THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



271 



Bee-Cnltnre in India. 



The London Times gives the fol- 

 lowing information respecting the bee 

 industry in India, gathered partly 

 from the Indian Agriculturist. The 

 details were obtained by Mr. John 

 Douglas, superintendent of telegraphs, 

 from Mr. Morgan, deputy conserva- 

 tor of forests, and are noteworthy 

 from the light they throw on the 

 modes of collecting wild honey: 



The best tioney producing flower of 

 Southern India, is the strobilanthes, 

 which not only forms the principal 

 undergrowth of the sholas, both tem- 

 perate and tropical, but spreads over 

 the grassy slopes of the higher eleva- 

 tions. Tliere are immense numbers of 

 species in this genus, and they almost 

 all (lower once in seven years, dying 

 down entirely, and afterward a fresh 

 growth springing up from seed. 

 Whenever any species of strobilan- 

 thes flower, colonies of bees migrate 

 from all parts of the country to feast 

 on the honey, and rear their young 

 brood. At such times lioney becomes 

 plentiful and cheap, and as the strobi- 

 lanthes honey is of the finest quality 

 atd flavor, rivaling that from the 

 famous Mount Ilymettus, it is eagerly 

 sought after by the Todas of the JSTeil- 

 gherry Hills, and, in fact, by all ab- 

 original tribes. The year 1879 was 

 sucn a season for honey that it sold at 

 the rate of four annas per imperial 

 pint, whereas its usual price is from 

 eight to ten annas. This honey, in 

 the cold climate of the Neilgherries, 

 crysializes in from a fortnight to three 

 weeks, when tlie flavor becomes richer 

 wnd finer. 



In the Wynaad, as soon as the moon 

 has waned sufticiently, great prepara- 

 tions are made to take the honey. 

 Bamboo and rattan ladders are con- 

 structed, sometimes of astonishing 

 length, and at nightfall, after 9 p. m., 

 for the bees do not go to rest until 

 then, as you will find to your cost it 

 you disturb them, the jain (honey) 

 kurumbars proceed to theburray, and 

 and having erected their ladders, if 

 they have to climb upward or suspend 

 them downward, arm themselves with 

 torclies and knives, and sever the 

 combs from the rocks or branch. The 

 disturbed bees, meanwhile, roused by 

 the glare of the torches, desert the 

 combs and buzz aimlessly about, even 

 on the persons of those engaged in 

 taking the combs, but never attefript 

 to sting unless crushed or hurt. The 

 combs are then lowered down in bas- 

 kets, the karumbars feasting on the 

 larv;e, which tastes something like 

 cream, while the fish, which swatm in 

 thousands when the hives are built 

 over a river, have a glorious feed on 

 the grubs and bees that fall into the 

 water and float helplessly down the 

 stream. 



The Coorgs make some attempt at 

 bee-culture, and practice the industry 

 to some extent in their own homes. 

 The bees are domesticated, and the 

 hives, which are of a very primitive 

 description, made merely of the hol- 



lowed out trunks of trees, are placed 

 near the houses. The Coorgs have, 

 however, no notion of collecting the 

 surplus honey by any of the contri- 

 vances now in use. 



In Cuddapah wild honey is collected 

 also from the cliffs and ravines of the 

 district. The process adopted in both 

 is perilous and exciting, and the Yan- 

 adies alone are able to climb into the 

 difficult and apparently inaccessible 

 places over perpendicular cliffs, in 

 some places from 100 to 200 feet in 

 height. They do this by the aid of a 

 plaited rope, made of young bamboos 

 tied together. This rope sometimes 

 gives away, the result being a terrible 

 accident. It is a very nervous sight 

 to watch tjie men climbing up these 

 frail suppTTrts, and it reminds one of 

 the egg-collecting process in northern 

 latitudes. The men from below look 

 like little babies hanging midway, the 

 rope being fastened on the top of the 

 cliff above by means of a peg driven 

 into the ground, or to the trunk of a 

 tree, the man swinging midway with 

 100 feet or so above and below him, 

 and armed with a stick and a leather 

 basket. The Yanady first burns some 

 grass or brushwood under the hive, 

 by which he pokes with his stick, 

 holding out his basket at the same 

 time to catch the detached portions of 

 comb. Wlien the basket is full he 

 shakes the rope, at which signal his 

 comrades above draw him up. The 

 bamboo ropes are left to hang often 

 for years, until they rot away, for a 

 rope of this kind is never used twice, 

 a fresh one being made on each occa- 

 sion, and at each place. 



