HONKY 



BEES 



BEES' HONEY 



Method of 



Collection. 



necessarily those of the former. Occasionally, however, the wax is neglected 



.tn'l tin- |>n><lu<-tion and mile of the honey becomes the important aspect. Honey 

 ;.-ntiiiil uil.l |ir...lin-t ..V.T the greater part of India, and in obtained also 

 Uees in a state of semi-domestication, chiefly in the hills of the Panjab. It 



!< highly appreciated as an article of food by the inhabitant* uf many parts of 



I -> employed to preserve fruits, and in the Khasia hills, apparently, PwMTTtlre. 



mi hi n bodies are sometimes temporarily preserved in it. At certain seasons, 



a I it loss to the flowers visited by the bees, or possibly to the species of 



t. the honey has intoxicating and even poisonous properties. The honey Intoxication. 

 various species of Indian bees, mentioned above, at all events varies 



I- rably. The most abundant is that of .4. aormitn, which provides the A. dorsata 

 r portion of the honeys of the United Provinces, the Central Provinces, Honey. 



. lloml.av, Madras and Burma. This is the insect of the Kundahs, the Kundah. 



>f which is collected in March and again in September. The March crop 

 t>est. Mr. A. Mervyn Smith published in the Statesman in 1895 a most 

 live account of the Honey and Wax collection of the Kundah country. 



is representative of the operations pursued in the Nilgiri hills, in the 

 in the Sattyamangalam hills and elsewhere, a fairly extensive passage 

 abstracted : 



strong stake was driven into the ground 15 or 20 feet away from the edge 

 ' the precipice, as a purchase for the rope, as it was being lowered down the face 

 the precipice. One end of the cane-rope had a double loop, in which a Koo- 

 iber seated himself, his feet being supported by a short stirrup of bark. A 

 reed-like bamboo, 20 feet long, armed with a reaping-hook at the end, 

 to cut the combs from the rocks. A small landing-net below the sickle 

 aived the combs as cut. A light cord, running through a loop about 10 feet 

 the head of the gatherer, and fastened to the sickle-end of the rod, enables 

 gatherer to use the rod as a derrick, which he can raise, lower, and swing to 

 position, without being inconvenienced with the weight of the combs in the 

 \V) ifii the net is full, he empties the contents into a large close-framed 

 lined with leaves, which is suspended from a separate cord ; and this 

 at is drawn up when filled. The occupation of gatherer is extremely danger- 

 requires steady nerves. In many cases the men are suspended 400 feet 

 in the top of the cliff, with many hundreds of feet below them to the bottom 

 of the precipice. These cane-ropes are immensely strong and stand more rough Cane-ropes. 



than one made of fibre, and they are also extremely light. The suspending 

 is shifted about from place to place in answer to signals with the hand from 

 low. Immediately the bees are disturbed, they crowd round the gatherers in 

 riads. The men are literally covered with a coating of bees from head to foot 

 id present a most curious appearance, just as if they were covered with rusty 



armour, each link of which is in motion. The pungent smell of the wood- Wood-smoke. 

 )ke from the bodies of the gatherers has a kind of paralysing effect on bees 

 prevents them stinging. The flight of bees thus disturbed could be dis- 

 ctly seen from where we were, half a mile off, and resembled a flight of locusts. 

 7e could even hear the humming noise made by the irritated insects. In about 

 hours all the combs within reach had been collected and the ropes were 

 *wn up." 

 The next most important honey is that of .4. imiim. an insect found here A. indica 



there all over India, but semi-domesticated in the Khasia hills and the Honey. 

 mitains of the United Provinces, of the Panjab and of N.W. Frontier Pro- The Hills 

 ices. It is accordingly the chief source of the honeys of Assam and the 

 ijab, and possibly also of Bengal. The third form is hardly a commercial 

 tide, though when found in sheltered positions it is said to be remarkably good, 

 is the honey of A., jtore.it. This is met with in the Central Provinces, Bom- 

 bay, Berar, Madras and Burma. Lastly, some of the species of Mfiiponn afford 

 honey. This is incidentally alluded to by Hooper all through his review of 

 the information recently collected by the Reporter on Economic Products. He 

 tells us that it is often tainted with a peculiar odour, and has a bitterish and 

 acid taste. It has, however, a considerable reputation in many parts of India 

 for it* medicinal properties. In some parts of the country (Nellore) the honey Medicinal 

 of the dammar- bee is said to be intoxicating, and in Kanara it is reported that Properties. 

 the insect is semi-domesticated. [Cf. Institutes of Manu, iii., 119 ; v., 41 ; viii., 131, 

 etc. ; Bnrbosa, Coasts E. Africa and Malabar (ed. Hakl. Soc.), 167; Lawrence, 

 Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 366 ; Journ. Board Agri., 1898, 335-9 ; Bee-keeping, 

 Imp. Dept. Agri., West Ind., 1901.] 



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