146 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May II, 



ests and over sharp roeksfor many suc- 

 cessive hours, my clothes soaking wet 

 so that I dared not rest a moment : 

 again, an ail-night coach ride over fear- 

 ful roads would give me a chance to — to 

 keep my eyes open, and still again it has 

 been my lot to get caught miles from 

 shelter in a pouring continuous rain. It 

 is wonderful how the water falls here. 



But I believe Apis dorsata will return 

 with me. You know I'm not the chap 

 to leave the matter untested when I 

 have got thus far. Either I will get 

 Apis dorsata in Ceylon or go to the 

 main-land of India for it. I nave seen 

 two combs of Apis dorsata, from the 

 Malay peninsula, and Mr. Schroeder 

 writes me he received " bees of all 

 sizes — worker bees as large as common 

 queens, from Calcutta." 



I have received many encouraging 

 words from European bee-culturists, 

 though many of them are doubtful as to 

 the success of the undertaking. "At 

 least we shall know," says one of them. 

 " I am very anxious to get news from 

 you so as to be able to repeat facts, for 

 thus far we have had only suppositions." 



I will write again soon. Thus far no 

 letter has been received by me from 

 you since leaving Cyprus. It is a long 

 time since the last letter from my wife 

 was written. Very Truly Yours, 

 Frank Benton. 



Here is another letter received from 

 Mr. Benton : 



Steamship " Yangste." 

 Me. D. A. Jones, Dear Friend :— We 

 are getting toward the Island of Ceylon 

 which place we expect to reach to-mor- 

 row night or next day early. I shall 

 stop there until the arrival of the next 

 steamer, to put in shape and deliver to 

 the parties ordering them the colonies 

 of bees I left there upon my way to 

 Java, and what is more important to 

 me, to secure if possible a number of 

 colonies of Apis dorsata. Landing in 

 Colombo I will proceed to Kandy, in 

 the interior, and have very great hopes 

 of finding somewhere in the vicinity of 

 that place the"GreatEast Indian Bee." 

 I regret exceedingly having spent so 

 much time and money in Java, yet it 

 could not be foreseen how it would re- 

 sult, and it was only after I had been 

 there and made a thorough search of 

 West Java that I became convinced 

 that the bees were rarely to be found in 

 that part. I then had but a short time 

 to spend before leaving for Singapore, 

 and so a journey to Timor, the only 

 place where one is certain to find large 

 numbers of these bees, was out of the 

 question. I therefore went to the east- 

 ern part of Java and explored the in- 

 terior forests, but with no avail. The 

 bee that has been so often spoken of as 

 "The Great Bee of Java," as to lead 

 one to think it was common there, is 

 only seen there in very rare instances, 

 and during 5 weeks of constant search 

 I could not get a glimpse of a single 

 bee. I used every available means, 

 sometimes having as many as a dozen 

 men out searching after the bees and 

 questioning all the natives who ever 

 saw a tree containing one of these 

 swarms. That these men did their best 

 you may be certain for the one who 

 found or learned of the first tree con- 

 taining a swarm of these bees was prom- 

 ised, in addition to his day's wages, a 

 bright English sovereign, quite a prize 

 for a simple Islander. The second was 

 to- have half that sum ; moreover, they 

 were anxious to please me for they got 

 good pay and wanted a continuance of 

 their employment. But it was no avail; 

 the bees were not to be had, and after 

 weeks of toiling through interminable 

 forest, up mountains and over rocks, 

 in the wildest most out-of-the-way 

 places, I gave up the search in Java as 

 useless. 



