THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



805 



Bee-Keeping in India. 



Bee-keeping in India, wliich appoais 

 to lie one of the lost aits, has now- 

 found a cliampion in Mr. .lolin Doug- 

 las, of tlie Indian Telegraph Pepart- 

 ment, says the London Post. Apicul- 

 ture may yet become a lia|)py resource 

 to the indigent population of India, 

 both as adding anotherarticle to their 

 dietary and as eking out their scanty 

 means. lu some districts wild honey 

 is said to be eagerly souglit .after by 

 the native population as au article of 

 food, an offering to the gods, and a 

 soothing syrup for fractious infancy. 



The first question for Indian apicul- 

 turists is tlie domestication of the 

 great tiger honey-fly. The choicest 

 honey is produced by this ferocious 

 insect with a villainous sting, named 

 in ditfereut parts of the country 

 Bhoiiwara, Bhanwar, Bhanr, and 

 great tiger honey-fly ; but the most 

 worthless sort is obtained from an 

 amiable little insect about a quarter 

 of the size of a common house-tly, 

 which offers no objection to being ob- 

 served, possibly aware that the in- 

 truder will obtain very inadequate 

 compensation for his trouble. This 

 species usually builds low down near 

 the ground, under stones or lu the 

 clefts of trees ; its nest is souglit after 

 by children, who eat up honey, comb, 

 aiid grub on the spot, the bee mean- 

 time accepting the situation with 

 true Asiatic philosophy. 



Far different is tlie fate of him who 

 ventures to disturb the Bhonwara 

 bee, which attacks the traveler on 

 the slightest provocation, and very 

 often strikes on the principle that 

 prevention is better than cure. A 

 swarm of these bees have been known 

 to put a regiment of cavalry to flight, 

 and innumerable are the instances in 

 which man and beast have fallen 

 victims to their unrelenting ani- 

 mosity. They build their nests on 

 ledges of rock in steep and inacces- 

 sible places, and to obtain their honey, 

 ■which is said to rival in flavor the 

 celebrated honey of JSIountllymettus, 

 the native hunter has to exercise 

 much caution and dexterity. 



The hunter of these bees waits for 

 a dark night, and starts forth after 9 

 p. m. Having selected the spot he 

 intends to rifle, he prepares to reach 

 it either from above or below, accord- 

 ing as seems most feasible ; should 

 he ascend lie does so by means of a 

 ladder ; should he decideto descend, a 

 number of thin, green bamboos are 

 spliced together with fibre and let 

 down over the face of the precipice. 

 One end is fastened to a tree or stake 

 driven into the ground, and over this 

 the brother-in-law of the descending 

 man keeps watch. This particular 

 relative is chosen as being the least 

 likely to favor foul play, since on him, 

 in case of accident, would devolve the 

 care of the widow and children. The 

 man takes down with him a basket, a 

 knife, and a bunch of dried grass, to 

 ■which he sets fire on arriving opposite 

 the nests. The bees, aroused by the 



glare, desert the combs in thousands, 

 but they are too stupilied by the 

 smoke to do anything but buzz aim- 

 lessly about, alighting on the rocks 

 and branches, and even on the person 

 of the hunter himself, without at- 

 tempting to sting. The comb is cut 

 away and dropped into the basket, 

 which, when full, is pulled up by 

 those above. Some of the hunter's 

 who draw honey in the daytime rub 

 themselves with the juice of a plant 

 the aroma of which bees cannot en- 

 dure ; for these insects have very sen- 

 sitive organs of smell, and it would 

 appear that the capricious likes and 

 dislikes they sho^n' for different per- 

 sons depend on their olfactory nerves. 

 It is well known that some people 

 can handle bees with impunity, whila 

 others dare not venture within 50 

 yards of them. The acuteness of this 

 one organ is, however, counterbal- 

 anced by their total deafness. 



Since Virgil wrote the Fourth 

 Georgic, his recommendation has been 

 followed not to have the hives too 

 near the dwelling house, lest the pres- 

 ence of man should disturb the bees' 

 peace of mind ; but the Kashmir 

 peasant builds his hives actually in 

 his house, and with the best possible 

 results. Bound, tubular cavities are 

 left in the w^alls, extending right 

 through from the inside to the outer 

 air. They are lined with mortar 

 worked up with the do^wn of thistles. 

