222
Speaker A: Ondu gu:ḍu, mansaru ho:gi kitta:ga a:vaga ra:ṇi matte a: gu:ḍu noṇagaḷu
ondu agala ira bahudu, a: gu:ḍinalliye irutte.
Speaker B: Onde-eraḍe jina. Matte je: nu innondu kelsa ma:ḍtade, a: je:nu summane ondu
maraka ho:gi kaṭṭidde. Adu togaruguḍukã. A:ga alli kaṭṭu uṭṭu patte ma:ḍtade, se:ra
be:kada ja:gava.
Speaker A: Horra murri, a:je:nu. Adava iḍiyadille.
Speaker A: When people go and harvest honey from a hive , the queen and the other bees
stay in the same spot for a night or so.
Speaker B: One or two days. Then the bees do another thing, the bees simply go and sit on
a tree (without nesting). Those bees are called togaruguḍukã (‘sap drinkers’). Then they
land there and make enquiries regarding possible locations to nest in.
Speaker A: Those bees are homeless. We don’t catch them.
The exact way in which bees “make enquiries” was elucidated by one consultant
from Bu:ta:ṇi po:ḍu , who depicted the process as a conversation between a scout
bee and a potential host tree.
DG: Be:re kaḍeyinda je: nu bandu ondu ka:li marakka kaṭtade. Hejje:nu endu tiṭṭko:ḷi.
Hejje:nu bandu ondu marakka ku:tu takshiṇa a: maradalli taḍeyalla. A: maradalli
togaru kuḍitade. Togaruguḍukã entivĩ adanna... E:nappa, adara sa:istra? Adu
mi:selu. ... togaruguḍukã allinda bandu i: marakka kaṭṭa be:ka:dale ondu ka:raṇa ide.
E:ka togaruguḍukã aitu? Adu muṭṭu tiḷsakoḷtade. Mi:selu a:gu uḍtu. Adu muṭṭu
tiḷsakoḷakko:skara be:re maradalli bandu kombinalli kaṭṭruttade. Matte a: maradalli
kaṭṭidda:geve innu mattu ondu maranna maneya huḍukitta:du ... Huḍuku uṭṭu ondu aidu
a:ru si:ṭu, mane no:ḍadu endale ondu mane oḷḷedu, ondu mane keṭṭadu anteḷi adu ho:gi
alli sa:istra ma:ḍa:du. Je:niga buddi ide. A: maravanna ke:ḷa be:ku—“Appa, na:vu ishṭu
jana ondu maneli iddivĩ, ni:vu ishṭu janina shakti taḍkoḷtiya? Athava taḍkoḷa:re?”
Ha:gente:ḷi maravanna ke:ḷa be:ku. A:ga honne mara he:ḷutte, “Appa, ni:vu sa:vira a:ru
jana iddaruve na:nu taḍkoḷtini, nanna kombu kombige bandu se:ri kaṭṭkoṇḍru na:nu
taḍkoḷtini.” Ha:ge de:rya koḍa be:ku. A: de:rya koḍa takshiṇa a:mele avaru hattu jana
bandu uṭṭu avaru ke:ḷu uṭṭu a:mele hattu jana hinde va:pas bandu ivarina, “Ã neḍi appa,
alli ho:gõ. Alli namma mane ade, neḍi appa”. A:mele alli ho:gu uḍta:re. Ho:ga takshiṇa
kuntu ondu eṇṭu diniga ha:ḷe ha:kurte.
DG: The bees come from elsewhere, and land on an unoccupied tree. Let’s take the giant
bee. When the giant bee (swarm) comes and sits on a tree, it does not stay there long. It
drinks the sap on that tree. That’s when we call it togaruguḍukã. And as it sits on that
tree, it also looks for a home on other trees. What does it do next? It’s fussy. There’s a
reason why the togaruguḍukã comes from elsewhere and lands on a particular tree.
What causes it to become togaruguḍukã? It fi nds things out by touch. It’s become fussy.
It goes to another tree and sits on a branch in order to fi nd things out through touch. And
then it moves on to another tree again. And when it moves, fi ve or six individuals (fi rst)
go to a tree to determine whether it would make a good home or not. The bees are smart.
They ask the tree, “O tree! There are many in our household; will you have the strength
to be able to bear us all? Or will you not?” That’s what they need to ask the tree. Then
the honne tree says, “O bees! I will support all 1,006 of you; come and sit on all my
branches, for I will support you.” That’s how it reassures them. As soon as they’re reas-
sured, those bees go back, and say to the rest, “Yes, come on, let’s go! Let’s go, our
home is there!” They all go there (to the new tree). At the new tree, after eight day or so,
they start to build new comb.7 Honeybee Lore