ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. Xlll 



principal distinction between tliem consisting in the kind oi' 

 entrance to their hives ; the Tuhi makes it of wax, the Ataldra of 

 clay ; its honey is very good. 6. Oarit'i. Of a blackish colour, 

 and about the same size as the Tiib't ; its honey is rather sour and 

 not good. 7. Tataira. About the size of the Tuhi, but with a 

 yellow body and a black head; its honey is excellent. 8. Mum- 

 hiico. Black, and larger than the Tuhi; the honey after being 

 kept about an hour becomes as sour as lemon juice. 9. Bejui. 

 Very like the Tuhi but smaller; its honey is excellent. 10. 

 Titibd. Of the size of a large house-fly, and of a greyish black 

 colour; its honey is excellent. II. Bora. About the size of a 

 house-fly, and of a yellowish colour ; its honey is acid. 12. 

 Urussu. About the size of a large humble-bee; the head is black 

 and the body yellowish; it produces good honey. 13. Urussu 

 preto. Entirely black, and upwards of one inch in length ; it like- 

 wise produces good honey. 14. Canhira. Black, and about the 

 same size as the Urussu jneto ; its honey is too bitter to be eat- 

 able ; it is said to be a great thief of the honey of other bees. 

 15. Chupe. About the size of the Tiuhd, and of a black colour, 

 it makes its hive of clay on the branches of trees, and is often of 

 a very large size; its honey is good. 10. Urapud. Very like the 

 Chujjc, but it always builds its hive rounder, flatter, and smaller. 

 1 7. Enc¥i. This is a kind of wasp, about the size of a house-fly ; 

 its head is black and the body yellow ; it builds its hive in the 

 branches of trees ; this is of a papery tissue and about three feet 

 in circumference; its honey is good. \^. Enchd pequeno. Very 

 similar to the last, but it always makes a smaller hive ; it also pro- 

 duces good honey. " The first eleven of these honey-bees con- 

 struct their cells in the hollow trunks of trees, and the others 

 either in similar situations or beneath the ground ; it is only the 

 three last kinds which sting, all the others being harmless. Tlie 

 only attempt I ever saw to domesticate any of these bees was by 

 a Cornish miner in the gold district, who cut off those portions of 

 the trunks of the trees which contained the nests and hung them 

 up under the eaves of his house ; they seemed to thrive very well, 

 but whenever the honey was wanted it was necessary to destroy 

 the bees. Both the Indians and the other inhabitants of the 

 country are very expert in tracing these insects to the trees in 

 which they hive ; they generally mix the honey, which is very 

 fluid, with farinha [flour?] before they eat it, and of the wax they 

 make a coarse kind of taper about a yard long, which serves in 

 lieu of candles, and which the country people bring to the villages 

 for sale. We found these very convenient, and always carried a 



VOL. V. c 



