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EUCALYPTS AS HONEY YIELDERS. 
EUCALYPTS AS HONEY YIELDERS. 
Of the numerous species of Eucalyptus some flower in spring and early 
summer some m autumn, others in late winter. The same species may flower at 
\ ere * l T Se 7 aso f s - In tlle Australian bush there is probably no month of the year 
when Eucalyptus flowers could not be found. Many of the species bear flowers 
m i P 1 * 0 Vision. During the whole time of the flowering the trees are freely 
visited by bees and birds. The chief attraction is the honey that is secreted in the 
depression at the base of the style; but in many cases bees also collect the pollen, 
lhe quantity of honey yielded by some species in favourable seasons is very great. 
Ihe quality varies with the species and with the season. Bee keepers in Australia 
have been systematically producing honey from eucalypts for over half a century. 
Scientific men have aided them with careful research. Much has been written 
about the relative merits of the species in this connection. But there has not yet 
been a sufficient amount of exact observation to form a basis for complete grading 
of the species as honey yielders. Some species are known to be of very high 
meiit, otheis are still regarded with diversity of opinion. A few species valued 
in Australia will be excluded by our climate. 
^ Looking to the economic conditions that may be expected to prevail in ISTew 
Zealand in the not distant future, we may lay it down as generally imperative that 
trees planted for honey production shall also be timber yielders. Pursuant to the 
climatic grouping in Section iii. of this book, the following list will perhaps be 
the best that can he suggested to apiarists in this country in the present state of 
our knowledge: — 
Group i. 
E. cornuta, E. gomphocephala, E. maculata, and E. propinqua. 
Group ii. 
E. cladocalyx, E. microcorys, E. paniculata, and E. pilularis. 
Group iii. 
E. leucoxylon, E. longifolia, E. melliodora, E. piperita , E. rostrataE. saligna, 
E. sideroxylon, and E. Smithii. 
Group iv. 
E. fastigata, E. Macarthuri, E. obliqua, and E. Sieberiana. 
Group v. 
E. amygdalina, E. radiata, E. Risdoni, and E. viminalis. 
Group vi. 
E. Gunnii and E. urnigera. 
Other Australian trees suitable for production of both honey and timber in 
milder parts of this country are the Kindred of the eucalypts mentioned in this 
Section and the early-flowering acacias. 
For very much fuller information on the value of eucalypts and other Aus¬ 
tralian trees as honey yielders the reader is referred to the Handbook of Forest 
Trees for Victorian Foresters by Professor A. J. Ewart, of the University of 
Melbourne. 
