290 RACES OF BEES. 



prise will be balked by the task. It behooves our govern- 

 ment to take such matters in hand for the public good. 

 Besides Ains dorsata, two other kinds exist in India, Apis 

 florea and Apis Indica. The latter is cultivated by the 

 natives with good results. Both are smaller than our com- 

 mon bee. 



563. Another race of bees,* the Melipone, is found in 

 Brazil and Mexico. More than twelve varieties of these 

 have been described, all without stings. 



Huber, in the beginning of this centurj', received a nest 

 of them, but the bees died before reaching Geneva. Mr. 

 Drory, while at Bordeaux, France, was more successful. 

 One of his friends sent him a colony of Melipones, and he 

 published in the "RucJier du Sud- Quest " some very curious 

 facts concerning them. The cells containing the stores of 

 honey and pollen are not placed near those intended for 

 brood, but higher in the hive; they are as large as pigeon 

 eggs, and attached in clusters to the walls of the hive. The 

 brood cells are placed horizontally in rows of several sto- 

 ries. The workers do not nurse the brood, but All the cells 

 with food, on which the queen lays. The cells are then 

 closed till the young bees emerge from them. 



A peculiarity of these bees is that the entrance to their 

 home, which is very narrow, is usually watched by a single 

 bee, acting as janitor, and withdrawing from the door to let 

 the workers pass. Thej^ cannot stand the cold, and Mr. 

 Drory could not save his, in spite of his care, in' a location 

 as mild as that of Bordeaux. Mr. T. F. Bingham of Abronia, 

 Michigan, imported a nest of them, in the Spring of 188C, 

 and lost them the same Fall. A part of their nest was exhib- 

 ited by him at the Indianapolis Convention, in October 18G8. 



• These bees are scientittcaUy claaaifled as beloagiag to a different gennn of 

 Apidaj. 



