January, 1910.] 



APICULTURE. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CEYLON. IV. 



By A. P. Goonatilleka. 



The native method of bee-keeping in 

 Ceylon depends more on chance or hick 

 than anything else. A start is generally 

 made by fumigating a pot or some such 

 receptaacle with resin or other sweet 

 smelling substance and placing it on a 

 tree, mouth downwards. During the 

 swarming season bee scouts, sent out to 

 find out a place for the swarm to settle 

 in, come across these pots or receptacles 

 and direct the swarm which starts work 

 forthwith. Such a hive, when the bees 

 are once disturbed or their combs 

 taken, is quitted for good. Under this 

 primitive arrangement the manipulation 

 of the bees is difficult, and they are 

 permitted to live in a semi-wild state. 

 In extracting honey from such hives 

 which is done by violent means, one is 

 liable to receive innumerable stings. 



With the present method one can 

 force a swarm to settle down in any sort 

 of hive he likes by clipping a wing of the 

 queen. When she is once clipped and 

 unable to fly, all the bees settle down 

 with her and start work. The attach- 

 ment of the bees towards the queen is 

 extraordinary and their regard for her 

 induces them to stay with her even at 

 the risk of their lives. I have described 

 the difference between the queen, the 

 worker, and the drone. One can easily 

 pick out the queen in a swarm if he only 

 watches patieutly for a few minutes. A 

 novice naturally dreads to approach a 

 swarm of bees, but if he is not nervous 

 and handles them gently, he will seldom 

 or never get stung. A nervous person 

 may protect himself with a bee veil and 

 a pair of gloves. 



The beginner should not attempt to 

 keep foreign bees, as this would certainly 

 end in failure for the want of experience. 

 Foreign bees are only for the experienced. 

 Italian bees are available in the Island 

 now, but for the present, attention 

 should be directed to Apis indica, since 

 it is easily procured, and is less expensive 

 to gain experience with. In Ceylon 

 these bees may be obtained everywhere. 



If the villagers keep bees, pot hives 

 with bees may be bought from them. 

 The best way to piocure bees is, how- 

 ever, to capture them during swarming 

 season, i.e., February and March and 

 July and August. To the beginner this 

 is more troublesome than buying a hive, 

 but the greater trouble of transferring 

 the built combs of a stock is avoided. 

 If bees cannot be purchased, nor swarms 

 captured, then they must be sought for 

 in hollow trees, cavities in rocks, and 

 similar places. Swarms may be dis- 

 covered by watching for their move- 

 ments, or getting information as to 

 their whereabouts from villagers. 



The beginner should commence with 

 one or two hives only and increase the 

 number as he gain3 experience. It is 

 better to commence with two, because 

 one can be compared with the other, 

 and anything ndticed in one can be 

 checked by reference to the other. 

 Spare combs may be used for foundation, 

 Veils and gloves may be used at first, 

 but they impede free manipulation and 

 should be ultimately discarded. The 

 beginnner should not try to get super 

 honey, nor should he try to raise 

 queens. He should make himself ac- 

 quainted with the principles of bee- 

 keeping to begin with, and become 

 familiar with the different members 

 of the hive, and various forms of 

 cells, &c. He should try to get some 

 one with experience to show him how to 

 examine a hive, transfer combs, rear 

 queens, clip the wings of a queen, capture 

 a swarm, &e. 



If it be asked why bee-keeping has not 

 been carried on as a regular industry in 

 Ceylon, the reply is that it has not been 

 possible because of the barbarous method 

 of collecting honey still in vogue. That 

 this precarious and unproductive system 

 has not been replaced by the modern 

 system is a matter of surprise. But on 

 the other hand modern bee-keeping is 

 comparatively new even in the West, and 

 even now in the rural England, the old 

 show skep is still used. The adoption of 

 modern methods is gradually spreading 

 in Ceylon, but they are bound to 

 eventually take the, place of the old. 



