1898 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



349 



latter is also a very irritable bee, exceedingly 

 inclined to produce fertile workers. 

 BEES IN GREECE. 

 In Greece also Mr. B. found quite a vicious 

 bee, large and dark, possibly a mixture of 

 Eastern and Western bees. A sort of round 

 basket, fitted out with top-bars, was used as a 

 hive. It may have been in i:se for a thousand 

 years. People there have a way of keeping 

 their strained honey in goat-skins — hair side 

 in, of course. 



TVPICAL ITAI^IANS, WHERE FOUND. 



The most typical Italian bee Mr. B. found 

 near Bjlogna, and northwest, in Parma, Bur- 

 gamo," and Modena. Sardinia had a fairly 

 good Italian bee. 



Along the north coast of Africa he found 

 the black Tunisian bee in Tunis, Tripolis, 

 Algeria, and Morocco. It is the very worst 

 bee for comb honey, on account of the great 

 amount of propolis they daub on every thing, 

 and because of the watery appearance of the 

 cappings. At one time ihey were sent out 

 from England as the Punics, as most of us 

 remember. North Africa is a regular bee- 

 paradise. The rosemary honey gathered there 

 is the finest honey in the world, according to 

 Mr. B. The natives practice migratory bee- 

 keeping, moving their bees on camels. The 

 hive in use is a long cylinder of clay, closed 

 with a clay disk on each side. The honey is 

 removed from the rear at the close of the 

 season. Bees are never killed for their stores, 

 but enough honey is always left them for their 

 subsistence. 

 APIS dorsata; how the natives get them. 



Mr. Benton described Ceylon as a perfect 

 fairy land. After his return from Java he 

 found the Apis dorsata there. There were 

 numerous nests of these bees on one iree — I 

 think 12 or 14 of them. The natives who 

 escorted him constructed a ladder for him in 

 a short time out of long poles, sticks, and 

 some sort of twine. By means of this he was 

 soon in the top of the immense tree where the 

 nests of the dorsata were located on the tinder 

 side of limbs. The bees paid little attention 

 to him until he touched them with his heavily 

 gloved hands. They then arose in great num- 

 bers, and tried to stmg every thing around, so 

 Mr. B. made his retreat. Afterward he ap- 

 proached them again, and coaxed them up 

 with sweetened water, sprinkling them with 

 it, when he could handle them withotU diffi- 

 culty, although he was not able to find the 

 queen. The comb this colony had was 4)4 

 feet in length. The natives undertook the job 

 of obtaining the bees for Mr. B. afterward. It 

 is rather amusing, but they scorn the idea of 

 using a ladder. They have a way of climbing 

 the largest trees in a sort of monkey fashion. 

 It was comical enough the way Mr. B. ex- 

 plained just how they did this. It is shown 

 on p. 8 of Gleanings for ISS'2, and repro- 

 duced here. 



It must be understood that the natives are 

 clothed only with girdle cloths, and it would 

 seem to us rather risky to try to do any thing 



* I am not sure of the spelling of the name. 



with such bees under such conditions; but 

 they seem to understand just how to do it. 

 After one of the natives had reached the top 

 of the tree (or, rather, a limb), not far below 

 one of the nests, he lighted a torch, which he 

 had brought with him, and made a smudge 

 with it directly under the bees. Thus fright- 

 ened they arose, leaving all their comb expos- 

 ed, and now was the time for the native to do 

 his work. A long cord was thrown over the 

 limb just where the comb was built below it. 

 A light basket, which he also had carried with 

 him, was fastened to this, and was held in 



NATIVE ci^i.mhing a Tree for apis dorsata. 



proper position, so it would be just under the 

 comb. Now with a long knife, which he 

 drew from his girdle, he slashed into the 

 comb, cutting it loose, and causing it to drop 

 into the basket. When all was gathered in, 

 the basket was lowered by the cord The 

 assistants waiting below took it and made 

 haste to reach a spot of safety. The native 

 up in the tree was also not slow to slide down 



