HONEY BEE IN CHINA. 287 



work within the dead carcass of the lion which 

 Samson by his strong arm had slain. 



The Chinese require immense quantities of wax, 

 very much of which is used for a coating to the vast 

 numbers of candles which they burn in their temples. 

 Tens of thousands of pounds of wax are imported 

 annually into China from the islands of Sumatra, 

 Borneo, Java, &c. The bees on these islands are 

 said to be of very small size, make very little honey, 

 and are only hunted for their wax. 



I have recently met with a Chinese who was the 

 owner of bees in the south of China, and he seems 

 much interested in the matter. He says that he did 

 not feed his bees; that each swarm would, on an 

 average, produce three new swarms annually. The 

 price of a strong swarm would be about twenty- 

 five dollars, and the honey about thirteen cents a 

 pound. He says there were a great many persons in 

 his district who reared bees, and all generally found 

 the business quite profitable. 



I shall not fail to give this matter still more atten- 

 tion, and you may hear from me again. Meantime, 

 believe me, 



Tours, faithfully, 



J. Lewis Shuck. 



