510 



mercury stood at 67 F., a hybrid Italian col- 

 ony swarmed. The bees were decidedly 

 beautiful yellow bees, yet in hiving them I 

 was stung in such a fearful manner that I can 

 scarcely compare it with any stinging I have 

 ever received from black bees. The same 

 peculiarity of disposition is noticable as re- 

 gards the Cyprians. They lose somewhat of 

 their gentleness only when hybridized, and 

 then take on the stinging disposition of our 

 native bees, the latter even appearing so much 

 the more marked because this handsomely- 

 colored Cyprian is more highly organized. My 

 experience agrees exactly with that of Herrn 

 Goerner (mentioned before) and 1 have only 

 to add that, as is the case with every other 

 race, the disposition to sting only appears 

 when hybridizing takes place. These hybrids 

 are by no means to be dispised though, since, 

 if moderately strong, they constitute generally 

 very good honey -gatherers." 



I cannot close this article without mention- 

 ing first the statements made in a recent num- 

 ber of " Der Bienenvater" of Vienna, by 

 Rev. Johann Stahala, Olein, near Olmuetz, 

 Austria. As this valuable essay has been 

 translated by Mr. Julius Hoffman and pub- 

 lished in the August number of the Bee-Keep- 

 ers Exchange, 1 will only present a few of the 

 important points, translating for myself from 

 the copy 1 have at hand. Mr. Stahala com- 

 mences by stating that for two years he has 

 been devoting his attention to the Cyprians, 

 keeping] from 70 colonies upwards, then he 

 writes: "The Cyprian bee is similar to the 

 Italian, but it has many peculiarities which 

 distinguish it clearly from the Italian." After 

 this follows a description of the bee, which 

 agrees closely with that given by Chancellor 

 Cori, five years ago, and then he continues in 

 the following manner : 



" Its increase in the spring is extraordinary 

 — such an increase as is not to be found with 

 native or Italian bees ; although more prolific 

 than the natives it does not seem more in- 

 clined to swarm than they, if one can judge of 

 it by the past two seasons. 



" The Cyprians produce more honey, just 

 for the reason that their colonies are stronger 

 when the harvest comes. 



" The tendency to rob is even more pro- 

 nounced than with the Italians, because the 

 impulse to gather is stronger. 



" In comparison with the Italians they are 

 much stronger in numbers in the autumn, 

 which gives greater probability of good win- 

 tering. 



" Cyprian queens commence the deposition 

 of drone eggs later than do the Italians. 



" Finally, in reference to its proclivity for 

 stinging, mentioned by some, I would state 

 that, after my experience with the Cyprian bee, 

 treated as it ought to be, I do not think it is 

 more inclined to sting than the Italian. I will 

 not, however, deny that it is more easily irri- 



tated than is the Italian ; yet here it is to be 

 observed that when from any cause a colony 

 becomes aroused, it suffices to leave it in 

 quiet for a couple of hours, whereupon it will 

 be found quiet and manageable. Smoke and 

 water only produce greater irritation. The 

 rule is : Tout par douceur, rien par force, 

 (Everything by gentleness, nothing by force.)" 



He adds : " Wishing to express my opin- 

 ion in a few words, I say that Count Kolowrat 

 had excellent reasons when, in the past year, 

 he said, so far as he could see, the Cyprian 

 race is the most productive. I agree thorough- 

 ly in his opinion." 



Mr. Stahala concludes by stating that " the 

 importers of the Cyprian bees are worthy the 

 gratitude of all apiculturists that have, or shall 

 have, them in their apiaries." 



In a series of articles entitled, " The Bees 

 of the island of Cyprus," which I translated 

 from the German of Chancellor Cori, for vol- 

 ume IV. of The Bee-Keeper's Magazine, will 

 be found much additional information on this 

 subject, and one point there spoken of I can- 

 not forbear mentioning here. Afrer alluding 

 to the lack of uniformity among the progeny 

 of impurely mated Italian or Smyrnian queens, 

 Mr. Cori says : " It did not result so with the 

 Cyprian race ; the daughters of the original 

 queens, even in case they had mated with 

 black drones always produced yellow, double- 

 ringed workers quite uniform in appearance. 

 * * * That, notwithstanding their certain 

 mating with black drones, these queens, with- 

 out exception, produced always yellow worker- 

 bees as progeny, indicates that the character- 

 istics of the Cyprian race are not only so 

 thoroughly established, as not to succumb to 

 the influence of the black drones, but to pre- 

 dominate greatly; it indicates, too, that the 

 animal nobility of the Cyprian race, if I may 

 so express myself, is, in comparison with that 

 of the native black bees, much purer and 

 greatly higher. It is this one quality of the 

 Cyprians which, indeed, no other publicly 

 known race possesses, that makes them appear 

 to be a particularly valuable and really precious 

 acquisition for the purpose of improving other 

 races of bees." 



Rev. Mr. Berry, of England, who wrote, in 

 1824, the history of the Short-horn breed of 

 cattle, announced in a prize essay before the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, this principle : 

 " That parent casts the influence that has the 

 longest line of ancesters, selected and bred on 

 account of certain characteristics, which have 

 become so fixed as to influence the progeny." 

 This principle, so universally accepted by 

 stock-breeders of the present time, no doubt 

 applies as well to bees as to cattle, and holds 

 true equally well whether the selection has 

 been controlled by the hand of man or been 

 merely natural. Applying the principle we 

 see why the Cyprian bees, having reached a 

 high degree of development through ages of 



