November, 1908.] 



455 



Live Stock, 



cockles bad been detected in tbe sur- 

 reptitious conveyance of typhoid fever, 

 and cats were shrewdly suspected of 

 the clandestine delivery of diphtheria. 

 It would be interesting to enumerate 

 and classify all the known anmial 

 carriers of disease, and to say a word 

 or two about human carriers. And 

 when he mentioned human carriers he 

 did not refer to contagion, or the direct 

 transference of maleries morbi, by a 

 diseased to a sound person by touch, 

 inoculation, kissing, or inhalation, or to 

 infection or the indirect communication 

 of a pathogenic organism from a dis- 

 eased to a sound person through some 

 intervening medium, such as the air, 

 but to the transmission of a pathogenic- 

 organism from a sound person in whom 

 its presence was unsuspected to another 

 sound person in whom it set up its 

 specific disease. 



BEE NOTES. 



A novice should start Bee-keeping 

 with two or three hives at the most, 

 and increase their number as he gains 

 experience. It is best to have at least 

 two, because one could be compared 

 with the other, and any difference 

 noticed in one could be checked by 

 reference to the other. Strips of thin 

 wax or comb could be employed as 

 starters, and a veil and gloves used if 

 the person is nervous. A beginner, 

 before he tries to produce comb honey 

 and section honey, should make himself 

 acquainted with the theory of bee-keep- 

 ing thoroughly, he should know the 

 different kinds of cells, the different 

 members of the hive, &c. It would be of 

 great use to him if he could get a prac- 

 tical man to give him a few demonstra- 

 tions, such as the capturing of a swarm, 

 hiving bees, examining the hive, clip- 

 ping a queen, transferring, dividing, 

 how to rear queens, &c. 



In Ceylon I would advice the novice 

 to begin with native honey-bees before 

 attempting to rear foreign varieties. 

 I would strongly urge the importance 

 of a small beginning at the smallest 

 expense possible, for nothing is more 

 discouraging, after having plunged into 

 the business extensively, than to lose a 

 large portion of the bees, either through 

 inexperience or some other cause, all for 

 the want of a practical or even theore- 

 tical knowledge. Most persons are lia- 

 ble to meet with failure by starting api- 

 culture on too large a scale. One may 

 invest Rs. 15 and jmt no more capital 

 into the business until the bees pay it 

 back, i.e., till he gets back that value in 



honey and wax. There are, it is true, 

 experts in the business in other parts 

 of the world with thousands of colonies 

 which pay the owner well ; but that is 

 no reason why a novice should start 

 on an extensive scale. 



Bee-keeping is an industry that could 

 be carried on conveniently in connection 

 with some other business in life. 

 Business men, as a rule, like to have 

 some sort of hobby, and a few colonies 

 of bees afford them just the diversion 

 they need. The keeping of bees is 

 admitted to be helpful to planters and 

 agriculturists in general, particularly 

 the fruit growers. The villager who 

 owns a few acres of land could keep 

 a number of hives without interfering 

 with his other work. 



My experience has been that some 

 localities are better adapted for keep- 

 ing bees than others even in this 

 little island. The Kurunegala district is 

 better than any other that I know of. I 

 find the honey there satisfactory in 

 quantity, quality, colour, taste and con- 

 sistence. I have not found good honey 

 produced by Ceylon bees kept in towns. 

 They probably get their honey from 

 other than natural sources. 



The most satisfactory way to select 

 a good locality for an apiary is by 

 trying different places and comparing 

 the results with each other, especially 

 during the honey flow. ' Having chosen 

 the locality, one may keep any number 

 of hives five or six feet apart with 

 the entrances to the east. If hives are 

 not artificially protected, one must try 

 to provide hives with natural shade, 

 particularly from the noon day sun. 

 As we have so many insects that trouble 

 bees, it is advisable to place hives on 

 stands, rather than on the ground, 

 and adopt other means for preventing 

 pests from getting on to them. 



A. P. GOONATILLAKE. 



Says W. K. Morrison in " Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture " :— There is an impression 

 abroad that alfalfa will not grow in the 

 tropics, but as a matter of fact it grows 

 to perfection in Peru, a strictly tropical 

 country. It was from Peru the seed 

 was introduced into the United States. 

 But it rather likes a hot, dry, semi- 

 arid country, and would probably 

 succumb in a steaming, moist lowland 

 country. . , on a limestone foundation 

 it does best." I have been trying alfalfa 

 for many years in the Government Stock 

 Garden but with little success. It just 

 grows, and that is all. Mr. Morrison's 

 description of a suitable locality seems 

 to fit Jaffna— 'a hot, dry, semi-arid 



