626 



G L ]•: A N I >v O 



I X P. K K C r l.T L' 



BEEKEEPING IN FOREIGN LANDS 



Possibilities and Difficulties of Bee- 

 keeping in Mexico 



THE Eepub- 

 lic of Mex- 

 ico is, with- 

 out doubt, one 

 of the most pic- 

 turesque o u n - 

 tries of t h e 

 world on account 

 of its scenery 

 and luxuriant 



vegetation. Here we have all grades of cli- 

 mates — the tropical of the coasts, the tem- 

 perate of the "Mesa Central" or central 

 tableland, and the cold of the mountainous 

 districts. The climate of the central table- 

 land is delightful all the year around. Is it 

 a wonder that our favorite insect, the hon- 

 evbee, is doing well in this privileged coun- 

 try? 



There is here a great variety of bees. The 

 strain that abounds is the common black 

 bee, which was imported by the Spaniards 

 in the eighteenth century. This bee has mul- 

 tiplied itself to such an extent that it can 

 now be found in every corner of the Ee- 

 public. A great number of Indian farmers 

 keep a few colonies in their back yards, 

 usually not more than 10. 



The Italian bee has also been imported in 

 the last 10 years, but it is very diflaeult to 

 keep the race pure because of so many black 

 drones. A cross between the Italian and 

 the black bee makes a very strong diligent 

 bee, which can better stand the sudden 

 changes in climate of the high tablelands 

 where the days are hot and the nights some- 

 times quite chilly. However, most of the bee- 

 keepers prefer the pure-bred Italian because 

 it is more gentle and therefore easier to 

 hnndle. 



Native Bees. 

 There are in Mexico several kinds of na- 

 tive bees. The only native bee of any prac- 

 tical value, however, is the stingless one 

 which belongs .to the genus "Melipona. " I 

 encountered on my trips thru the country 

 two species of this bee. The Melipona I 

 found in the State of Guerrero was of a 

 dark-yellow color, while the other species of 

 Tabasco and Yucatan was of a gray color 

 with five very narrow bands on the abdo- 

 men. Both species live in the hollows of 

 forest trees. The natives cut these trees 

 under and above the place where the swarm 

 is, take the log home, and hang it up by 

 ropes outside, under the roofs of their 

 houses. The honey crop is very limited be- 

 cause these bees seldom gather more than 

 from eight to sixteen pounds a year. The 

 wax is very dark and is known in Mexico 

 under tlie name of "Campeche wax." The 

 natives use it generally as glue with which 

 they stick their advertisements on windows 

 and walls. I once saw candles made from 

 this wax. 



The colonies are not very strong, and I 

 never saw one with more than from 5,000 

 to 10,000 bees. The worker of the Melipona 

 is smaller than the common honeybee work- 



By J. De Boer 



horizontal 

 them one 

 stands on 



instead 

 above 



of 

 the 



OtTObKK, 192 1 



er. Her body is 

 similar to that 

 of the bumble - 

 bee and she 

 stores the honey 

 a n d also the 

 pollen in egg- 

 shaped cells. She 

 makes the 

 b r o o d-c m b s 

 vertical and builds 

 other. Each comb 



certain number of feet just 

 long enough to permit the bees and the 

 queen to walk between them. The cells are 

 smaller than those of the common honeybee 

 and at the first sight appear to be hexa- 

 gonal, but on looking at the cells on the 

 outside of the comb you see that they are 

 cylindric. The combs are similar to those 

 the wasp builds because they have cells on 

 only one side. The Melipona fills three-fourths 

 of the cells with jelly ns soon as the cells 

 are ready. Then the queen lays an egg on 

 the surface of the jelly, and the cell is 

 capped over with a very thin layer of wax. 



The bees build their stores of honey and 

 pollen on all sides of the brood cells. These 

 cells for stores have the size and form of a 

 pigeon egg. The honey is very thin and has 

 sometimes a strong resin taste. However, I 

 found Melipona honey in the State of Ta- 

 basco which could compete with the best- 

 known honey. The pollen is sometimes eaten 

 by the natives but has laxative properties. 



The queen has not the gi'ace of the com- 

 mon honeybee queen, because her swollen 

 abdomen gives her the appearance of a 

 spider. The swarm can raise another queen 

 from the brood when the queen is lost by 

 some accident. 



Honey Flows and Honey Plants. 



The honeybees in this country work al- 

 most the whole year round, because they 

 are always able to find some honey in the 

 field. Of course, I am speaking about cen- 

 tral and south Mexico because in the north 

 conditions are about the same as those in 

 the southern parts of the United States. 

 However, a regular colony in the coldest 

 zone seldom consumes more than 10 pounds 

 of honey in the winter time, and in semi- 

 tropical and tropical zones they don't even 

 touch their winter stores. There is only one 

 honey crop in the colder climate in the 

 months of September and October, and two 

 or more in places lower than 5,000 feet 

 above sea level. Honey flowers are so nu- 

 merous that it would take too much time 

 and space to mention them all. Those who 

 want to know more about Mexican honey 

 flowers can find details in the book I wrote 

 on beekeeping called ' ' Las Abejas. ' ' 



In winter the principal honey plants are 

 the wild "Reseda" (Reseda Luteola), the 

 hoarhound (Marrubium vulgare), wild tur- 

 nip (Brassica campestris), and wild mus- 

 tard (Sinapis nigra) — in the spring the mes- 

 quiie and several less important ones — in 



