402 STINGLESS HONEY BEE. 



were formerly supposed to have no sting. According 

 to Sir J. G. Dalyell, there are bees in India that con- 

 struct under the boughs of a tree a single comb of 

 very large dimensions" 



The most interesting account of exotic bees that 

 I have met with, is in Captain Basil Hall's highly in- 

 structive and interesting journal, written on the coast 

 of Chili, Peru and Mexico, in 1820-'21 and '22, of 

 which I shall here give a transcript. 



" From the Plaza, we went to a house where a 

 bee-hive of the country was opened in our presence. 

 The bees, the honey comb, and the hive dhTer essen- 

 tially from those in England. The hive is generally 

 made out of a log of wood, from two to three feet 

 long and eight or ten inches in diameter, hollowed 

 out and closed at the ends by circular doors cemented 

 closely to the wood, but capable of being removed at 

 pleasure. 



"Some persons use cylindrical hives, made of 

 earthern-ware, instead of the clumsy apparatus of 

 wood ; these are relieved by raised figures and cir- 

 cular rings, so as to form rather handsome ornaments 

 in the verandah of a house, where they are sus- 

 pended by cords from the roof, in the same manner 

 that wooden ones in the villages are hung to the eaves 

 of the cottages. 



" On one side of the hive, half way between the 

 ends; there is a small hole made just large enough 

 for a loaded bee to enter, and shaded by a projection 

 to prevent the rain from trickling in. In this hole, 



