Such a general rush of this particular bee to the district that
the jungles are swarming with them in every direction, although
during the six preceding years hardly a bee of the kind is to be
met with.
There are many varieties of the nillho. These vary from a tender
dwarf plant to the tall and heavy stern of the common nillho,
which is nearly as thick as a man's arm and about twenty feet
high.
The next honey-maker is very similar in size and appearance to
our common hive bee in England. This variety forms its nest in
hollow trees and in holes in rocks. Another bee, similar in
appearance, but not more than half the size, suspends a most
delicate comb to the twigs of a tree. This nest is no larger
than an orange, but the honey of the two latter varieties is of
the finest quality, and quite equal in flavor to the famed "miel
vert" of the Isle de Burbon, although it has not the delicate
green tint which is so much esteemed in the latter.
The last of the Ceylon bees is the most tiny, although an equally
industrious workman. He is a little smaller than our common
house-fly, and he builds his diminutive nest in the hollow of a
tree, where the entrance to his mansion is a hole no larger than
would be made by a lady's stiletto.
