Tm AMERICAN 



^ ^ ^ 

 ApfcULTURIST. 



A. Journal Devoted to Practical Beekeeping. 



VOL. X. 



JUNE 1892 



No. 6. 



RACES OF BEES. 



It is really more difficult to be prac- 

 tical than it is to be learned and precise, 

 hence it does not surprise me that 

 some persons of late have wasted ink 

 in their attempt to enlighten their 

 brethren on the subject of "races of 

 bees." It is generally conceded that 

 all honey bees, Ap's mellifica, most likely 

 had their origin in one common parent- 

 age. But this does not settle the ques- 

 tion of races. Now, I say it is most 

 probable that at a very early period in 

 the history of the world the race of 

 honey bees was divided by some cause, 

 no more mysterious than many other 

 things we see in nature, into two distinct 

 races, black and yellow. The interme- 

 diate colors so common in varieties of 

 bees indicate this, besides we see the 

 same thing in the wasps and ants. I be- 

 lieve, and I think my belief is based on 

 substantial reasoning and observations, 

 that there are two distinct races of bees, 

 from which all the intermediate strains 

 or types of bees had their origin, and 

 this accounts for the tendency of the 

 different types of bees to sport in breed- 

 ing. It is the most reasonable thing in 

 the world that the striped types of bees 

 should sport most in their breeding, be- 

 cause everything pertaining to their his- 

 tory goes to show that they are a more 

 recent type than the more solid colored 

 types are. Many persons contend that 

 the Carniolan bees belong to the dark 

 or black race of bees. Of course this 

 is a mistake, brought about by the com- 

 mon weakness of "jumping at a conclu- 



sion," rather than by the slow process 

 of careful investigation. The Carniolan 

 bee does not belong to the "black race" 

 of bees. They are an intermediate type 

 ot bees with a strong tendency to the 

 5'ellow. I have never seen a colony of 

 Carniolans become darker by breeding 

 them promiscuously. In my experience 

 of three years with the Carniolans their 

 tendency has been toward the yellow 

 type. If anybody doubts this let him 

 introduce some Carniolan queens into his 

 apiary of pure German bees, and he will 

 find the outcropping of yellow blood 

 sooner or later. 



•The difference between the Carniolan 

 and the German types of bees is as 

 marked to the practical observer as is 

 the difference between the Italians and 

 the Germans ; not merely as a matter of 

 color, but in general make-up as a dis- 

 tinct type of bees. I have beheved for 

 some years past that the old so-called 

 German type of bees is much older in 

 its formulation as a type of bees, than any 

 of the striped or banded varieties. This 

 I judge from the fact that they sport in 

 breeding less than any of the banded 

 varieties. 



In my experience with the Carniolan 

 variety I have found that they sport in 

 breeding to a remarkable degree, and 

 this has led me to believe that they are 

 a recently formulated type of bees. 



The Punic or Tunisian race of bees 



has not been under the observation of 



persons competent to judge, long enough 



to pass on their qualities. 



Christiansburg, Ky, G. W. Demaree, 



(83) 



