Liberia <*- 



of Guinea till it reached Liberia and Senegambia, while in the 

 course of years it has made its way right across the Congo 

 Basin to British Central Africa, Uganda, and Zanzibar. In 

 Liberia, as in all these other countries, it became a terrible 

 pest on its first arrival. The natives paid no heed to its 

 ravao^es in their feet until the foot or limb mortified. After 

 a time the increase of these burrowing fleas seems to be 

 stopped by some natural action, and in Liberia as elsewhere 

 they have died down until they have become a manageable pest, 

 and one which scarcely ever affects Europeans and natives who 

 wear boots. The jiggers, however, do a great deal of damage 

 to domestic birds and beasts. 



The common honey bee of Liberia, according to Biittikofer, 

 is Apis fasciata^ which lives mostly in the woodlands, especially 

 in the hilly districts of the interior, building its hives in 

 hollow trees. This bee has a sting, as, in other parts of Africa, 

 the present writer has known to his cost, for these wood-bees 

 sometimes attack passing caravans which heedlessly disturb 

 the hive, or the tree on which it is established. Apis fasciata 

 is apparently the bee which makes the beeswax that figures 

 so largely in the trade of the Mandingos of Senegambia. 

 There is no reason why wax should not be exported from the 

 interior of Liberia, but at present the natives pay little heed 

 to it, and only rob the hives for the sake of the honey. 

 Biittikofer states that the honey of this Apis fasciata^ like 

 that of the small stingless bee (T'rigona)^ is more or less 

 permeated by formic acid. The stingless bee {Trigona), a small 

 black insect, frequently builds its nest in or near native huts. 



The large black and yellow Mason wasps {Pelopcms ?) are 

 exceedingly common, darting in and out of habitations to build 

 their clay nests of several cells in any likely corner or in any 

 receptacle, such as the mouth of a bottle or the trumpet of a 



S54 



