The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-09
GIANT PHILIPPINE BEES.
HoneymakerS Which 1t 10 Proposed to In
troduce Into the United States.

Honeymakers Which 1t 10 Proposed to In
troduce Into the United States.
WASHINGTON. Oct. S.-There is one race In
habiting the Philippines which will be q well
come addition to American citizenship and
will receive every facility and inducement to
emigrate to the United States and engage In
the skilled labor In which 1t has no peer. This
is the giant East Indian honey bee. whose i'm
mense capacity for making honey and wax has
interested the Department Of Agriculture In
the consideration OF an early effort to intro
duce 1t into the United States. To science this
bee Is known as Apis dorsdta. 1t is common
throughout the tropical regions of the East,
and in the Philippine Islands the very largest
variety of the species is found 1t is nearly
one-half larger than the American native
honey bee. and builds u comb, heavy with wax
and honey. five or six times as large as those
found in American orchards and forests;
The gnestbi2pn OF aeclimatizing these lnhabi-
bees are found In, the mountain regions ali
S WofG q aI brald se 81 b baye P Feet. f In fn epPsbbl tYl at
pine Islands their colonies are most numerous
II the mou1,t TIA tSoi as the unsessing quest OF
them from the unprotected fatlands OF tho
coast to the, less thickly inhabited and more
plnos find their daily bread u rather easy prop
osition, but they are very fond, OF honey on the
blul Oh ne .IneTo ID also q large demand Tor
wax for use In dyelng.
The big bees build their hives on tall forest
trees or on the oyerhanging lodges of cliffs.
When undisturbed branch swarmB build near
tho parent colony. 80 that In a few years an i'm
mense bee settlement often grows up in the
forest. The bees build Il comb five or six feet
long. fourfeet wide and from seyen-eiGhths to
one and one-half inches in thickness. The
largest combs OF American honey bees are note OF
more than one-ffth these Dimensions, In APP
pearance the giant bee is a smoky, Offering.
irldescent black wasp-like figure. with orange
bands encircling. it's body. There have been
reports that this bee is most ferocious and on
account OF It's great size extremely dangerous.
but Prof. Frank Benton Of the Department Of
Agriculture has seen andi handled them In
their Jungle haunts. and he tells a different
story. They are such busy and perBevering
workers. according to Prof. Benton's account.
that they have lost. dexterity with their sting
ing apparatus. and though they may alight.
full Of wrath, and with evil intent. upon human
hand or neck. they do not handle their often
sive weapon, with skill, and 1t takes them
twenty or thirty seconds TO get their sting in
working order, They are quiet as compared
with American bees.
Petitions have been coming into the Depart
ment OF Agriculture for years asking that the
government INTRODUCE these giant bees into
the United States. No attempt al. bringing
them here has ever been successful. Prof.
Benton tried to bring to the United States q
swarm OF, these honeXmAkers which he cap
tured in the Jungle. While he was sick In bed,
on his way home, no one else on the vessel
would attend TO them and they all died.