280 FOREIGN BEES. 



in hollow trees, and also in holes in the ground which 

 have been made by some burrowing animals. The 

 natives, to obtain the honey, have merely to blow into 

 those holes, upon which the bees instantly decamp 

 without resistance, and the plunderers, without making 

 use of any defensive covering, pull out the combs 

 with their hands, and deposit them in vessels brought 

 for that purpose. It is probable from this account of 

 the facility with which this species is deprived of its 

 stores, and the fearlessness of the plunderers, that, like 

 others to be afterwards mentioned, it has no sting. 

 A second species found here is of a larger size and 

 brighter colour than our domestic bee. These build 



o 



their nests on the branches of trees, and generally at 

 a great height. At a certain period of the year the 

 inhabitants of the towns go out in a body to despoil 

 them, and return laden with the booty. The third 

 species is a remarkably small bee, not larger than a 

 common fly, and of a blackish hue. Their honey is 

 not generally much regarded ; but the children some- 

 times amuse themselves by cutting a hole in the trunk 

 of the tree where it is deposited, and carrying it off. 

 Nay, Knox tells us that the inhabitants not only 

 devour the honey, but have a strong taste akin to 

 that of the Hottentots who feed on the larvae for the 

 bees themselves ; and that when they discover a 

 swarm on an inaccessible branch of a tree, they 

 stupify them with the smoke of torches, causing them 

 to drop on the ground, when they gather them and 

 carry them home, " boiling and eating them, and 

 esteeming them excellent food." 



