21 G 



GLEANINGS EN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



The foregoing should, properly, have gone 

 in the April No., but as it did not, we shall 

 have two letters in this No., for we suppose 

 our friends are all anxious to know of the 

 Cyprians in their native home, as soon as 

 possible. 



EASTWARD HO ! — CYPRUS — ITS BEE CULTURE. 

 NO. 2. 



One bright, beautiful day in February, the Austri- 

 an Llyod steamship Urano cast loose from her 

 moorings in the city of Trieste, and bore out into 

 the charming bay which forms an excellent harbor 

 for many ships. The deep blue water, the glittering, 

 white- stone houses of the city mingled with the 

 green foliage of its numerous gardens, with a back- 

 ground of hills whose sides were studded with 

 gleaming white villas, while still farther off were 

 rugged, quite mountain-like elevations forming an 

 irregular horizon, all combined to produce a scene 

 that could not but charm the eye of the beholder. 

 Even the two bee-keepers who stood on the quarter- 

 deck of the fast^receding steamer were delighted. 



Down the Adriatic the good ship sped. Corfu was 

 the first halting place: then on she went over the 

 heaving waters of the Mediterranean. The Isles of 

 Greece, so famous in history and song, were passed, 

 and slumbering Greece herself left behind us. At 

 last, a long line of sand seemed to rise from the sea; 

 then numerous turret-like structures were seen— 

 the sandy shores of Africa and the minarets of Alex- 

 andria's mosques were before us. Great palm trees, 

 lemon and orange trees, laden with delicious looking 

 fruit, figs and bananas, all betokened a tropical 

 clime. The strange life which was soon exhibited to 

 our eyes indicated the same thing. Turks, Arabs, 

 Abysinians, and Europeans of all nationalities were 

 strangely grouped, the natives exhibiting, in their 

 peculiar dress, an odd mixture of bright colors, tur- 

 bans, and fezes. 



From Alexandria, another steamer brought us to 

 Cyprus. Here a similar scene presented itself, only 

 there were fewer Europeans, more were dressed 

 like Greeks, and Greek was the prevailing language; 

 while the buildings were far less pretentious and 

 the vegetation less luxuriant, though numerous 

 palms-, orange and lemon trees, and acres of cacti 

 were to be seen. 



As soon as we had established our headquarters at 

 the only suitable, public stopping-place in Larnaca, 

 we turned our backs upon all these new and ©dd 

 scenes, and, mule-back, sought the rurnl districts, — 

 not the sylvan shades, for not a sign of a forest was 

 to be seen. We traveled for miles northeastward 

 from Larnaca, through a region having only here 

 and there cultivated fields, and these apparently but 

 poorly remunerative. Sometimes the road led over 

 bare rocks for some distance. There was scarcely 

 any hint at water, and in summer everything must 

 be dry. There was comparatively little herbage, 

 though a very small shrub, something like a sage 

 bush, seemed to be struggling from among the 

 rocks. Perhaps it may furnish honey, but in the 

 main one would judge that if there were any bees in 

 this region there would surely be a struggle for ex- 

 istence, which would result in "the survival of the 

 fittest," and thus the perpetuation of a strong race. 

 After nearly three hours' ride, we came to a range 

 of limestone hills, or low mountains, beyond which 

 we found the Messarea, or central plain, extending 

 northward to the lofty mountain range which runs 

 parallel with, and close to, the northern coast of the 



island. The Messarea extends from the sea on the 

 southeast to the sea on the northwest, and contains 

 many villages and several cities, as well as the ruins 

 of many famous, ancient cities. Its soil is very gen- 

 erally good, but water is lacking, the only supply be- 

 ing from a few wells and springs many of which are 

 dry in summer. If good wells were sunk, and sup- 

 plipd with windmills, and tree-planting should be re- 

 sorted to, a few years would suffice to change much 

 of this area into fertile, cultivated fields, instead of 

 letting it remain in the shape of open commons 

 where flocks of sheep and herds of goats glean but a 

 scanty pasturage. 



At a village on this pliin, we saw the first bees. 

 They were in earthen cylinders about eighteen or 

 twenty inches long, and eight or nine in diameter. 

 These cylinders were placed in heaps as we pile up 

 tiles, and the ends, front and rear, closed with clay, 

 or with earthenware disks which were plastered in 

 with clay, a small hole being left at the lower part of 

 the front disk, to serve as an entrance. In some in- 

 stances, the hives were made of unbaked clay, chop- 

 ped straw having been incorporated with the clay. 

 The honey is obtained once or twice during the 

 season, by removing the rear disk and cutting out 

 one-third to one-half of the comb. Oftentimes the 

 bees gather little after this operation, and die for 

 want of honey before the return of the working 

 season. We traveled some days among the peasants, 

 and succeeded in making several bargains for bees, 

 so that we now have seventy-five colonies to start 

 with, and hope to get some, more, and be readf to 

 supply queens in large numbers. I will not detail 

 here the cost or difficulties in the way of securing 

 and raising bees on the Island of Cyprus, but will 

 leave these items for a future communication, 

 merely remarking here that both far exceeded our 

 calculations regarding them. 



In a later article, I will describe these bees, as 

 they seem to me. I will mention here, however, the 

 fact that they are very uniform in every way, and 

 considering that no heed whatever is given by those 

 who have bees,— the Greek and Turkish peasants — 

 to their breeding, we are safe in concluding that the 

 race is a fixed one, and will continue to propagate 

 itself. Frank Benton. 



Larnaca, Island of Cyprus, Asia, Mar. 16, 1880. 



QUARTER BLOOD QUEENS, QUEENS 



THAT FJLY AWAY, QUEENS 



THAT LOOK LIKE THEIR 



SISTERS, ETC. 



E WOULD like to give you a little experience I 

 had with a couple of queens last season. I in- 

 — " troduced into a half-blood swarm a queen from 

 a nucleus, which I knew to be a quarter-blood. As 

 there was no drone comb in the hive, I did not an- 

 ticipate any trouble in that line. Some time in 

 Sept., while superseding old and unproliflc queens 

 with young Italians, I came to the above swarm, and 

 thought to dispose of the quarter-blood queen; but, 

 what was my surprise on making a "post mortal" 

 examination to find that the old, dark queen had 

 been superseded by a very handsome, yellow one. 

 Sept. 25th, there was not a black bee in the swarm; 

 and, on account of the superior markings of the 

 queen and bees, this swarm was selected to be taken 

 to the county fair, and it took a premium. 



The other case was where a queen flew away the 

 second time. Of course, I'm not positive it was the 



