1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



301 



upon an enemy, they follow very persistently for a 

 long distance, and sometimes natives thus pursued | 

 must take to a neig'hboring- stream to escape. ' 



One ruse for escape is to break off a thickly leav- 

 ed bush and plung-e into the water, and allow the 

 1 (ranch to float down with the curreiit, while the 

 fugitive plunges down into the water. The bees 

 then follow the branch down stream, and lose sight 

 of their victim. Yet, the first kind with the yellow 

 markings is not always so vicious, as they can he 

 easily subdued with smoke; and if handled care- 

 fully they seem to be as gentle as many kinds of 

 Apis melliftca, so I judge. Both kinds leave Bur- 

 mah at the beginning of the rains, and return the 

 first of February of each year. They usually re- 

 turn to their former place of abode. This is espe- 

 cially true of the yellow kind, which occupies a 

 chosen tree or trees in a particular locality year 

 after year, so that the natives buy and sell those 

 irees as valuable property. 



I judge that these bees migrate to some distance 

 to the north, for these reasons: 1. The reason why 

 they migrate at all, seems to be the- exposed posi- 

 tion of their nests, on the under side of the limbs of 

 high trees, exposed to all weather. The high winds 

 and violent showers of the beginning of the mon- 

 soons would always destroy their nests. I never 

 saw a nest survive the rains; hence, migrating on 



ence in Ceylon, shows how little we can depend on 

 their judgment in such matters. 



I now have two swarms of the A. doraata promis- 

 ed me, and men out after them. Of coui-se, I am 

 uow speaking of this bee only from report, and 

 very little from experience. I hope in due time to 

 speak from experience, and have something of 

 value to report on this most interesting insect. 



Toungoo, Burmah, Feb. 28, 1885. A. BcJNKEH. 

 [For later report, see peiye 314.] 



account of the rains, they must needs go to a climate ] 

 where the rains arc less violent, or where they can 

 find sheltering cliffs in which to build. 2. When | 

 they return they are often found resting near the j 

 ground, before selecting the tree on which to build ' 

 a new home. Sometimes they will rest there a 

 V; eek, and then take flight again. At such times 

 they are very cross, and the natives are very care- 

 ful not to go near them. There arc no cliff's or ; 

 locks in Burmah in which these bees can build. If 

 there were they.might remain here the year round, 

 as 1 understand they do in Ceylon and in Northern 

 India. 



In the Paduug- - Karen country, about 8.) miles 

 N. E. from Toungoo, these bees are in some sense 

 domesticated, also the Apia Iiulica. In order to 

 secure the service of the ^1. (io»-?of(i, the Padungs 

 dig a trench in a side hill, and drive a stout stake, 

 inclined about 4.5 degrees toward the down slope of 

 the hill, into the ground, and lean branches of 

 trees ngainst the stake on either side, making a 

 shield from the wiad. The A. ilorsata returns to | 

 these places year after year, and the natives secure i 

 bountiful harvests of wax and. honej-, always leav- 

 ing some for their yellow workers. May it not be 

 that the A. clorsntn builds one comb, onli' because it 

 does not usually find a place to build double combsV 

 The comb is so large that it must indeed be a large . 

 limb of a tree to give room for double combs. [ 

 From all inquiries which I have made, I am strong- 

 ly inclined to believe that the .4. dorsaUt can be 

 domesticated, especially the black-colored species. 

 Yet, to insure success, doubtless much study must 

 be given to the habits of this bee, and all the con- 

 ditions of domestication be approached as near as 

 ))0ssible to their wild state. The fact, as 1 am in- , 

 formed, that, in regions of less rain, in clitfs and 

 rocks these bees are found year after year, goes to 

 show that migration is not necessary to this bee as 

 to "birds of passage," etc.; that if the conditions 

 are favorable they may be kept the year I'ound. 

 The fact that these bees can be mistaken for 

 hornets by the natives, as in Mr. Benton'o expert- i 



MRS. JENNIE GULP'S EEPOET FOE 1884. 



AND A FAIU UEPOUT. EVEN THROVGH THE BAD SE.\- 

 SOX OF LAST YEAK. 



J' AM again so late in sending my report, I fear, 

 f Bro. Root, you will say of me as the good sis- 

 ters at camp meeting say, "Sister Culp always 

 ■ brings up the rear; " and I will add, especially 

 if it is her day to do the cooking. I received 

 a postal from one of your clerks some time ago. 

 saying, " We want your report, if it is a failure." 

 Now, what possessed ner to think I had failed? Was 

 it because she saw me up at Medina visiting when I 

 ought to have been home looking after my beesV or 

 was it because she knew we had extremely hot dry 

 weather in our part of the State? He that as it may, 

 I am not ready to go into the failure list yet. No, 

 no; for surely Providence smiled upon me again, 

 but not in such a bountiful manner as the preced- 

 ing year. 



Fallot 188;j I put into chaff hives 47 colonies; all 

 came out in good condition; and as my object was 

 honey, and not increase. I prevented swarming. 

 The indications were that the honey season would 

 be of short duration. I extracted but once, taking 

 1T40 lbs. of beautiful white-clover honey, and 350 

 lbs. of section honey: in addition to this 1 set away 

 100 frames of nice white-clover honey averaging 1(1 

 lbs. per frame, for winter feeding; also had 1(!0 new 

 wired frames filled with fdn. drawn out ready for 

 this summer s work. In the fall, removed the " bug- 

 juice," gave them the white-clover honey, and, as a 

 consequence, today, Ai)r. Ki, 1885, 48 out of the 47 

 were out on duty strong. A great many in this 

 locality have lost three-fourths of their bees; some 

 all. Wc are not so badly off as the good brother at 

 Bowling Green i-epreseuts his county to be; we still 

 have enough left for ' seed." 



Mks. .Iexnie Ci'1,1". 



Milliard, O., Apr. Hi, 1885. 



Thanks for your report, my good friend 

 :Mrs. Cull). I presume tlie reason why that 

 postal read as it did. was probably because I 

 happened to think of you. and so told one of 

 the girls to ask you for a report, adding that 

 we wanted vou to send it. even if it iras a fail- 

 ure. They probaljly got hold of the last end 

 of mv reniark. and omitted tlie first part. I 

 have" thought a good many times that prob- 

 ably some of the friends would think we are 

 a queer sort of ])eople here : bnt with the 

 hin-rv and iiish of many duties, it was the 

 best I could do, and so it Avent. I am very 

 glad indeed to know you have wintered so 

 well ; and your report strengthens still more 

 my opinion, that those who take pains will 

 prosper. 



The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the 

 slothful shall be under tribute.—PROv. 13:24. 



