350 HALF HOURS AVITH INSECTS. [Packard. 



of Trigona. Both this and Melipona are supposed to have 

 more than one queen in a colon}'. 



The mode of nesting in tiiese bees is very unlike in dif- 

 ferent species. "Many species build in the hollow trunks 

 of trees, others in banks ; some suspend their nests from 

 branches of trees, whilst one species constructs its nest of 

 clay, it being of large size." (Gardner.) 



It is but a step from the stingless bees to the hive bee 

 and the wild species, of which there are at least five. The 

 economy of the hive bee is so well known that I shall here 

 only notice some of the habits of the wild species of the 

 East Indies, the home of all the species of Apis. 



Wallace says that "true honey-bees are found in the west- 

 ern half of the Archipelago, and in the southeast as f;ir as 

 Timor, where, however, it is possible that they may have 

 been introduced. Ajyis dorsafa and A. testacea both con- 

 struct large combs suspended from the underside of the 

 branches of lofty forest-trees. They sting very severely ; 

 yet the natives ascend the trees, and with nearly naked 

 bodies take away the combs, protected only by a smoulder- 

 ing torch, the smoke from which in some degree keeps off 

 the insects. The Dyaks of Borneo ascend the trees by 

 driving strong pegs of bamboo into the trunk, which they 

 connect with an upright bamboo, and thus form a good lad- 

 der. The people of Timor literally walk up the trees, by 

 means of a long piece of creeper put round them, and the 

 extremities held in the hand. It is a wonderful sight to see 

 a man ascend thus a vertical trunk one hundred feet high, 

 and then creep out upon a horizontal branch and coolly 

 brush away the myriads of bees from a comb a yard in 

 diameter, and become immediately enveloped in a cloud of 

 anory insects, while he cuts off the comb and lets it down to 

 his companions below by a slender cord. In this manner 

 many tons of wax are annually collected, the immature bees 

 and honey supplying a luxurious feast to the bee-hunters." 



30 



