350 



GlyEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



and seek shelter. It was indeed astonishing 

 to see with what celerity he made his way 

 down the tree. Of course, he had good reason 

 to be in a hurry; for, after being thus robbed, 

 the bees sailed around, assailing every thing 

 in the vicinity. However, they could not be 

 induced to collect and cluster; and as to get- 

 ting possession of them, the undertaking was 

 a failure. The natives did not quite compre- 

 hend what Mr. B.'s object was; and in secur- 

 ing the comb and honey, and especially the 

 brood, which is a greatly esteemed delicacy 

 with them, they evidently thought they had 

 done the job to Mr. B.'s entire satisfaction. 



MR. BENTON ATTEMPTS TO GET APIS DORSATA. 



Another attempt was made to secure a colo- 

 ny of Apis dor sat a later when a number of 

 nests were found on a steep hillside under high 

 projecting rocks. The natives again con- 

 structed a long ladder out of poles, sticks, and 

 ratan ropes, by means of which they reached 

 the bees. They succeeded in constructing a 

 platform just below the bees, from which they 

 expected to do the work of transferring, and, 

 after night had come, Mr. Benton proceeded 

 with it. He had calculated that the bees, 

 when taken in the night, would not leave their 

 comb, and in this he was right. He succeed- 

 ed admirably in securing two colonies of dor- 

 sata — the first that ever were transferred into 

 hives. The frames used were made of 1>^- 

 inch strips; the hives were one foot deep and 

 2>y2. feet long, and five frames were used in it. 



Another colony was discovered higher up 

 on the hillside, in a cavity. There were three 

 combs alongside, while the other nests had 

 but one comb. This colony was also trans- 

 ferred by Mr. B., and secured in good shape. 

 The natives always received the odds and ends 

 of brood that would naturally accumulate in 

 transferring combs into frames, and which 

 were sweet morsels to them. 



Unfortunately a very heavy storm broke 

 loose at this time, and before any shelter could 

 be reached all were drenched to the skin 

 (insignificant as far as the natives were con- 

 cerned). The exposures were such as to effect 

 Mr. B. seriously, for he was taken ill with a 

 fever. In consequence of this he could not 

 attend to the bees as he should have done. 

 As soon as he could, and when he had only 

 partly recovered, he started for Syria, on a 

 French steamer, taking with him the three 

 colonies of dorsata. They bore the confine- 

 ment of twenty days very well, although one 

 colony died on account of lack of stores. 

 After the arrival in Syria the bees were allow- 

 ed to fly; but the high winds affected them 

 very badly; and as Mr. B. was compelled to 

 stay two weeks longer on account of his 

 health, finally the last of these bees died. 

 Thus ended the undertaking of securing Apis 

 dorsata, which had cost Mr. B. much time and 

 rnoney, and for which he risked his life and 

 his health many a time. 



It remains to be said, that, after transferring 

 the dorsata, they did not readily patch up their 

 combs, as we are used to seeing with our com- 

 mon bees; but they seemed to work and gather 

 honey. The drones, as well as the workers of 



dorsata, are bred in the same combs, and the 

 former are slightly smaller than the latter. 



BEES IN HINDOOSTAN AND JAPAN. 



In Hindoostan another race of bees was dis- 

 covered by Mr. B.; also another gray bee in 

 Japan. Both of these it might be interesting 

 to test here. But the introduction of these 

 bees, and especially Apis dorsata, is so prob- 

 lematical, and connected with so many diffi- 

 culties in every way as to make it impracti- 

 cable for one man to undertake it. That 

 should be the work of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. 



That the most excellent address of Prof. 

 Benton was well received by the large audience 

 was very evident from the long-continued 

 applause which followed, and the many ques- 

 tions asked him afterward during the dis- 

 cussion. 



Another interesting feature of our conven- 

 tion was the reading of an essay by Mrs. S. J. 

 Smith, entitled, "Anomalies analogous to 

 Reason and Instinct," which captivated all 

 who were present, which, however, I am un- 

 able to give, not having taken any notes. 



The advisability of again asking for a spray- 

 ing-law to prevent spraying of fruit-trees 

 while in bloom was (iiscussed. It was also 

 decided to ask for a more practical anti- 

 adulteration law. 



Naples, N. Y.. March 10. 



To he continued. 



[The facts given above are indeed very in- 

 teresting. There can .be no sort of doubt that 

 Mr. Benton knows more about the different, 

 kinds of bees and their habits in their native 

 climate than any other one man in the world. 



As some of our later readers have never seen 

 the illustration above alluded to, of a native 

 of Ceylon climbing a tree in quest of Apis 

 dorsata, I have concluded it might be inter- 

 esting to have it reproduced. As originally 

 printed, Mr. Benton regretted that it was 

 made to represent a native of the island of 

 Cyprus instead of Ceylon, hence we are the 

 more glad to get it right now. — Ed.] 



ACETYLENE GAS. 



BY M. F. BAKER. 



We are much interested in Mr. C. H. Dib- 

 bern's article on acetylene gas, in Gleanings 

 for Mar. 15; but from much experience and 

 observation in that line we think some of his 

 statements are not quite consistent with facts. 



While insurance companies had formerly 

 insisted on a generator being placed outside 

 and some distance from buildings, now, after 

 careful investigation, it is the general thing to 

 allow generators to be placed anywhere in any 

 building (see several regulations inclosed), 

 without any extra charge, some openly claim- 

 ing acetylene to be a means of decreasing 

 their risks, as being safer than kerosene, city 

 gas, or electricity. Insurance companies are 

 not in the habit of increasing their risks with- 

 out extra pay; hence this evidence of the 



