34 Other Species of Apis. 



ing 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 well as honey storing, give us great reason 

 to hope for substantial benefits from their importation. We 

 can but rejoice that the characteristic energy and enterprise of 

 Mr. Jones are still apparent, as he does not propose to rest till 

 Apis dorsata is in the possession of American apiarists. 



Mr. Benton also found A. Indica and A. florea on the Is- 

 land 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 an inch in diameter. The workers are 

 less than one half of an inch long, brown in color, and their 

 entire abdomens are beautifully ringed with brown and yellow. 

 The drones are black, and very small. The one I have measures 

 an eighth of an inch less m length than does the worker. The 

 queens are leather colored, 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 Cey- 

 lon. ^ The workers of A. florea are also banded, and are more 

 beautiful even than those of A. Indica. From Mr. Benton's 

 description it must be a sort of ' 'albino. " 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 p< int 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 been 

 native to the American comment.-" without doubt there were 

 no bees of this genus here till introduced by the Caucasian 

 race. It seems more strange, as we find that all the continents 

 and islands of the Eastern hemisphere abound with represent- 

 ative. It is one more illustration of the strange, inextricable 

 puzzles connected with the geographical distribution of animals. 



SPECIES OP OUR HONEY-BEES. 



The bees at present domesticated unquestionably belong to 

 the Apis mellinca. The character of this species will appear 



