Tm AMERICAN 



* ••^'- 



Apiculturist. 



VOL. IX. 



A. Journal Devoted to Practical Beekeeping. 



AUGUST, 1891. 



No. 8. 



THOSE AVOXDEKFUL PUNIC BEES. 



At last we have a uoii-stinging bee, 

 and many persons, avIio would go into 

 apiculture but for the business end of 

 that insect, can now keep bees for 

 both pleasure and profit. 



Read what appeared in the Cunadi- 

 (1)1 Bee Jonrital concerning the won- 

 derful Punic liees. 



THE PU>fIC BEE. 



So much has been said, pro and con, 

 about the "coming bee," to be called 

 Apis Americana, the qualities it is to 

 ])ossess, etc., that many will be taken 

 by snri)rise to learn that a bee has 

 been found that excels anything ever 

 l)redicted, in the coming American 

 wonder. 



The name of this bee is the Punic 

 bee, Ajiis ]Siger ; 'tis shiny black in 

 color, and is smaller than our native 

 black bees, or Italians. There are no 

 brands or marks of any kind on it, 

 3'oung bees are the color of green 

 ebon}', shading off to true raw ebony 

 when beginning to field, and finishing 

 otf to polished ebony when old and all 

 hairs are worn off them. 



Their qualities are : 1st. They are 

 the tamest bees known — the only time 

 when it is possible to get them to sting, 

 lieing when they have the swarming 

 fever on. 



2nd. In crossing with other races, 

 this quality is very marked ; not even 

 Cyprian bltjod being able to make them 

 bad tempered. 



3rd. They are the hardiest bees 

 known. Thev can lly from and to 



their hives with safety, with snow on 

 the ground and two degrees of frost. 



4th. The}' do not fiy into the snow 

 like other bees. 



5th. They ])egiu work before sun- 

 rise and have the ground piclced over 

 before other kinds are on the move. 



6th If the da}' is rather dull, or 

 cool, they will be working in full blast 

 though no other kinds of bees will be 

 flying. 



7th. The queens are very prolific. 



8th. In a fair season the smallest 

 nuclei will build up without feeding 

 into a grand stock for winter. So 

 much is this "building up" quality 

 present in them that a good strong 

 stock can be divided into twenty nuclei 

 the end of May, and each Avill build in 

 a good season without feeding, into a 

 10-frame stoclv, well stored for the 

 winter and yield one or two 20-lb. su- 

 pers of honey from the heather. 



9th. They beat every other kind in 

 their working energies. 



10th. They live longer than any 

 others. 



11th. They fill and seal sections 

 fuller, and cap them whiter than any 

 other bees. 



12th. For extracted honey they 

 have no equal. 



13th. They can eat the hardest and 

 dryest sugar ; in fact, they will carry 

 away the hardest and dryest sugar 

 loaf (when no honey is to be got), 

 put under a shed and kept as dry as 

 possible. 



14th. Although they search out 

 sweets and carry them oft" anywhere, 



ClOD 



