1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



32Q 



bees are often found at altitudes of 4000 or 

 .^000 feet, where forests occur, yet seem to 

 withstand this temperature successfully. 

 They are rarely seen in the lower or coast 

 reg^ions. This indicates a certain dejj^ree 

 of hardiness. 



I should like to call Mr. Morrison's at- 

 tention also to an article entitled "Apis 

 Dorsata, the Giant Bees of India," pub- 

 lished in the American Bee-keeper for 1895, 

 pases 81—84. 



^iMr. Morrison says further (p. 96, Glean- 

 ings, P'eb. 1, 1903): "But why not broaden 

 the subject? Why stick to one bee? Apis 

 Indica we know can be domesticated, and 

 is not likely to be a nuisance to civiliza- 

 tion." One might suppose from his manner 

 of putting this that the idea was original 

 with Mr. Morrison. I wonder if he ever 

 read the following, which may be found in 

 an article over my name in Gleanings for 

 June 15, 1892, page 450: 



" We may hope to bring to this country 

 Apis Indica, a bee smaller than our ordi- 

 narj' honey-bee, but an industrious gather- 

 er, which in quite limited numbers is kept 

 in hives by the natives of India. It might 

 be found that Apis Indica would visit only 

 smaller flowers than our bees, and thus, 

 even if kept in the same field, not lessen 

 the j'ield we obtain from the races already 

 here. It would be no small gain for the 

 apicultural interests of the country if three 

 apiaries could be kept at one point without 

 material interference with one another." 



And, again, on p. 12 of my "Manual of 

 Apiculture" (Bulletin No. 1, new series, 

 Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Ag- 

 riculture), the first and second editions of 

 which were issued in 1891 and the third in 

 1899, I said of Apis Indica: " The common 

 bee of southern Asia is kept in very limited 

 numbers, and with a small degree of prof- 

 it, in earthen jars and sections of hollow 

 trees in portions of the British and Dutch 

 East Indies. . . . Some 10 or 12 lbs. is 

 the most reported from a single hive. It is 

 quite probable that, if imported into this 

 countr}', it would do more. These bees 

 would no doubt visit many small flowers 

 not frequented by the hive bees we now 

 have, and whose nectar is, therefore, wast- 

 ed." 



From the above it is evident that we do 

 not need, as Mr. Morrison would have bee- 

 keepers believe, "to domesticate .-//>/5 /«- 

 dica," since it is already cultivated in va- 

 rious parts of India, and, as a matter of 

 fact, in the Dutch East Indies as well. 



In referring to regions from which valu- 

 able bees may possibly be obtained, Mr. 

 Morrison follows up the question of broad- 

 ening this, subject with the suggestion that 

 " Africa has bees in abundance over its 

 whole length and breadth. Are none of 

 these valuable? We do know that bee-keep- 

 ing is the sole occupation of large tribes of 

 people in that continent." And, again, he 

 says: " The East Indies, Siam, South Chi- 

 na, South America, Asiatic Turkey, and 

 other countries all have their little honey- 



gatherers. It is very likely indeed that 

 some of them are of great merit and worthy 

 of early introduction." 



As a comment on the foregoing I would 

 state that we know something of the bees 

 of the whole northern part of Africa, of 

 portions of the western regions of South 

 Africa, and also something of the eastern 

 part of Africa; and these all belong to our 

 species, as now classified, and will inter- 

 breed with our honey-bees. Furthermore, 

 there are no indications that any of them 

 are superior to the races or breeds of Apis 

 viellifera which we now possess. Of course, 

 it is quite impossible to say that there are 

 not very different bees, perhaps more valu- 

 able, and very possibly some which belong 

 to other distinct species of bees than Apis 

 melli/era, in the interior of Africa. It is a 

 matter worth investigation; but since there 

 are much more promising fields still open, 

 they should be looked to first. 



Before accepting the statement that bee- 

 keeping is the sole occupation of large 

 tribes of people in that continent, I should 

 want some definite proof or good authority. 

 Of the other regions mentioned, omitting 

 the East Indies, there is comparatively little 

 hope of finding any thing new and valuable 

 which would not be found in India itself. 

 There are some possibilities in Siam and 

 South China, and some of the bees found 

 there are similar to those of India proper. 

 In South America there exists no native 

 species of the genus Apis, but only the 

 stingless melipones; and, however valuable 

 these may be in the absence of others, none 

 of them have been found to be superior to 

 our bees or likely to compete with them in 

 any respect. The combs of all resemble in 

 consistency and general structure those of 

 our own bumble-bee, and the irregular 

 clumps of honey-cells are made of a coarse 

 wax mixed with pollen, the whole resem- 

 bling in color and qualities the brown cells 

 of the bumble-bee. The yield is insignifi- 

 cant, and many species of these bees do not 

 stand any degree of cold such as they would 

 meet in even most of our Southern States, 

 the ordinary temperature of 50 degrees be- 

 ing sufficient to cause them to give up their 

 flight. To investigate the bees of South 

 America before undertaking a thorough 

 study of those in some other portions of the 

 world would be simply absurd. We know 

 all the races existing in Asiatic Turkey 

 and their qualities. Several of them have 

 been cultivated, and it is incredible that 

 any exist there that would excel those we 

 now have from eastern Mediterranean lands. 

 The best comment, however, on Mr. Mor- 

 rison's suggestions as to regions from which 

 valuable bees may possibly come is a mere 

 mention of his omissions! Starting with 

 the Caspian Sea and proceeding eastward, 

 there are vast regions about whose bees we 

 know very little — Turkestan, Persia, Af- 

 ghanistan, Cashmere, India, Eastern Turk- 

 estan, Thibet, Upper Burmah, and western 

 China, as well as Mongolia. These are 

 the most promising fields for new and start- 



