30 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



To those friends who have renewed 

 their subscriptions to the Api, and es- 

 pecially to those who sent a new sub- 

 scriber with their renewal, the Api returns 

 thanks. Keep on in the good work and 

 the subscription list of the Apiculturist 

 will soon be second to none. 



If any readers of the Api know of a 

 beekeeping friend they would like to 

 have see this copy of our paper just send 

 the address on a postal card and one or 

 more copies will be mailed. 



The new adveitisements in this issue 

 are by Jennie Atchley, Dr. C. C. Mil- 

 ler, F. M. Taintor, who has the largest 

 bee-hive and supply factory in Massa- 

 chusetts, E. T. Flanagan, Wauzeka 

 Manuf'g Co., George H. Stahl, Bingham 

 & Hetherington who have enlarged their 

 ads., also W. R. Stirling, G. A. Lamon, 

 W. G. Row, E. L. Pratt and G. J. String- 

 ham. 



SELECTED. 

 GIANT BEES OF INDIA. 



BIG IXSKCTS TO BK IMPORTED 



An Experiment of the United States nepartment 



of Agriculture — liumhlc JJee-f in Australia 



— TliS Honey Makers. 



A Washington despatch says : The 

 Department of Agriculture is about to 

 send an expedition to India for the pur- 

 pose of procuring certain giant bees 

 which are wild in that country. They 

 are the biggest species known in the 

 world, and they build combs in the 

 forests as large as ordinary house doors. 

 These huge combs, hung from the limbs 

 of lofty trees, or from projecting Jed-es 

 of rock at a high altitude, give enor- 

 mous quantities of wax. Bee hunting 

 is a profession in India. The bee hunt- 

 ers wear no clothing save breech-clouts. 

 They have a superstitious fear of the 

 insects. Though dreading to encounter 

 them on fair terms, they are very skil- 

 ful in attacking their nests by stratagem. 

 Their usual method is to climb the tree, 

 from a hitih limb of which the comb 



depends, swinging below the hive a long 

 stick with a bunch of ignited leaves on 

 the end of it until the bees are driven 

 out, many of them falling with singed 

 wings to the ground ; but the majority 

 ascending into the air above the comb 

 and hovering in a cloud. This oppor- 

 tunity is taken by the seeker after spoil 

 to cut away the great comb, which he 

 quickly lowers by means of a rope to 

 the ground below. One gets a notion 

 of the vast quantities of honey and wax 

 collected in this manner from the stores 

 of the latter material to be seen in the 

 warehouses and shops of tlie cities, 

 tons upon tons of it together. It is an 

 article of 



EXTENSIVE EXPORT FROM INDIA. i 



The proposition is to fetch these bees 

 to this country and domesticate them I 

 if jjossible. If they could spread their ; 

 swarms in the semi-tropical forests of ■ 

 the United States, they might be made ; 

 to supply consideral)le crops of the , 

 finest and most valuable wax. Curiously 

 enough, the drones of this species are -^ 

 no larger than ordinary bees, and this ! 

 fact affords reason for hoping that they ; 

 will mate with the females of stocks al- 

 ready acclimated here. These wonder- i 

 ful insects from India have longer ■ 

 tongues than are possessed by other ^ 

 bees, and the belief is entertained that ' 

 they could secure from many kind^ of i 

 flowers, honey which now goes to waste. ' 

 Dreadful stories are told in the country \ 

 where they belong of their extraordinary 

 ferocity and of attacks which they have 

 made upon whole villages of people, 

 with flital results : but the fact has been 

 demonstrated that capable beekeepers 

 can handle them easily and safely. 

 Considerable numbers of bumble bees 

 have recently been imported from 

 Europe into Australia and New Zealand. 

 Hitherto, growers of red clover in those 

 countries have been obliged to obtain 

 seed for planting each year from Eng- 

 land, because the crop produced no 

 seed for lack of bumble bees to fertil- 

 ize the blossoms. Bumble bees find in 



