When his queens begin to lay he knows 

 but little about them ; they may be pure 

 or impure, but the careful breeder has 

 little fears of that, for he has Italianized 

 his own and his neighbor's bees. They 

 may be good layers or they may be 

 poor, he does not know which. Now 

 if he sells them at this stage he is just 

 as apt to sell the best as the poorest, 

 and the purchaser for the one dollar is 

 just as apt to get the best as the poorest. 

 But suppose he rears them to the tested 

 point ; then he need be no longer igno- 

 rant of their quality. He finds some of 

 them very energetic, active and great 

 layers and will rill the hive with bees in 

 a very short time ; others will not lay 

 enough to keep the old colony good. 

 Some of them are worth five dollars, 

 others not any thing, but all are purely 

 mated, all are tested. 



Need I say who will get these five 

 dollar queens for two dollars ? The 

 poor ones fill the bill, and the best ones 

 find their way into their own hives, or 

 some friend of theirs, like Doolittle, 

 through which they expect to establish 

 a name. I need not mention the great 

 chance they have to weed out their own 

 apiary of the old and poor queens. 



Mendon, Mich., April 3, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Cyprian Bees, a Superior Race. 



D. A. JONES. 



No doubt the thousands of readers of 

 the American Bee Journal will be 

 glad to hear that the Cyprian bees are 

 superior to any other in the hands of 

 some of the most experienced European 

 bee-keepers. Being determined to 

 ascertain whether or not the Cyprian 

 bees were superior to all others, I pro- 

 cured the assistance of Mr. Frank 

 Benton who has experience in queen 

 rearing, and is able to speak the differ- 

 ent languages required in the enterprise, 

 and in January we started for the 

 Island of Cyprus. But I was deter- 

 mined before importing, to go through 

 Europe, visiting all those persons who 

 have had experience with the Cyprians, 

 and if theydidnot convince me of their 

 superiority, to return home without go- 

 ing further than Italy, and importing 

 Italians. Having visited the principal 

 apiarists who had Cyprian bees, and 

 learning all that is known of them, in 

 Europe, I am greatly pleased with the 

 information I received from all quarters 

 and especially from those who never 

 sell colonies, queens or bees ; such per- 

 sons as Count Kolowrat, Krakovsky, 

 Edward Cori, Director Chancellory, &c. 

 The Count imported Cyprian queens for 



his own apiary, when one would cost 

 $200. His apiary is one of the finest in 

 Europe. He thinks the Cyprians, re- 

 gardless of cost, much superior to all 

 others. When I visited him, he gave 

 me a very warm reception, which I 

 shall ever remember with pleasure. 

 He stated that when all his other bees 

 wintered poorly, the Cyprians wintered 

 well, and when his others would dwin- 

 dle down to a mere handful ,the < 'yprians 

 would be strong, and their hives over- 

 flowing with bees before the others 

 would be strong, thus enabling them to 

 secure large yields of early honey. 



They breed early and late, going into 

 winter quarters very strong, and with 

 young bees. Some of the principal 

 breeders in Italy intend to get the 

 Cyprians to improve their stock. If 

 they decide that the Cyprians are 

 superior to the Italians, will they not be 

 very valuable to us, in America ? 



Being satisfied of their superiority I 

 have purchased a large stock of lumber 

 and nails for hive-making, and also a 

 lot of superior loaf sugar for queen 

 cages, wire cloth, carpenter's tools, and 

 every thing required in an apiary, and 

 have shipped it to Cyprus. Being a 

 British subject I have secured through 

 the British government the assistance 

 of its officers there, and from a gentle- 

 man of Austria, the assistance of the 

 Austrian consul. 



We shall doubtless be able to start a 

 large apiary, in spite of the superstition 

 of the natives on the Island, who stop 

 up all their hive entrances and fumi- 

 gate the hives and yard to drive away 

 the influence of the witchcraft that 

 might be practiced on them, after one 

 of us have been around. As soon as 

 possible I shall purchase a large num- 

 ber and start a bee-farm and queen- 

 rearing establishment, and as soon as I 

 can, I will return to Canada, bringing 

 with me all the queens I can secure; 

 Mr. Benton will remain in Cyprus and 

 take charge of the bees, rear queens, 

 and ship them to me, or the parties in 

 Europe who have ordered them, after 

 the supply is sufficient to meet the 

 demand. Those who have been im- 

 porting heretofore, have been delighted 

 to learn that Mr. Benton will remain on 

 the Island, and asked us to import for 

 them. We have with OS, the Count's 

 shipping cases in which to send hi in 

 queens. We have also received orders 

 from Messrs. Cori. Cravenhorst. Shro- 

 der. and others, who will have them, 

 regardless of cost. I will write as often 

 as possible and give readers of the Bee 

 Journal the Cyprian news, and keep 

 them posted on all points of importance. 



Corfu, Ionian Islands. March. 1880. 



