294 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Aprin, 1900. 
and everywhere, and new hands move their hives together at the approach of 
winter that they may the better protect them with straw. All goes very be 
until we have a fine warm day. Then the bees start out for a fly, and retum : 
their hives just as they have been doing all the summer. They fly about, ee 
into the wrong hives, get stung, the whole apiary becomes mixed up, 42 , 
general melée ensues. Moving hives during the working season will cause, 
loss of more or less bees as well as honey. Natural swarms should remit 
where put up, as they depend very much on the surrounding objects 12 ee 
their points. Several hives can be moved successfully if we maintaim thet 
position in the apiary, and carefully preserve their respective positions ™ 
reference to each other. Where the new position is outside the radius of fig™ 
say about two miles, they can be moved at any time. If bees are sent on 
distances, they must be furnished with old, tough combs, otherwise 10 ¢o™ 
at all, as newly-made combs will surely break down in transit, and combs ® f 
bees at the end of the journey will be found to consist of a smothered mas*° 
moving insects that survive but a few hours after arrival. 
Tropical Industries. 
FINE CIGAR TOBACCOS. 
By R. 8. NEVILL, 
Instructor in Tobacco Culture. 
‘Tue revolution that has been going on in tobacco-growing in ‘the United Sa 
has finally resulted in the covered field for cigar tobaccos, illustrations of W h 
are here shown. ‘The object of this covering is to secure a larger per a 
wrapper leaf. It was suggested by observing the plants that grew in the § “ 
of the trees that had been left in the field; such plants were noticed to i 
lighter in body, smoother, and showing, when cured, the fine satin finish 80 ny > 
desired in cigar wrappers. Since the introduction of Sumatra wrappers ar ood 
trade in 1864, the demand for superior quality—not quantity—has + to 
increasing ; and as this demand was best supplied from Sumatra, the etter ' 
produce a like wrapper has been constant, until now, in the shaded field, mes? 
believed to have been accomplished, and, notwithstanding the heavy cost of ii for 
coyerings, it is stated the results are satisfactory. Although the prices P™ nto 
these tobaccos seem high—from 2s. to 8s. 4d.—yet, when we take 
consideration that one pound of it will wrap about three and a-half time> 7 
many cigars as other tobaccos, besides making a more uniform and merchet 
able article, it thus proves the cheaper to the manufacturer. One diffict 
with the growers is, they want quantity, and it seems hard for many of them . 
realise that the soil that produces the greatest quantity of a given produ¢ x 
not always the best for that product, but this is certamly true of tobacco, high 
rule ; and we here have a practical demonstration that, notwithstanding the 4 
cost of production, it is more profitable than to produce large quantitie 
inferior tobacco. y 
These coverings are not used in Sumatra, because they are not needed, Dae 
do I believe they will be needed in Queensland, as I think we have the 0 
conditions for growing a superior wrapper, but they serve to show the value 
producing the very best. ; 