While in Java I returned from time 

 to time to Buitenzorg, where the colo- 

 nies of Cyprian and Palestine bees 

 which I had sold the government had 

 been placed, and thus kept them in or- 

 der. I left them a few days since in a 

 promising condition. The introduction 

 of the culture of bees into Java is a 

 matter of considerable importance to 

 the Island, since, as I am credibly in- 

 formed by a dealer in wax, $800,000 

 worth of wax is yearly used by the 22,- 

 000.000 people living there, whose prin- 

 cipal garment is the sarouy, a sort of a 



petticoat made of three or four yards of 

 very wide ^cotton cloth. In- the' manu- 

 facture of sarougs the wax is spread 

 upon a portion of the surface of the 

 cloth and the latter is then dropped in 

 the dye; after the wax has been washed 

 out the parts not covered with it are 

 found to be colored. The process is re- 

 peated for each part that is to receive 

 a distinctive color. . . : 



Some years ago the Dutch govern- 

 ment sent out from Holland a man 

 with 28 colonies of Cyprian and Italian 

 bees for which a special cabin costing 

 $100 had been built upon the deck of 

 one of the Dutch mail steamers. Dur- 

 ing the voyage several kilogrammes of 

 ice, a costly article in the tropics, were 

 daily used in this bee cabin to lower 

 the temperature. Upon arrival in Port 

 Said it was found most of the bees were 

 dead; the remainder were then given 

 a few hours to fly and then sent direct 

 to Batavia, where but 5 colonies ar- 

 rived alive and these were very weak 

 and much diseased. In a few months 

 they were also numbered with the 

 things that were. Thus this expensive 

 experiment of the Dutch government 

 was productive of nothing but experi- 

 ence. After about 3 years in Java, 

 without having made any effort to se- 

 cure or ascertain anything about the 

 large native bees, Apis dorsata, this en- 

 terprising Dutch bee-keeper returned 

 to his native land, to which he had ren- 

 dered such a great service ! 



It was of course a great mistake to 

 take bees from Holland when they 

 might have been obtained in Italy, or 

 Cyprus, or even in Jaffa, but 12 hours 

 from Port Said. Then the building of 

 this special cabin was not necessary, 

 since, shaded with canvas and in the 

 open air of the decks they would be 

 quite as well off. It was not only an 

 unnecessary expenditure they made for 

 ice, but I believe positively injurious, 

 for it made the bees damp and diseased. 

 In this climate the great question is to 

 keep things dry, for when once an ar- 

 ticle is damp it begins to mold very 

 soon. Clothes hanging up in a room or 

 carefully laid away in bureau drawers, 

 completely spoil in a short time, some- 

 times but a few days. 



Another mistake in this experiment 

 was to take the bees direct from Port 

 Said to Batavia. They should have 



fone by the way of Ceylon and there 

 een allowed a flight. The journey 

 from Port Said to Batavia is about 25 

 days, while to Ceylon it is 17 days, 

 quite long enough in this fearfully hot 

 climate. 



It is strange indeed to see how little 

 Europeans in this part of the world 

 trouble themselves regarding the devel- 

 opment of the country. Most of them 

 once in their positions live at their 

 ease, letting things move on as slowly 

 as they may. In general they drink 

 more, smoke more, eat more, lounge 

 about more, read less, study less, think 

 less and work less than white people in 

 any other part of the world I nave vis- 

 ited. >f ou can readily understand that 

 I could get not only no practical aid but 

 absolutely no information that I could 

 make use of, indeed, it was with the 

 greatest difficulty that I could ascertain 

 anything about those parts of the coun- 

 try that I did not visit. 



A very natural inquiry for one in 

 America to make is, " but why did you 

 not go to Timor where it is certain 

 these bees are plentiful?" First, as 

 before indicated, I had every reason to 

 suppose I would secure the bees in 

 Java, then I brought with me the Cyp- 

 rian and Palestine bees for the Dutch 

 government in Java. Moreover, it 

 would be necessary to visit Java in or- 

 der to get a steamer for Timor. The 

 latter can only be obtained at rare in- 

 tervals and the time one can get a re- 

 turn steamer is not certain, besides all 

 this it is a long journey from Java, 

 much longer, I do not doubt, than peo- 

 ple naturally think it to be. From Ba- 

 tavia to Timor is 1,500 miles, or this 

 journey is quite as long a one as that 

 from New \ ork to the West Indies, but 

 it is not completed as quickly as the lat- 

 ter, because the steamers do not go di- 

 rectly to Timor, but visit various is- 

 lands and, too, they are very slow boats. 

