The Opelousas courier., 1893-09-23
BEES WITH NO STINGS.
BUSY LITTLE HONEY oETTERs OF
HONDURAS.
This Climate Too Cold For Them
The Pigmies Among Bees-Why
Stineless Bees Are in Demand

OF Agriculture onerlng 20
send to this country some Of
the stingless bees which are native to
Central America. If it were possible
to domesticate them here, says the
Washington Star, there would be
great advantage in doing SO, mas
much as the sting of the bee is the
chief obstacle to bee culture in the
United States. The idea of producing
bees without stings by selection in
breeding haI often been suggested,
but it is not considered practicable by
scientific apiarists. The tropical in
sects referred to are cousins to the
true honey bees, being grouped ZOO
logically between the latter and the
humble bees. They make excellent
honey, which, though less sweet than
that sold in Northern markets, has an
aromatic perfume and a delicious flavor
of its own. Some of it is said to be
poisonous, but it is not 81 ordinarily,
Of these bees, which are very small,
there are t~wenty-six species in Central
and South America, where they have
been kept in hives for centuries.
They belong to the genus "Mell-
ponae." Though lacking stings they
possess other means of defence. They
not only bite rather sharply with their
jaws, like ants, but they do their best
to crawl into the ears and n~ostrils of
anybody who attacks them. Some
species are very spiteful, but others
are comparatively amiable-notably
the "scutellaris," which is the n
most commonly domesticated in Bra
I'll. The hives employed are usually
hung from roofs and verandas. Some
times they are of ~earthenware, but
more often they are made of hollow
logs two or three feet long, closed at
the ends with circular plugs of woods.
When a hive is judged by its weight
to be full. the plugs are withdrawn
and the honey is removed. These
bees have been kept since prehistoric
times by the natives.
Their honey IS contained not in
hexagonal cells, but in wax bags as big
as pigeons eggs. These are hung
around the interior walls of the hive
and are usually about half full, hold
ing as much as the strength of the
sacks will bear. On one side Of the
tree OF log occupied by the bees is a
hole just big enough to admit the mem
bers of the colony one at a time. At
this hole a single bee always stands
sentinel, drawing back out of the way
| every time that q housemate enters or
leaves the domicile. By marking the
/ sentinel it has been ascertained that
the same individual does sentry duty
for a whole day. The hole in the side
| of the hive is the entrance to a long
/ winding tube, which is built of the bee
| glue obtained from the buds of plants.
For any hostile insect or other foe to
make its way through this narrow and
| eagerly defended passage is SO perilous
an undertaking that even the fierce
tropical ants never attempt it.
Birds and lizards are the greatest
enemies of these bees, the reptilian
robbers more particularly attacking
certain species which build their hives
underground. All that has been said
as to the habits of the ''Meliponae"
applies in the main to their neal re-
| l~atives, the 'tTrigonae. The latter
are not peculiar to the New World, as
are their cousins just described, but
are found also in the East Indies and
in Australia. They are much smaller,
being in fact the pigmies among bees.
Their name, which means ''three-cor-
| nered," comes from the circumstance
that their abdomens are triangular in
shape. They have no stings, but are
strong and very active in gathering
| pollen and honey, carrying remarkably
/ heavy loads. The workers are black,
but the queen is dark yellow and
has a huge abdomen, her wing being
not strong enough to lift her into the
air when she is filled with eggs. The
honey cells, which are as big as good
sized peas, are grouped in punches.
One thing which the Governor OF
Honduras desiredto knowwa whether
there was any duty on bees imported
| into the United States. There ig none,
because they come in under the head
of 'tanimals for breeding purposes"
| But the fatal objection to these honey
making tropical insects is that they
will not stand this climate. They can-
not live in a temperature below fifty
| degrees Fahrenheit. In 1878 Edward
Drory, of Bordeaux, brought to
France forty hives of "Meliponae''
and "Trigonae." He kept them over
| one winter by housing them in a
heated room, but eventually they died.
A few years agoT F. Bingham shipped
a hive of "Meliponae'' to Michigan,
but he could not winter them. In
| short, these little nectar getters can
not be domesticated in this country.
It has been suggested that they might
| be crossed with our own honey bees
advantageously, to get rid ofthe sting,
but it is almost certain that they
would not breed together, inasmueh as
they belong to different genera.
On the other hand, the true honey
bees have been imported from Europe
/ into Central and South America,
where they flourish. They are deter.
| mined and indefatigable immigrants.
As is well known, these valuable In.
sects did not exist in the new world
/ when Columbus landed. They were
| brought hither by the white man.
| Only one hundred years ago their
hum had never been heard west of the
| Allegheny Mountains. A violent hur-
/ ricane having carried several swarms
over that lofty ridge, they found there
q country s~ingularly favorable to their
propagation, where they have multi
| piled until the boundless forests and