APIDiE. 
221 
lenuiscapa, Westw., in Ceylon is, according to Green (Ent. Mo. Mag., 
1902, 232), the host of the Cantharid, Cissites Debyi, Fairm. He also 
figures there the cavity in the base of the abdomen in which lives the 
Acarid parasite Greenia Parkinsi Oudem. 
Bombus, the “Bumble-bee” of Europe, is entirely a hill species and 
the beautiful Bombi one sees in the hills do not descend below 3,000 
feet. (Plate XIII, Fig. 9.) 
The species of Apis are the common honeybees, three species occur¬ 
ring in India wild. These are readily distinguished, so far as the workers 
go, by their size. A. dorsata, Fabr., being the largest, A. indica, Fabr., 
the medium sized and A. fiorea , Fabr., the smallest. While all three are 
common in India, they do not all appear to occur together; A. dorsata 
is the big bee that builds large nests in the forestand away from cultiva¬ 
tion ; A. indica is common generally in trees, as is A. fiorea , which in the 
plains of India is very often found making its single combs in any conve¬ 
nient position on a building. Bingham mentions A. indica as the com¬ 
monest bee of Burmah, but fiorea is at least as common in India and 
its nests are far more often seen. 
A great deal can be written about these bees and the reader is ad¬ 
vised to consult Horne’s article in Trans. Zool. Soc., 1879, VII, p. 181, as 
well as Hooper’s Agricultural Ledger on bees-wax. An English abstract 
of Castets’ article on bees of South India (Revue des Questions Scienti- 
fiques, Brussels, October, 1893) will be found in the Tropical Agriculturist, 
January, 1908, p. 48. It is of interest as containing an account of the 
wild bees, as also of Melipona (Trigona) iridipennis, Smith. For prac¬ 
tical directions in bee-keeping in India Douglas’ Handbook of Bee-keeping 
in India (1884) should be consulted. 
Bees collect pollen from flowers, as well as nectar, and some collect 
a resinous matter from buds, from bark and other parts of plants. On 
the two former they feed themselves or their young ; with the latter 
they make the nest tight. Wax is a secretion produced by young bees 
and used to make cells for honey and comb. About 16 to 20 pounds of 
honey is said to be eaten by young bees to yield one pound of wax. 
Melipona is distinguished by having one cubital cell in the forewing 
only; it includes the small bees which build nests in trees and cracks of 
buildings ; they are often called Dammar bees from the dark resinous 
