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FOBEIGN BEES. 
the continent. Their honey is much inferior to that 
of Europe, as might be expected from the nature of 
the vegetation. The honey of the Apis Peronii, 
however, found in the island of Timor, may be con- 
sidered an exception to this. For our knowledge of 
it we are indebted to M. Peron, the intrepid French 
navigator, who describes it as having a yellowish tinge, 
more liquid than ours, and of an exquisite flavour. 
It is called by the natives Bee-sugar. The dis- 
tinctive characters of the insect itself consist in 
the two first rings of the abdomen (with the excep- 
tion of their posterior edges,) the base of the third, 
and the greater part of the breast, being of a reddish 
yellow, and the superior wings of a brownish hue. 
It appears from recent accounts, that in the distant 
regions of New South Wales and Van Dieman’s 
Land, besides the indigenous insect, the Bee of 
Europe has obtained a firm footing, and already rivals 
the prolific race of South Carolina. The following 
account is from a periodical of extensive circulation 
and great utility.* 
“ The native bee is without a sting, and is not 
much larger than a common house-fly. It produces 
abundance of honey and wax, but has not yet been 
subjected to cultivation ; and from its small size, and 
its building on very high trees, probably never will 
be so. The European Bee has been oftener than 
once introduced into Sydney, but without success ; 
the swarms having always left the hives for the 
woods. A hive was carried to Van Dieman’s Land, 
* Loudon’s Gardener’s Magazine, for Dec. 1835. 
