24 EXOTIC BEES. 



observed that there has been an importation of 

 the stingless bees into this country. I doubt the 

 success of their establishment here, as the fruits of 

 their labours may very soon become the prey of 

 wasps and corsair bees, and even of the hive bees 

 which, in a dearth of honey or when from a pau- 

 city of numbers a hive is weakly defended, will 

 commit depredations upon one another. The 

 stingless bees having no weapon of defence which 

 enables them to cope with armed assailants must 

 soon be exterminated. In their native clime, where 

 there is an abundance of sweets, no temptations 

 to predatory attack may occur ; but in our hemi- 

 sphere, as Buffon has observed, there are hundreds 

 of lazy creatures, fond of honey and disliking 

 labour, that would, but for the weapons of defence 

 possessed by our bees, invade their hives and 

 carry off the treasures. 



Honey-bees do not appear to have been among 

 the native productions of North America, though 

 they have now become general throughout that 

 continent. When established there, they extended 

 themselves somewhat in advance of the white 

 population ; in consequence of which they were 

 called by the native Indians, the white man's 

 flies, and were regarded as indicating the approach 

 of European settlements. Jefferson's Virginia. 



An elegant modern writer has observed upon 

 this subject, that " a few years ago the hum of a 



