IS'.fJ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



449 



to so many porsous from eating puiv lioney 

 alone: and tlius milk and butter wim'o so fro- 

 qnently spoken of in the same connt'clion. 

 Miirlu not i-lieese. anotlier prodnet of milk, he 

 also the risiht tluTig to use with honey? i*ut- 

 tinji all these things toiielher, it will he seen 

 ho\\ naturally I was led to what, I think, is 

 sometliing new in exegesis, and gives a better 

 understanding of some passages in the word of 

 God —" The good land!" " Th(> land flowing 

 with milk and hoiu'yl" Wherever milk is found 

 in abundauee, there, as a matter of course, will 

 bees and honey also be found. At some future 

 time 1 may give my readers a new exegesis of 

 some other passages of Scripture relating to 

 bees. L. L. Langstroth. 



Dayton. Ohio. June 6. 1S93. 



THE GEEAT BEES OF INDIA— WILL THEY BE 

 IMPORTED T 



THE PKOPOSEl) EXPEDITION OF THE NATIONAI. 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE FINDING OF NEW 



RACES OF BEES ; AN AUTHORITATIVE 



STATEMENT FROM FRANK BENTON. 



The Junior editor of Gleanings requested 

 me some time since to furnish for his readers 

 information regarding the truth of a report 

 recently circulated by the newspapers, to the 

 effect that the government Intended to under- 

 take the importation of the Giant East-India 

 Bee, Apis dorsaUi, and that this work was to 

 be entrusted to me. I have deferred somewhat 

 my compliance with his request, hoping later 

 to be able to give definite information — in fact, 

 to be able to say tliat this work, whose accom- 

 plishment has been so long desired by the bee- 

 keepers of both Europe and America, would be 

 undertaken: when the work would be entered 

 upon: and how we proposed to accomplish it. 

 I regretted the appearance of the newspaper 

 reports referred to. They were premature, and 

 wholly unauthorized by myself or any one con- 

 nected with the Division. 



Something over a year ago Dr. Riley, U. S, 

 Entomologist, first addressed me in regard to 

 the governnient work in apiculture, supposing 

 at the time that I was still abroad, and that he 

 could secure an authorization for me to proceed 

 to India after Apis dor s<it(t, wiiich. he stated, 

 he was very desirous of importing into this 

 country. His letter passed me in mid-ocean, 

 for, after a long self-imposed exile, I was on my 

 way to my native land. It finally reached me 

 in Western New York, whither I had gone. 

 We had considerablt; corn'Spondence about the 

 matter, and, as I learned afterward, it was Dr. 

 Riley's intention to have me endeavor to intro- 

 duce some other desired insects at the same 

 time. Thus, he had assured prominent fig- 

 growersof California that he would make every 

 effort possible to introduce the caprifig insects, 

 which are necessary to the pollen izing of the 

 Smyrna tig, this valuable variety not being 

 productive in California solely for want of such 

 distribution of its pollen. He was also quite 

 anxious to introduce certain parasites of well- 

 known injurious insects which have been im- 

 ported without their natural checks. Diflficul- 

 lies unforeseen by both Assistant Secretary 

 Willits and Dr. Riley made the postponement 

 of this work imperative. But the subject is 

 again under consideration, with a much better 

 prospect than heretofore that Dr. Riley's desires 

 in this direction can be carried out. This does 

 not, of course, mean a certainty, but merely 

 that the chances are now good for its accom- 

 plishment. They will be enhanced if bee-keep- 

 ers and apiarian journals make known their 

 desire to see the experiment tried. 



I believe the experiment of introducing A))ifi 

 dorsiiUt is worth trying. Mr. Dathe. the only 

 practical bee-keep(»r besides myself who has 

 visited India in search of .i/i/.s- (Inrsiitd, and 

 who followed, in his efforts to introduce; this 

 be(> into Europe, exactly in my footsteps, agrees 

 with me in tlu> desirability of' testing this giant 

 bee. Indeed, at the Frankfort Wandcrver- 

 sinninlinm, where I met liiin, he proposed to 

 me that w(> should mak(i the third effort togeth- 

 vr. Yet I siiould not like to have any oin- en- 

 tertain such great expiictations I'egarding these 

 bees as to cause him to be disappointed if the 

 experiment should not result in all we hope for. 

 At present the whole undertaking must be 

 viewed strictly in the Ught of (tti experiment 

 from which it is, however, possible we may 

 obtain important practical results, and highly 

 probable that the direct practical results will 

 at least be sufficient to prove the wisdom of 

 such an expenditure on the part of the govern- 

 ment, though private parties attempting it 

 could hardly hope to recover the cost. In any 

 event, a more extended investigation of the 

 bees of the Far East than I was able to make 

 during my stay in India is greatly to be desired. 

 How frequently far greater sums of monev have 

 been granted to fit out expeditions to go to dis- 

 tant parts of the earth to make observations 

 during an eclipse or transit of some heavenly 

 body, the main object of which might be to 

 determine wliether the sun or some star is more 

 or less distant from the earth than was gener- 

 ally supposed: And how often almost the 

 whole benefit to result from such an undertak- 

 ing depends upon as slender a chance as the 

 presence of clear weather during the few min- 

 utes' time the phenomenon lasts! It is far 

 from my purpose even to hint that such work 

 is not valuable, for it adds to the sum of human 

 knowledge; and often the most abstract and 

 apparently useless information proves of great 

 practical use to the world. But I wish to point 

 out how much greater reason there is for at- 

 tempting work such as the investigation of 

 these eastern honey and wax producers— work 

 which, viewed abstractly, has a value equal to 

 such undertakings as have been mentioned, 

 and which, at the same time, promises to add 

 another source to our national wealth. And 

 the interest in our pursuit which this work will 

 arouse when done under the auspices of the 

 national government will not fail to redound to 

 the advantage of apiculture. 



what may be hoped for FROM THIS UNDER- 

 TAKING. 



A brief statement of the results which it is 

 hoped might be brought about through this 

 undertaking will be of interest to all bee- 

 keepers. 



1. It is hoped Apis dorsatn may be domesti- 

 cated and kept in hives in a manner similar to 

 our ordinary bees: and that this large bee, 

 having a tongue longer than that of ordinary 

 bees, will be able to secure the honey from 

 various blossoms— notably those of red clover— 

 from which our bees get little or nothing. Also 

 that they will at the same tinn; aid in the fer- 

 tilization of these blossoms, so that better seed, 

 and more of it, will result, especially in the case 

 of the first crop of red clover produced when 

 bumble-bees an; not numerous. 



2. An effort would be made to produce and 

 test various crosses between dorsatn and mel- 

 lifica. If such crosses can b(> obtained, possibly 

 something more valuable than either of these 

 bees would result. One is led to think of this 

 by the fact that drones of dwsata do not differ 

 greatly in size or general appearance, though 

 somewhat in habit, from ordinary drones. 



3. Even if ^/>i.s dorsatn should not prove 

 valuable in domestication, there seems to be no 



