RACES OF BEES 



by the producer of comb honey, are seldom 

 if ever kept by the progressive beekeeper, 

 owing to certain undesirable traits of char- 

 acter. 



They are of a very nervous temperament, 

 and are apt to rush all over their combs when 

 being manipulated, which renders the finding 

 of the queen a hard task ; they will also gather 

 in great clusters on the ends of their frames 

 and fall to the ground, to the annoyance and 

 discomfort of the person handling them. 

 They are very irritable, and will often fly from 

 their hives and attack the passerby with no 

 provocation whatever. Whether they are natu- 

 rally lazy or quickly disheartened, the fact 

 remains that they do not seem able to resist 

 disease and enemies as vigorously as the Ital- 

 ians. Again and again have I seen a strong 

 colony of Blacks completely destroyed through 

 the ravages of the bee moth or from disease, 

 which a weak colony of Italians seem able 

 to resist. 



One thing is certain, the Blacks become 

 19 



