1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



51 



result was just the reverse. Mr Lambrecht, we 

 ■Ave to\d, failed altogether I And how? He was 

 refused a hearino- ! How this is to be explained, 

 I know not. Heretofore, the Convention was 

 ever disposed to invite and allow free discussion 

 of all questions pertaining to bee-culture, whether 

 of a theoretical or practical cast ; and to accept, 

 with enthusiastic applause every new invention 

 or device tending to advance the favorite pursuit 

 of its members. But this I know for certain, 

 that Mr. Lambrecht's theory, despite of this op- 

 position, will work its way, and finally meet 

 with universal acceptance. I therefore beg this 

 resjiected assembly not to withhold due atten- 

 tion to this im])ortant matter, but to contribute 

 all they can towards a full comi>liance with ihe 

 stipulations on which the speedy promulgation 

 of Mr. Lambrecht's curative process depends." 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Polanisia Purpurea. 



Mr. Editor : — I would like to give the readers 

 of the journal my experience with the Rocky 

 Mountain bee plant Polanisia purpurea. In 

 18G8, I had the pleasure of receiving some of the 

 seed from Mr. J. L. Hubbard, then of Walpole, 

 N. H. ; and from sixteen plants that grew, I got 

 six quarts of seed. It comes into bloom about 

 the last of July, and continues till frost comes. 

 The bees work on it from morning till night. 



In selecting honey-producing plants, it should 

 be the aim of the bee-keeper to plant such as 

 would be of benefit to stock or poultry as well as 

 bees. Now I find that my poultry will eat the 

 seed of the Polanisia in a short time as readily 

 as buckwheat ; and there is no plant on my farm 

 that stands the drouth equal to it. At present 

 (July 25th) we are having a very sjvere drouth 

 and extreme heat, yet with the temperature 

 ranging from 90" to 108" in the shade, not a leaf 

 of the Polanisia wilts; on the contrary, it is 

 making a very rapid growth. Taking every- 

 thing into consideration, I think it is worthy the 

 attention of bee-keepers. 



A. Grken. 



Amesbury, Mass. 



[From the London "Journal of Horticulture."] 



Bees in Borneo and Timor. 



Having recently perused Mr. Spencer St. 

 John's very interesting work on Borneo, pub- 

 lished in 1862, under the title of '-Life in the 

 Forests of the Far East," I have made notes of 

 several passages relating to the apian aborigines 

 of that magnificent tropical island : — 



Speaking of the agricultural pursuits of the 

 "SeaDayaks." Mr. St. John says — "They ob- 

 tain beeswax from the nesls built on the tajjang 

 tree, and climb the loftiest heights in search of 

 it, upon small sticks which they drive in as they 

 advance up the noble stem that rises above one 

 hundred feet free of branches, and whose girth 

 varies from fifteen to twenty-five feet. Once 



these pegs are driven in, their outer ends are 

 connected by a stout rattan, wiiich, with the 

 tree, forms a kind of ladder. It requires cool 

 and deliberate courage to take a bee-hive at so 

 great an elevation, where, in ca.se of being 

 attacked by the V)ees, the almost naked man 

 would fall and be dashed to atoms. They de- 

 pend upon the flambeaux they carry up with 

 them, as, wdien the man disturbs the hive, the 

 sparks falling from it cause, it is said, the bees 

 to fly down in chase of them instead of attack- 

 ing their real enemy, who then takes tlie hive 

 and low'ers it down by a rattan string. The 

 bees escape unhurt. This plan does not appear 

 to be as safe as that pursued V)y the Pakatan 

 Dayaks, who kindle a large fire under the trees, 

 and, throwing green branches upon it, raise so 

 stifling a smoke that the bees rush forth, and 

 the man ascending takes their nest in safety. 

 Both these operations are generally conducted at 

 night, although the second might be, I imagine, 

 practised in safety during the day." 



With regard to the "Land Dayaks" it is 

 stated, that "To the left of the Sirambau are 

 some very fine tapang trees, in which the bees 

 generally build their nests ; they are considered 

 private property, and a Da yak from a neighbor- 

 ing tribe venturing to help himself to some of 

 this apjiarently wild honey and wax would be 

 punished for theft." This is the first hint that is 

 given of bees being considered in any respect as 

 private property, but the following passage 

 would seem to indicate that the dome tication 

 of the honey-bee is not altogether unknown in 

 the island : — " During the night, our rest was 

 much disturbed by bees, which stung us several 

 times, and Mr. Lowe, with that acuteness which 

 never deserts him in all questions of natural 

 history, pronounced them to be the ' tame ' bees, 

 the same as he had last seen thirteen years ago 

 among the Senah Dayaks, in Sarawak. About 

 midnight we were visited by a big fellow, who, 

 our guides assured us, wanted to pilfer ; but we 

 found next morning that he had come to com- 

 plain of his hives having been plundered. On 

 inquiry, we discovered the man who had done 

 the deed. He was fined three times the value 

 of tlie damage, and the amount handed over to 

 the owner." 



During one of his adventurous expeditions np 

 the river Limbang, Mr. St. John found a Paka- 

 tan named Japer, who accompanied him, a 

 storehouse of information. He had a thoi'ough 

 faith in ghosts and spirits, and told of many an ad- 

 venture with them, and of the Antus who caused 

 the death of the wax-hunters, by pushing them 

 off the mengiris or tajjang tree. When tlie un- 

 fortunate men, from inefficient preparations, as 

 their companions not keeiiing up a great fire 

 under the trees to stupefy the bees, are so stung 

 as to let go their hold, the natural explanation 

 is never taken ; they fly to their superstitions. 

 Japer' s nephew saw one of these tapang gliosts, 

 and managed to keep his eye upon him and pre- 

 vent him pushing him off, he came down with- 

 out accident, but without any wax. I suggested 

 that he invented the ghost to excuse his timidity, 

 which Japer thought probable. To-day we 

 passed one of these lofty trees bearing above 

 twenty bees' nests, among them four old ones 



