6 S 8 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." [March i, 1890 
CEYLON BEE CULTURE. III. 
By Aba. 
The great family of bees is divided into two prin- 
cipal sections, viz., the solitary bees and the social 
bees. The solitary bees do not lay up stores as the 
social bees, but display a wonderful instinct in the 
construction of their nests. It is said that there are 
no neuters among the solitary bees, but that they are 
either males or females. So much for the solitary bees. 
The social bees live in communities like the ants, 
and like them oonsists of males, females, and neuters 
or imperfeotly-formed fema'es. The social bees are 
subdivided into humble bees, and honey bees, which 
will form the subject of the future articles on the Bee. 
Bees. 
1, Queen; 2, Drone; 3, Neuter. 
The Hive bee, or honey bee is supposed to have been 
introduced to Europe from the East. A bee commu- 
nity is said to consist of, in ordinary instances, from 
10,000 to 60,000 individuals. One member of each com- 
munity is a perfect female— the queen as she is called. 
The greater part of the life of the queen is spent in 
the laying of eggs for the increase of the population of 
the hive. The increase of population in the hive goes 
on at a rapid rate, the queen frequently laying 300 or 
more eggs a day, but the community does not increase 
indefinitely owing to what is called swarming taking 
place. These swarms found new colonies. 
The impregnation of the queen takes place in the 
air soon after she emerges from her cell. The dura- 
tion of her life is supposed to be not more than 3 years. 
The males only serve to propagate their species after 
which they are mercilessly killed by the workers as 
they would be useless thereafter and become a burden 
on the community and oonsume too much of the com- 
mon store. The life of the workers or neuters does 
not extend more than a year. 
The queen bee when about to lay eggs and after- 
wards is the object of great attention on the part of 
the workers. She moves about followed by about 10 
or 12 attendants and lays eggs in the cells which are 
prepared for their reception. The first eggs laid by 
the queen produces workers. After these the drone 
or male producing eggs are laid , 
INDIGENOUS FOOD PRODUCTS- 
CULTIVATED AND WILD. 
No. V. 
By W. A. De Silva. 
Dipterocarpacece. 
8 Vateria Indica Linn. (V. Acuminata, Hayne), 
known among the Sinhalese as the Hal tree, is a 
tree attaining large dimensions. It is found growing 
commonly in the hotter parts of the Island up to an 
elevation of 2000 ft. The Vateria Indica is a quick- 
growing arboraceous tree. The stem is erect and 
much branched towards the terminus. It is covered 
with a bark about a sixth of an inch in diameter, 
which is easily separable. The leaves are large, green, 
and of an oblong shape, with a pointed apex and 
a curved base. The flowerlets are short stalked, and 
have two small bracts. The stamens are numerous 
and short. The fruits are borne in large numbers in 
one season of the year ; they are of an ashy yellow 
colour, and are of the size and shape of cocoa fruits 
A flour is prepared from the fruit and used as food 
in various forms. The preparation of flour from the 
fruits requires some practice, so as to obtain it in a 
suitable state for food. The fruits are gathered and 
the outer covering or the preicarp is first removed, 
then an inside white mass is left. This is scraped into 
thin shreds by means of a piece of shell or metal indent- 
ed in the form of the teeth of a saw. Sometimes this 
scraping is done with a thorny twig, generally of the 
Sing. We (calamus) creeper. 
The fruit thus scraped is of a bitter taste. In som e 
trees this taste prevails to a high degree. To get 
rid of this bitter character, the scraped fruit has to 
undergo another operation. It is placed in a tight 
basket, made of split rattan or reed and the mouth 
of the basket is covered by tying round a piece of cloth. 
The basket thus prepared is kept suspended in a stream 
of running water, where by the process of constant 
washing the bitterness is removed. The scraped fruit 
is kept in such a stream for a day and upwards accord- 
ing to the degree of bitterness. The flour thus pre- 
pared is devoid of bitterness and contists of a starchy 
matter with an admixture of powdered soft woody 
substances. Before being eaten, the Vateria flour is 
generally made into balls about the size of loaves and 
steamed on a cloth tied over boiling water, This, when 
used with jaggery or syrup, though in no way a 
commendable food, is still not 'bad eating. Another way 
in which the product is used is in the form of a conjee 
The fruits of Vateria cut into pieces are sometimes 
made into curries. Before doing this, the bitter pro" 
perty in them is removed by washing or boiling with 
water mixed with a kind of jungle leaves known as 
S. Diayaweranya (a variety of Hedyotes). 
The bark of this tree is used in the process of ob - 
taining sweet toddy for the preparation of jaggery and 
syrnp. A few pieces of the bark placed in the vesse' 
kept for the toddy prevents fermentation. 
The timber of this tree is pale white and very light, 
hence the planks are much used in the making of 
