297 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 36, 1859. 
BEE-KEEPING IN DEVON.—No. X. 
EXOTIC BEES — STINGLESS— LIGURIAN— A “CASSETTE” — ITS 
COXTENT3 — DRIVING — THE QUEEN WILL NOT STING — 
ATTEMPTED UNION—A BATTLE. 
It is probable that many bee-keeping enthusiasts may be dis¬ 
posed to sympathise with me in the interest with which I have 
always perused the chapter which, in most apiarian works, is 
devoted to the consideration of “exotic bees.’’ Often have I 
lingered over the description of the “ little black bees without 
stings,” said to be natives of every tropical climate, and devoutly 
have I wished myself able to procure a hive of these fascinating 
insects. Nor have my desires in this respect been damped by 
the intimation that these stingless strangers must soon fall a 
prey to the wasps and bees of this country ; since, if it is true 
that they are only half the size of European bees, there could be 
no difficulty in devising such an entrance to their hive as would 
effectually exclude marauders. 
Some years since a paragraph went the round of the news¬ 
papers to the effect that a colony of these liliputians had acci¬ 
dentally been brought to this country in a hollow log of (I think) 
mahogany. Although many of these little strangers were dead, 
it was stated that sufficient remained to set vigorously to work ; 
and I was in hopes that this accidental circumstance might 
result in the naturalisation in this country of a kind of bee that 
would most certainly have become a universal favourite. 
Unfortunately the whole affair appears to have died out; for, 
from that time to this, I believe nothing more has been heard of 
it. The chapter in the “Naturalists’ Library,” in which Dr. 
Dunbar describes the Apis Ligustica of Spinola, A. ligurienne 
of Latreille, as being cultivated with success in Italy, has, how- 
i ever, more often arrested my attention ; and frequently hare I 
; cogitated over many possible and impossible schemes for ob¬ 
taining possession of a hive of what I inferred from their name 
to be the apiarian natives of ancient Liguria. 
All these schemes and aspirations had, however, lain many 
years dormant, when they were again roused into the fullest 
activity by the perusal of a letter in The Cottage Gardener 
of the 19th of July, on the subject of “Exotic Honey Bees.” 
Here, then, was at last the chance I had so ardently longed for. 
Here were bees of the “yellow Ligurish race” almost, within 
my grasp. It is needless to recount the inquiries I set on foot, 
or the anticipations in which I indulged, of realising a dream 
which for so many years had had no better foundation than the 
“ baseless fabric of a vision.” Suffice it to say, that on the 3rd 
instant I found myself the fortunate possessor of a small rough¬ 
looking deal box pierced with numerous holes, and bearing in¬ 
disputable evidence of having travelled both in Germany and 
France, in the shape of printed tickets in both languages pasted 
on its surface. 
On applying this little box to my ear, the hum of bees 
afforded presumptive evidence of the truth of the statement 
contained in a letter which had preceded it, that the “ little 
cassette” contained “ a yellow Ligurish queen, and 1000 bees.” 
Having removed the box cover, I cautiously substituted a pane 
of glass, through which I peered into the interior in the hope of 
obtaining a sight of her “Ligurish” majesty. There were 
certainly a great many bees, but whether so many as a thousand 
I had no means of determining. The great majority differed in 
no respect from our common English bees, but some there were 
conspicuous by a broad reddish-brown band on the first ring of 
the abdomen, and generally lighter in appearance than the others. 
These, then, were of the “yellow Ligurish race,” and there pro¬ 
bably was their queen ; but with all my endeavours I could not 
succeed in distinguishing her. 
The admission of light created great excitement among the 
little captives, and the pane of glass became so hot that 1 was 
fain to lose no time in affording them more liberty. I had pre¬ 
viously prepared an eight-bar hive for their reception, by fitting 
it up with five combs, four containing honey and pollen, and the 
fifth completely empty. Having placed the box over the hole in 
the top of the hive, I withdrew the pane of glass, thus affording 
them free access to the interior; and all exit therefrom being 
barred by perforated zinc, I removed the whole to a dark cellar 
for the night. 