South Canara is also a great honey 

 district. Tlie honey and Wax have, 

 however, but little local value, a 

 mound, about 25 pounds, only fetch- 

 ing R. 2 and R. Ifi. It is thought that 

 much might be done to open up the 

 industry by exporting the honey and 

 wax to England, the latter being a 

 valuable product, and one for which 

 there is always a demand. The trade, 

 at present in Indian honey, is almost 

 entirely confined to wild honey ; but 

 as the keeping of bees is an industry 

 requiring little or no capital, it is es- 

 pecially adapted to the people of 

 India. 



Should the returns obtained from 

 the inquiries now made and set on 

 foot by Mr. Douglas, show that it is 

 worth while to introduce this industry 

 in a practical form, then Mr. Buck, 

 the whole subject having been placed 

 under his department, may possible 

 see his way to making a decided ef- 

 fort to interest the people in syste- 

 matic bee-culture with a view to the 

 trade in honey and wax becoming ul- 

 timately a profitable one to the 

 country. 



FMladelphia Bee-Keepers. 



Mr. John Shallcross, of Philadel- 

 phia, sends us the following item of 

 news from the Herald: 



The Philadelphia Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation met at the residence of Dr. 

 Townsend, the President, 1514 Vine 

 street, on Monday evening. May 14. 

 An interesting essay upon the bee and 

 honey, from the earliest times, was 

 read bj[ Dr. Townsend. Questions of 

 a practical nature were read from the 

 question box, and were answered and 

 discussed by the members. Two hand- 

 some charts of the "anatomy and 

 physiology of the honey bee, and its 

 relation to flowering plants," by Mr. 

 Frank R. Cheshire, recently procurred 

 from England by the Association, 

 were exhibited and explained by the. 

 President. An observatory hive, with 

 a nucleus colony of bees in full opera- 

 tion, was also exhibited by Dr. Town- 

 send. Bee-keeping in Philadelphia is 

 making considerable progress. 



Ladies as Bee-Keepers. 



^g" Do not send coins in a letter. It 

 is dangerous and increases the postage 

 unnecessarily. Always send postage 

 stamps, for fractions of a dollar, and, 

 if you can get them — one-cent stamps ; 

 if not, any denomination of postage 

 stamps will do. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, of Lansing, Mich., 

 gives the following on this subject in 

 the New York Tribune : 



Mr. Heddon constantly complains 

 of over-praise of bee-keeping. He 

 says they all do not "get there"— to 

 success, I suppose he means. Of 

 course ft is not all sunshine in api- 

 culture. Severe winters mow down 

 the colonies. "Foul brood" devas- 

 tates and unfavorable seasons, not 

 infrequently, make the profits micro- 

 scopic ; while, worst of all, many lack 

 true persistence to "overcome" till 

 delayed success has chance to crown 

 their efforts. Yet I could name 

 hundreds, amateurs and specialists, 

 who get pleasure and no small gain 

 from bees, and they include many 

 ladies. For instance, Miss West, of 

 Flint, Mich., whose father owns 100 

 colonies, is a teacher in the public 

 schools. Last Juno Mr. West was 

 prostrated with typhoid fever, and his 

 daughter took the whole care of the 

 apiary during this most active season, 

 and with success, though she cared 

 for her father besides. A fiiend of 

 Miss West taught a district school, 

 and for recreation cared for a few col- 

 onies of bees, which in no wise inter- 

 fered with her duties as teacher. The 

 income from the bees exceeded that 

 earned as teacher. Of course, manj 

 will not succeed in bee-keeping— only 

 those who are punctual and observing 

 of the needs of the myriad laborers 

 whom they oversee. But to use this 

 as an argument against the business, 

 would be virtually to condemn every 

 employment. 



Bee Pasturage a Necessity.— We have 

 just issued a new pamphlet giving onr 

 views on this important subject, with 

 suggestions what to plant, and when 

 and how. It is illustrated with 26 en- 

 gravings, and will be sent postpaid to 

 any address for 10 cents. 



