The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-04-22
WAN THE GIAN NJ BEES
AMERICANS. WILL IMPORT IN
. SEcTs FROM PHILIPPINES. 81
Wilson to Ask Funds-Native OF East
/. Is Great Honey Gatherer
Stand This climate - Are Hard

Will Oe aHOrQeQ every FACILITY and IN
| ducement to immigrate to the United
States and engage in the skilled labor
| In which it has no peer. This is the
giant East Indian honey bee, and in
vestigation of it's work and immense
| capacity for making honey and wax
has interested the department Of agri-
culture in the consideration of an early
effort to introduce it into the United
States.
Secretary Wilson said in connection
With the proposed importation of these
bees to the United States, that a spe-
cial appropriation would be asked in
MS coming report to congress for the
investigation of the bees of the world,
and a swarm of the big Philippine
honeymakers would be brought to Am
erica as soon as the question Of their
value and the possibility of their ac-
cl1matization has been fully determin-
ed. There will also be an appropria-
ton requested for the study of the
agricultural and kindred products Of
the newly acquired territory of the
United States, and even under this
head the great honey bees of the east
could be introduced by the department
20 this country. To scientists this
bee Is known as apis dorsata, a spe-
cies common throughout the tropical
regions of the east, and in the Phil
lppine islands the largest variety of
this species is found. It is nearly one
half larger than our native honey bee
and builds a comb, heavy with wax
and honey, five or six times as large as
the ones that are found in American
orchards and forests. In addition to
the enormous manufacturing capacity
OF this particular bee it's introduction
will have the important effect of Sc
curing from some of the richest hon
ey-bearing plants of the United States
the sweet juices which now remain
ungathered. The propagation and in
crease of these plants will also be i'm
measurably assisted by other services
the big bees will render. These extra
ordinary results will be brought about
for the reason that the giant of the
east has tongue nearly twice as long
e%o Jul ActIAfC UCCO. AL tAOSG AACLAO
workers get at the honey in the flow
ers with their tongues; but many bios
SONS have such deep wells that our
native bees cannot reach it, and, know
ing this through inherited tradition,
never try. The principal honey-bear-
ing flower which our native bees find
too hard a problem for their limited
honey pumps is red clover The long
tongues Of the big Philippine bees
would find these clover blossoms
mine of sweetness, and thousands OF
tons Of honey would be yielded up that
is now practically a loss to the world.
In return for the honey these bees
would find in the red clover their in
PRODUCTION to that plant would prove
an inestimable assistance to its re-
production. Bees play a most import
ant part in this operation, carrying as
they do the pollen of one flower to
another, the fertilizing powder cling
Ing to the limbs and body of the little
insect. The question of the POSSIBLE
lily of acclimatizing these inhabitants
of the Philippines in the colder lati-
tudes of America is not discouraging.
The giant bees are found in the noun
tain regions all through India and
have been seen busily at work at alti-
tudes of 5000 feet. In the Philippine
islands their colonies are most numer-
GUS in the mountains, as the indefati-
gable quest of the natives for their
honey combs has driven them to the
less thickly inhabited regions The
Filipinos find their daily bread a rath-
er easy proposition, but they are fond
bf honey on the staff of life, and wax
lis next to gold in it's attractions for
| fortune-seekers. In the east wax is
ia principal article Of staple commerce,
due to the manner in which the clothes
worn by the natives are dyed. These
CLOTHES when fresh woven are covered
with a thin layer of wax, leaving ex-
posed the portions which it is desired
to dye. The cloth is then soaked in
the dye and the wax which covers and
protects the fiber where it has been
spread prevents any of the waxed
parts from taking up the color This
! manner Of dyeing is so general in the
east that there is tremendous de-
,mand for wax at all times The wax
| also is exported in large quantities to
Europe for making candles. The COM
| mercial probabilities of the introduce
| ton and increase of the giant bees to
| the United States would principally
| affect the production of wax. This
commodity has risen so greatly in
price through the invention of the
| sraphophone that the manufacturers
of wax goods often have been without
| material for their product. The big
| bees build their hives on tall forest
trees or on the overhanging Lodges OF
inaccessible cliffs. Branch swarms
build near the parent colony so that
in a few years an immense bee settle
mentz often grows up in the forest. TIC
discover one Of these is almost Ger.
tain fortune to a Filipino. In appear
'ance the giant bee is smoky, gilt
tering, iridescent black of wasp-like
figure, with orange bands encircling itt
body. There have been reports thai
this bee is most ferocious and on &C
count Of it's great size is extremely
dangerous, but Prof. Frank Benton Of
the Department OF Agriculture, one OF
the bee experts OF the world, has seer