Next morning I proceeded to act upon the instructions I had 
received, to “ give the queen some people from an English bee¬ 
hive, the best from one who has no queen.” In order to t]je 
attainment of this end, I was instructed to “take a English bee¬ 
hive from his place, and bring on his place the Ligurish queen' 
with her people.” I, therefore, set the hive with the foreign 
bees on the site previously occupied by a unicomb hive, from 
which I had removed the queen about a month ago, and which 
had failed to raise another. Many of the bees working from the 
unicomb returned to the accustomed spot, and joined the 
foreigners, but this result was not obtained without some fighting 
and loss of life. As the morning wore on, the bees in the um- 
comb hive appeared to suspect the trick, and entirely ceased 
working, so that it became evident that some more decisive 
measures must be resorted to in order to secure the requisite 
population. 
Having anticipated some such resu t, I had obtained leave to 
drive the bees of a condemned hive about a mile and a half off', 
and this I now lost no time in doing. I was informed that this 
hive contained a swarm from a first swarm of this year, and pre¬ 
suming its population to be scanty, I expected little difficulty in 
J uniting. On lifting the hive (a straw one) from its stand, I was 
surprised at its weight (341 lbs.); and having inverted it in a 
; bucket, I found there was no lack of population. Ten minutes’ 
i rapping drove the bulk of the bees into an empty hire; and, 
j throwing off'my bee-dress and gloves, I proceeded to shake them 
out in four clusters on cloths spread on the ground. A brief 
j search amongst the last cluster resulted in the discovery of the 
queen. Having omitted to provide myself with any means of 
securing her, I caught her between my linger and thumb and ran 
off with her into the house, where I deposited her under a wine- 
j glass, and ultimately introduced her into my queenless unicomb 
j hive. No stronger proof could be given of the disinclination of 
the queen bee to use its sting than was afforded by her patiently 
submitting to the rough treatment tp which .she was subjected, 
by being carried through the length of a large garden pinched 
J between my bare thumb and fore finger. 
About nine o’clock in the evening these queenless and ex¬ 
patriated bees were conveyed to my house; and having been 
knocked out upon a cloth, were speedily surmounted by the hive 
containing the foreigners, which was slightly raised on two sticks. 
Contrary to my experience, the noise which followed the fall of 
the cluster increased instead of diminishing during the next 
hour, and by ten o’clock the uproar was tremendous. Instead 
of the amicable union which I had contemplated, a furious battle 
was raging.—A Devonshire Bee-keeper. 
THE KOSE-LEAE-CUTTEll BEE. 
This is one of our wild species of bees which live and build 
their nests in pairs. They do not secrete wax to form their cells, 
but construct them curiously of bits of rose-leaves; and this 
gives rise to the insect’s name. Rose-growers have much reason 
to complain of them for cutting round holes with their strong 
mandibles in the green leaves and bushes. The bees often carry 
the little pieces in their mouths into the locks of doors which are 
seldom used, to be formed into rows of cells curiously fitted 
together like small thimbles. Each of them contains an egg or 
grub, with a little pollen for food. This is not collected on the 
thighs of the insects in round balls, but is deposited among the 
strong hairs under their abdomens. Their manner of collecting 
pollen seems to be a sort of jerking movement when they have 
made their way into the hearts of flowers. 
While on the subject of pollen, I may note that “B. & W.” 
finds fault with my statement that “bees never collect pollen 
alone, though, of course, they do honey j” and because I observed 
j that the curious way in which bees collect pollen was little known, 
he calls this reckless writing. What I said is nevertheless true; 
and I question if he can point out any other writer who has done 
it more clearly from Reaumer to those of our day. 
I have to notice that the brood, or chrysalis, of the Rose-leaf- 
cutter Bee seem to pass the winter in rose-leaf cells ; but, luckily 
for the gardener, many of them are destroyed while in the larva 
state by the grubs of a small ichneumon fly, which slowly devour 
them, and afterwards occupy their chrysalis in the cells until 
spring. I mentioned this some years back in another publication ; 
and may here observe that the Rev. Mr. Duncan, whose ento¬ 
mological knowledge is beyond doubt, was the first to call my 
attention to that small devouring enemy of the Rose-leaf Bee. 
This bears some resemblance both in colour and size to the hive 
bee; but, like others of the tribe, stores up no honey. I may 
observe that I never found more than one row of four to eight 
cells in their nests ; and it is rather remarkable how the larva can 
live in them, for they seem to be almost air-tight.—J, Wighton. 
