NOTES, 33 
toddy has a great attraction for them, and many get drowned 
in the sweet juice. A gentleman who has some experience of 
bee-keeping has come to the conclusion that only some of the hive 
inhabitants are addicted to the use of the fermenting liquid, a fact 
he is said to have discovered by marking the drunken bees with a 
dot of paint and noting the intoxicated condition of some who 
escape drowning and return to the hive. Whether there were 
sufficient data to warrant such a conclusion I am not prepared to 
say ; but observations made in India corroborate the statement 
that the honey bee is particularly fond of toddy from the coco- 
anut palm and probably from other palms as well. 
The bee has many enemies. 
Geckos either watch for them on the alighting board or enter 
into the hive for a meal ; garden lizards (“* blood-suckers”’) take up 
a position near the hive and snap up any bees coming their way ; 
spiders spin webs and trap bees, but sometimes also enter the hive ; 
cockroaches are common in hives and appear to attack the combs ; 
ants as a rule go after honey, but I have seen a party of red ants 
attempting to attack and capture bees; the bee moth and wax 
moth are not unknown. Mr. A. P. Goonetilleke of Veyangoda, has 
been greatly troubled with hornets raiding his hives. They kill 
the bees but do not appear to care for the honey. Mr. Goone- 
tilleke informs me that the birds known as kawda, redihora, and 
polkichcha attack bees on the wing. 
C. DRIEBERG, 
Colombo, March 26, 1906. 

3. Scorpion Stings.—In reply to Mr. Green’s request in his note 
on this subject in the last issue of this journal I write to say that I 
have experience of the sting of the small gray scorpion, and do not 
think it any more severe than that of our indigenous honey bee 
(Apis indica). The native remedy for the sting is a mixture of 
lime juice and slaked lime (the latter in the form of ‘‘ chunam ”’ used 
for betel-chewing). 
“ Kha” (K. H. Aitken) in his charming book, “‘ The Tribes of my 
Frontier,” referring to the scorpion as a superfluous enormity which 
cannot justify its existence, mentions that a drop of strong 
ammonia is an almost instant cure. I have found a saturated 
solution of salt as efficacious in the case of bee stings. 
C. DRIEBERG. 
Colombo, March 21, 1906. 
F 10(2)06 
