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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTQRE. 



527 



fact that there is no one to take his place as an 

 author and student in apiculture. I know of 

 editors of bee- papers who have never read 

 Reaumur's work, the foundation-stone of bee 

 culture. All these things make it difficult to 

 convey to the average bee-keeper just what 

 chances there are of improving practical api- 

 culture by introducing new species (not races) 

 of bees. The domestic animals of the United 

 States are all introductions; and the introduc- 

 tion of Apis dorsata would probably, in my 

 opinion, be of more importance than either os- 

 triches or reindeer. 



The more we diversify our business, the more 

 likely we are to succeed. The introduction of 

 a new species of bees would give us a standing 

 in the eyes of the world we do not now pos- 

 sess. What I should expect from Apis dorsata 

 would be: 



1. A larger number of flowers visited having 

 deep nectaries. 



2. A larger area covered by its greater power 

 of flight. 



3. More wax produced. 



4. Honey to come to us now going to bumble- 

 bees. 



5. A greater power to take care of itself 

 against wasps, etc. 



It is, of course, problematical somewhat as to 

 what would be the greatest advantage till we 

 know more about them. Certain it is, they are 

 valuable, and compare favorably with Mellifi- 

 ca. I should be discouraged if I did not know 

 how our own honey-bee behaves in the tropics. 

 It is often said that dorsata is migratory in its 

 habits; but our own honeybee does the same 

 thing pretty much. This is news, but it is a 

 fact. A bee-tree is not a bee-tree very long in 

 the tropics. When the rainy seasons come, 

 enemies of all sorts come to eat their honey and 

 wax, till, in sheer exasperation, evidently, the 

 colony decamps, leaving his abode in the hands 

 of its enemies. Bees in the tropics get no peace. 



It may strike your readers as very strange, 

 but flowers are scarce in the tropics. I sup- 

 pose that Ontario is a better placp. for flowers 

 than Brazil, under the equator. One of the 

 lies we are taught in childhood is that tropical 

 countries have lots of flowers. Dr. Miller 

 would find wintering quite a problem in the 

 equator— just as much so as in Illinois. For 

 months the bees get hardly an ounce of honey. 

 Then they are annoyed by swarms of ants, 

 termites, and moths. 



Then Ajns dorsata is accused of working 

 nights. So does Melliflca. Bees in the tropics 

 work nights and mornings only, for the very 

 good reason that the vertical sun evaporates 

 all the nectar out of the tubes in the middle of 

 the day. My own bees used to fly around 

 moonlight night? in the tropics, and no won- 

 der; for a moonlight night in Capricorn is su- 

 perb; but I could never discover that they did 



any thing nights. On the eastern side of the 

 Andes the little rivulets trickle down the 

 mountain side till about 10 or 11 a. m., then 

 stop altogether for the day. This is about the 

 time bees stop till about 4 p. m., when work is 

 resumed. 



Lately dorsata was accused of being a great 

 stinger; but among a certain class our own pet 

 has a similar name. 



A great amount of data has been collected 

 about the bees of India; and the government 

 of India has published a book about the bees of 

 India that are kept in hives. If we can't do 

 any better we can get the bees the natives 

 have, and try them. 



The bees of Bhotan are kept in hives, and 

 are diff'erent from ours. It seems to me that, if 

 these natives, with their rude hives, can keep 

 these bees, we ought to do a leetle better. 



The reports furnished to the government of 

 India show that the bees of that country suffer 

 from moths and men chiefly. They do not cul- 

 tivate our bees — only Europeans do this. Our 

 bees do not mix with theirs. 



Bermuda. 



[Our correspondent, Mr. Morrison, in his first 

 paragraph, must surely have misunderstood 

 me in wnat I said concerning Apix dorsata, on 

 pages 390 and 396. On neither page did I say 

 any thing about their '"changing the flora" of 

 America. The nearest approach to it was that 

 they would be "out of harmony with the gen- 

 eral flora of America," and this was but en- 

 dorsing the opinion of that scientist and an 

 authority, Mr. Frank R. Cheshire, whom I had 

 just been quoting. 



We have permitted the use of the term " hy- 

 brids" when referring to crosses between 

 blacks and Italians, simply because it had be- 

 come generally accepted. And in the same 

 way we have permitted the use of the term 

 "fertile workers" when we meant "laying 

 workers." just the same as everbody speaks 

 about the sun rising, when, in fact, it does not 

 rise at all; or when we say the tea-kettle boils, 

 when it is only the water in it to which we re- 

 fer; or when we say the eaves drip, when it is 

 only the water running from them. Even if 

 we were to change the term " hybrid " to 

 "cross." bee keepers all over the country 

 would be continually using the term they were 

 long accustomed to. As to the term "races of 

 bees," it is not any worse than that commonly 

 accepted by the whole human family when it 

 refers to " races of men." If we must stop using 

 the term " races of bees." then our geographies- 

 and our general literature must correct them- 

 selves in the use of the term African race, 

 Malay race. etc. The Standard dictionary, the 

 latest and best, gives as one of its definitions 

 of race. " A stock or strain as of domestic ani- 

 mals or plants." "Race "as we have used it 

 in reference to bees is correct according to this. 



There is a tendency in language to give sec- 

 ondary meanings to words, and these secondary 

 meanings often and even generally intrench 

 themselves in the language of the masses so 

 firmly that strict accuracy would really amount 

 to inaccuracy. 



But in reference to Apis dorsata. I am will- 

 ing to take back any thing I said referring to 

 the undesirability of bringing them to this 

 country ; and in view of what our correspond- 



