92 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



[Jan. 15 



A FINAL WORD CONCERNING CAUCA- 

 [SIANS. 



Characteristic Markings Make them Easy to 

 Recognize. 



BY D. EVEKETT LYON. 



For some time the writer has been much 

 interested in reading various criticisms con- 

 cerning the new Caucasian bees. A careful 

 reading of the testimony thus far offered 

 convinces me that a number of writers have 

 expressed themselves on the basis of hy- 

 brids and purely mated Caucasians. My 

 visit to Washington last spring convinced 

 me that in the above-named race we have a 

 valuable acquisition to the present races of 

 bees. My experience with them the past 

 season has but confirmed me in the estimate 

 of them then formed. 



I can not but believe, and I have good rea- 

 son for so doing, that a number of adverse 

 critics of this race have not had the Cauca- 

 sians in their purity ; and yet, in spite of 

 this, the testimony as to their gentleness 

 has been of a universal character, showing 

 that a dash of Caucasian blood in other 

 races is a boon of inestimable value. 



If this be true of a hybrid with just a 

 trace of Caucasian blood, how much more 

 gentle can we not expect the pure stock to 

 be? 



The first objection we hear raised against 

 Caucasians is that they are so gentle that 

 they allow themselves to be robbed, and do 

 not repel their enemies with vigor. In ans- 

 wer to this I would say that such has not 

 been the case with the strain of Caucasians 



I possess, for by several trying tests I have 

 proved them to be good defenders of their 

 homes. In the early fall I purposely opened 

 a colony of Caucasians, and in a little while 

 about 50 robber bees were flying over the 

 frames; and when they would fly too near, 

 the Caucasians would repeatedly jump up to 

 them and try to catch them; and when they 

 would succeed in getting one, the way they 

 would ball and try to sting it was a caution. 

 And yet, while all this was going on I was 

 constantly lifting out the frames without 

 veil, gloves, or smoke, and not the first Cau- 

 casian attempted to sting me, even though 

 they appeared quite vicious toward their 

 enemies. 



To test them further I caught a grasshop- 

 per and held it on the top of their frames, 

 and immediately they covered it; and in or- 

 der to save its life 1 shook the bees off and 

 sent the grasshopper on its way. 



I can not think of any other test that 

 would prove their ability to defend their 

 homes. 



The other objection we hear is that they 

 are so much like the black bees that even 

 an expert often can not distinguish them; 

 and in answer to this I would say it is a 

 question of being absolutely certain of hav- 

 ing the real thing. 



Look at the bees in the illustration on 

 preceding page and see how distinctly they 

 are marked. There is no difficulty in distin- 

 guishing pure Caucasians like these; and 

 when I took their photo last summer they 

 posed just as nice and as quietly as one could 

 wish. 



The three bands which, in my strain of 



FRANK BENTON'S LAST POSTAL TO GLEANINGS, SEE EDITORIAL. 



