166 



Apis. 



Beaders assuredly know what an important role the Hive bee, 

 Apis mcllifica, Linn., plays in the fertilisation of flowers in more 

 northern climates. That domesticated Apis is absent from the 

 Malay Peninsula, h\\\ Apis indica, Fabr., is present and is ver}' 

 ;<imilar in size and way of life; it can be domesticated also. It is 

 ])lentiful in the Peninsula, and is capable of fulfilling- the role of 

 A. meUifica in all points in regard to flowers. It is accompanied 

 in Malaya by the larger Apis dorsata, Fabr. and the lesser Apis 

 fovea, Fabr. The three do yeoman service. 



They are eonunon, commoner than the uiiobservant think, and 

 find the whole of their food in flowers, rivalling the honey bee in 

 diligence, while they raise large broods of young. Because their 

 hunting grounds are so often in the tops of high trees, their occu- 

 pations are not easily recorded, and their work passes unnoticed, 

 except where their numbers happen to be so great that they attract 

 attention by the hum of their buzzing. Yet it is a common ex- 

 perience to have attention drawn to the flowering of an Eugenia, 

 an Elaeo carpus, a Cratoxylon, a Kurrimia or a Bassia by the sound 

 of innumerable bees as upon lime-trees in flower in Britain. 



The different flowers upon which the three species of Apis 

 have been seen are enumerated in the annexed table. In addition 

 unidentified species of Apis have been observed upon flowers of the 

 following : — 



Ciipania pallidula, Hiern, at Tebong, Malacca. 



Erythrina lithosperma, Blume, in Penang. 



P.oinciana regia, Bojer, in Malacca. 



Tristania Alaingayi, Duthie, in Penang. 



In the Peninsula, Apis dorsata has come under observation 

 oftenest as if the most abundant of the three species. It has been 

 timed to visit the flowers of Antigonum at the rate -of 20 

 per minute. Apis indica at the same time (midday on 18 viii. 

 1916) was observed to visit 30 flowers per minute. On another 

 occasion various individuals of A pis dorsata were seen to visit, one 

 20 flowers jjer minute, another 32 flowers per minute, others inter- 

 mediate numbers (29.1.1916), Apis fiorea upon the same species 

 was seen to go to 20 flowers per minute. 



The rate at which the insects work of course depends upon the 

 shape of the flower visited and the number of flowers close to- 

 gether and the time of day. It was recorded in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal,' jST. S. ii. 1906, p. 516, that Apis dorsata 

 visited varying numbers of flowers of the jiite plant, Corchorus 

 capsularis, at the average of 28 per minute, and that Apis fiorea 

 visited at the rate 10 to 15, which is less that upon Antigonum. 



At the rate of 25 flowers per minute in eight hours a bee can 

 effect 12,000 pollinations, or 7,200 pollinations at the rate of 15. 

 These are figures which give an idea of the possible effectiveness of 

 a bee's daily work. 



