10 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



CHAPTER IV. 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES. 



The genus Apis contains about 16 species and varieties of social 

 bees having a commercial value, and these are the only ones to be 

 dealt with here. A large number of bee-keepers favour crosses, 

 and the cross sought for — the ideal bee of the future — must be one 

 possessing untiring industry, great energy, and unlimited endur- 

 ance, the queen possessing a docile temper, vigorous constitution, 

 and known for her powers of fecundity, producing workers that 

 are unlimited honey-gatherers and builders of flat, highly-finished 

 combs, in which drone cells are not too numerous, the workers 

 possessing, like the mother, the mildest of tempers. That such a 

 variety of these industrious and interesting workers as the fore- 

 going describes will be produced is only a question of time. 



The cat, a descendant of the most ferocious of felines, by years 

 of domestication and association with the human family, has 

 almost forgotten the use of her talons ; so also the dog, the ox, 

 and the horse have almost forgotten their powers to injure ; there- 

 fore it is not unreasonable to suppose the bee of the future, 

 although possessing a formidable sting, will, by careful breeding 

 and selection, refrain from using the power she possesses to inllict 

 injury. 



The various races of bees differ greatly, and their geographical 

 distribution is almost as wide as the poles, being found in a state 

 of nature in both the temperate and torrid zones. 



Whether the bee of the future, possessing all the qualifications 

 and attributes that we think it ought to possess, will be a pure 

 race or a cross that has not yet been produced time alone can 

 decide. 



With the pure races of bees that have already been imported 

 into this State black, Ligurian, and Carniolan— important steps 

 have been made towards the ideal worker. 



Ajris mellifica is too well known to need any description, but 

 a chapter on "The Species and Varieties of Bees" would be incom- 

 plete without reference to them. Our old friend the black bee was 

 the first variety imported into Australia, and, like the black 

 aboriginal human race of the continent, will be soon superseded by 

 & superior vai'iety. 



