1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



649 



and scooted on. But, of course, all such 

 claims were due to a lively imagination and 

 the excitement of his mind at the moment. 

 The money was changed, and, with queer- 

 looking pounds, shillings, and pence in our 

 pockets we were again on our way up 

 Broadway. 



" D-d'ye know where you left Mrs. Ben- 

 ton ? ' ' asked Jones, still excited. 



"Yes, over in that drug-store." 



Her own anxiety had been not less than 

 his; and it seems, too, that the drug-store 

 man had begun to think that a couple of 

 sharpers, anarchists, or something of the 

 sort had "skipped the country " and left an 

 unprotected lady on his hands. A hurried 

 pull for the elevated train, then we were 

 whirled to the steamer dock. As we left 

 the train a street musician struck up a live- 

 ly tune on a hand-organ more musical than 

 the majority of them, while his comic little 

 companion did queer antics. Mrs. Benton, 

 with a penchant for both the music and the 

 monkey, might have made us miss the 

 steamer, but I got her away, however, by 

 saying: 



"Come along, Harriet; Europe's full of 

 them!" 



Then followed the days on the great roll- 

 ing Atlantic. I must pass by much that 

 might interest and amuse— how that worthy 

 gentleman, Mr. Jones, braved the deck 

 when the seas dashed nearly from stem to 

 stern; how he braced himself against the 

 sides of the cabin, holding fast to the rail, 

 and smiled at the awful majesty of the tow- 

 ering billows, then suddenly, growing pale, 

 let go his hold, slid to the ship's rail, and 

 sadly parted with a comfortable roast-beef 

 and plum-pudding dinner he had just enjoy- 

 ed. All of us paid our tribute to the exact- 

 ing sea-god Neptune, and were glad when 

 the 15th day saw us safely anchored in the 

 Thames with London's towers in sight. 



Then followed the interesting meetings 

 with noted bee-keepers in England, Ger- 

 many, and Austria, with visits to their api- 

 aries, especially all such as contained bees 

 of any Eastern races, the Cyprians particu- 

 larly having been cultivated for a number 

 of years previous to this on the continent of 

 Europe. From Trieste, Mr. Jones and my- 

 se'f (having parted company for the time 

 being with the third member of our party) 

 went by way of Egypt to Cyprus, and later 

 both of us visited Syria and Palestine. The 

 older readers of the apiarian journals will 

 recall accounts of the establishment of a 

 queen-breeding apiary in Cyprus and anoth- 

 er in Syria, as well as the purchase of col- 

 onies of bees in Palestine. 



Then, some three months later, Mr. Jones 

 returned to America, bringing with him the 

 first fruits of our Eastern work— queens of 

 the Cyprian, Syrian, and Palestine races, 

 while I remained in the Orient during the 

 three years following, making, one winter, 

 the long journey to India, after the giant 

 bees, which, although obtained, were after- 

 ward lost because of serious illness in the 

 jungles. Then followed four years' resi- 



dence in Germany, with several trips to the 

 East and two down through Italy and over 

 to the North-African coast (Tunis) after 

 bees. Four years more were spent in Aus- 

 tria, devoted chiefly to the Carniolan race. 

 At last, after eleven years in foreign coun- 

 tries, we again saw our native land and 

 heard the good mother tongue spoken, which 

 during many of these years we had so sadly 

 missed outside of our own little family. 

 There were with us a couple of immigrants 

 who had joined our company— one in Greece, 

 the other in Germany— and whom we had 

 named Ralph and Zoe. 



Again, after the lapse of a quarter of a 

 century from the time this first journey was 

 undertaken, I find myself on the eve of em- 

 barking upon a still longer one, with similar 

 work before me, not, as before, as a private 

 undertaking, but for the United States 

 government. I am by no means as young, 

 yet enthusiasm remains, and, I believe, suf- 

 ficient strength to do the work. On the 

 third of June I shall sail from Philadelphia 

 for Liverpool, and, after visiting several 

 apiarian establishments as well as museum 

 collections which will be in the route of a 

 journey southeastward through Europe, I 

 shall proceed from Constantinople to the 

 Caucasus, in Southeastern Russia. A stay 

 of a few weeks in this Russian province 

 will enable me to secure, I hope, a quantity 

 of queens for the department apiary. The 

 race native to this region is most remarka- 

 bly gentle, and possesses an industrious, 

 hardy character, as well as being a fine 

 builder of white combs. Queens will be 

 mailed direct from the Caucasus to the De- 

 partment for testing in the Department 

 apiary and at various State Experiment Sta- 

 tions. 



Crossing the Caspian Sea, the route will 

 lead eastward some seven or eight hundred 

 miles by rail to Bokhara, thence southward 

 an equal distance over a less known region, 

 where no railways exist, and only travel by 

 caravan is possible. This is across Afgha- 

 nistan, through the Hindu Kush Mountains, 

 to the Northwest province (the Punjaub) of 

 India. The general route eastward will be 

 pursued near to the mountain region, until 

 Calcutta is finally reached. From the time 

 the Caspian Sea is crossed until this last 

 point is reached there are great possibilities 

 in the way of new and remarkable types of 

 honey-bees which are as yet little known, 

 including, of course, the giant bee of India, 

 Megapis dorsata (Apis dorsata) . From Cal- 

 cutta by sea some ten days are still required 

 to reach (via Singapore) the Philippine 

 Islands. Here one may look for the other 

 species of the giant bees, Megapis zonati 

 (Apis zonati) , with, very likely, also a num- 

 ber of smaller bees. 



Along with the search for possible valua- 

 ble types of bees the securing of seeds or 

 cuttings of valuable honey-producing plants, 

 especially such as have an economic value 

 in addition to the production of honey, will 

 be followed up closely. 



Some account of what progress is being 



