XME^ mwtmmic^mn mmm jouRr^^Eiu. 



39 



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tions, syrups, ointments and salves. It 

 forms the principal ingredient in the 

 formation of printer's rollers, and is 

 used in the manufacture of beer, ale 

 and tobacco. 



The excellence and beauty of a tirst- 

 class article of comb honey is appre- 

 ciated by many ; but a first-class article 

 of extracted honey is something with 

 which few people are familiar. But 

 this is a progressive age, and as ignor- 

 ance is rapidly yielding to enlighten- 

 ment, so is extracted honey rapidly 

 taking its proper place at the head of 

 all sweets. 



Pittsfield, Ills. 



RACES OF BEES. 



Descriptions of Various Races of 

 the Honey.Bee. 



Read at the Michigan Convention 



BY PKOF. A. J. COOK. 



By special request of our wide-awake 

 Secretary, I was led to prepare this essay. 

 Our Secretary is not only full of enterprise, 

 but also of practicality. His enterprise al 

 most always looks towards utility. He 

 loves all truth ; but that truth which can'ies 

 blessing with it, is doubly dear to him. 



Secretary Cutting also believes in fairs. 

 Perhaps I ought to except Dr. A. B. Mason, 

 when I state that no man in the tJnited 

 States has had so extended and so useful 

 and valuable an experience with honey- 

 exhibits, as our Secretary. Thus I have 

 concluded, or inferred at least, that he has 

 felt the need of more accurate descriptions 

 of races, as they were exhibited at our va- 

 rious expositions. This conclusion leads me 

 to make this essay practical. 



My object, then, will excuse lack of ful- 

 ness in minute details, which otherwise 

 should gain admittance in such descrip- 

 tions. 1 shall, for like reasons, consider, at 

 this time, only those races that are actually 

 among us, and shall speak only of charac- 

 teristics that are valuable, either from the 

 stand-point of profit, or identification. 



In the study of races, which have been 

 developed by Nature, and not man, we 

 should always remember the environment. 

 Where circumst.ances press hard, the law 

 of natural selection, of necessity, produces 

 greater excellence. We should expect, 

 then, that the Carniolan bees, the Italians, 

 the Cyprians, and the Syrians, would each 

 possess very valuable characteristics. The 

 crowded colonies, the restricted areas, 

 and, especially in Syria, the frequent and 

 excessive drouths, all combine to weed out 

 the less prolific, and the less industrious 

 colonies. We might reasonably expect, 

 then, to find in these races, longer tongues, 

 larger honey-stomachs, increased industry, 

 greater endurance and prolificness, than in 

 races of a less trying environment. I fully 

 believe that a close study of the surround- 

 ing conditions of each race, would quickly 

 explain peculiarities of structure and 

 habit. Thus I believe we may easily ac- 

 count for the irritability of the Cyprian 

 and Syrian races, by simply studying their 

 history ; and, likewise, the amiability of the 

 Italian race, and the Carniolans. 



I think, too, that this explanation would 

 explain the speedy change of disposition of 

 the Syrian and Cyprian bees, as they are 

 handled, and their temperaments studied 

 and humored. The Syrians are remarkably 

 quiet and inoffensive unless disturbed, and 



I found that very soon upon domestication, 

 the angry mood ceased to come, with hand- 

 ling. In our study of races, this law of 

 change through environment should always 

 be kept in view. 



In describing or studying races, there are 

 some parts that are specially important. 

 The color and hair-covering of the thorax 

 are to be noted. The rings of the abdomen 

 are also important. As is known, there are 

 six rings, or segments, to this third or pos- 

 terior division of the bee's body. This is 

 true of both the workers and the queens. 

 The color of these several rings, and the 

 color and amount of hair that they bear, 

 are valuable aids in identifying the sepa- 

 rate races. Usually, there are four rows of 

 plumose hairs— a row to each of the rings, 

 if we except the Hrst,or the one next to the 

 thorax, and the last, or the one at the tip 

 of the body. Often the color of these rings 

 of hair, as in the case of the Krainer or Car- 

 niolan bees, is the most ready means to 

 identify individuals of the race. 



The Black and the "Ifello^v Bees. 



Before I speak of the separate races, let 

 me state that we may divide our common 

 honey-bees into two types — the black and 

 the yellow bees. To the black bees belong 

 the common German bees, and varieties of 

 this type, such as the Carniolan, heath bees, 

 etc. These are the European bees, par ex- 

 cellence, and are i)eculiar in coloration and 

 in habitat. It is very possible that some of 

 the African races are derived from this 

 race. Of these we are practically, at pres- 

 ent, only interested in the German and 

 Carniolan bees, and so I shall only speak 

 of them in fuller detail. 



The yellow races are very well fixed. 

 Whether they should rank as varieties of 

 one race, or as seTiarate races, is a question. 

 If their characteristics of color and habit are 

 persistent, then each is a race. I am in- 

 clined to the opinion that this is the case. 

