122 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



(6.) Apis unicolor Latreille. 



Hab. Madagascar. 



It is also recorded from the Philippines, but probably erro 

 neously. 



(7.) Apis florea Fabricius. 



Hab. India. 



This is probably the smallest honey bee known, and presents 

 certain structural characters that will exclude it from the genus 

 Apis Linne, as now restricted. In some of its characters it 

 shows some affinities that ally it to the large honey bees Mcgapis. 

 I propose to place it in a genus by itself under the name Micrapis. 

 The lateral ocelli are farther from each other than to the eye 

 margin, the venation nearly as in Apis Linne, while the basal joint 

 of the hind tarsi in the male is incisely lobed. 



Dr. Ashmead stated his belief that the honey bees were 

 originally in the wild state black, unbanded, and that the yel 

 low-banded races of Apis mellifera are a product of domestica 

 tion and artificial selection. In discussing Dr. Ashmead's com 

 munication, Mr. Benton said he differed decidedly from the 

 former when he stated that all wild bees belong to the black type. 

 He cited the various races of mellifera which are found in east 

 ern Mediterranean countries and have undoubtedly been wild for 

 thousands of years, their yellow color being in no sense a result 

 of domestication. A. dorsata and A. florca are both yellow- 

 banded bees, yet have never been cultivated ; and itidica, which 

 is quite highly colored in some portions of India, is cultivated to 

 a very limited extent only. He referred to the mention of yellow 

 bees in Virgil's 4th Georgic, and expressed the belief that the 

 Italian race of honey bees was the result of contact between bees 

 probably brought by early Phoenician settlers to southern Italy 

 and the black bees of the country. He stated his belief that there 

 have probably always been two distinct types of wild bees occu 

 pying distinct regions. 



Mr. Benton said further that Apis dorsata has been known in 

 literature as the Giant Bee of India ; he thought it should not be 

 called the Common Bee of India the term applied to it by Dr. 

 Ashmead since that designation belongs to Apis indica, a more 

 abundant and more widely distributed species than dorsata. 



