48 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



transparency of the front part of each of the three 

 anterior segments, or body-rings. As the segments 

 of the abdomen telescope, more or less, these three 

 yellow rings may not always be visible. Mr. Root's 

 test is to feed the bee with honey until the abdo- 

 men is distended and place her on a window pane. 

 If three distinct translucent bands can be seen, the 

 insect is a pure Italian. If only two bands are evident, 

 she is a hybrid. 



In comparison with the Italians the black bees are 

 inferior in many particulars. Their only superiority 

 is that their honey in the comb is a trifle whiter, and 

 they are more easily shaken from the frames than are 

 the Italians, and thus are sometimes preferred by the 

 man who works for extracted honey. Their points 

 of inferiority are their nervousness and irritability, 

 their tendency to rob, their inability to cope with 

 the bee-moth, and the difficulty with which the 

 queen may be found. 



The Italians are far more "civilised" than are 

 the black bees, and seem willing to credit the operator 

 with good intentions; they can defend themselves 

 better from pests, their queens are more prolific and, 

 on the whole, they are more industrious than the 

 blacks, and having longer tongues than the blacks, 

 they can get nectar from a wider range of flowers. 



The hybrids are the result of crossing the Italians 

 and the blacks. They are likely to be excellent 

 honey-gatherers, but unfortunately they usually 

 inherit the irritability of the blacks, which they 

 express with the strength and energy inherited from 



