178 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



of the season, as success depends 

 largely on populous colonies. 



3. Gentle and quiet in their move- 

 ments, thus permitting of easy ma- 

 nipulation, and this without dimin- 

 ishing their working qualities. 



4. (rood honey gatherers, ener- 

 getic, determined and successful in 

 their efforts to secure every drop of 

 precious nectar, which circumstances 

 will permit, storing and capping the 

 same in an attractive manner, and 

 fully as energetic and determined in 

 protecting their stores and homes 

 against the invasion of robber bees. 



5. Strong and active on the wing, 

 and capable of making long journeys 

 when necessary without being ex- 

 hausted. 



6. Long tongued, in order that 

 they may sip the precious nectar, as 

 yet inaccessible to the bees, from 

 the many honey-producing flowers 

 which now refuse to yield up their 

 hidden sweets, wasting them on the 

 summer air ; and, finally, beautifully 

 and uniformly marked, also duplicat- 

 ing the above markings, quaUties and 

 characteristics. 



Every one of our readers will ad- 

 mit that bees passing the above men- 

 tioned qualities, etc., are all that can 

 be desired, and it is our purpose to 

 show that the Holylands and their 

 crosses with the Italians, or perhaps 

 the crosses of the Italians with the 

 Holylands, give us just what is re- 

 quired. 



No race of bees will fly more rap- 

 idly or farther in search of honey 

 when necessary, than the Holylands, 

 nor are any more hardy then they ; 

 and while not as gentle as some of 

 our American Italians, yet when 



properly managed, we have no diffi- 

 culty in this wise. 



As honey gatherers and breeders 

 they are not excelled, and woe to 

 the luckless robber bees which at- 

 tempt to invade their homes and fall 

 into their hands. 



They have been known to fly (in 

 Palestine) six and one-half miles to 

 obtain pasturage. We (as previously 

 stated) consider them a most beau- 

 tiful race of bees, although their type 

 of beauty differs from that of other 

 races. 



We have used bees for queen-rear- 

 ing from nearly every race, and many 

 of their crosses, and find that the 

 Holylands have no superior for this 

 purpose. 



At Beeton, in company with Mr. 

 Jones, we have witnessed large num- 

 bers of Holyland bees at work on 

 the red clover (large heads) when 

 there was a plentiful flow of white 

 clover honey, and have known them 

 to work on forage, in large numbers, 

 farther from the apiary than the other 

 races. 



Most of our readers are well ac- 

 ([uainted with the qualities of the 

 Italian bees ; they need no com- 

 ment. 



Our advice to the beginner is to 

 purchase either the Italian or Holy- 

 land (those from Syria) or Italians 

 crossed with Holyland drones. If one 

 prefers to make his own crosses, it 

 would be best to secure a Holyland 

 queen and after obtaining some drones 

 from her-, mate with the latter some 

 young queens from his best Italian 

 stock; but, as a rule, it would be 

 better to purchase the crosses reared 

 by some reliable queen breeder. 



