and Varieties of the Honey-Bee. 281 



travels in Egypt. The two latter agree in stating that in the 

 countries situated to the south of Egypt, namely Nubia, Abys- 

 sinia, Sennaar, and Dongola, the keeping of Bees is certainly not 

 extensively carried on, but that the honey and wax are taken 

 when wanted from the wild Bees which build everywhere in 

 abundance in clefts of rocks and hollow trees. On the other 

 hand, Barth* mentions that he repeatedly met at least with a 

 wild-bee keeping in the districts of Africa traversed by him. 

 The first passage, relating to the neighbourhood of Kussada 

 (between 12^^ and 13° N. lat., long. S"" E.), runs as follows: — 

 " Vast Adansonice rose on every side with their immense naked 

 branches, and also gave evidence of the industry of the inha- 

 bitants; for beehives, consisting of hollowed branches, were 

 fixed in the summits of the Kuka. For bee-keeping this region 

 appeared to be peculiarly adapted; for the pasture-ground, 

 spreading far around, was adorned with sweet-smelling shrubs, 

 which furnished nourishing food for the industrious Bees.^' In 

 the second passage, describing the Mussgu-lands lying south- 

 w^est of Lake Tchad, Barth mentions the same practice as pre- 

 vailing in that district. Our information upon the occurrence 

 of the Bee upon the west coast of Africa relates chiefly to Sene- 

 gambia. Webb and Berthelot, indeed, mention the Honey-Bee 

 as inhabiting the Canary Islands f; and as they call it Apis 

 mellifica, without any further statement, 'it may be concluded 

 that it agrees with the northern variety. Of the light-coloured 

 variety found in Senegambia, which he regarded as a distinct 

 species, named Apis Adansonii, Latreille says : — " Adanson 

 found this insect on the Senegal, in the trunks of trees;" and 

 Adanson himself (Voyage au Senegal) reports as follows upon 

 it : — " In the neighbourhood of Podor, I fully expected, every 

 day about noon, to be visited by one, two, or more swarms of 

 Bees, which made their way into the cabin and compelled me 

 to leave the ship. This occurred from October to December at 

 Podor ; probably in these three months the Bees quit the old 

 hives in order to construct new ones : hives are then found of 

 great size. Once I saw the roof of a negro hut, measuring six- 

 teen square feet, which was entirely covered more than four 

 fingers thick with inhabited combs. This is, it seems to me, a 

 sufficient proof of the incredible quantity of such insects in this 

 country. They build everywhere, but chiefly in the hollow 

 trunks of old trees. This year they had built three large hives 

 in our dwelling at Podor — one between the window-shutter and 



* Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Central- Afrika, ii. p. 105, 

 and iii. p. 214. 

 t Hist. Nat. des lies Canaries, ii, 2; Entom, p, S-l. 



Ann. ^- Ma(/. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. xi. lO 



