RACES. 
629 
of Africa, existing in great abundance in Algeria, 
where it is domesticated by the natives, vastly helping 
the hill races, who deal in honey, but, above all, in 
wax. It has also multiplied enormously in both 
North and South America, in the latter tending to 
displace the Meliponx and Trigonal, which, although 
belonging to the Apiase^ are generally inferior to the 
genus Apis. The many species of Melipona are short, 
squat, little bees, with very varied colours, and but few 
pubescent hairs. Their legs are small, and they are 
quite incapable of stinging, although the rudiments of 
the organ of offence is discoverable. Their combs are 
horizontal, supported on columns, with the single tier of 
cells mouth downwards. In these the eggs are laid, and 
the larvae fed, but they store their honey and pollen in 
huge, irregular cells of wax, placed near to the brood- 
nest. Their usual habitat is a hollow tree, but they 
are not slow to occupy a box or basket. A. mellijica 
domesticated in Chili keeps its hive filled with honey 
all the year, needing no care. By its introduction to 
Australia, it has not only multiplied, furnishing rich 
harvests, but has, as in America, returned to the wild 
state, multitudes of swarms living in hollow trees, out 
of the reach of man, side by side with the native 
Trigona. New Zealand has its fauna enriched by it; 
it is flourishing in New Caledonia, and holds its own 
as far South as Auckland Isle. It has made its home 
in the West Indies, and gathers its honey in most of 
the islands of the South Pacific and South Atlantic 
oceans. It is a pleasant reflection that the little 
cosmopolitan is one of the beautifiers of the earth, 
increasing floral loveliness and multiplying fruit. 