 Such questions, however, are not very im- 

 portant, as our present philosophy simply 

 makes species, races, and varieties a difl:er- 

 ence of quantity in variation, and fixity of 

 characteristics. Time solidifies a variety — 

 if we may so speak — into a race, and with 

 longer time the race crystallizes into a 

 species. 



Of these yellow races — we will call them 

 "races'' — I shall only consider the three 

 which are at present in our American api- 

 aries, and are exhibited at our fairs, viz : 

 the Italian, Syrian, and Cyprian. 



The Black or German Bee. 



This bee is so well known, that I should 

 not pause to siieak of it, were it not that it 

 will form a good standard for comparison. 



We may say that the German bee is 

 large, gray-black — the queen is obscure- 

 brown beneath— and irritable in disposi- 

 tion. The color, black, is due to the body, 

 which is shining black, as maybe seen in 

 robber or diseased bees, where the hair is 

 gone. 'The gray is due to the rows of hairs, 

 which are light in color, and so with the 

 black, dark ground, give the gray-black 

 color familiar to us all in these German 

 bees. 



The tongue of the black bee is shorter 

 than that of the yellow races. Their irrita- 

 bility makes the"m unsuited to the begin- 

 ner, though with the bee-tent, and other 

 improvements, the experienced apiarist 

 would not mind their ill-temper. 



It is often said that German bees are 

 more prone to rob than others, and less en- 

 ergetic in defending their hives. The first 

 may come from idleness, consequent upon 

 their shorter tongues; the latter, from 

 strength of colony, consequent upon their 

 moderate prolificness. Their restless na- 

 ture is well known, as their disagreeable 

 habit of rushing about the comb, and fall- 



ing from it, are too evident to escape 

 attention. 



It has been claimed that black bees are 

 more hardy than are the yellow races. 

 Quite likely the fact that black bees are 

 more likely to be in box-hives, where the 

 attachment of the combs direct to the 

 walls of the hive give a certain protection 

 in severe winters, gave rise to this opinion. 

 Whether true or not, this is no very essen- 

 tial matter; for, granting superiority, it is 

 not sutficiontly pronounced to remove the 

 necessity of protection, and with protection 

 and proper care all are alike safe. 



That German bees produce very white 

 comb honey is, beyond question, true. A 

 little thicker capping, or a little greater 

 separation of the caps from the h(jney, 

 though really a small matter, is in fact a 

 matter of much importance. Indeed, it 

 may be that which sells our product. In 

 this case, a little added beauty may be the 

 "taking thing." 



Apiarists, long ago, noted that black bees 

 are a little more ready to leave the brood- 

 chamber, and store in the sections placed 

 in a chamber above, than are the yellow 

 races. With the neophyte, this quality 

 would count; with the experienced bee- 

 keeper, who has learned the best skill of 

 the art, this counts for much less. 



If we except the white cappings, and the 

 readiness to store in the surplus chamber, 

 we may say that in every peculiarity of 

 structure, temperament and habit, the 

 German race is inferior for the practical 

 work of the apiary. 



It is easy to see why the German bees are 

 inferior — their home is the cold Northland, 

 where winter's cold and merciless grasp, 

 ever and anon, crushes out the bee-life, de- 

 stroying all but the most vigorous. Thus 

 the increase is limited, and natural selec- 

 tion does not act with the severity that it 

 does in the more favored tropics. Thus we 

 easily see why the black bee is less devel- 

 oped in the direction of rapid production, 

 than are some of the other races. 



It remains to be said that the German 

 bee, crossed with any of the' yellow races, 

 produces a bee much superior to itself. 

 Cattle and horses are bred for different 

 purposes, and so crosses produce confusion, 

 and cross-breedin^has little to recommend 

 it. With bees, it is not so. All races are 

 for the same purpose; so there is no ob- 

 jection to crossing; indeed, it seems more 

 than likely that the bee of the future will 

 be a hybrid bee. If so, quite likely the Ger- 

 man race, or some of its varieties, will en- 

 ter into the combination. , 



The Carniolan Bees. 



These bees are certainly a well-marked 

 variety of the German race. Their charac- 

 ters are so well marked and so fixed, that it 

 would be no great mistake to consider them 

 a race. Indeed, some very good authorities 

 regard them as a distinct race. If I mistake 

 not, Mr, Frank Benton thus regards them, 

 and surely few are better prepared to judge 

 correctly than is he. 



Whether we consider them a variety or a 

 race, I think that there can be no doubt; 

 but that they are an offshoot from the com- 

 mon black bees. More amiable than the 

 Italian, and with " business habits " — if we 

 may use the expression— equal to the best 

 of the yellow races, no wonder this bee has 

 so rapidly grown into favor in both Europe 

 and America. 



We may well quote Shakespeare's "Sweet 

 are the uses of adversity," for here, again, 

 hard circumstance has resulted in an im- 

 proved variety. The winters of Austria are 

 mild; the region of Krain is isolated by 

 lofty mountains ; thus with redundant bees 

 and restricted forage, we have all the fac- 

 tors of rapid progression. In Austria, as in 

 Italy, the bees have been manipulated, and 



