COLOMBO. 
Added as a Sitpplement Monthlij to the " TROPICAL AQRIGULTUBIST r 
The following pages include the Contents of the AgricuUural Magazine for 
September : — 
Vol. XI.] SEPTEMBER, 1899. [No. 3. 
BEE-KEEPING. 
E are glad to be able to announce 
tliat the experiment in bee-keep- 
ing at the School of Agriculture 
has now had a fair stari. A 
couple of frame hives speci;il]y con- 
structed by Mr. Charles Andree of 
Kurunegalla (whose name is always associated with 
npicultare in Ceylon) were obtained some time agoi 
but these remained empty for a while owing to the 
difficulty experienced in securing a swarm near 
Colombo. During the late Show, however, Mr^ 
Andree brought over a glass hive for exliilition 
purposes (and for which he was awaided a 
special Silver Medal), and kindly left tlie suarm 
to start the experiment at the school. Tlie 
variety of bee chosen is the most satisfactorv of 
the honey bees of Ceylon, known in Sinhalese as 
the " me-mesm" (Apis indica). The hive as 
constructed by Mr. Andree, after many years of 
close attention to tlie subject, is specially adapted 
to the requirements of these bees, so that the 
modern and enlightened process of bee-keeping 
has been undertaken as it should be, not by the 
wholesale adoption of European appliances, 
but by a judicious modification of them to suit 
local conditions. A small bee-house has bt en con- 
structed on the premises of the School of Agricul- 
ture, in which the main swarm has been located. 
In the original hive may be seen four parallel 
combs, and as there is a second casing of gla^s 
within the wood structure, the progress of the 
work of the bees can be watched from day to day. 
It is high time that the barbarous metliod of 
collecting honey iu vogue among the cative?, 
accompanied as it is by the great loss of bee-life, 
should give place to the more humane inodern 
method of bee-keeping we are trying to popularise. 
Honey is admitted on all hands to be one of the 
most wholesome and palatable foods, particularly 
for the young, and while it is so largely produced 
and consumed in other countries, it is a reproach 
that in this Island where there are such facilities 
for carrying on apiculture, it should not be 
possible to purchase pure honey — the stuff 
offered as such being in most cases an unwhole- 
some compound of filthily-extracted bees' lioney 
and "jaggery" (or palm sugar boiled with 
water). 
We can think of no more suitable occupation 
for the women and children and older members 
of a villagers' family than that of bee-keeping on 
modern lines. Practically the only expense is 
the cost of the hive which should not exceed three 
or four rupees, and then bee-keeping makes 
but a small demand on the time and attention of 
the keeper. So that for the inactive villager this 
is the ideal occupation ! As an interesting 
pursuit there is nothing to beat it, while as a 
means of occupying the mind of' the idle, wliose 
thoughts from stagnation become foul and breed 
crime, the introduction of bee-keeping among the 
village population is a measure that deserves all 
the support that the authorities can give it. And 
who can say but that the industry of the insect 
may put the lazy man to shame and urge him 
on to emulation ! So may it be. 
