122 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Dec, 



ter droiiping on my licad, I was grievously 

 st-nng. 



Though this bee is found in every village, and 

 the honey product, as has already been stated, 

 is quite large, we seldom find more than eight or 

 ten colonies in an apiary. Ants, which might 

 prove very injurious to tlie colonies, as in other 

 southern districts, do not occur here. 



In November and December dealers arrive 

 from the distant interior, and purchase the 

 lioney and wax. The price obtained is usually 

 2 ) Sgr per Ter of 10 lbs. [e(iual to nine cents per 

 pound.] I never could perceive any dilference 

 in tlie taste of this and the honej" produ ed in 

 Germany. 



This industrious bee is nowhere found in a 

 wild state, though it often happens tliat swarms 

 make their escape to the forests. It must 

 therefore be regarded as tlecidedly a domestic 

 bee. Though these bees can fly out nearly the 

 v\'hole year, days sometimes occur in Kotegush, 

 a village nearly Simla, in tlie hilly district, when 

 the thermometer shows o3 ' F., and the mountains 

 are covered with snow. Bees are then con- 

 strained to keep within their hives for several 

 days in succession. 



3. I now proceed to notice the third kind or 

 variety of bee, called by the Hindoos "i?rtr " — 

 a term not easily translatable. This bee is some- 

 what longer and thicker than a queen wasp, and 

 darker than the domestic bee just mentioned. 

 The sound produced by its wings when flying is 

 loud and distinct, in proportion to the size of the 

 insect, though hot so loud as that of a hornet. 

 This bee occurs only in a wild state in the forests 

 and mountains, where their two feet long reddish 

 combs may frequently be seen suspended from 

 the limbs of trees, at a height of ten or twelve 

 feet from the ground, and are commonly about 

 eighteen inches in circumference. Yet I have 

 sometimes seen them build against the gables of 

 cottages in the villages. Their sting is very 

 painful, as I have experienced on my own person 

 when passing unawares beneath a tree contain- 

 ing one of their nests. The Hindoos assured me 

 that this bee stores a lar-e quantity of honey, 

 which is probable from the fact that it is fre- 

 quently found in localities where snow falls in 

 the winter months, and as the occasional demo- 

 lition of nests built against cottage walls has 

 sliown. Still it is nowhere cultivated, either for 

 honey or wax. Their ill temper, however, can- 

 not be the .sole reason for this coemption, since 

 they may readily be subdued by smoke and 

 driven from their combs. Yet the inhabitants 

 dread them much, and do not venture to ap- 

 proach their nests — a timorousness which must 

 perhaps be regaixled as the result of some an- 

 cient superstition. 



Whether this bee could be domesticated like 

 the one previously described, I am unable to 

 say, but an efibrt to lu'ing it under subjection 

 might prove interesting and be worth making. 

 Railroads now pass near the jjlaces where it 

 is found, and could furnish the means of trans- 

 porting hived colonies to Bombay, whence they 

 could easily be shijiped to some European port. 

 1 have no doubt that the nii.ssionary Kebsch, at 



Kotegush, near Simla, would obligingly aid in 

 accomplishing the object. 



This is the substance of the Rev. i\Ir. Stellar's 

 communication. 



H. Bo;;nitz. 



[From tlie AVcsterii Rural.] 



Michigau Bee-keepers' Coavrntioii. 



Mr. Rood thought that the question of the 

 good or evil of upward ventilation cannot be 

 decided by the experience of one or two swarms, 

 put into hives of a certain construction. We 

 cannot reason from analogy in all cases. We 

 must try experiments, and learn from experi- 

 ence. He had tried double hives, constructed 

 with boards three inches thick, lined with chaff. 

 He had no doubt but a hive could be constructed 

 which would do away with the necessity of up- 

 ward ventilation. 



Mr. Putnam thought that upward ventilation 

 was very necessary until bees stop breeding and 

 persi^iring. Up to that time he thought it could 

 not be dispensed with. The question is, how is 

 it to be applied? There is a practice among 

 bee-keepers of giving ventilation in another 

 way. It consists in raising the hive on blocks 

 over the bottom board. He found bees in hives 

 raised in this way were healthy, and there wei'e 

 few to be seen on the outside of the hive. He 

 thought that the reason why bees cluster on the 

 outsitle of a hive, is that they have instinct to 

 know that their presence inside would be inju- 

 rious ; in fact, that the hive would be so hot tliat 

 the combs would melt. 



Mr. Rood said that when he sees bees drum- 

 ming for the purpose of creating a current of air, 

 he contrives to help them by opening the venti- 

 lator, and allowing the heated air to escape. 



Mr. Putnam said that in the natural state of 

 bees in the forest, tlie honey is always stored 

 above the cnti"ance, in an air-tight apartment. 

 A question of importance relating to ventilation 

 is, does the foal air escape at the toj) or at the 

 bottom of the hive '? He thinks it falls and 

 escapes at the bottimi. 



Mr. Moon thought it was just as necessary to 

 have upward ventilation in a hive as in a room. 

 He had bees at one time in common hives, and 

 in winter, kept the hives in a room in a reversed 

 position. He found that all vapor escajjcd from 

 the luves, and during frost condensed on the 

 windows, and the glass appeared to be a solid 

 mass of ice. Bees are naturally hot, and unless 

 there is upward ventilation, the vapor arising 

 from them will condense, so that during frost 

 they will be encased in a solid mass of ice. 



Mr. Portman said that he frequently, in the 

 foi'est, found sv.-.aiins, in trees, with three or 

 four entrances to their natural hive ; and in 

 every i)lace where the combs were high above 

 the entrance, they were as dry and perfect as 

 possible ; but in every place where they Avere on 

 a level witli or below the entrances, they were 

 more or less damaged. 



The next question taken u]i for discussion, 

 was, •'■What is the best method of guard iiig against 

 the mothf' 



