152 
THE AUSTRALIAN- BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
many small beekeepers from enlarging their 
operations/’ 
• Our South Australian friends must not 
expect every season to be good ; they had a 
tine one last year, and we believe that foul brood 
and bad seasons go hand in hand, a scanty 
honey harvest in the height of the breeding 
season gives foul brood a full chance. In the 
United States last season was a disastrous one 
for beekeepers, and disease among bees very 
general, the only good result being that the 
price of honey has gone up considerably. 
Although disappointed this year they are 
looking forward hopefully for the next season, 
for seldom do two bad bee seasons follow one 
another. 
using most of my honey for queen rearing. 
Have raised about 200 queens from imported 
mothers and tested a good many. During the 
past three months 1 have run in two or three 
dozen of Kangaroo Island Queens (Fiebig’s) 
and have proved a good many and found them 
very good ; well marked, good layers, very 
gentle to handle and first rate workers ; — wliat 
more is wanted ? I find Black bees nowhere 
beside the little yellow boys either in this apiary | 
or at Mansfield, in fact they are starving when 
the Hybrid and pure Ligurian are pouring 
honey in. I have sold bees largely to keep 
down stocks, for had I kept all my increase I 
should now count over 200 hives. 
L. T. Chambers. 
OUR OWN APIARY. 
We are glad to report that despite the unusual 
and uncontrollable increase by swarming most 
of the stocks have done well and stored 
plentifully. Being situated within the suburbs 
of coarse big honey harvests are not to be 
expected, and an average of 20-lbs. surplus 
which has been obtained this year after such a 
remarkable swarming season may be regarded 
as unusually good. 
So far we appear to be quite free of foul 
brood which destroy ed so many of our stocks 
last year, the plan of starting the bees afresh 
in a new hive, with new frames with starters 
only and destroying all old frames, brood and 
and honey seems to be by far the most certain 
cure of this disease yet tried. We have 
given no physic, no medicated food, no spray - 
ing, simply plain syrup while the bees are 
building their new combs. 
A swarm of Italians which came off in 
December and which our man hived in an 
empty Langstroth hive without frames built 
their combs from the roof ; we decided to 
leave it as it had so far advanced before we 
were aware of there being no frames. It now 
weighs 82-lbs., take from this 24-lbs. for 
weight of hive, cover and bottom-board, we 
have 60-lbs. for bees, comb and honey, which is 
an excellent result for two months’ work. 
CORINELLA APIARY, MIDDLE BRIGHTON. 
In this apiary I have at present 70 stocks, big 
and little. During the past month the bees 
have at last settled down and one may breathe 
a little ; I really began to think that the 
swarming fever would last through the entire 
season. In consequence of the steady flow of 
honey and mild weather, nearly all honey 
coming in was converted into bees as fast as 
the queens could lay. At present my hives 
show 6 or 7 frames solid brood right up to the 
top bar but very little honey, in fact I quite 
expect shortly to have to commence feeding 
syrup to keep up strength, bees being to me 
of first importance. I have had during the 
season about 20 dozen sections filled but have 
not extracted at all, and have in fact been 
WETHERSWOOD APIARY, MANSFIELD. 
1 In November last I forwarded from my 
Brighton apiary 50 boxes 8-frame Langstroth. 
Hives, with bees and young Ligurian queens 
just commenced laying, to Yea, by rail, but in 
j consequence of careless handling by the rail 
way people I only succeeded in placing half 
that number in above apiary. 
These together with a few stocks of Blacks 
! on hand from previous year and increased by 
other queens since sent up now count 50 good 
strong stocks and a few n eeleus. 
During past two months the extractor lias 
been going pretty well although it was my 
intention to work solely for box-honey, but 
circumstances alter cases and I found the 
weather too cool to do much on the top, so had 
to extract instead. 
So far extracting has given about 1600 lbs. 
and we hope to get a good many sections 
finished off yet, but bees are very slow in 
capping. 
White clover yielded splendidly, blooming 
right along to end of January. Black thistle 
is a good Autumn crop lasting well through 
January to March supplying plenty of honey 
! for bees after extracting ceases. 
Next year hope to have honey crop from 
red-gums. Nothing worth mentioning from 
eucalyptus this year except a few yellow-box 
and an occasional gum. — Yours, etc., L. T. C. 
CLARENCE RIVER. 
In compliance with, your request I send you 
the following : — About three years and five 
months since a swarm settled on my land ; I 
hived them in a small box ; the first season 
they increased to eight colonies — this set me 
thinking that there must be money in bees. 
About this time I read an account of Mr. D. 
A. Jones’s apiary, and I at once procured the 
best works on bees, and set to work. The 
results are I have to-day nearly eighty colo- 
nies, including twelve nucleus hives. About 
fifteen months since I bought an Italian 
Queen from the Italian Bee Company, Parra- 
I matta, and commenced queen-rearing. I have 
