1902 



glp:anings in bee culture. 



321 



Central Uniou of Scientific Industries, of 

 San Salvador, Central America. It is 

 f^ratifyincf to see the apparent prog"ress be- 

 ini,-- made in bee-keeping", as well as all 

 other branches of aj^-ri culture, in that little 

 republic whose interests have of late be- 

 come so closely identified with our own. 

 The work is all Spanish. 



We have just received from England the 

 foll(nvinof, printed in tract form, from the 

 pen of Mr. R. Hamlyn-Harris, one of the 

 best bee-writers of Europe. It is reprinted 

 from the Entomologist'' s Record. As it 

 seems to cover, in very concise and reliable 

 form, all that is now known relative to Apis 

 (lorsata, I give it complete. The reader 

 can draw his own conclusion. 



It is now some years since the idea was first con- 

 ceived, tliat. l)y the introduction of Apis dorsata 

 (known as the Giant bee of India), a vahiable addi-^ 

 lion to our fauna would be obtained, yielding a larger 

 quanlit\- of honey and wax, and generally more prof- 

 itable than our honeybee. Apis mellifica and its 

 different varieties— var. ligustica, var. Carniolia, etc. 

 According to Ualla Torre; 



' Apis dorsata, Fabr., occurs in Assam, India, and 

 Java. Var. bicolor, Klug, occurs in Assam, India. Cey- 

 lon, and Java. Var. testacea, .Smith, occurs i" Assam 

 aiid Borneo. Var. zonata occurs in Assam, Celebes, 

 and the Philippines." [The var. zonala also occurs in 

 India, whch is not mentioned bj- Dalla Torre.] 



About three years ago a special enquiry was set on 

 foot to ascertain whether or not the Giant bee of India 

 was really a suitable subject for domestication. At 

 that time I was permitted to look over various reports 

 at the India Office, and all these agreed that Apis dor- 

 sata, mentioned generally under native names, could 

 not be domesticated, on account of its intractable 

 character i he chief points noted are: 



I. It is said to be exceedingly viciou.s, often attack- 

 ing man or beast on the smallest provocation. 2. It 

 preserves the same habits and apptarance wherever 

 its habitat. 3. It has never been known to build its 

 nest under shelter, but mostly on isolated lofty trees 

 or overhanging rocks. After the honey sea.son the 

 bees will desert their nests, and often travel for long 

 periods and great distances, even crossing such moun- 

 tain chains as the Nilgherris in their course. 5. They 

 build single combs. 6. And are used to approach 

 from north, .south, east, or west. They rarely remain 

 in one locality for more than three weeks, emigrating 

 as flowers become scarcer. 



We will consider these points more in detail, to 

 make the subject better understood. Among the hill- 

 men, near Darjeeling (Eastern Himalayas), this bee is 

 known by the name Cargoo. and is generally an object 

 of fear and dislike, according to Sladen It will be 

 readily seen the risk of introducing such a bee, even 

 were "it po-sible, into a thickly populated country 

 would be too great. Not only the hill-men of Du- 

 jeeling find Api- dorsata an undesirable neighbor, but 

 ::11 are agreed on the subject who have had any experi- 

 ence in the matter. Interesting, however, 'S the way 

 i I which the natives of the Malay Archipelago, fur 

 iristance, take the comb and honey, sliowing much 

 com age on their part. Perhaps, also, the Apis i^orsata 

 may be somewhat less dreaded in the islands than on 

 the mainland of India. The native, having located 

 the nest (some 70 to 80 feet from the ground, some- 

 times even more*), repairs by night to the spot, and 

 after a weari.some climb, sometimes lasti g an hour, 

 with only the smoke fumes of a torch drives the bees 

 away from the combs, which are then severed from 

 the boughs and let down bj' cords to his helpers 

 below. Such a rough-and-ready style of proceeding 

 must necessarily provoke the bees, and stings, as one 

 may suppose, are plentiful; still the tribesmen do tiot 

 seem much concerned. It is well known that one of 

 the greatest obstacles to the domestication of this bee 

 is its ntitural wildne.ss and its inability to settle per- 

 manently in one spot. When we consider that Apis 

 dorsata usually makes its nest in wild and rocky 

 country, remaining in one locality only so long as 



* This is for protection against the bears, which are 

 (as is known] fond of honey, and would climb the 

 trees in search of it. 



