14 
MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 
attachments, and it was thus ascertained that (as might have been 
expected in the case of any species of Apis), their combs are always 
built perpendicularly; also that the colonies placed in frame hives 
and permitted to fly freely did not desert these habitations and that, 
far from being ferocious, these colonies were easily handled by proper 
precautions, without even the use of smoke. It was also proved. by 
the quantity of honey and wax present that they are good gatherers. 
The execution at that time of the plan of bringing these bees to the 
United States was prevented only by severe illness contracted in India. 
These large bees would doubtless be able to get honey from flowers 
whose nectaries are located out of reach of ordinary bees, notably those 
of the red clover, now visited chiefly by bumble bees and which it 
is thought the East In- 
dian bees might pollinate 
and cause to produce seed 
more abundantly. Even 
if no further utilizable, 
they might prove an im- 
portant factor in the pro- 
duction in the Southern 
States of large quantities 
of excellent beeswax, now 
such an expensive article. 
Should these bees and 
the common East Indian 
bee (Apis indica), pre- 
viously referred to, visit 
in the main only such 
flowers as are not adapted 
to our hive bees, their in- 
troduction, wherever it 
could be made successful, 
would, without decreas- 
ing the yield from our 
hive bees, add materially to the honey and wax production of the coun- 
try. Theoretical conclusions as to the results of such an introduction 
can not be of much account unless based upon an intimate acquaintance 
with the nature and habits of the bees to be introduced. Enough is 
known of the small bee to remove all doubt regarding the possibility 
of its successful introduction, and it is also probable that the large one 
would prove valuable. In neither case does there appear any possi- 
bility that evil results might follow their introduction. There are also 
numerous other varieties or species of bees in Africa and Asia about 
which no more or even less is known, but to investigate them fully will 
require much time and considerable expense. It is a subject, however, 
that should receive careful consideration because of the possible bene- 
fits to apiculture and the wider beneficial effects on agriculture. 
Fig. 3. — Comb of tiny East Indian honey bee (Apis florea) ; 
one-third natural size. (Original.) 
