200 Beekeeping 



over Italian queens they often sold for twenty dollars each. 

 Italian bees are now found everywhere that beekeeping is 

 conducted and are usually considered preferable to all 

 others. In the United States, special attention has been 

 given to the breeding of Italian bees and it is probably true 

 that better Italian stock can now be obtained in America 

 than in Italy. 



To distinguish differences in strains of Italian bees and 

 in part to provide trade names, various names have been 

 given by American beekeepers to certain types. The five- 

 banded or "Golden-all-over" bees have been bred specially 

 for an increase in the yellow color on the abdomen. The 

 red clover Italians sold several years ago were supposed to 

 have a tongue-length above the average, sufficient to allow 

 them to get nectar from the red clover blossom. Various 

 strains are distinguished by the name of the breeder. The 

 specially yellow bees are not usually considered as desirable 

 for commercial beekeeping as the typical Italians, which 

 are commonly designated as three-banded or leather-colored. 



German. 



These bees are black in color and are generally known 

 among American beekeepers as "Black bees." It is of 

 interest to note that according to Dzierzon there were yellow 

 bees in Germany before Italians were introduced and this 

 helps to explain the variation in the German bees. v. Buttel- 

 Reepen, following distinctions made by Dzierzon and other 

 early writers, divides the German bees into two varieties, 

 the typical variety and the heath bees. The typical variety 

 is native to Germany, Russia, Scandinavia, Denmark, 

 Holland, England, Switzerland, Austro-Hungary and parts 

 of other European countries. The heath bee is darker than 

 the typical variety, swarms excessively and is especially 

 adapted to honey-flows coming in late summer (buckwheat, 

 heather) : young queens in after swarms lay drone eggs 

 abundantly the first season. This variety is found in Hano- 

 ver, Holstein, Oldenburg and Holland. There is a possi- 