 From Batavia in Java to Macassar in 

 Celebes is about 1.000 miles. Now,con- 

 sidering the time I was able to get 



started from Cyprus and the time it 

 takes to go, and come, it was out of the 

 question to go to these islands unless I 

 gave up the idea of getting back to Cy- 

 prus in time to accomplish anything 

 there this year. I am late enough now, 

 but it was the best I could do, and now 

 if I would not go back without taking 

 any bees I must stay 2 weeks in Ceylon. 



These bees are to be had in this part 

 of the world, but you must bear in mind 

 that in this particular the country is un- 

 explored, no bee-keeper ever having ex- 

 amined it before, and it takes some 

 time to find them. Then it is a long 

 way between the countries and islands 

 of which we speak in a breath as though 

 they were near neighbors. You know 

 yourself, through experience, what a 

 long, long journey it seemed to cross, 

 the Atlantic Ocean, yet when I shall 

 have arrived in Cyprus I will have 

 traveled on this journey a distance 

 equal to 6 trips across the Atlantic. 

 Thus having left Cyprus late, and not 

 knowing positively tbe very best course 

 to pursue, it having been an impossibil- 

 ity to ascertain anything about this 

 subject before coming to the Indies, 

 the time has been too short to accom- 

 plish what I wished to do. The only 

 way I see to get a large number of these 

 bees is to come here and be prepared to 

 remain for some time, then go to the 

 place where they are most abundant 

 and rent a house to live in— hotels and 

 traveling about are expensive here, es- 

 pecially for foreigners. 



One of the most troublesome things 

 which first presented itself was the 

 finding of an interpreter. Only natives 

 connected with the government learn 

 any foreign languages and even few of 

 them do. I could see no other way to 

 get along, so I bought a book and com- 

 menced to learn the Malay language, 

 meanwhile, the Director of the Depart- 

 ment of Public Instruction gave me as 

 interpreter a young Malay who could 

 speak a little Dutch. It seemed prepos- 

 terous to think of one's commencing to 

 learn a language in the hope of speak- 

 ing it in 10 days or so well enough to 

 make transactions with people who 

 knew no other tongue. But the Malay 

 tongue is so very easy, so exceedingly 

 simple, that in 2weeksIcould getalong 

 very well, and now, after 6 weeks, I 

 can ask all about the bees. I derived 

 much aid in getting along with my var- 

 ious journeyings through my acquain- 

 tance with French, German, Dutch and 

 with the Malay I learned. In fact, 

 with Fnglish alone one would get along 

 but poorly in those lands outside ot 

 British India, while even in British 

 territory, French and the native lan- 

 guage are of very great importance to 

 the traveler. 



Mr. Schroder, Mr. Cori, Mr. Filbert 

 and many other European bee-cultur- 

 ists, have written me encouraging let- 

 ters, and all speak in highest terms of 

 the work, saying also that they await 

 with intense interest the result of my 

 journey, news of which they all wish 

 me to give them as soon as possible, di- 

 rect from Java. 



Earnestly hoping to give more en- 

 couraging news soon, I remain as ever. 

 Yours Truly, Frank Benton. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Foul Brood. 



p. b. p. 



The former article which I wrote to 

 the Bee Journal was intended to in- 

 duce apiarists to investigate the disease 

 of foul brood more, and to leave noth- 

 ing unturned to set it in as clear light as 

 possible. I am of the opinion that the 

 subject is one that has not been suffi- 

 ciently clearly investigated, and what 

 has arisen from a want of a proper un- 

 derstanding of this important subject 

 has been misunderstood for a heredi- 

 tary disease in bees. 



The colony which I referred to in my 

 former article was a very strong one, a 

 large quantity of bees clustered on the 

 outside of the box for some days pre- 

 vious to swarming, there were also a 

 number of drones in the colony, and the 

 combs were filled with larva; unsealed. 

