THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
39 
gively into the business, when they commenced 
with" twenty-seven stocks. 
The hives used are of the Langstroth pattern 
which have been imported from New Zealand, 
some modifications being made to order; 
porches being provided, and the entrances 
enlarged to eight or nine inches. The present 
number of stocks is about two hundred. 
The apiary is mainly worked for extract :d 
honey, the ‘hives being gone through about 
once a week during the noney-flow and even 
then some hives require a third story. One 
swarm of Hybrids having gathered over sixty 
pounds of honey per week, for weeks in 
succession. The extracting house is a two- 
roomed weatherboard building about 30 x 12 
feet, completely ant and bee proof, windows 
and doors are fitted with wire cloth screens so 
that free ventilation can be obtained in hot 
weather; small doors are provided through 
which the boxes of frames slide on runners, 
one box of full frame being lifted off the 
barrow on which they are carried from the 
hives, and slid into the house ; a box containing 
frames which have been emptied is taken out, 
and these frames being returned to their 
several hives, the box is then ready to be filled 
again with full frames. Mr. Coleman is thus 
kept busy outside sopjdyiug those inside with 
frames to extract. 
Inside the extracting house Mr. May and a 
hand are employed, one working a four-frame 
and the other a two frame extractor. These 
extractors are fixed one on each side of the 
small doors through which the boxes of frames 
slide, between them is the uncapping can, 
with knife heater attached so that the operators 
have hardly to move a foot whilst using their 
extractors 
From the extractors the honey flows through 
seives into buckets in which it is carried into 
tin’ honey-room, at the northern end of the 
building, where it is emptied into the ripening 
cisterns ; over 12 cwt. has been extracted in 
odc day, and over 2 tons in one week. 
The honey-room is about 12 ft. by 10 ft., 
partitioned off the rest of the building ; in it 
are fourteen ripening cisterns which have a 
capacity of about 4J tons ; over these are racks 
for the storage of eases of sections, Ac. From 
these tanks the honey, when properly ripened, 
is draw n off into the tins or bottles in which it 
is sold. The packages used are principally 50 
lb. tins, 3 lb. tins, 2 lb. tins and bottles, the 
bulk being tinned. The tins when filled and 
weighed, are removed to the outer room where 
they are soldered down, labelled and packed 
in cast s ; piles of cases filled and ready for 
market are here stored, while many buildings 
about the place are utilised for the storage of 
hives, eases Ac , every inch of room being ap- 
parently made use of. Cleanliness is insisted 
upon, so that lady visitors can see the whole 
of the process without any danger of getting 
fheir dresses sticky with the honey, even the 
floors being kept scrubbed. The principal 
sources of honey are blue gum, eucalyptus 
leucoxyton, flowering from October to December 
inclusive, and the red gum, E. rostrata in 
January. These are splendid honey-yielding 
trees, but unfortunately they are only rich in 
honey every second year. 
The manna gum, E. vimi nalis, flowers regu- 
larly in March, with a fair quantity of hor.ey, 
but its quality is often inferior, so it is 
reserved for feeding purposes and winter 
stores. From this it will be seen, that in 
this locality, a very heavy crop is necessary in 
the good years for it to be a profitable 
business, and also that it is not all eucalyptus 
that are to be depended upon for honey. The 
stringy-bark, E. obliqua, is here considered 
almost worthless for honey, it being so 
irregular in flowering. 
Messrs. Coleman and May make their own 
comb foundation , and most of their appliances 
are either of their own make, or are altered by 
them as may be found necessary. 
With regard to Ligurian bees they consider 
that they are much better honey-gatherers 
than the blacks, but that the first cross, that 
is, the progeny of a Ligurian queen, mated 
with a black drone, is, as far as honey gather- 
ing is concerned, about as good (it is a stock 
of this description that has the best record 
this year) , but they are not so nice to handle. 
The blacks make the nicest-looking section 
honey — but that is about their only recom- 
mendation. 
From what I can learn, I believe the Fair- 
field Apiary is one of, if not the most complete 
apiary in the colonies ; if you or any of your 
correspondents are acquainted with one more 
complete, I for one, should 1 e much insterested 
in hearing of it, and hope that this brief des- 
cription that I have been able to send may 
stimulate you or them to do likewise, as I 
think we may all gather many useful hints in 
this way. I am, yours respectfully. 
Alfred Sater. 
Good Return from Hybrids. — A bee- 
keeping friend at Mount Barker, South Aus- 
tralia, says : “ the harvest last season was an 
excellent one in this district. My ten colonies 
gathered just 2000 lbs., viz., five extracted 
hives gave average of 2HO lbs. each ; five comb 
honey hives, 120 lbs. each. Bees were first 
cross (Ligurian and black) capital workers.” 
Correspondence. 
No. 43. — First number li.J. to hand on the 
10th inst.. dated 10th June; first number new 
Australasian B.J. from New Zealand the day 
before, dated 1st July, in which see Kendall’s 
contribution, as the work for the month column 
is of no use to amateurs if it is ante dated a 
month, especially at some limes of the year. 
You are asked in this number, and very 
