509 



especially diligent, gave a large return, and 

 with the remainder of the stocks, was in good 

 condition for winter. The wintering and de- 

 velopment during the next spring left nothing 

 more to be wished for. 



"After having carefully observed the Cyp- 

 rian bee — pure as well as hybrid — I have come 

 to the following conclusions regarding the 

 same : 



" I The diligence of the Cyprian is at least 

 equal to the Italians; indeed as regards econ- 

 omy within the hive, the former have the pre- 

 ference, because they are less inclined to build 

 drone-comb. The same peculiarity is notic- 

 able also with the hybrids. 



" 2 In their purity they are certainly more 

 beautiful than the handsomest Italians. Those 

 who visited my apiary were always much sur- 

 prised as strong stocks filled with these beau- 

 tiful bees were opened, and masses of the in- 

 sects rolled out so peaceably. 



" 3. When rightly handled, they are neither 

 more nor less inclined to sting than the 

 Italians. 



"Without doubt, Count Kolowrat, as well as 

 Chancellor Cori, are deserving of great credit 

 for importing this race of bees." 



in another place the same writer remarks : 



" It is a well-known fact that the most of 

 the Italian colonies do not winter as well as 

 black bees, and very often suffer by spring 

 dwindling. This is not the case with the 

 Cyprian bee. I have reared in three years 

 many a Cyprian queen (not to sell with a few 

 bees, but for my own use, and to sell in full 

 Cyprian colonies in the spring), and every 

 such colony wintered well, coming out strong 

 in the spring. 



"The Cyprian bee will not swarm as much 

 as the Italian, and does not build as much 

 drone-comb as the latter. 



" I will not say the Cyprians work better 

 than Italians, but it is certain my Cyprian col- 

 onies yielded me every year the greatest honey 

 harvest. As to stings, it may be stated, they 

 used them neither more nor less than the 

 Italians." 



Herr Dathe, the author of the very prac- 

 tical Lelirbuch, says: " The Cyprians are 

 more inclined to gather honey than to swarm ; 

 however, they are not as gentle as the Italians 

 and are often so cross that thay cannot be 

 controlled by means of tobacco-smoke, resem- 

 bling in this respect the Egyptians." Mr 

 Dathe is very largely engaged in rearing and 

 selling Italian bees, having, after a good many 

 years' advertising, succeeded in building up a 

 large trade. Who wouldn't get vexed when 

 tobacco-smoke is puffed into his face ? I ad- 

 mit I get very ugly when the filthy stuff is 

 puffed into mine. 



There seems to be two parlies as regards 

 the temperament of the Cyprians. Some say 

 they are quite gentle bees, others that they are 

 very ugly — being almost unmanageable. This 



of itself would lead us to think that through 

 some mishap the latter had been handling hy- 

 brid bees, which are well known as great 

 hands to sting, and indeed, we find a large 

 number of bee-keepers testifying that it is only 

 when hybridizing has taken place that bees of 

 Cyprian blood are cross. 



Herr Guenther, of Gispersleben, Thuringia, 

 is another noted and extensive breeder of Ital- 

 ian bees, who says the Cyprians are very dili- 

 gent and prolific, but says they are exceedingly 

 cross. 



Herr Goerner, who received the medal men- 

 tioned before, regards them as exceedingly 

 good-natured, prolific and diligent, and says 

 they have but slight inclination to build 

 drone-comb. 



The man who has become so famous through 

 his remedy for foul brood and his great suc- 

 cess in feeding milk and eggs for stimulative 

 purposes, Herr Hilbert, of Maciejerro, Pom- 

 merania, says the pure-blood Cyprians are as 

 docile as the Italians, and attributes any great 

 disposition to sting to an admixture with the 

 exceedingly ugly Smyrnians, which were 

 largely kept by Count Kolowrat at Hroby, be- 

 fore the Cyprians were imported. Mr. Hil- 

 bert does not simply place them on the same 

 plane with the Italians, but believes that they 

 excel the Italians. He says they are more 

 prudent about flying out in the spring of the 

 year ; and that as regards their disposition to 

 defend themselves and their courage they ex- 

 cel all other races of bees. 



Dr. A. Pollman states that he has no com- 

 plaint to make regarding their disposition to 

 sting, but that he could not unite them with 

 other bees. 



Herr Anton Lorenz writes : " The Cyp- 

 rian bee is diligent — where there is a chance 

 to rob ; this proves its diligence, which we do 

 not wish to disparage in the least, but its cross- 

 ness exceeds all bounds. As some praise its 

 good disposition, while others bring forward 

 its inclination to sting, are we not to conclude 

 that the race is not pure or not of the same 

 sort, whether this be, as Herr Hilbert thinks, 

 because some have Smyrnian blood in them, 

 or because there are two kinds of bees on the 

 Island of Cyprus, one of which is decidedly 

 ugly." 



Herr Adolf Hauffe, a teacher, the first man 

 to introduce Italian bees into Saxony, (having 

 obtained an Italian queen from Dr. Dzierzon 

 in July 1852), said, in August 1877, in an ar- 

 ticle published in the Bienenvater : 



" In September of last year I exhibited, at 

 the general convention of the bee-culturists of 

 Bohemia, four Cyprian colonies, and I have 

 found that when the usual work of the Cyp- 

 rian bees in the hive, or their passing back 

 and forth in front, be disturbed, they sting no 

 more than the bees of any other race — espec- 

 ially the Italians. 



" Late in the summer of 1856, when the 



