BENEFICIAL INSECTS 



239 



that could be discovered, so that we now have four varieties, each 

 excelling in certain points. 



The common black or brown or German bees have become better 

 acclimated than any of the others, and during their 200 years of 

 residence have become the common wild bees of the whole country. 

 Their faults are : bad temper, which makes them hard to handle ; 

 their tendency to desert their combs and to " ball up " so that it is 

 difficult to find the queen ; and their failure to resist the attacks of 

 the bee moth. This is a most serious defect. A colony of black bees 

 left a season without being looked over and the moths removed from 

 time to time is likely to be found empty of bees and a mass of ugly 

 caterpillars, moths, webs, and cocoons. The bees themselves are 

 fair honey gatherers, make white comb honey, and winter well. They 

 are medium-sized and dark brown, sometimes almost black, in color. 



The Italian bees, imported to this country in i860, have found 

 greater favor with bee keepers than any other race. They are large, 

 beautiful bees, with the first three bands of the abdomen yellow or 

 leather colored. They are gentle, can be handled easily, stick to 

 their combs so well that the frames may be lifted from the hive and 

 stood up about the yard, while the bees go on with their work as if 

 nothing had happened. On this account, the queen may easily be 

 found at any time. I have sometimes seen an Italian queen continue 

 laying eggs while the frame she was on was taken from the hive. 

 Italian bees are better honey gatherers than the blacks, cap their 

 honey fairly white, and resist attacks of the bee moth, so that for this 

 reason alone, where this pest is present, it would pay to keep only 

 Italian bees ; but they do not winter quite so well in the colder sections 

 of this country. 



Carniolans are large ashy gray bees with silvery white hairs, the 

 gentlest and most beautiful of all races. They were imported from 

 the Alpine province of Carniola, Austria, in 1884. They are fair 

 honey gatherers and cap their honey exceedingly white. How they 

 cope with the bee moth is not stated in the books. The Carniolans 

 winter better than any other strain and are prolific, but they have the 

 reputation of swarming excessively. This is their greatest disad- 

 vantage, and Frank Benton is inclined to think that it is due to the 



