48 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the time that I was still abroad, and 

 that he could secure an authorization 

 for me to proceed to India after Apis 

 dorsata, which, he stated, he was very 

 desirous of importing into this country. 

 His letter passed me in mid-ocean, for, 

 after a long self-imposed exile, I was on 

 my way to my native land. It finally 

 reached me in western New York, 

 whither I had gone. We had consider- 

 able correspondence about the matter, 

 and, as I learned afterward, it was Dr. 

 Riley's intention to have me endeavor to 

 introduce some other desired insects at 

 the same time. Thus, he had assured 

 prominent fig-growers of California that 

 he would make every effort possible to 

 introduce caprifig insects, which are 

 necessary to the pollenizing of the 

 Smyrna fig, this valuable variety not 

 being productive in California solely for 

 want of such distribution of its pollen. 

 He was also quite anxious to introduce 

 certain parasites of well-known injuri- 

 ous insects which have been imported 

 without their natural checks. 



Difficulties unforeseen by both Assis- 

 tant Secretary Willits and Dr. Riley 

 made the postponement of this work 

 imperative. But the subject is again 

 under consideration, with a much better 

 prospect than heretofore that Dr. Riley's 

 desires in this direction can be carried 

 out. This does not, of course, mean a 

 certainty, but merely that the chances 

 are now good for its accomplishment. 

 They will be enhanced if bee-keepers 

 and apiarian periodicals make known 

 their desire to see the experiment 

 tried. 



I believe the experiment of introduc- 

 ing Apis dorsata is worth trying. Mr. 

 Dathe, the only practical bee-keeper be- 

 sides myself who has visited India in 

 search of Apis dorsata, and who fol- 

 lowed, in his efforts to introduce this 

 bee into Europe, exactly in my footsteps, 

 agrees with me in the desirability of 

 testing this giant bee. Indeed, at the 

 Frankfort Wanderversammlung, where 

 I met him, he proposed to me that we 

 should make the third effort together. 

 Yet I should not like to have any one 

 entertain such great expectations re- 

 garding these bees as to cause him to 

 be disappointed if the experiment should 

 not result in all we hope for. 



At present the whole undertaking 

 must be viewed strictly in the light of an 

 experiment, from which it is, however, 

 possible we may obtain important prac- 

 tical results, and highly probable that 

 the direct practical results will at least 

 be sufficient to prove the wisdom of such 

 an expenditure on the part of the Gov- 



ernment, though private parties at- 

 tempting it could hardly hope to recover 

 the cost. In any event, a more extended 

 investigation of the bees of the far East 

 than I was able to make during my stay 

 in India, is greatly to be desired. 



How frequently far greater sums of 

 money have been granted to fit out ex- 

 peditions to go to distant parts of the 

 earth to make observations during an 

 eclipse or transit of some heavenly body, 

 the main object of which might be to 

 determine whether the sun or some star 

 is more or less distant from the earth 

 than was generally supposed ! And how 

 often almost the whole benefit to result 

 from such an undertaking depends upon 

 as slender a chance as the presence of 

 clear weather during the few minutes' 

 time the phenomenon lasts ! It is far 

 from my purpose even to hint that such 

 work is not valuable, for it adds to the 

 sum of human knowledge ; and often 

 the most abstract and apparently use- 

 less information proves of great practi- 

 cal use to the world. But I wish to 

 point out how much greater reason 

 there is for attempting work such as 

 the investigation of these Eastern honey 

 and wax producers — work which, viewed 

 abstractly, has a value equal to such 

 undertakings as have been mentioned, 

 and which, at the same time, promises 

 to add another source to our national 

 wealth. And the interest in our pursuit 

 which this work will arouse, when done 

 under the auspices of the National Gov- 

 ernment, will not fail to rebound to the 

 advantage of apiculture. 



RESULTS FROM THE UNDERTAKING. 



A brief statement of the results which 

 it is hoped might be brought about 

 through this undertaking, will be of 

 interest to all bee-keepers. 



1. It is hoped A pis dorsata may be 

 domesticated and kept in hives in a 

 manner similar to our ordinary bees; 

 and that this large bee, having a tongue 

 longer than that of ordinary bees, will 

 be able to secure the honey from various 

 blossoms — notably those of red clover — 

 from which our bees get little or noth- 

 ing. Also, that they will at the .same 

 time aid in the fertilization of these 

 blossoms, so that better seed, and more 

 of it, will result, especially in the case 

 of the first crop of red clover produced 

 when bumble-bees are not numerous. 



2. An effort would be made to produce 

 and test various crosses between dorsata 

 and mellifica. If such crosses can be 

 obtained, possibly something more val- 

 uable-than either of these bees would 



