OLEAiJINGS IN BEE OULTDre 



ttOVBMBEB 1. 1918 



L'd in bundles. The seed 



(teves, phaselus), very abundant here in 

 springtime. Common bees do not vdsit 

 tliem; but bumblebees and pseudo-bees are 

 foraging upon them all day. 



The Cliinese bees are very mild, and easy 

 to manipulate. A big hive may be visited, 

 frame by frame, without smoke and without 

 getting a sting. One of tlicir most interest- 

 ing qualities is that they completely ignore 

 the " propolis." Not a bit is I o be found in 

 their hives. This has, peihaps, a tendency 

 to attract the moth which is, in fact, a terri- 

 ble enemy of bees in China. But the man- 

 ipulation of frames is thus very much sim- 

 plified. Our spacers being staple-screws 

 fixed in the top-bar, a single pull or push 

 can move five or six frames at a time (39 cm 

 x2n), ri.5%x8 inches), .somewhat like the 

 Engksh frame. There are no squares at 

 the bottom, our hives not being intended to 

 be moved. Of course the Chinese peasants 

 do not know fhe modern frame hive. They 

 make liives of whatever vessel comes into 

 their hands— box, bamboo basket, old barrel 



oartiien pot, old petroleum-box, bucket.pail. 

 The preferred hive is the one with drawers 

 without bottom, tliese being added under- 

 neath, and taken off from the top. By this 

 ingenious system they sometimes obtain a 

 very strong population, but with a lar;.'" 

 number of drones. The boxes are usually 

 placed in front of the house, high up umlri' 

 the projecting roof. Often, also, they aic 

 placed inside the rooms with a bamboo tun- 

 nel across the wall, or the entrance is rci:nli' 

 by simply removing a brick. This l:isl 

 mode of location has the immense advan- 

 tage of presen'ing bees during the winter, 

 which is rather severe in the north of China, 

 where a temperature of — 2.5° Centigrade 

 (7 Falir.) is often registered during three 

 months — December, January, February. 

 Another but no less real advantage of this 

 indoor location is to save boxes from thieves. 

 Hives in the open field, as in Europe, would 

 have 9 chances out of 10 not to see the end 

 of their first season, the Chinese being rob- 

 bers or marauders by instinct or necessity. 



n here in Medina, last year, betw 



Hives are rather thinly scattered thruout 

 China — a few here and thei'e, except in cer- 

 tain districts in the West, where they are 

 pretty numerous. In a wild state bees are 

 found in trees, old walls, in the tombs, or, 

 rather, in the space between the coffin and 

 the masonry surrounding it. I must remark 

 that in China the coffin, made of thick 

 planks (sometimes 5 in.), is simply laid on 

 the ground, and a brick wall constructed 

 around it. 



Many attempts have been made by Euro- 

 peans and Japanese to introduce Italians 

 in China, but, up to the present, with little 

 success. A friend beekeeper, Mr. B., has 

 bought more than 20 queens from America 

 and Australia, but all were dead on arrival 

 except three, which the bees quickly dis- 

 patched to their ancestors — out the foreign- 

 ers! 



Lately the Chinese government has mani- 

 fested the intention of improving beekeep- 

 ing; but years may pass before anything is 

 done in practice. However, that culture or 



industry would give very satisfactory re- 

 sults in many places. 



In Shanghai, where, as a rule, the winters 

 are very mild, — 5° C. about (27° F.), 

 strong colonies rear brood during the whole 

 winter — a fact I have ascertained myself 

 during the last two seasons. Wax scales 

 are very abundant on the bottom-board. 

 During the calm sunny days of November, 

 December, and January, the bees gather a 

 good deal of honey and pollen from the 

 loquat-tree, just blooming in winter. Tlie' 

 consequence is that many colonies may 

 swarm even in March. 



Unfortunately our flora is very poor, 

 China having no meadows and no woods. 

 Here are our best honey-plants : the colza, 

 or rape ; the coronilla ; some fruit-trees ; the 

 wistaria, the Virginia creeper, the cucurhi- 

 tacean, the sunflower, cotton, the loquat. 

 Of these the first only is abundant. The 

 lioney (very inferior in flavor to European 

 iir American honey) is used only as a rem- 

 edy, and the quantity obtained from a box 



