552 
THE TROPICAL AaRIGULTURIST. [F^b. 2, 1805. 
HONEY AND WAX IN MADRAS FORESTS. 
(From a Correspondent.) 
Amongst the various items of minor forest pro- 
duce, by no means the latest important of those 
collected in the Sattyamangalam Hills of the 
Coimbatore District are honey and wax, of which 
there are 
THREE SORTS, 
found in different places and made by different 
kinds of bees. These are :— (1) Rock honey, 
made by very large bees, and found in holes and 
under ledges of rocks— this honey is coarse and 
dark, and the wax very dark-coloured and very 
large-celled ; (2) honey made by smaller bees, and 
found in the hollows of rotten trees — the honey 
and wax are both lighter than those found on the 
rocks ; and (3) honey made by very small bees, 
and found on the branches of trees— this is the 
best honey and the finest, whitest wax, much 
resembling the English heather honey, but with 
smaller cells. Of the rock honey, the average 
number of combs found on each rock is from 10 to 
15, which give altogether about 150 measures of 
honey and 10 maunds of wax. These take about 
10 or 12 days to collect, and for this amount the 
collectors are paid Ks 50 to Rs 80, and it brings 
in some Rs 240 to Government. From *he hollows 
of trees the largest combs afiord about one measure 
of honey and 21bs of wax, while from branches 
the largest give only about a quarter measure of 
honey and less than half a pound of wax. Some- 
times the rock honey is very poisonous, due to the 
bees gathering from the flowers of the Thorova 
(believed to heSapium indicum). A few of these 
flowers (easily recognisable) are always deposited 
in some of the cells, and the honey is always 
bitter in taste. Ordinarily, the bees gather from 
the flowers of Vengai Nagai Cassia Fistula 
Shorea Alhizzia, Jasmine, &c. ; they build over 
and over again on the same spocs on the rocks, 
and the number of combs varies very little, de- 
pending on the number of flowers available, two 
or three, more or less, than the average number of 
combs being the most. The young bees from 
undisturbed combs take flight with the queens to 
other localities, and form fresh colonies. 
THE BEES HAVE TAVO WORKING SEASONS 
in the year viz., June and July— this honey is col- 
lected in August when the rocks are dry ; and 
September, October, and November — this honey 
being collected as soon as the hot dry weather 
set in. The collection of rock honey is always 
done when the rocks are dry and the chance of 
slipping are less. In the Sattyamangalam Hills 
the collection is done only by Kurumbers, and 
their method of collecting is a curious one. A party 
consisting of never less than 10 men, sometimes as 
many as 15, is formed. Of these, two only are the 
collectors (Kurumbers), the rest, who may be 
either Sholigars, Uralis or others, are taken by the 
Kurumbers to carry their goods and chattels, erect 
sheds, light fires, and also to be company for them 
in the forests. The two Kurumbers are always 
brothers-in-law, that is to say, each man's wife 
is the sister of tlie other man. (The reason for 
this is that one of them is, for the time being, 
responsible for the life of the other; if the rope were 
not held very firmly, or were allowed to slip, the 
man on the ladder would be dashed to pieces 
ggainst the rock, and so his wife (sister of the 
other) would become a widow, to the lasting 
shame of her brother who was responsible for the 
catastrophe,) The expedition always starts on a 
Monday, which amongst these hill tribes is the aus- 
picious day. On the eve of the start, the elder 
Kurumber and his wife invite the other Kuruni- 
ber and his wife to their house to partake of a meal 
with them, after which each woman warns her 
husband and brotherot the dangers which lie before 
them and of the precautions each must take in 
guarding the other during the collection of the 
honey. This done, the men and women take leave 
of each other, and this occasion of the farewell 
meal is the only time during which the 
HONEY COLLECTORS 
may see their wives for three days before setting 
out ; should they violate this rule, they believe 
tiiat they will most assuredly be badly stung, and 
two or three of the Kurumbers solemnly declare 
they have been stung, but only in such circum- 
stances. When starting off on the Monday morn- 
ing, the party take with them coconutt, 
plantains, camphor, etc., as offerings to 
their deity, also their implements of collec- 
tion, which consist of a Ions ladder (malkun- 
made of karacha (Hardwickia bimata) 
with a stout rope made of the same material 
attached to it, a bowl made of basket work covered 
with mud, with a long handle, in shape much re- 
sembling a soup ladle) a sharp pointed stick, and a 
bundle of torches made of green and dried grass 
mixed. Having arrived at the scene of action, they 
look about for a large firm tree, and, having found 
one, make pwja and offerings to it. They then 
fasten the rope attached to the ladder firmly round 
the tree and dangle the ladder over the edge of the 
rock and one of the Kurumbers holds on to it while 
the other, having offered more puja to his deity 
for his safety, climbs down the ladder until he finds 
himself on a level with the honeycombs. Arrived 
there, he plants his right foot firmly on one rung of 
the ladder, leans liis left knee on the rung above 
and puts his head through the next two above, 
thereby securing himself, and leaving his hands free. 
Being firmly fixed he swings himself backwards and 
forwards, having in one hand a burning toi di, and 
in the other the pointed stick, and as he swings in 
towards the rock he applies the torch to the combs, 
and by repeating this many times he succeeds in 
driving out the bees. Having grot rid of them, lie 
next drives the pointed end of his stick into the 
comb, and as soon as the honey begins to flow he 
calls out for the bowl, which is lowered from above 
Hy means of a rope, and hangs it under the comb 
until it is full. It is then dr«uvn up again and the 
contents emptied into a chatty at the top of the 
rock. The bowl is then sent down again, and the 
process repeated until all the honey is ex- 
tracted, and then the wax is removed by 
hand from the rock. The whole time the man is 
swinging backwards and forwards in his rope 
ladder he utters manthrams to keep off the bees 
and to prevent himself from being sti^pg. At the 
end of each day's work he climbs up on to the 
top of the rock, and again 
MAKES PUJA FOR HAVING BEEN KEPT IN SAFETY, 
and on the last day, when all the honey and wax 
have been collected, the two Kurumbers untie 
the rope from the tree, and drop the ladder down 
to the bottom of the rock, uttering, as it falls, 
words which mean " My mother comes down." 
They then make their way down to the bottom 
of the rock as best they can, takinfj with them 
three leaves full of the honey. They prostrate 
themselves on the rock and offer the honey to 
