108 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



April 



heard and read concerning Apis dor- 

 sata do you consider it advisable for 

 the government to import them ?" 

 The first answer, given by Wm. Mc- 

 Evoy, is, "No," without any reason 

 added. E. France says, " Yes, try 

 them." Mrs. J. N. Heater says, " I 

 think not." J. M. Hambaugh says, 

 " I am in favor of making the effort." 

 J. A. Green says, "I consider it an 

 experiment of doubtful value." R. 

 L. Taylor says, " No, not in the inter- 

 est of bee keejDers financially." 



I do not know just why Mr. Taylor 

 thinks as he does, but if the project 

 should prove a failure it would cer- 

 tainly not benefit bee keepers financi- 

 ally. On the other hand if it should 

 be a success above the liighest expec- 

 tation of any one, and if it should be 

 found that Apis dorsata should in 

 this country prove as tractable in 

 every way as Apis mellifica, doubling 

 the annual yield of honey, does it 

 necessarily follow that bee keepers 

 would make money by it ? One of the 

 greatest diffculties of the present that 

 confronts bee keepers is that of find- 

 ing a market, and if the output should 

 be doubled and the price cut in two, 

 it would only increase his labor with- 

 out increasing his pay. But if honey 

 could be made plentier and cheaper, 

 that would certainly seem to be for 

 the good of the people in general and 

 the financial interests of bee keepers 

 should not st, i .1 before t'.- ;.;;eueral 

 good. 



W. G. Larrabee says, " Yes, if they 

 would not turn out like English spar- 

 rows." He may have in mind the 

 possibility that Apis dorsata would 

 divide the harvest with our present 

 bees without any additional benefit. 



Chas. Dadant & Son hardly have 



any such fears for they say, " We do 

 not believe Apis dorsata would stand 

 our climate." C. H. Dibbern says, 

 "No. I think they would be of no 

 value to the bee keepers of America." 

 P. H. El wood says, "Probably not. 

 There are other things the government 

 might do that would help us more." 



Prof. A. J. Cook is emphatic in his 

 indorsment, saying, " I certainly do. 

 I think this is just the kind of work 

 for the government to carry forward." 

 G. M. Doolittle thinks it can do no 

 no harm to try, for he replies, "There 

 is lots of money spent more foolishly 

 by the government than in importing 

 Apis dorsata. 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown says, " My opin- 

 ion is that they would not be a desir- 

 able acquisition to the bee keepers of 

 the United States." Jas. A. Stone 

 says, "I have not made up my mind. 

 In doing so I always think of English 

 sparrows and am very slow to say yes." 

 Eugene Secor says, "If the govern- 

 ment wishes to experiment with Apis 

 dorsata I have no objections, but as a 

 bee keeper I shall not ask it to do so 

 at present." Emerson T. Abbott says, 

 " No. Government was not organized 

 to import bees, or any other kind of 

 live stock. The sooner people learn 

 this the better it will be for them and 

 the government too." Rev. M. Manin 

 says, " I do not. It is my opinion 

 that they would not be of any advant- 

 age to the bee keepers of America. 

 If they were capable of domestication 

 the people of India would have domes- 

 ticated them long ago." 



Mrs. Harrison seems inclined to 

 poke fun at the scheme. She says, 

 "I do; and put them in the everglades 

 of Florida. They are 160 miles long 

 and 60 miles broad. The water is 