flowers abound, we shall better realize why it moves 

 from pi. ice to place, and the importance of so doing 

 to its general welfare. Therefore we see that only by 

 completely altering its natural habits could we hope 

 to domesticate this lice, or bring it into use under dif- 

 fering cirf^umstances from those in which it hasalways 

 live I, Also on account of its size, and the power of 

 its flight, the Giant bee will travel as much as a hun- 

 dred miles before again settling down to liome life.* 

 It i-; not so much the honey eathered by these bees 

 which is valuable to the natives, but the large quanti- 

 ties of comb they produce; the latter, being melted 

 down into wax, forms a valuable article of industrj' 

 in India. The hillmen do not trouble much about the 

 honey, but are said to eat the young bees and larvae 

 with great gusto. 



Another great hindrance to domestication is the way 

 they build their nests, quite in the open, entirely un- 

 protected, and always single combs from about five to 

 six feet in length, and about two to three feet in depth. 

 Some fine specimens of th'se combs are to be seen in 

 the South Kensington Natural - History Museum. 

 When a species of insect has been used to certain hab- 

 its for endless generations — in fact, has never known 

 any others it will be readily understood how difficult 

 would be the problem prrsented to us did we attempt 

 to keep such a refractory creature in confinement. 

 The only attempt made seems to have been a failure. 

 A queen-bee was tied by a thread to a stick and placed 

 in the hollow of a tree. and. after two to three months. 

 a verv small piece of comb was found, and, the exper- 

 iment proving useless, it was abandoned. Since this a 

 writer t i the last Government report says that he 

 " had seven hives all well and fed for the winter," but 

 in the spring the ' little brutes " decamped by twent3- 

 and thirty a day, until each queen in turn left its hive 

 in disgust. Clipping the queen's wings, as is done io 

 modern bee-keeping, would prove fatal to Apis dorsa- 

 ta. On account of her uncontrollable character she 

 would probably be lost. The question arises, If we 

 can not domesticate Apis dorsata itself, could we bj- 

 judicious crossing attain the desired end? The best 

 an-wer to this question will. I think, be found in the 

 fact that European bees exist which are closely allied 

 to a species found in Northern India, which never 

 crossed with Apis dorsata. All these facts considered, 

 there only remains Apis Indica, very similar to our 

 Europeanbee, with which domestication might be a 

 succes- ; but if any real advantage would arise there- 

 from or not is doubtful ; but no doubt can remain that 

 the facts relating to Apis dorsata must for ever bar the 

 way to its domestication. 



It would seem from this that, notwith- 

 standing the large amount of wax and 

 honey which this bee produces, and which 

 is sold .so largely in India, it is incapable 

 of domestication. This agrees substantial- 

 ly with whiit F. W. L. Sladen and others 

 have said. 



CI.IPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle. The sun 

 shone so brightly, and the air seemed so 

 springlike, that I thought I would run in a 

 little while, and, if j'ou were not too busy, 

 have a little chat with you relative to clip- 

 ping queens' wings." 



"Yes, it is a nice morning, and looks as 

 if spring might open up before long ; but 

 there is still plenty of tiine for much rough 

 weather before the bees will be out of the 

 cellar. But what did you wish to know 

 about clipping the wings of queens?" 



" I have never clipped my queens, and 



* Apis dorsata is, however, inclined to fly somewhat 

 clumsily, and to v'sit flowers somewhat listlessly. 



