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1899
23 September 1899
THE BEE INDUSTRY.
The Mudgee district is admirably adapted for the successful carrying on of apiculture, there being several prominent bee-farmers. In the town alone there are upwards of 400 hives, chiefly hybrids, as keeping a strain pure is next to an impossibility, the air being literally alive with all sorts of drones. In conversation with Mr. W. Shaw, senior.gpro prietor of The Western Post, I learnt that bee keeping on scientific methods has been in vogue in the Mudgee district about 12 years. Previous to that bees were kept in gin-cases, tea-chests, &c; usually being robbed once or twice a year. When Mr. Shaw introduced the bar-frame hive, others quickly followed, and the advantages of the moveable-comb hive were soon apparent. It is a more humane system, but few bees being killed with a careful apiarist. Much larger crops of pure honey are obtained by the use of the extractor, and to make beekeeping pay such a system must be resorted to. Mr. Shaw introduced the Italian bee into the Mudgee district, having bought two choice stock hives from Mr. W. Abram, of Beecroft, near Sydney. He has also had queens from Messrs. Pender Bros., West Maitland, and the famous Australian breeder, Mr. H. L. Jones, of Goodna, Queensland. After giving several strains of bees a fair and impartial trial. Mr. Shaw favoured the Italian as the most beautiful, gentle, and industrious race. He says, however, that the Italian hybrid, viz. - a pure Italian queen mated with a black drone, produces a splendid working bee, although at times very vicious. Mr. Shaw does not follow up the industry on commercial lines, but he says that one season he took 36001bs of extracted honey from about 20 colonies. The chief sources of honey supply in the Mudgee district are lucerne, thistle (various varieties), pepper trees, and eucalypti family, notably white box, which is in bloom at the present time, and the bees are consequently in splendid condition. A notable feature of the past winter was that drones were flying from several hives, which is something unusual. The earliest swarm known to have issued in the Mudgee district was on August 25. The beekeeper in the Mudgee district having the greatest number of hives is Mr. B. Blatmann, of Denison-street. Among others may be mentioned Mr. C. Cassimer, of Flirtation Hill, who is thoroughly practical. Mr. Cassimir is a member of the well-known firm of Stoddart and Cassimir, builders and contractors. Mr. Shute, of Oakfield, has about 30 hives; Mrs. Thurston, Librarian of the Mechanics' Institute, has about the same number; also Mr. P. S. Garling, editor of the Western Post. Mr. R. Atkinson, of Cullenbone, about ten miles from Mudgee, has a fine apiary, and has taken some large crops of honey. There are, of course, many people who keeps a few hives. Altogether, apiculture should have a promising future before it in the Mudgee district1
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