1886.] and the Introduction of the Italian Bee. 93 



worker-cells so very common under certain conditions. Migrating would 

 evidently be much easier for a species building on a branch in a warm 

 climate than for one to which a cavity was necessary in a temperate or 

 cold climate : hence this habit would tend to disappear, as in A. mellijica. 

 It may be urged that the storing of food proves the bee indigenous to a 

 climate with a pronounced winter, but even in the tropics there are 

 periods when flowers are scarce or a season of heavy rain prevents the col- 

 lection of food, and the safety of the brood renders some stores essen- 

 tial ; nor could the large quantity of brood necessary to keep up the race 

 in spite of its enemies and hardships be dependent on food gathered as 

 required. In Lower Bengal, A, indica collects very little, if any, surplus 

 honey ; the surplus of a single year is enormously increased by cultiva- 

 tion, and bears no fixed relation to that which would be produced by the 

 same bee naturally ; an enormous number of stocks of A. indica perish 

 every season from moth and want of stores. The Italian bee is esteemed 

 for its relatively great ability to protect itself from moth, and to keep its 

 hive clean and free from other injurious insects ; the black bee of nor- 

 thern Europe is inferior in this respect ; this is probably an acquired 

 peculiarity possibly due to many centuries of protection by man. A. indica 

 occupies necessarily any cavity in wall or tree it can find, and it could 

 not defend the usually large entrances to such cavities even if it tried : 

 hence it commonly shares its dwelling place with other insects, and it 

 cannot keep this dwelling clean ; in a hive it permits vermin to collect and 

 allows an accumulation of debris to harbour its enemies. It appears to 

 defend its combs rather than its hive, as would a single-comb bee build- 

 ing in the open. I purpose, when I can find leisure, to give fuller descrip- 

 tions of the several species and varieties of Indian hive-bees after mak- 

 ing accurate drawings and measurements and examining carefully a 

 large number of specimens of the numerous varieties of the different 

 species. Efforts will be made to ascertain the economic value of the 

 Bushahr variety of A. mellijica. Mr. Minnickin, the officer in charge of 

 the district in which this bee occurs, has been supplied with appliances, 

 and I have had the pleasure of explaining and demonstrating to him their 

 use. I hope some stocks will be sent to Simla and hived there ; and I 

 have suggested that the Punjab Government should supply some stocks of 

 this and of the Hazara bee to a number of gentlemen who had expressed 

 their willingness to introduce the Italian bee. It is to be regretted that 

 the economic value of this bee cannot be investigated by an expert. 



Introduction of the Italian Bee. — The acclimatization of a foreign 

 animal in a new habitat demands justification, and should be recorded ; 

 I know of no more fitting record than the publications of this Society 

 in whose garden the first Italian queens have been bred, the first 



