REPORT ON BEES, BY BARON DE THIERRY.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 722, 16 March 1853, Page 3

REPORT ON BEES, BY BARON DE THIERRY.

[From the " Polynesian."]

I have the honour to inform the President and members of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society, that in compliance with the promise given by me last year I have made every exertion to obtain the Honey-Bee for these Islands, and have the satisfaction to state that by letters from Auckland, New .Zealand, received on the 10th of last month, I am promised three hives, by the first vessel direct to Honolulu. I most sincerely hope they will arrive free from injury, and secure all the beneficial results which are anticipated from their introduction. But in inviting those interesting guests to these Islands, something should be done for their reception, and some pains should be taken to raise plants of which the flowers yield the greatest quantity and best.... description of wax and honey. Of these J&ftie are greater favorites with the dainty that sweet little flower, the grows so well here, Lemon Thyme, andMsr#fden Thyme which latter makes beautiful btjrders to flower beds, and if properly attended almost perpetually. They are also ifonjl: of the flowers of the cabbage, turnip, and naustpVd, and particularly so of those of the differerifc'iorts of edible beans—the broad bean beiiig''.;a v great favorite. Of aromatics there is none*, si?' beneficial to the bee as Rosemary, which in hot countries. The fame of the Harbourne is due to this valuable plant. Th**,, honey of Majorca and Minorca is equally celebrated for the flavor it derives from the orange and lemon blossom. The Jassamine and the Heliotrope, which grow so well and blossom so profusely on these Islands, are much sought by the bee. Indeed there is scarcely a flower, hoAvever small and unpresuming, but from which it derives food. The cultivation of every description of flower-bearing plants should be distributed amongst the natives, to whom necessary information on their cultivation should be imparted.— From the strawberry and the raspberry, from the Hollyhock and the tree mallow, much excellent honey is derived, as from every sort of melon and pumpkin. Who that has travelled in England and the United States has not noticed the villa of the affluent, and the cottage of the sober and industrious with the honey bearing Woodbine overhanging the neat porch—the Avhite and yellow Jasmine and the passion flower, covering the white walls, and the garden filled with many well cultivated and lovely flowers—in the corner sheltered from the bleak winds, are the hives, with their busy colonies in active employment, formerly doomed to destruction for their honey, but now by the modern improvements in the construction of hives easily removed without the sacrifice of their valuable hives.

The bee from sipping the sweets of flowers takes nothing from their beauty, and if we should benefit a neighbour who 'has bees whilst we have none, we know that even in so small a degree we are contributing to the welfare of our fellow creatures. The cultivation of flowers promotes domestic happiness, soothes the mind, and richly repays for the trouble bestowed upon them. The wealthiest, accustomed to the glare and glitter of state, are prouder of a fine nosegay than of their massive plate and costly silks, and the mightiest of Queens would scarce appear in festive attire without a boquct in her hand or a rose in her bosom, emblematical of the purity of her mind, and homage to the exquisite words of a greater Being above. But, whilst the palace and the cottage—the dwellings of the richest and the poorest, are so eminently improved by this most attractive of nature's vegetable "works, the indefatigable bee collects tribute from every flower, and hoards its treasure with equal fidelity for the cotter as for the magnate, adding to the comfort and profit of both by its unceasing industry. The little stranger,; perhaps at this moment on her way, will be the means of bestowing upon you an important and inexpensive article of export, and in return for such a service, and for the additional comfort which families will derive from that healthful article of diet, and the wax which she so abundantly produces, I trust that some exertions will be made to raise flowers for her support.