BEES. 



.55 



BEES. 



find them little different from common Ital- 

 ians. The fringe, or down, that appears on 

 the rings of the abdomen of young bees is a 

 trifle whiter than usual, yet no one would 

 observe it unless attention were called to it. 

 The queens are very yellow, while the work- 

 ers, as honey-gatherers, are decidedly inferi- 

 or, even in the second generation: and when 

 we select light-colored bees or queens for 

 several successive generations, unless care- 

 ful we develop only a worker progeny lack- 

 ing ability as honey-gatherers and endur- 

 ance. By selection we can get almost any 

 thing we want, and that quite speedily with 

 bees; for we can produce several genera- 

 tions in a single season if need be. 



EASTERN RACES OF BEES. 



Cyprians, Holy-Lands, or Syrians, are 

 mentioned later under the head of Ital- 

 ians. Of other Eastern races I can do no 

 better than to quote what ^Ir. Frank Ben- 

 ton, formerly Apicultural Expert of the U. 

 S. Department of Agriculture, has said of 

 them in a special bulletin issued by the De- 

 partment, entitled " Honey-bee," containing 

 118 pages. Mr. Benton spent some months 

 in the jungles of India, in search of new bees. 

 Eor this reason, if for no other, he is able to 

 give us authoritative information. From 

 the bulletin above mentioned we make the 

 following extracts : 



THE COMMON EAST-INDIAN HONEY-BEE. 



{Apis Indica. Fab.) 

 The common bee of Southern Asia is kept in very 

 limited numbers and with a smaU degree of profit in 

 earthen jars and sections of hollow trees in portions 

 of the British and Dutch East Indies. Thej- are also 

 found wild, and build when in this state in hollow 

 trees and in rock-clefts. Their combs are composed 

 of hexagonal wax cells, and are arranged parallel to 





FIG. I. — WORKER -CELLS OF COMMON EAST-INDIAN 

 HONEY-BEE (APIS INDICA), NATURAL SIZE. 



each other like those of A. nielli/ica, but the worker 

 brood-cells are smaller than those of our ordinary 

 bees, showing 36 to the square inch of surface instead 

 of 29; while the comb where worker-brood is reared, 

 instead of having, like that of A. mellifica, a thickness 

 of seven-eighths inch, is but five-eighths inch thick. 



(Fig 1) 



The workers. — The bodies of these, three-eighths 

 inch long -when empty, measure about one-half inch 

 when dilated with honey. The thorax is covered with 

 brownish hair, and the shield or crescent between the 

 wings is large and j-ellow. The abdomen is yellow 

 underneath. Above it presents a ringed appearance 



I the anterior part of each segment being orange yel- 



I low, while the posterior part shows bands of brown of 



greater or less width, and covered with whitish-brown 



hairs; tip black. They are nimble on foot and on the 



I wing, and active gatherers. 



The queens. — The queens are large in proportion to 

 their workers, and are quite prolific; color, leather or 

 dark copper. The drones. — These are only slightly 

 larger than the workers; color, a jet-like blue-black, 

 without yellow, their strong wings showing changing 

 hues like those of wasps. 



Manipulations with colonies of these bees are easy to 

 perform if smoke be used ; and, though they are more 

 excitable than our common hive-bees, this peculiaritj' 

 does not induce excessive stinging, hut seems rather 

 to proceed from fear. The sting is also less severe. 



Under the rude methods thus far emploj-ed in the 

 management of this bee no great yields of honej' 

 are obtained, some 10 or 12 pounds having been the 

 most reported from a single hive. It is quite probable 

 these little bees would j'ield more if imported into 

 this country, since thej' could no doubt visit many 

 small flowers not frequented by the hive-bees we 

 now have, and whose nectar is, therefore, wasted; but 

 ver>- likely they might not withstand the severe win- 

 ters of the North unless furnished with such extra 

 protection as would be afforded by quite warm cellars 

 or special repositories. 



Here is something exceedingly interesting 

 regarding the smallest honey-bees in the 

 world. Just take a look at the size of the 

 cells as shown in the figure, natural size, 

 and then compare them in your mind"s eye 

 with comb in your own apiary. Well, here 

 is what Mr. Benton has to say : 



THE TINY E.AST-INDIAN HONEY-BEE. 



[Apis florea. Fab.) 

 This bee, also a native of East India, is the .smallest 

 known species of the genus. It builds in the open air, 

 attaching a single comb to a twig of a shrub, or small 

 tree. This comb is only about the size of a man's 

 hand, and is exceedingly delicate, there being on each 



FIG. 3. COMB OF TINY EAST-INDI.-i.N HONEY-BEE (API 



FLOREA), ONE-THIRD NATURAL SIZE. 



