Live. Stock. 



450 



[November, 1908. 



country' with ' a limestone foundation,' 

 though Jaffna would hardly strike one 

 as a likely place. However, I will have 

 it given a trial there and report re- 

 sults. 



Lord Avebury, who presided over the 

 Franco-British Congress of Bee-keepers 

 which lately met in London, recounted 

 his experiments to discover whether 

 bees can hear and distinguish colours. 

 Of the latter fact the result of his trials 

 was convincing, but not so of the former. 

 Practical apiarists are, however, of 

 opinion that there is no doubt of bees 

 hearing. 



Local bee-keepers will be glad to hear 

 of the return of Mr. M. Shanks, of the 

 Harbour Works Department, to Ceylon 

 after an absence of a few months in 

 Europe. Mr. Shanks is likely to move 



his hives to Mutwal, where he contem- 

 plates residing. 



The prolonged drought before the rain 

 came down last month was a trying 

 time for bees, and a good deal of artificial 

 feeding had to be resorted to ; but the 

 present drenching rain is no better, and 

 only when the monsoon settles down to 

 normal conditions will the bees begin 

 to feel happy. 



There appears to be no great attrac- 

 tion for bees than a flowering orange 

 tree, or indeed of any one of the citrus 

 family. The way in which they lay 

 seige to these trees in their thousands is 

 a remarkable sight. The antigonon — 

 in blossom practically all the year 

 round — is a special favourite of the 

 Ceylon bee, and to some extent of the 

 Italian also. 



C. D. 



