HONEY BEES IN NEW ZEALAND.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3029, 11 March 1881, Page 4

HONEY BEES IN NEW ZEALAND.

Two or three shipments of humble bnc3 have been made from this country to !NVvr Zealand, the object being to facilitate the fertilisation and spread of the red clover in the colony, these bees being stronger than the ordinary black bees and better able to reach the pollen, which they thus collect and convey from flower to flower, consequently ensuring the producting of seed. Similar results, however, are produced by the labours of the Italian or Ligurian bee, with the advantage that this variety of bee is amenable to discipline, and can be hived, and will prtduce a much larger quantity of honey than either its "humble" cousin, or its " black" brother; and two or three attempts have been made to introduce the Italian bee into the colony from America, but with indifferent success. Only a few hives of this bee exist in the colony where however, their superiority as honey-pro-ducers is proved to be in the proportion of two to one as compared with the ordinary black variety. A curious fact has been noticed in connection with the Italian moth, which is a great nuisance in the hives of the Italian variety. The valne of a crop of clover per se is equal to that from the same area of wheat; and while the fertilisation of the clover is effectually secured by the visit of the Ligurian bee, there is, on tho other hand, no better honey-producing plant than the red clover, so that the observant farmers in Few Zealand are beginning to see the advantage of encouraging these busy workers by starting apiarios for the sake of their clover crops, as well as for the sake of the valuable harvest of honey.—Colonies and India.