The Honey Bee and its Management.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3547, 8 May 1880, Page 1

The Honey Bee and its Management.

A VISIT TO MR HOPKINS'

APIARY.

(Communicated.)

[ Apropos to these minute honey producI ing flowers, we remember being at Parawai some threo years ago on the anniversary day- of the colony and wera lying down on Jthe grass meditating upon the irreligion, the selfishness, and unrighteousness of mankind in this mundane sphere when we were suddenly disturbed in our reverie by the buzzing of myriads of bees, here was an opportunity for observation, and we did observe, we observed that the grass plot was strewed with millions of tiny pink flowers and that the bees were darting from one flower to another, with the rapidity of lightening, without doubt these bees were gathering honey while they could, from this apparently insignificant little flora. The name of the tiny thing we could not obtain, but there it was and there were the bees appropriating to themselves its saccharine product. . Wo would not therefore despise the tiny flora of the earth, but yet again we advise the bee* keeper rather to depend upon bush and tree . flowers for a permanent supply of saeohe* rine matter than upon the smaller plants which cover the earth's surface. The flowering trees of our New Zealand bush no doubt produce the greater part of the saccharine matter from which honey is produced in this country, and that is the reason why so much of it is of inferior flavor and quality, though by no means unwholesome. As to the. idea ■' which some people have that some honey may be poisonous through the bees obtaining the raw material from poisonous plants we don't at all believe it; poisonous.plants are not numerous enough for any honey, to be hurtful, while the. small'quantity of the raw material gathered from them and mixed with ordinary honey, would, we believe be rather .beneficial to the human system than otherwise. It is well known that nearly all.fruits and vegetables contain a minute portion of some of the most deadly poisons, and in this consists their greater wholesoroeness, • while all medical men know bow valuable poisons are in certain diseased conditions of the human system* when judiciously administered. Certainly no one need fear being poisoned by eating ordinary honey, but the flavor and quality of this luscious nectar may be very much improved by - the observation and care of. the . .beekeeper in surrounding his apiary with the most approved horny producing trees, plants, and shrubs, and. again .we. .say the Orange flower in our estimation is the best of all (or the production of superior honey, while an orange orchard on a large scale will become a fortune to one who plants it in his early days. / We will now bring to the notice of our interested readers a bush flower of the Cape of Good Hope, and one that yields the largest amount of nectar of rd^'plant -we ever, heard of. The Capo people call it the sugar bush, but its scientific name, Mr Hopkins informs us, is JProtea Africanus. This bush grows wild in m,ost , parts of South Africa; it is an evergreen and grows from two to ten feet' in height, it bears a lan,'e pink flower, somewhat the shape and size of a tumbler, so largely does it produce saccharine matter that the boys collect it in bottles while myriads of beies will always be found in its neighbourhood, as many as a dozen at a time being often found in the interior of each flower collecting its sweets, now we feel certain that it will thrive and do well in the North Island of New Zealaud, there is not much difference in the latitude of the Cape and here, but the Cape ia Bomewhat warmer than the North Island. We are not aware that the plant has ever been introduced here uuless Sir George Grey who has always taken great interest in the botany of the various countries he has visited has introduced it. It would be worth while for Mr Hopkins and other' enthusiastic bee keepers to interest themselves in getting this sugar bush inured to this colony. One reason . why we feel certain it would thrive well here is because it is often found side by side at the Cape, with the beautifully foliaged silver tree, two specimens of which may be seen in the garden of E. Puckey, Esq., Sandei

