
in the shade, until the evening, when the box 
may be shaken a bit and opened so that the 
bees may easily crawl into the entrance of the 
new hive. 
PROCEEDINGS OF BEEKEEPERS’ 
ASSOCIATIONS. 
South Australian Beekeepers' 
A ssociation. 
The monthly meeting was held at the Chamber 
of Manufactures on Thursday evening, 9th 
December. Sir. A. E. Bonney presided. In 
answer to a letter from Mr. C. J. Coates, it 
was resolved that the prize-list passed last 
June should be that for competition at the 
Royal Agricultural Society's Show during 
March next. Several applications for Ligurian 
queens were dealt with, and it was resolved 
that all engagements made should be carried 
out, but that as Ligurian queens can be pur- 
chased at low prices from professional apiarians, 
the Society would give away no more queens. 
It was resolved to purchase a bookcase as soon 
as funds would permit, also to endeavour to 
collect specimens of all known bees, wild and 
domesticated, found in South Australia, and 
to have the same mounted and exhibited in a 
case. 
Mr. A. Molineux then read the following 
paper : — 
THE WILD BEES OF KANGAROO ISLAND. 
When, at the instigation of the South 
Australian Chamber of Manufactures, the 
Parliament passed an Act which reserved the 
extensive tract of land known as Kangaroo 
Island for the propagation of the Ligurian 
bees, there was probably not an apiarian on 
the face of the globe who would find fault with 
the legislation which secured for this moat 
valuable variety of bee a home where it could 
be raised without the slightest chance of 
hybridisation with any other kind. The 
island is a little over one hundred miles long, 
and is over forty miles wide for a good distance, 
with a probable average width of twenty-five 
miles. The nearest point to the mainland is 
in the vicinity of Hog Bay, where the passage 
is over eight miles wide, and it is seldom that 
there is not a breeze of sufficient strength to 
prevent the flight of drones across from the 
