THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 4042, 1 September 1931, Page 11

THE APIARY.

HEALTH AND HONEY.

Is health important to you ? If so, you will be interested at the national craze for reducing. This fad is now endangering the health of hundreds of thousands of the over-sized, who think they must quit eating to reduce. This is where danger begins. Any physician ■\vill tell you that an under-fed. undernourished human body is more likely to become the prey to colds, anaemia, tuberculosis, and other contagious and infectious diseases than one nourished by wholesome and well-balanced foods-. If you wish to retain health and fashions slender form, eat pure honey. It is healthy and does not fatten. Pure honey may be used‘successfully for every purpose where you would use feir'ar. Cakes made with honey keep fresh '’indefinitely, never drying out as do sugar cakes. Delicious pies can also be made with honey. Use honey in lemonade, on grape fruit on cereals, and as a syrup for sundaes’ Aote how honej- blends with fruit, bringing out the flavour. If you have not tasted the flavour of flowers in your food you have missed a rare treat. Also horny is the most economical sweet. It is so * concentrated that you will reouire only one-third the quantity of hone.v that vou would use of other sweets. Honey is the only sweet germs cannot live in. Honey is the only sweet that will preserve the teeth. Honey is the only sweet that will not produce fat. Honey is the only sweet that has not produced a case of diabetes or Bright’s disease, and often the only sweet patients suffering from these diseases can eat. CARNIOLAN BEES. Although Carniolan bees have given satisfactory results in different parts of victoria, most apiarists prefer (says an Australian honey expert) to continue vrith the leather - coloured Italians. Favourable reports concerning the suitableness of the Carniolans have been furnished, by beekeepers in the other States, and the wisdom of giving that bleed more attention has been emphasised.

A recent report by the Western Australian Government Apiculturist (Mr H. vvi a lJ ce ). contains instructive When Carniolan bees were introduced to that State, says Mr Lance, they were said to be as quiet and contented on the combs as Italian bees, and more gentle. For migratory purposes the Carniolans, it was claimed, were immeasurably superior to the Italians, and could be relied on to produce heavy yields of honey during spring, summer, and autumn. After a trial extending over the last two seasons, the excellent qualities of Carniolan bees have been proved conclusively in that State. They have been so pronounced that one of the largest apiarists is giving them exclusive attention. Carni-Italian (Carni queen and Italian drone) or Italian-Carni (Italian queen and Carniolan drone) are found to%be equal to Carniolan pure in most cases, but after the second or third generation the bees usually lose some of their most desirable characteristics. It is advisable, therefore, to introduce fresh pure stock at least every two years. Summarising the advantages of Carniolans, Mr Lance states that thev are longer lived than Italian or the‘black breed of bees and there is less brood in the hives for the same strength of colony. They produce more honey than the average Italian or black, no doubt partly due to the fact that they require less brood to keep up the strength of the hives, and therefore consume less food in brood-rearing. They also appear to have stronger wings than the other races, which would doubtless account for their longer life and better honey-storing capacity, as they can work in wet an2 windy weather when Italians would stav at home.

21 colony of Carni-Italians recently was sent to the south-west, and the purchaser was exceedingly pleased to find that they were working the karri blossom ail through the rain. As the karri blossoms in the winter, this trait is important for the honey producer of the south-west. Carniolan bees are easily handled. During the honey season one never need wear a veil, 'and very little smoke, if any, is required. . It is generally recognised that to obtain a good honey crop and to reduce swarming the bees must have plenty of room in advance. The Carniolans, being rapid honey gatherers, probably caugni many beekeepers napping, and swarming took place.