6y4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Apuil i, 1886, 



BEE-KEEPING IN INDIA. 



A paper from the Madras Uovernment recoi-ding 

 the failure of experiments to breed indigenous 

 bees in hives contains some curious information : — 

 Mr. Morris remarks that the EngMsh comb-fouuil- 

 ation bus five cells to the inch, whereas the worker 

 comb made by the Indian bee has six cells to the 

 inch, and he bad, before he could get a swarm to 

 settle at all, to remove the loundation and substitute 

 for it comb taki'U from a wild swarm. 



iVIr. NichoNiiu observes that the English hive is 

 much too large for the diminutive Indian bee, and 

 thiuk.s that no greal profit can be dciiveil from the 

 iudigt-nous insect, a swarm of which cannot, so he 

 says, be expected to yield more than lU lb. of honey 

 in a season. He suggests tlie introduction of the 

 English bee, and informs that he himself is attempt- 

 ing to obtain a few (jiieen bees from Australia, whence 

 be has previcju.sly tried to procure bees, wliieb, how- 

 ever, died at Colombo, where they were detained for 

 about a fortnight. Tbe.se or the English may po.ss- 

 ibly thrive in thecool climate of the hil, but whether 

 they will .succeed in the plains seems rather doubt- 

 ful. Htill beiw, wild and tame, are to l.e found all 

 over Australia, and if they can, as they do, bear 

 the climate of the northern part of that continent, 

 they might pos.sibly stand that of India. 



Both Messrs. Morris and Nicholson remark that there 

 is no diiiicuty in managing the indigenous bee in 

 chatty-bives. Several hives of this description belong- 

 ing to i\Ir. Moriis are stated to contain strong and 

 flourishing colonies. 



Dr. ISbortt and Mr. Morris promise further experi- 

 ments with the English hives, but if, as may be 

 inferred from the information given above, the hives 

 are unsuited to Iiuii m bees, ultimate success can 

 liardly be looked for. 



Resolution — It is satisfactory that Dr. Shortt and 

 Mr. Morris propose to pursue their investigations. 

 Kesults will be looked for with interest. 



ftir. ftlorris remarks that the Indian hill-bee con- 

 .structs bix cells to the inch, while the Engli.sh 

 domestic bee constructs five, and in view of the 

 former boing dimmutive ami yiebling comparatively 

 .so little honey. Mr. Nicholson suggest the iiitro- 

 dution of the English domestic bee, but the board 

 observe that one of the low-country bees of this Pre- 

 sidency, which not uncommonly builds combs rrtun 

 i' or 1' li"' to 4' or 5' wide, and as drtrp in human 

 ilwellirigs and is not irascible like the larger rock bee, 

 yields a very ample supply of excellent honey, and 

 constructed a coiub containing four cells to the inch, 

 the ceils being us much as IJ inch iti length, aud 

 the worker bee being larger th.-m the English worker, 

 antl very nearly as large as the English droiui. 



The species would probably be easy of domestic- 

 ation, judging from tbeir quiet occupation of human 

 dwellmgs, aud their domestication is very desirable, 

 but unfortunately, there is a vulgar prejudice that 

 they bring bad lortunr' to the house they settle in, and 

 no efforts at ilomes'ication are likely to be made by 

 the natives of this country, who only destroy them 

 for their honey. 



The but: referred to by the B">ard in their pro- 

 ce. dings, dalerl 'J8th April ISS.'i, No. 1,270, is Ajji.i 

 tlort>uta, variety Tistanii (Smith). 



Its natural habit is not to enter its hive by an 

 aperture, but eoustruct a hanging comb. But it does 

 not ttience follow that it canuot be domesticated. 



Tea drinkers will be interested to learn tb.at over 

 half a million pounds of willow-leaves, disguised as 

 tea, wore sent by America to Shanghai last year, to 

 bo slii]>ped thence as Chinese tea. 



KtiMAoN Tea Uisthicts. — We are now in the midst 

 of our cultivating season. It has so far been a very 

 fav.i)u-able one, both for pruning, manuring and hoeing. 

