236 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



-M. D. I'rice among his 220 colonics, all in hives made of redwootl lumber. 



lazy, but they keep up in point of industry 

 throughout the season. 



My experience has been that, under se- 

 vere test, while Italian bees disappear in 

 great numbers, the Caucasians hold their 

 own. 



DO CAUCASIAN BEES BUILD UP TOO SOON IN 

 THE SPRING? 



Some have said that they do not want 

 Caucasians because they build up so rapid- 

 ly in the early spring and consume all their 

 stores before the honey-liow which comes 

 later. I have not found this to be true. In 

 the late fall they follow the queen closely 

 w ith honey, and, as a rule, they go into win- 

 ter quarters much heavier than do the Ital- 

 ians. On this account they have ample 

 stores next spring to last until the honey- 

 flow. 



CAUCASIANS DO NOT CAP THIN HONEY. 



Here in the South we have a good deal of 

 thin honey from various sources; and before 

 it is thoroughly ripened the Italians cap it 

 and then it begins to ferment, giving it a 

 wet greasy appearance. This is not true of 

 the Caucasians, for they keep such thin 

 honey spread out in the comb, and they are 

 very slow to cap it. When it is thoroughly 

 ripened, however, and finished, it has a 

 beautiful appearance and fine flavor, so that 

 it brings the highest market prices. 



ABOUT THE TENDENCY TO SWAEM. 



Mr. Frank Benton, the importer of the 

 Caucasian bees, stated that they swarm con- 



siderably, and the A. I. Root Company 

 made the same statement after giving the 

 bees a limited trial. But, if I mistake not, 

 Mr. Benton explained that the cause of the 

 excessive swarming is because they are so 

 often kept in small hives in the country 

 from which they came. I think this must 

 have been true; for the first two or three 

 years I kept these bees they would send out 

 very small swarms, hardly worth hiving, 

 except when several clusters went together. 

 Such swarms came from very large colonies, 

 too, from which much larger swarms were 

 expected. Such small swarms were hardly 

 missed from the parent colony, and the 

 work in the supers was changed very little. 



I have been trying to eliminate this 

 inclination to swarm by breeding, but ha\e 

 not fully succeeded; for once in a great while 

 they will swarm, although not enough to 

 make necessary any of the usual prevent- 

 ives except providing ventilation and plen- 

 ty of room. 



The late R. W. Herlong, of Fort White, 

 Florida, whom I referred to in my article on 

 page 763, Dec. 15, as having had consider- 

 able experience with these bees, stated that 

 he had had practically no swarming. Mr. 

 W. F. Williamson, of Arabi, Ga., has a large 

 Caucasian apiary, and has never had a 

 swarm, although he has harvested good 

 crops. 



SOME MINOR POINTS OF SUPERIORITY. 



These bees build more queen-cells, and 

 larger ones. Their queens are more uniform 

 in size. The bees are gentler than the aver- 



