103 



Fumigation for a longer j^eriod may be satisfactory, but from the 

 above experiment it appears that screens should be used. 



The folloAving paper was presented : 



THE IMPORTATION AND BREEDING OF HONEY BEES OF VARIOUS 



TYPES. 



By Frank Benton, Washington. D. C. 



In these later times when the tendency is to specialize more and 

 more in all lines of industry, there are among bee keepers many who 

 devote themselves to one jDarticular line of their pursuit, such as the 

 production of comb honey to the exclusion of extracted honey, or, on 

 the other hand, to the production of extracted (or liquid) honey 

 wholly; others turn the whole strength of their apiaries to the rear- 

 ing of queen bees of various breeds, which are supplied to those en- 

 gaged in honey production ; others push the multiplication of their 

 colonies at the expense of honey production, in order to ha^'e full 

 colonies of bees to sell, either singly, in lots of 100 colonies, or even 

 whole carloads, which are shipped into great honey-producing 

 regions to yield tons upon tons of beautiful nectar for eastern and 

 foreign markets. Then we have the medium-sized and smaller apia- 

 ries, many of which are devoted to two or more of these lines of work, 

 some even combining all of them. 



It would seem quite natural that if anj^ difference in traits could be 

 discovered between various breeds or varieties of honey bees great 

 care would be taken to propagate those types possessing qualities 

 which fitted them in a more eminent degree than others for any par- 

 ticular purpose desired to be accomplished, and, in truth, exactly this 

 has been done. Bees have been found which are naturally more 

 suited to a given purjDose than are other tyj^es, which, however, are 

 equally valuable in still different lines. In fact, the differences 

 among bees are exactly comparable to those noted by the raisers of 

 other farm stock. Among horses there are the large cart horses and 

 Percherons for use as draft animals, the fleet Arabian for the turf, 

 the carriage horse, the general-purj^ose horse for the farm, etc.; 

 among cattle the Jersey, Alderney, and Holstein for producing milk 

 and butter, the shorthorn as a beef animal ; the shorthorn and Devon 

 as draft animals: and similarly with sheep and swine; Avhile even a 

 poultry raiser has his egg breeds and meat breeds, fancy fowls, and 

 general-purpose fowls. It is. therefore, small wonder that for more 

 than forty years past great efforts have been made to secure the vari- 

 ous types of honey bees found Avild, and cultivated to a greater or less 

 extent, in various regions of the earth. 



Although about a score of types, more or less distinct in markinirs, 

 qualities, and habits — some of them no doubt deserving varietal rank, 



