October, 1908.] 



361 



LIVE STOCK. 



BEE NOTES. 



(A. P. GOONETILLEKA) 

 I. 



Of honey bees, there are four varieties 

 in the Island. (1) Meemessa (Apis indica), 

 (2) Bambara (Apis dorsata), (3) Dandu- 

 wel messa (Apis florea) and (4) Kana- 

 miya messa or the stingless bee (Meli- 

 pona irripenis). Of these only the first 

 can be hived in a box-hive with frames, 

 since it alone builds a number of combs 

 parallel to each other and naturally in 

 cavities. The second and the third 

 species build a single comb on branches 

 of trees and overhanging rocks, in the 

 open air, but never in a cavity, hence the 

 difficulty in rearing them in box hives. 

 The last-named, though it builds its comb 

 in cavities, does so in the form of a mass 

 which shows no normal cell structure ; 

 they can be hived in a bottle covered 

 with paper to keep the inside dark. The 

 attempt to cultivate unicomb bees in 

 hives is not to be recommended, as the 

 mere fact of their building only one 

 comb, and that too generally in the open 

 air, makes cultivation according to 

 present methods impracticable, since the 

 single comb cannot be removed without 

 removing the brood at the same time. 

 The rearing of the stingless bee will not 

 prove profitable as its capacity for 

 storing honey is very limited. 



Apis indica, the bee which admits of 

 cultivation as a hive bee, is, as a general 

 rule, distributed all over the Island. 

 Though .apparently all swarms belong 

 to original stock, one swarm differs very 

 much from the other in temper, &c. It 

 often occurs that while one lot is as 

 vicious as wasps, another is as gentle as 

 Carniolars. The ordinary way of keep- 

 ing bees in earthernware pots is objec- 

 tionable, besides being risky and little 

 remunerative. To attract a swarm it is 

 usual to fumigate a pot with some resins 

 and leave it on a tree for a stray swarm of 

 bees to settle down in. After they do so 

 no notice is taken of the hive till it is 

 time to take the honey. The combs can- 

 not be taken out and examined, the bees 

 swarm at their own sweet will and the 

 bee-keeper cannot come to their rescue 

 when they dwindle down for want of 

 food or to queenlessness, or again owing 

 to being harrassed by an enemy. 



The advantages of the modern hive 

 are numerous: — The frames are remov- 

 able, so are the top and bottom boards ; 

 46 



the hive is easily cleaned ; food can be 

 provided when necessary; swarming can 

 be controlled; queens cm be bred, &c. 

 In fact, with the modern hive the bee- 

 keeper could get the bees to work almost 

 as he pleases. The honey extractor ren- 

 ders it possible to extract the honey and 

 save the combs to be refilled, 



An authority on bee-keeping writes : — ■ 

 "Bees can be bred as certainly as poul- 

 try ; many of the ills and accidents 

 which bee-life is liable to can be success- 

 fully dealt with and bees can be fed on 

 substitutes for honey and pollen, so 

 iusuring their existence in due number 

 irrespective of their natural food sup- 

 plies, and a large number during the 

 season when houey is plentiful. The 

 invention of queen-cages, smokers, nuclei, 

 the system of artificial swarming, sec- 

 tional supers, &c, has made bee manage- 

 ment easier, simpler and also more cer- 

 tain in its results ; whereas the old 

 system was one barbarous to bees, less 

 productive, precarious and not admit- 

 ting of expansion beyond the limits of 

 an industry to be pursued by the peas- 

 antry on a small scale, while the new 

 system has made it easier to keep bees 

 on a large scale as a remunerative 

 employment. Bee-keeping is not an 

 industry which can be profitably pur- 

 sued without any capital at all, nor is 

 it an industry which yields large profits 

 without labour, knowledge or expe- 

 rience ; but if started with very trifling 

 capital and working expenses, the 

 capital may be rapidly increased as ex- 

 perience is gained, by the mere invest- 

 ment of the income and the natural 

 increase of well-cared-for bees; the 

 return for the capital is as certain and 

 relatively much greater than in any 

 other rural industry." 



In countries such as America and Aus" 

 tralia which had no indigenous bees, 

 bee-keeping has progressed by leaps and 

 bounds and the industry gives good re- 

 turns. Ceylon has its own honey bees 

 and there is no reason why we should 

 not improve it as an honey producer. My 

 experience of the Italian bee is that it 

 has not yet found suitable pasturage 

 in the Island, especially in the low- 

 country. Buckwheat and alfalfa are 

 now grown to some extent and should 

 meet this difficulty. The chief recom- 

 mendation of the Italian bee is its 

 gentleness, and the ease with which it 

 could be handled and managed ; but in 

 time there is no reason why our indi- 

 genous bee should not become as tract- 

 able. 