 The ends of the tubes are closed with 

 platters of red earthenware, the outer 

 platter having a circular hole in its 

 centre to enable the bees to pass in 

 and out. When the time for taking 

 the honey arrives, the house-father 

 removes the inner platter, and light- 

 ing a wisp of straw blows the smoke 

 into the hive ; this causes the liees to 

 rush precipitately towards the outlet, 

 and enables the 'man to cut away the 

 comb with a knife. Enougli is left 

 hanging round the further end of the 

 hive to encourage the swarm to re- 

 turn and begin their labors again. 



In " Moorcraft's Travels "' we find 

 his observations on bee-culture in the 

 Himalayas as follows : 



"In most villages of the northern 

 range of the Himalayas, bees are kept, 

 and honey, the produce of the wild or 

 domesticated bee, is an article of sale. 

 It is commonly sold in the bazaar at 

 from four to six seers for a rupee, 

 and, although, not much thicker than 

 syrup, is of a flavor equal to Xarbonne 

 a'nd less cloying to the stomach. 

 There is no great demand for wax, 

 otherwise this might also be plenti- 

 fully supplied. At present the comb, 

 after the honey is compressed, is 

 thrown away. The domestic bee is 

 known by the name of mahru. mohri. 

 and mari. It is not much above half 

 the size of that of Europe, lint it is 

 very industrious and mild tempered. 

 The w'ild bee is termed bhaonra, a 

 name by which the people of the 

 plains designate tlie humble-bee, but 

 is not half the bulk of that insect, 

 though larger than the domestic bee 

 of Europe. It is of a darker color 

 generally, and has longer and broader 

 wings. Its temper is irascible, and 

 sting, venomous. It commonly builds 



its nest under projecting ledges of 

 rock, overhanging, steep, mural preci- 

 pices, in a situation almost inaccesi- 

 ble to bears and men. The hive con- 

 tains a large ipiantity of both wax 

 and honey. The latter, if gathered 

 before the month of Bhadra, is fully 

 equal to that of tlie domestic bee, but 

 in that and the foUowinjT months is 

 said to produce intoxication foUo^oed 

 by stupefaction. The effect is with 

 some probability ascribed to the bees 

 working on the flower of a species of 

 aconite, which is in bloom in Bhadra 

 and Asharh, and which, growing high 

 up the mountain, is hevond the flight 

 ot the domestic bee." 



That the virtues of the honey de- 

 pend on the particular pasturage the 

 bee has found, is well known, and 

 every school boy has read in Xeno- 

 phon of the deleterious effects the 

 honey of Trebizond had on the sol- 

 diers during the retreat of the Ten 

 Thousand. Narbonne honey owes its 

 peculiar excellence to the rosemary 

 plant, and the best honey years in 

 India are when the strobilanthes is in 

 bloom. There are many species in 

 this genus, and they flower once in 

 seven or ten years, about the month 

 of May. Immediately the flowers 

 wither and and fall off, the plant itself 

 dies, a new crop afterwards springing 

 up from the seed. This flower has a 

 strong and sweet scent, and whenever 

 it is in bloom colonies of bees migrate 

 from all parts of the country to feast 

 on the honey and to rear their young. 

 At such times honey becomes plenti- 

 ful and cheap, and is of the finest 

 flavor. 



1^ The sixteenth annual conven- 

 tion of the Northeastern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will be held in the 

 City Hall at Syracuse, N. Y., on the 

 21, 22 and 2.3 of .lanuary, 18S-5. The 

 executive committee are determined 

 to maintain the high standing and 

 enviable reputation which the Asso- 

 ciation has justly gained in tlie past, 

 and at the coming convention they 

 propose to outdo all former efforts. 

 The meeting will surely be the largest 

 and most interesting ever held in 

 America. No bee-keeper can afford 

 to stay at home. All are invited. All 

 implements of the apiary sent to the 

 Secretary, will be properly arrayed to 

 compare favorably with others on ex- 

 hibition, and will be disposed of or 

 returned, as the owner directs. Re- 

 duced rates for board at hotels. 



Geo. W. House, Sec. 



L. C. Root, Pres. 



1^ To Canadian subscribers let us 

 say that we have made arrangements 

 so that we can supply the Fai-mer''s 

 Advocate of London, Ont., and the 

 Monthly Bee Journal for one year 

 at $1.25for the two. 



