1886.] and the Introduction of the Italian Bee. 85 



6. That tlie products of the bees building in the open air in the plains 

 are simply taken by driving off the bees by means of smoke ; no attempt 

 being made to cultivate the bees, or to " preserve " them in the technical 

 sense. 



6. That of about 65 specimens of honey sent to the Exhibition from 

 different parts of the country and examined by me almost all were fer- 

 mented, thin, and, from a European point of view, utterly unmarketable ; 

 samples of hill-honey said to be good were after being kept found by me 

 to be inferior. This inferiority is due (1) to the honey being " unripe " or 

 being taken from the combs of bees building in the open, which honey 

 appears to be thinner than that stored in a hive-house or other close space, 

 and (2) to the method of extracting, which admits of the honey being 

 contaminated by nitrogenous matter from crushed larvae and pollen. 



7. Pure good honey of indigenous bees is unobtainable in Calcutta. 



8. As A. florea builds inside houses and A. dorsata in caves, and 

 under such conditions build larger and multiple combs, yielding larger 

 quantities of denser honey, it appears very probable that, if a well 

 ventilated hive with several openings or one large opening were used, 

 these bees might be hived, and that their honey would then become dense 

 like that of A. mellifica, but their comb-building would present difficulties 

 in the way of extracting without injuring brood, and they would probably 

 not defend their hive so as to keep their combs free from moth. 



9. Many attempts, extending over several years, had been made by 

 Europeans to hive indigenous bees in the plains, and to import European 

 bees, but without success. Apis indica has been successfully cultivated 

 in frame-hives in the hills. 



10. The past failures have not been due to inherent impracticability, 

 but to want of knowledge, skill, and experience, or of just appreciation 

 of the initial difficulties. In the case of imported bees, a considerable 

 sacrifice of bees was not provided for, nor were experiments continued 

 sufficiently long to discover the local conditions of success. 



11. The alarming accounts given of the viciousness of some Indian 

 bees are not confirmed. The Rev. A. Bunker, Mr. F. Benton, Mr. Dathe, 

 and myself have handled, or hived A. dorsata, or had it under observation. 

 Instances of this bee attacking men and animals when wantonly or acci- 

 dentally irritated by persons ignorant of bee-management prove nothing, 

 as this behaviour is common to most bees in similar circumstances. The 

 number of such accidents reported is extremely small considering the 

 enormous number of bees' nests which exist even in the towns and the 

 scanty clothing worn by the labouring population : three species exist in 

 Calcutta : most gardens contain nests of two species. The relative 

 irascibility of races of bees can only be ascertained by persons skilled in 

 handling bees. 



