February, 1912.] 



133 



Live Stock. 



test of all. At the conclusion of the 

 most complete moult which takes place 

 when the fowl is exactly twelve months 

 old, the secondaries alter in shape and 

 bear indisputable evidence as to the 

 dividing line having been crossed. 

 Although the surest test of all, this 

 latter can only be ascertained by those 

 well-versed in handling feathered stock. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CEYLON. 

 By A. P. Goonatilleke. 



Enemies op Bees. 



Enemies of the honeybee in Ceylon 

 are numerous. The first in order of 

 merit is the man who does not know of, 

 or does not believe in, modern methods 

 of bee-keeping and who, without com- 

 punction, destroys the whole swarm by 

 burning them with a torch or even 

 fumigating them with some noxious 

 vapour, with the hope of escaping from 

 stings and saving the honey. Why any 

 one should be so barbarous as to kill the 

 bees outright when the method of ex- 

 tracting comb and honey is so simple 

 and easy is difficult to explain. 



The Bee Moth.— This greyish worm 

 lays ics eggs in empty combs or crevices 

 in the hive. When the moth enters the 

 comb it surrounds itself with a silken 

 covering and extends it as it progresses 

 along its path of destruction. As a rule 

 it makes its appearance in the hives 

 during the rainy weather. If a hive is 

 once attacked it is certain that the 

 whole hive will be destroyed within a 

 short time unless the apiarist takes 

 effective steps. The first to be destroyed 

 by the moth are the combs vacated 

 by bees, and if such combs are taken out 

 of the hive, they can be kept in safety 

 by fumigating them occasionally with 

 sulphur. The surest remedy against 

 the moth is a strong stock, housed in a 

 hive made of good planks without cracks 

 or crevices and the bottom board kept 

 clean by constant attention. Cracks. 

 <fec, may be filled with gum or putty. 

 The Italian bee is little liable to suc- 

 cumb to this pest, for I have had combs 

 attacked by moth in an exceptionally 

 weak colony of Italians, and the result 

 was that the pest was effectually des- 

 troyed by the bees. 



King Crows-— These birds prey on 

 bees by seizing them in the air or on 

 the alighting board. The only pre- 

 ventive measure is shooting. 



Hornets. — These pests hover round 

 the hive and seize the bees in the air or 

 on the alighting board and carry them 



off. Th9 best remedy is to set fire to 

 their nests by night within a radius of a 

 mile or two of the apiary, after tracing 

 them by offering a reward of ten cents 

 for the location of each nest. 



Lizards.— Garden lizards are very 

 troublesome to bees. Tbey are known 

 in Sinhalese as " Katussa" and errone- 

 ously called " blood suckers." They 

 must be hunted and killed. 



Spiders. — Different varieties of spiders 

 are harmful to the honeybee, more 

 especially the venomous variety known 

 in Sinhalese as " Diwimakuluwa" which 

 enter the hive, and kill the bees out- 

 right. A single spider is sufficient to 

 destroy a whole hive. The webless 

 spider that creeps on the walls of houses 

 and under the grass as well. The ordi- 

 nary house spider does damage by en- 

 trapping bees in their webs. 



Ants. — Red ants (Sinhalese Dimio) 

 attack bees in swarms and carry the 

 dead bodies to their nests. They even 

 go for the unhatched larvaB in the 

 combs. 



Black ants (Sing. Kalukadi) alsoattack 

 bees in swarms, not duiing day but by 

 night. They seem to kill tor the mere 

 love of slaughter, for the dead bees are 

 left near the hive and not carried away. 



Another variety of Black ants (Sinha- 

 lese Kurambayo) is also found in Kuru- 

 negala District attacking hives in 

 swarms. They carry away the young 

 larvae without killing them. They enter 

 the hive in spite of opposition on the 

 part of its occupants and, after an 

 attack by these ants, one will find 

 thousands of them dead near the hive 

 but not a single dead bee. They seem 

 to know by instinct that the best time 

 to invade the hive is when the bee- 

 keeper has either taken cut combs or 

 given extra brood combs. At such 

 times the bees are generally found to 

 cluster together, leaving uncovered 

 space in brood combs at the mercy of 

 the ants. 



The best way of protecting a hive 

 from ants is by standing it in vessels 

 holding water and kerosine. By so 

 doing all varieties of small ants are kept 

 out, which are sometimes troublesome 

 when bees are being fed. 



Toads. — These devour bees, especially 

 by night. They do not appear to wholly 

 digest their prey, which they cast out 

 partially digesting them. They could 

 be met by placing the hives well off 

 the ground. 



Cockroaches. — These are commonly 

 to be found in hives, especially where 

 weak stocks are kept. They destroy 



