The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-04-21
GIANT PHILIPPINE BEES,
Honeymakers Which 1t Is Proposed to In.
troduce Into the United States.


There is one race inhablling the
philippines which will be a welcome
addition to American citizenship and
will receive every facility and induce
ment to emigrate to the United States
and engage in the skilled labor in
which it has no peer. 1nis is the
giant East Indian honey bee, whose
n whose immense capacity for making
& honey and wax has interested the De-
4 partment of Agriculture in the cOnsid
2 GRAFTON of an early effort to introduce
1t into the United States. To science
q this bee is known as Apis dorsata. 1t
ais common throughout the tropical re-
srions of the East, and in the Philin-
mime Islands the very largest variety
of the species is found. 1t is nearly
one-half larger than the American ma
.ftive honey bee, aud builds n comb
nheavy with wax and honey five or six
i times as large as those found in
z American orchards and forests.
~ The question of acclimatizing these
Inhabitants of the Philippines in the
4colder attitudes of America is not dis
scouraging. The giant bees are found
lin the mountain regions all through
dInda. and have been busily at work
at attitudes of 5000 feet. In the Phil
aippinc Islands their colonies are most
numerous III me mountains, as the
3Hunceasing quest OF the natives for
.htheir honeycomb has driven them
ilfrOm the unprotected flatlands of the
coaSt TO the less thickly inhabited and
more heavily wooded mountain re-
''gions. The Filipinos find their daily
BREAD a rather easy proposition, but
tthey are very fond of honey on the
sat] Of life. There is also Il large de-
nand for wax for use in dyeing.
The big bees build their hives on
mall forest trees or on the overhanging
4bedaeS of cliffs. When undisturbed
.1rauch swarms build near the parent
tcol1uy,so that in few years an i'm
NncuSe bee settlement often grows I'D
In the forest. The bees build comb
#fve or six feet long. four feet wide
Bnd from SeVen-Ci%htS to one and one
half inches in thickness. The largest
combs of American honey bees are
mot Of more than one-fifth these di-
Extensions. In appearance the giant
1.bce is a smoky, glittering, iridescent
black waSp-like figure, with orange
bands encircling its body. There have
been reports that this bee is most fer
pciouS and on account of its great size
Extremely dangerous, but Prof Frank
Benton, of the Department of Agricul-
fur. has seen and handled them in
Their jungle haunts, and he tells diff
ferent story. They are such busy and
.perseyering workers, according to
frof Benton's account, that they have
Hos deXterity with their singing APP
iparatuS, and though they may alight
fun of wrath and with evil intent up
on human hand or neck, they do not
handle their offensive weapon with
skill, and it takes them twenty or
thirty seconds to get their sting in
working order. They are quiet as
compared with American bees
q Petitions have been coming into the
department of Agriculture for years
asking that the Government introduce
Hthese giant bees INTO the United
States. No attempt mt bringing them
here has ever been successful Prof.
Benton tried to bring TO the United
States n swarm of these honeymakerS
which he captured 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.