 When they swarmed the bees nearly all 

 left the box (hundreds of drones were 

 left), consequently the young bees were 



left without food, hence they died and 

 I found them in the state described 

 in my former article, t allowed! 

 the box to remain in its place to see- 

 what would be the result, which was as 

 I before stated. 



Another source of the disease is ex- 

 plained by H. L. Jeffrey ; this is cer- 

 tainly the effect of want of proper 

 judgment. 



As I believe much of this disease is 

 caused by improper treatment in the 

 winter and spring I will now explain 

 how I treat mine, which has been at- 

 tended with good success for the last 

 9 years. 



I winter mine in a house, in the walls 

 of which there is 9 inches of sawdust, 

 and 12 inches over the ceiling; there is 

 a ventilator in the floor and another in 

 the ceiling, both valves of which I can 

 open and shut at pleasure. I have a 

 door outside and another inside which 

 fits close ; the house is kept quite dark; 

 in it I have shelves on which I place 

 the bees. I endeavor to keep the tem- 

 perature from 1° to 7° above freezing 

 point, but in the spring when it is likely 

 to rise above that temperature before I 

 remove them from the house, I place a 

 large tub in it in which I put ice to pre- 

 vent too much warmth, so that the queen 

 will not deposit more eggs in the cells 

 than the bees will cover. When I take 

 them out in the spring if the nights are 

 cold I take the weak colonies into the 

 house and I close the entrance of the 

 others, leaving a small aparture for air 

 so that the bees can ventilate them- 

 selves, and in the morning I open them 

 to suit the strength of the hive ; in this 

 way morning and evening having at- 

 tended to them I believe I have pre- 

 vented foul brood in the spring. 



In my winter bee-house I nave not 

 lost 6 colonies for 9 years, and by the- 

 above care and attention I find I nave 

 very little spring dwindling. I have 

 wintered some outside and I do not re- 

 member losing one, but it would make 

 this article too long to explain it here. 



When I find a colony have nearly all 

 left in swarming and a large quantity 

 of larvse is left in the combs, I imme- 

 diately artificially swarm one into the 

 box, which effectually prevents foul 

 brood. 



There may be other causes for the 

 bees leaving their young to perish and 

 hence causing foul brood,which we have- 

 yet to learn. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Foul Brood and Feeding Rye Flour. 



H. L. JEFFREY. 



AVhen I wrote the article on foul brood' 

 published in the BeeJotjrnal of March 

 16th, it was not my own situation thatl 

 described, but the result of close observ- 

 ations in an apiary a few miles from me, 

 and in which I have worked a great 

 many days since 1873, and it is only one- 

 case out of quite a number that I can 

 give the details of, if it was necessary. 



Another cause that has shown quite- 

 strong evidence is wet and moldy bot- 

 tom boards, and I find that there is a 

 difference in wood about the effect — 

 some holding moisture and molding 

 more than others, and this dampness 

 also causes dysentery and spring dwind- 

 ling to a great extent ; at least a great 

 many experiments that I have tried du- 

 ring the past 4 years prove it sufficiently 

 to establish a rule to go by. First, if 

 the bees are kept perfectly dry, they 

 will not be apt to be troubled with the 

 black mold. This mold emits the same 

 kind of gas or poisonous effluvia that 

 is found in welis. deep holes, and in some 

 cellars. This gas is death to all animal 

 life in a greater or less degree. This is 

 also one trouble that is caused by the 

 hives standing on the ground in cold, 

 damp places, and in such I have found 

 spring dwindling, foul brood, dysentery, 

 and black mold more than in any other 

 locality that I have found. I prefer a 

 low stand to all others, yet I have taken 

 particular notice of the great difference, 

 other things being equal, between colo- 

 nies kept where the soil was heavy, 

 black, wet ground. Those kept on a 

 bench 2 feet high would be as much as 

 2 weeks ahead of those on the ground, 

 and the colonies on the ground would 

 dwindle twice as bad as those standing 

 on a high bench ; on the other hand, the 



