BEES 

 BEES'- WAX APIS FLOREA 



FlowerBee 



bee ft" Khandi -sli, found on bushes in the vicinity of large expanses of KhandMh Be. 

 fr</Mif/ir. is I. HI ,,M,- of til-- many varieties of thin species. 



h-.ney it affords ia but small in quantity, and when found on trees is 

 in inequality. It appears to improve when produced within large comlm 

 proteeted hives. In Burma (Ka> hin country) a sort of domestication has BornuM B**- 

 11 attempted apparently with this species, though with little success. Ac- ouitar*. 



MI.- writers its honey is superior to that of the other two species, 

 as a whole, however, .. i %/ is regarded as the most valuable 

 ; t. though it is never domesticated in any way. 



[The following additional works may be consulted: Linschoten, Voy. E. 

 1.. l.Vis. , . _'!. t>7, 130 ; Ain-i-Akbari (Gladwin, transl.), ii., 37, 80, 95 ; Hoff- 

 '/>/. in Ceylon and Cont. Ind., 1848 (Engl. transl.), 339; Adams, 

 Nat., 1867, 80; Lewin, Wild Races S.E. Ind., 1870, 80; Hoey, Monog. 

 and Manuf. N. Ind., 40 ; Douglas, Handbook Bee-keeping Ind., 1884 ; 

 .1, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., 1888, iii., 183 ; Cunningham, Plagues 

 and Pleasures of Life in Beng., 1907, 34-9, etc.] 



II. BEES'- WAX. This substance is best known by the following 

 mes mom, sinth, mena, min, mozhukin, mainam, mezhuka, lelin, phayoni, 

 (1 in the classic madhujam, siktha, shama, etc. 



Tin- observations already made regarding the species of bees met 

 ith in India afford incidentally certain particulars regarding wax. 

 may, however, be useful to disregard the individual insects and to 

 ing together provincially the particulars available regarding the centres 

 I supply. The season for making wax would appear to be the hotter 

 months, viz. April to June. The separation of the honey from the wax 

 usually done in the crudest manner possible by the persons who collect 

 e combs. Refinement is rarely practised, but adulteration is not 

 usual, and although under the Indian sun it might be readily bleached, 

 .dian wax is rarely so treated, but on the contrary is purposely coloured 

 ith turmeric. It is made up in balls, rolls, cakes or blocks, sometimes 

 oulded and at times even as much as 2 feet in diameter and 6 to 9 inches 

 in thickness. 



Hooper's paper (I.e. 82-100) should be consulted for fuller details, but the 

 following abstract may be useful : 



Bengal. Supplies are drawn by Calcutta from the Sundribans, Chota 

 agpur, Chittagong, Darjeeling, Bhutan and Nepal. It would appear that 

 .verage qualities realise from Ks. 53 to as much as Rs. 75 a maund. It is 

 gely consigned to Singapore and the Straits Settlements. 



Assam.- The dealers in wax reside in Sylhet, and they derive their 

 pplies from the Khasia hills and wild tracts beyond the frontier. Naga wax 

 usually sold in rolls cast in bamboo moulds. Assam wax is of inferior 

 ality as a rule. 



United Provinces. The right of collecting honey and wax is leased, 

 t a decline in the supply has recently taken place. It is drawn from 

 e Eastern Dun Forests, Khari, etc. The trade is chiefly in the hands of 

 ers resident in Saharanpur. It fetches about 11 annas a pound, the im- 

 ported foreign bleached wax realising about 9 annas. 



Central Provinces. It has been stated that the forests of these provinces 

 capable of yielding 500 maunds of honey and 100 maunds of wax 

 mially. In Chadgarh bees are so plentiful that it is impossible to beat 

 the forests for big game. Ratgarh hill has been described as a "hive of 

 bee;-,." The following are the chief localities of supply in alphabetical 

 sequence of names Betul, Chanda, Chhindwara, Damoh, Hoshangabad, Jabbal- 

 pur, Mai. din, Nimar, Raipur, Sambalpur and Wardha. Wax fetches locally, 

 according to quality and season, from 3 annas to 12 annas per pound. There 

 are said to be two seasons for collecting April to May, and again November 

 to December. 



Panjab. Bee-culture and the collection of honey and wax from wild 

 bees seems to be confined to the hilly country. The districts most famed are 

 Bashahr, Charnba, Hazara, Jhelum, Kangra, Kashmir, Kullu, Simla, etc. Certain 



125 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 263 71. 

 Wax. 



Season of 



making. 



Bleached. 

 Coloured. 



Regions of 



Supply. 



Calcutta. 



Sylhet. 



Saharanpur. 



? 



Supplies of the 

 Hills. 



