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.

trOdnce Into the United States
There is one race inhabICing the
philippines which will be a welcome
addition to American citizenship and
will receive every facility and induce
mcnt 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
hlwh0se immense capacity for making
oihoney and wax has Interested the De.
,lpartment of Agriculture in the consid.
oeration of an early effort to introduce
it into the United States. To science
0ltbis bee is known rs Apis dorsata. II
IA common throughout the tropical re-.
acions of the East and in the Philip-
mine Islands the very largest variety
EOf the species is found. 1t is nearly
one-half larger than the American ma
hive honey bee, aud builds a comb
nhelyy with wax and honey five or six
times as large as those found in
american orchards and forests.
IA Tho question of Gcclimatizing these
Inhabitants of the Philippines in the
stoder ATTITUDES of America is not dis
couraging. The giant bees are found
In the mountain regions all through
linda, and have been busily at work
hi attitudes of 5000 feet. In the Phil
ippinc Islands their colonies are most
numerous in Lne mountains, as the
unceaSing quest OF the natives for
hfheir honeycomb has driven them
llfrom the unprotected flatIands of the
cOaSt to the less thickly inhabited and
more heavily wooded mountain re-
gOnS. The Filipinos find their daily
bread rather easy proposition, but
They are very fond of honey on the
stait Of life. There is also Il large de-
hand for wax for use in dyeing.
The big bees build their hives on
Aa forest trees or on the overhanging
jddgeS of cliffs. When undistrrbed
a,brauch swarms build near the parent
eoi0ny,SO that in few years an i'm
pcnSe bee settlement often grows up
In the forest. The bees build Il comb
6ve or six feet long. four feet wide
ond from seven-ci@lts to one and one
half inches in thickness. The largest
combs Of American honey bees are
moi of more than one-ffth these di-
nensions. In appearance the giant
pce is a smoky, glittering, iridescent
black wasp-lke figure, with orange
pandS enclrcllnS its body. There have
Deem reports that this bee is most fer
Dcious and on account of its great size
RNtremely dangerous, but Prof Frank
Benton, of the Department Of Agricul-
hlre has seen and handled them in
Deir jungle haunts, and he tells a diff
lercnt story. They are such busy and
persevering workers. according to
Prof. Benton's account, that they have
Nos deXterity with their singing APP
gparatus. and though they may alight,
full of wrath and with evil intent, up.
pn human hand or neck, they do not
Aandle their offensive weapon with
skill. and it takes them twenty or
khirty seconds To get their sting in
Working order. They are quiet as
compared with American bees.
M Petitions have been coming into the
department of Agriculture for years
asking that the Government introduce
these giant bees INTO the United
States. No attempt at bringing them
Y here has ever been successful. Prof.
Benton tried to bring TO the United
States a swarm of these honeymakers
9 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.