ollow piece of wood, about 2 1/2 to 3
ft. in length and 10 or 12 in. in diameter. A small door is placed at
each end of the log, one for the bees to go in and out, and the other
for the removal of the honey when wanted. The honey-combs are broken
and the honey is extracted by squeezing the comb with the hand. Wax is
obtained by placing the comb in boiling water and allowing it to cool,
when the wax floats to the surface. The Khasis do not systematically
tend their bees, as they do not understand how to prevent swarming,
and as the Khasi bee is a prolific swarmer, hives become weak very soon
and a new hive has to be started from a captured natural swarm. The
villages in which bees are regularly kept to any large extent in the
Khasi and Jaintia Hills are Thied-dieng, Mawphoo, Nongwar, Mawlong,
Pynter, Tyrna, and Kongthong, but most of the War villagers rear bees
and sell the honey at the neighbouring markets. The collection of
the honey of the wild bee, or _u lywai_, is a hazardous occupation,
the services of some six or seven persons being required, as the combs
of this bee are generally built in the crevices of precipitous rocks,
and sometimes weigh more than half a maund each. When such hives are
discovered the bees are driven out by the smoke of a smouldering fire
lit at the foot of the rock below the hive. Two or three men get to the
top of the precipice, leaving two or three of their companions at the
base. One of the men on the top of the rock is then lowered down in
a sling tied to a strong rope, which is made fast by his companions
above to a tree or boulder. The man in the sling is supplied with
material to light a torch which gives out a thick smoke, with the
aid of which the bees are expelled. The man then cuts out the comb,
which he places in a leather bucket or bag, which, when filled, he
lowers down to the persons in waiting at the foot of the rock. The
wild honey may be distinguished from that of the domestic bee by being
of a reddish colour. Honey from the last-mentioned bee is gathered
twice or thrice in the year, once in the autumn and once or twice in
the spring; that gathered in early spring is not so matured as that
collected in autumn. The flora of the Khasi Hills being so numerous,
there is no necessity for providing bees with artificial food. The
bees are generally able to obtain their sustenance from clover,
anemonies, "golden rod," bush honeysuckle, and numerous shrubs such
as andromeda, daphne,