MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 175 



No. XXIII.— BEE-CULTURE IN INDIA. 



With reference to Mr. Phipson's remarks, at the last meeting of the Society, 

 on the subject of Bee culture in India, the following notes may be of interest. 

 There are in India, so far as is known, only three species of the true honey- 

 bee (Apis), viz., A. dorsata, A. indica, and A. florea. A number of other 

 forms have been described, but these all appear to be varieties of the 

 above three species. A. indica is closely allied to A. mellijica, the European 

 honey-bee, and only differs slightly in colour and size, being smaller and 

 darker. 



A. dorsata is a large and very fierce species, frequently dangerous in the 

 jungle when irritated, and I am not aware that attempts have ever been made 

 to domesticate it. Mr. David Hooper, in a recent number of the "Agricultural 

 Ledger," gives the following reasons against any attempt to cultivate this 

 species as a hive bee : — 



" (1) The bee builds naturally in the open. 



" (2) It builds normally only one comb, so that the honey cannot be 

 removed without removing the brood also. 



" (3) Although the comb is very large, it is not so great in cubic capacity as 

 the combs built by A. mellijica, which is readily cultivated, and the habits of 

 which are well understood. 



'• (4) It is only found in a tropical climate." 



The first three seem to me to be valid reasons enough ; the last is not 

 strictly correct, as A. dorsata is common at Simla, where the winter is very 

 severe, and probably also in other parts of the Himalayas. 



A. indica is more or less domesticated and cultivated in Assam, most 

 districts of the Himalayas, the Kuram Valley, and Kashmir. Its habits are 

 similar to those of the European A. mellijica. Experiments have been made, 

 probably with this species, in some of the Bombay hill stations, but, according 

 to Mr. Hooper, with no very signal success. 



A. Jlorea is a small species ; the comb is usually built on a small tree or bush 

 (at Deesa I nearly always saw them in thorny bushes) ; this species is common 

 throughout India, but would scarcely repay domestication, and the reasons 

 against its cultivation would appear to be the same as those against that of A. 

 dorsata. 



I scarcely understand Mr. Phipson's remark about " non-migratory " 

 species ; I have never heard that any species of bee are migratory. The Apis 

 nigrocinctus mentioned by him is A. indica under another name. 



Besides the above, several species of Melipona (Trigona) produce honey 

 ani wax in commercial quantities, but as the species of this genus are very 

 small, no attempt has, I believe, been made to domesticate them. They are 

 stingless, or, at any rate, have no appreciable sting. 



Apiculture is a profitable business if carried out on a sufficiently large scale 

 by one who really understands it. A few years ago I came across a man 

 whose brother was engaged in it exclusively in one of the Australian colonies 