Btreet, Block _27, Thames, the only two of the speoies we hare ever seen in the colony. These have thriven well. Why should not the sugar bush ? It is worth a good trial, however, for it would be invaluable to the boe keeper, because of the very large quantity of excellent necter it yields. . WV will now bring this rather long article to a close and hope it will do some' thing towards stimulating our settlers to eagage in this most interesting and productive business. We as a people are much beiiind other peoples in our Colonial produce, and if we do not speedily turn our attention to what the colony will produce in the shnpe of food for its pedple, we shall find out our mistake when: it is too late to remedy it. The very first business of any people is the production of the necessaries of life. To depend upon imports of food will certainly prove a rotten stick presently, for very shortly the .fatherland communities—the old world as it is termed —will be in one blaze of revolution and warfare, and will scarcely be able to food for themselves. No one in his senses can view the martial preparation now rapidly proceeding in all the old countries of the globe, but what must be convinced that there are terrible times at hand, for these old countries afc anyrate. The next wars and revolutions are certain to be those of extermination such as were never seen previously. They will Jbe-carried on by.land and by sea, and then it is not difficult to foresee what will become of the mercantile interest—ah! -and the agricultural interest also of these old countries. Intense protracted wars and revolutions always bring in their train as an inevitable result, famine, pestilence, and every evil that flesh is heir to; but the very heaven will fight as it were in the troubles now coming on. The malefic influences of sun, moon, and stars will be let loose and will increase the now beginning distress of the nations and their perplexity by producing extraordinary heat and cold, draughts and floods, and 80, famines and pestilences worse than erer before known. Of the certainty of these results we are now being forewarned not only by prophetic students, but by astronomers and astrologers. They tell us tliat the perihelion, or nearness of four of the largest planets to the sun, must disturb the earth's atmophere, and consequently all on earth must suffer more or less, and the surface of the earth and the sea be troubled exceedingly. Of one thing, however, we are assured by the x pen of inspiration after Noah's flood, which drowned all mankind except eight persons,;" I will not again smite any more everything living, as I have done for while the earth remaineth," (and the same pen of inspiration tells us distinctly that it must remain another thousand years at least, that is the approaching millenial age of blessedness.) But-while the earth re- j maineth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter; day and night shall not cease." Man's business is still to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth and subdue it; and yet, in the face of this original command, we find a class of grasping, moneymaking, land-sharks, who put every obstacle in the way of poor men getting the tend that they may subdue it, and that it should yield its increase. If the land in New-Zealand had been free for all who would settle upon it and culth vate it from: the foundation of the colony, the prosperity of New Zealand's people would have been second to none in' the whole of the British Colonies, but that which is every man's free birthright has been withheld from them by grasping (money-making legislators, and their hangers on. Hence pretty well half our food and other necessaries, have to be imported, and the colony allowed to drift over head and ears into debt and difficulty.

Such has been New Zealand's legislation, and such still it-is, with but little prospect of any substantial change. New. Zealand needs not the importation of canned honey, canned jams, canned fruits, canned meats, dried figs and fruits, aud a host of other things.which can be produced in abundance at home, if only the land was free for all. I fear we shall find it all out when it is too late. In the meantime however, let all who have their eyeß open to the necessity of producing all we can, do so in earnest, for verily we Shall need it presently. The leader in your journal of April 30 was to the purpose in this respect, but if any change is to be made for the better there must be ' rigorous and determined writing, for the mamby-pa.mby half-hearted style of most of our journalists upon these matters is only laughed at by those who rule us-'for their own advantage, while the people at large have to pay-the piper. . We now close by slating that we believe it to be the intention of Mr Hopkins to import from America all the necessary appliances for the business of honey production, and which he will have for dis-

posal to those who desire to enter the business. Already he disposes of much of his prepared wax sheets, 'and will soon be in a position to supply all necessaries on a large scale. Wishing him every success in his enterprise, we close our article with the' well-known lines of-good Dr Watts, which will ever go down to posterity as the simplest and most telling of anything written in rhyme upon the busy bee:— y ■ * How doth, the little bu3y bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day, Prom many an opening flower. How skilfully she builds her cell, How neat she spreads her wm, And labours hard to store it wed With the sweet food she make 3. - Then the moral, so excellent— So like the bee in useful work, ■ Should we be busy too ; For Satan finds soma mischief still, For idle hands fco^lo. And our settlers could hardly be engaged in a more useful additional occupation than in boo culture.