Bee-Culture at Present 367 



forms of clover may well result in depriving the bumble- 

 bee of his monopoly by giving us clovers with tubes short 

 enough for our ordinary hive-bee. 



This, however, need not discourage the introduction of 

 Apis Dorsata, as certainly there will be plenty of honey for all 

 gatherers. It is a question, though, whether the Apis Dor- 

 sata, being a tropical bee, could endure the northern climate 

 without a great deal of care ; it might take to the woods in 

 the South, however, and build its enormous combs of valu- 

 able wax, which would be worth seeing, to say the least. 



Besides possessing the largest of honey-makers, India 

 also possesses one of the smallest, — the little Apis Florea, of 

 which " the workers, more slender than house flies, though 

 longer bodied, are blue-black in color, with the anterior 

 third of the abdomen bright orange." 



This little bee builds an exceedingly dehcate comb no 

 larger than a man's hand and attaches it to thorn bushes or 

 the twigs of small trees. It holds only about a teacupful of 

 honey and this is not held in very high esteem excepting 

 for medicinal purposes in some sections. 



The common hive-bee of India is Apis Indica, a pretty 

 little yellow creature, smaller than our hive-bees and pro- 

 ducing in comparison but a meagre am'ount of honey, 

 though this is usually of good flavor. It is found wild in 

 hollow trees and rock crevices, and is easily hived. 



Honey-gathering in the jungles of southern India results 

 in the accumulation of quite a large amount of honey 

 and wax, but bee-culture is not practised south of the 

 Punjab excepting in some of the hill villages of Kanara, 

 where the people desiring honey place an earthen pot with 

 a small hole in the side, mouth down, in a hole in the 

 ground, and trust that it will become the selected quarters 

 of bees ! 



Strange to say it often does. Bee-culture is quite exten- 



