296 



THE BEE-lCEEt'ERS* REVIEW. 



water a bee will fly straighter, and with 

 less circling, than with a load of honey. 



In the fall our hunters peel a piece of 

 bark from a birch tree, and set fire to one 

 corner of the bark. As soon as it begins 

 to burn it will begin to curl up, and, as it 

 curls itself up into a roll, they sprinkle 

 pieces of wax upon it. After it is all 

 curled up around the wax it will smol- 

 der a long time, giving off an odor of 

 burning wax that will float away on the 

 wind and attract any bee that comes 

 near. This does away with the plan of 

 heating stones, which is somewhat diffi- 

 cult if the timber is all wet. The birch 

 bark will burn even on a wet drizzly day. 

 Such days as this are the best for hunting 

 bees, as they do not go far from home on 

 such days. 



The first few times that a bee returns 

 from the tree to the bait, it will come 

 to the bait from the side opposite to the 

 tree. I think that the bee flies past its 

 landmarks, and then drops down on the 

 back-track for the bait. 



.Some of our bee-hunters use bee-hunt- 

 ing glasses which seem to so change the 

 color of the timber and sky as to giye a 

 better background for watching the bees. 

 They are not expensive, and can be 

 bought of J. Lynn, 48 Bond St. New 

 York City. 



Greknwood, Wis., Oct. 5, 1899. 



ood things 



From Other Journals, 



SElvECTED BY DR. A. B. M.\SON. 



HA.S APIS DORSATA A X^ONGKR TONOrE 

 THAN HAS .\PIS MKI.I.IFIC.\. 



Many, if not all, of the readers of the 

 Review are interested in the importation 

 or non-importation of .A.pis Dorsata; and 



this interest comes largely from the sup^ 

 position that it has a longer tongue than 

 other varieties of bees, and will be able 

 to gather the honey from red clover and 

 other honey producing flowers, that can 

 not be reached by the bees we now have ; 

 but if further investigation shall prove 

 that Dorsata's tongue is but little if any 

 longer than Mellifica's, interest in her do- 

 mestication and importation will be at an 

 end. 



In an article in Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture for August I, page 572, a Mr. H. L. 

 Tones of Goodna, Australia, in sending 

 some samples of .\pis Dorsata to the edi- 

 tor says: — 



Now, friend Root, I should like to have 

 you examine these bees minutely, or pass 

 them on to some expert so that the rela- 

 tive length of the tongues of these and 

 Apis Mellifica might be ascertained. Ac- 

 cording to some measurements made b}^ 

 Mr. F. N. L. Sladen, of Riffle Court, 

 England, and reported in Gleanings, 

 1897, page 487, the tongue of Apis Dor- 

 sata is scarcel)' any longer than that of 

 our ordinary bee; and if such is really the 

 case it might not be advisable to introduce 

 them, even if they could be domesticated 

 and their migratory instincts overcome. 

 To my unaided eye, however, their 

 tongues seem much longer than those of 

 our common bees. 



In reply to Mr. Jone's letter, editor 

 Root says, in part, 



I have just been comparing the speci- 

 mens of Dorsata sent by you, and tho.se 

 sent by Mr. W. E. Rambo, of India. 

 Those from the latter look much like 

 very large five and six banded Italian 

 bees; while those you send have less yel- 

 low on them, are somewhat of a bluish 

 cast, and are, I should judge, slightly 

 smaller. They are evidently Dorsata, 

 however, but may be a different varietj% 

 just as we have varieties among the Apis 

 Mellijica. 



With regard to the tongues of the Dor- 

 sata bees, as soon as placed in alcohol, 

 they have a fashion of pu.shing out their 

 tongues to their fullest length; and it is 

 evident that the specimens of Dorsata 

 sent us did that very thing. I may be 

 mistaken, l)ut their tongues do not appear 

 to be an}- longer than those I have seen 

 on red-clover Italians. 



