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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



6. Oariti. Of a blackish color, and about the 



same size as the Tubi ; its honey is rather sour 

 and not good. 



7. Taiaira. About the size of the Tubi, but 

 with a yellow body and a black head ; its 

 honey is excellent; 



8. Mitmbuco. Black, and larger than the 

 Tubi. The honey after being kept about an 

 hour becomes as sour as lemon juice. 



9. Bojui. Very like the Tubi, but smaller ; 

 its honey is excellent. 



10. Tinha. Of the size of a large house fly, 

 and of a greyish black color ; its honey is ex- 

 cellent. 



11. Bara. About the size of a house fly, and 

 of a yellowish color ; its honey is acid. 



12. Urussu. About the size of a large hum- 

 ble bee ; the head is black and the body yel- 

 lowish ; it produces good honey. 



13. Ifruxsu preto. Entirely black, and up- 

 wards of an inch in length ; it likewise produces 

 good honey. 



14. Caniara. Black, and about the same 

 size of Urussu preto ; its honey is too bitter to 

 be eatable ; it is said to be a great thief of the 

 honey of other bees. 



15. Chnpe. About the size of the Tiuba, and 

 of a black color ; it makes its hive of clay, on 

 the branches of trees, and is often of a very 

 large size ; its honey is good. 



16. Umpua. Very like the Chupe, but it al- 

 ways builds its hive rounder, flatter, and smaller. 



17. Enchu. This is a kind of wasp, about 

 the size of a house fly ; its head is black and 

 the body yellow ; it builds its hive in the 

 branches of trees ; this is of a papery tissue, of 

 about three feet in circumference. Its honey 

 is good. 



18. Enclm peqmno. Very similar to the last, 

 but it always makes a smaller hive ; it also pro- 

 duces good honey. 



The first eleven of these honey bees, construct 

 their cells in the hollow trunks of trees, and 

 the others either in similar situations or beuea!h 

 the ground. It is only the last three kinds 

 which sting, all the others being harmless. 

 The only attempt I ever saw to domesticate 

 any of these bees, was by a Cornish miner, in 

 the gold district, who cut off" those portions of 

 the trunks of the trees which contained the 

 nests, and hung them up under the eaves of 

 t' e house. They seemed to thrive very well ; 

 but whenever the honey was wanted, it was 

 necessary to destroy the bees. 



Both the Indians and the other inhabitants of 

 the country are very expert in tracing these 

 insects to the trees where they hive. They 

 generally mix the honey, which is very fluid, 

 with farina before they eat it ; and of the wax 

 they make a coarse kind of taper, about a yard 

 long, which serves them in lieu of candles, and 

 which the country people bring to the villages for 

 sale. We found these very convenient, and al- 

 ways carried a sufficient stock with us; notunfre- 

 quentlr we were obliged to manufacture them 

 ourselves, from the wax obtained by my own 

 men. A coarse soft kind of cotton j^arn for 

 wicks, was always to be purchased at the dif- 

 ferent fazendas and villages through which we 

 passed. 



[These melliponas might perhaps be success- 

 fully cultivated in the remote southern sections 

 of the Union, but all attempts to introduce 

 them as far north as Washington have utterly 

 failed. Tiie common bee {apU nieUfiea) is fa:;t 

 superseding them in Brazil. — Ed.1 



"How Doth THE Ltttle."— Within the al- 

 most boundless sphere of natural history, per- 

 haps there is no one subject more interesting 

 and instructive than that within such a small 

 body as that of the bee there should be con- 

 tained apparatus for converting the " virtuous 

 sweets" which it collects into one kind of 

 nourishment for itself, another for the common 

 brood, another for the royal, glue for its car- 

 pentry, wax for its cells, poison for its enemies, 

 honey for its master ; with a proboscis as 

 long as the body itself; miscroscopic in its 

 several parts, telescopic in mode of action, with 

 a sting so infinitely sharp that, were it masni- 

 fied by the same glass which makes a needle's 

 point seem a quarter of an inch, it would yet 

 itself be invisible ; and this, too, a hollow tube ; 

 that these varied operations and contrivances 

 should be enclosed within half an inch in length 

 and two grains of matter, while in the same 

 small room the large heart of at least thirtv dis- 

 tinct instincts is contained, is surely amazing iu 

 an extraordinary degree. 



WiLDMAN puts the query as to why bees can 

 endure the extreme cold of a Russian winter 

 with impunity, while the inferior degree of cold 

 of an English one. proves so fatal ; and he sug- 

 gests, as an ex*planation, that the severe cold 

 freezes the bees so that their juices cannot 

 corrupt or putrefy, whereas cold in our climate ' 

 is only sufficient to chill them, leaving their 

 juices liquid and still capable of putrefication. 

 But as it is well known \.\\?it frozen bees do not 

 revive, it is far more likely that the true solu- 

 tion of the matter is to be found in the greater 

 drynes-t of the Russian climate ; and that it is 

 to' dampness that our failures must be ascribed. 

 Let this therefore be carefully guarded against 

 in our preparations for wintering bees. 



A HIVE made of straw will last for an indefl- 

 nate length of time, if protected externally by 

 a thick coat of whitewash, or, what is better, 

 Roman cement. Oil paint should not be ap- 

 plied to a straAV hive for this purpose. 



It is the opinion of many experienced apia- 

 rians that a cold winter is not injurious to bees, 

 provided they are sufficiently prepared for 

 withstanding it. 



A. swarm of bees in May 

 Is worth a load of hay 



A swarm of bees in June 

 Is worth a silver spoon ; 



But a awarm in July 

 Is scarcely worth a fly. 



As THE warm weather approaches do not for- 

 get to shade your hives from the sun. 



