40 Other Species of Apis. 
our common bees, and thus procure a valuable cross. This 
may be a developed peculiarity, to protect them from birds, 
and so might very likely disappear with domestication. 
The queens are leather colored, and smaller, as compared 
with the workers, than are our common queens. The 
queens are more restless than are the workers while being 
handled. While procuring these bees, Mr. Benton was 
prostrated with a fever, and so the bees, during their long 
voyage to Syria, were neglected. Strange to say, one col- 
ony survived the long confinement, but perished soon after 
reaching Syria. We can not call this journey a. failure, as 
we now have the information that will render a second 
attempt surely successful. What has been learned will 
make the enterprising bee-keeper more desirous than ever 
to secure these bees. Their large size, long tongue and 
immense capabilities in the way of wax secretion, as wel! 
as honey storing, give us great reason to hope for substan- 
tial benefits from their importation. 
Mr. Benton also found A. Indica and A. florea on the 
Island of Ceylon. I have received some of the bees and 
comb of the former species. The comb is very delicate, 
the cells being only one-sixth of aninchin diameter. The 
workers are less than one-half of an inch long, brown in 
color, and their entire abdomens are beautifully ringed with 
brownand yellow. The drones are black, and very small. 
The one I have measures an eighth of an inch less in 
length than does the worker. The queens are leather col- 
ored, and very large as compared with the workers. They 
are as large as are our common queens. These bees are 
very quick and are domesticated on the Island of Ceylon. 
The workers of A. florea are also banded, and are more 
beautiful even than those of A.Indica. From Mr. Benton’s 
description these must resemble our albinos. The sting 
of these two species is very small. From the small amount 
of stores which they gather, the tendency which they have 
to swarm out, and their inability to stand the cold, these 
two species promise little of value except from a scientific 
point of view. One colony of .A. florea was brought: by 
Mr. Benton to Cyprus, but it swarmed out and was lost. 
It seems strange that the genus Apis should not have 