 The temperature lias ruled biw this mouth, and after 

 all the moisture we have liad since the new year, — 4 

 inches of rain and melted snow — wft are now in want 

 of some bright sunshiny weather. — rinntirs' OmMe. 



Fungi ox Roots of Tea Bushes. — We received a 

 fungus-covered tea-bush-root, with the following 

 letter, from Dikoya :— " By same tappal I send 

 yon a tea-bush-root covered with a red fungus, a 

 parasite growth, and I shall feel much obliged 

 by your sending it to your correspondent versed 

 in .such matters, as we are losing a considerable 

 percentage of young tea bushes from this cause." 

 The gentleman to whom we referred thus responds:— 

 " I regret to say I can give no opinion." We would 

 advise our correspondent to examine the soil in 

 which the bushes are growing for the origin of 

 the evil. 



LiBERiAN Coffee picking is the order of the day 

 here, and in spite of the Kandyan coolies being 

 scarcely an fail at estate work they manage to pick 

 the "golden bean" fairly well. Their average pick- 

 ing per day is about sixty-four catties a head (aliout 

 a bushel and a half) of ripe fruit, when consider- 

 ing the age of the trees, a little more than throe 

 and a half years, argues well for coffee in tlie future. 

 The trees are laden with crop in every stage from 

 the well set blossom to the matured cherrv. While 

 on the subject of picking it is to be regretted .that 

 the " giants of old, ' we have all heard of, did not 

 in foriuer days visit these shores, and leave a few 

 of their "cubits of stature" behind, as among the 

 coolies here, scarcely is there one that could n't walk 

 under a four foot six stand, and of course the higher 

 branches are out of reach or are frequently dr.agged 

 down and broken. Pepper is also doing we'll and in 

 spite of the large orders for cuttings and seed it is 

 believed the supply will equal the demand. Large 

 nurseries for cuttings are in course of construction 

 and with the rich soil here, this useful product is 

 almost certain to turn out a success. The Ceylon 

 cocoa is growing apace, full of crop and blossom 

 and reminds one not a little, of its parent trees 

 in the Dumbara valley of Ceylon. — Dritixh North 

 Borneo MeraJd. 



Indian Tea and Ceylon Tea have for some years 

 been running China teas very close in the race 

 for popularity, and have attained a very high 

 position for themselves in the English market ; 

 but it is something new to liear of South .\frican 

 teas " entering the lists " of dealers in this article. 

 Tea cultivation on an experimental scale has been 

 carried on for some time in Natal, with such success 

 that one of the planters is sending a " sample" 

 of a ton of his produce to the forthcoming Colonial 

 and Indian Exhibition. In fact, the rapid ex- 

 tension of tea-planting in that Colony has attracted 

 the attention of Ceylon planters, several of whom 

 have paid a visit tliere to judge for themselves 

 of the prospects of the industry ; and new enter- 

 prises are being started in different directions. 

 Only the other day a share in a " tea gaiden " 

 in Natal was advertised in the London papers as 

 being for sale, and altogether the energetic Colonists 

 do not intend to hide their light under a bushel. 

 The example of Natal will probably be followed 

 in other parts of South Africa ; but a still better 

 field for the industry exists in New Zealand, while 

 there are, no doubt, several districts in Australia 

 where as good tea could be grown as was ever 

 produced in China. The Australians have a strong 

 objection to John Chinaman himself, but there 

 can be no sort of reason why they should liesit- 

 ate to acclimatise, if possible, one of the chief 

 vegetable products of the Celestial Land. Baron 

 Ferdinand von MiiUer advocates the cultivation uf 

 the shrub in Victoria, where plants introduced 

 by him and experimentally grown have been known 

 to produce seeds. .\nd if in Victoria, why not 

 •in Tasmania and New South Wales ? -Cohiiiirx 

 and Ititlia. (It is useless to anticipate a profitable 

 tea culture in countries where cheap labor does 

 not abound. — Ed.1 



