24 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



suddenly. They cannot be quelled by smoke like other bees, but 

 when smoked a little, respond well. If smoked too much, they 

 stand and sizzle, and as soon as the smoke clears away, retaliate 

 with vigor. 



Closely related to the Cyprians, exhibiting many of their traits, 

 are the Syrians, found on the mainland from Cyprus and north of 

 Mt. Carmel. They are not as constant a race showing greater vari- 

 ation in markings and temperament. They begin to show the 

 gray of the bees found a little farther north. The queens are larger 

 than Cyprians, yet not so active. South of Mt. Carmel are found the 

 Palestine or Holy Land bees. These bees again exhibit the trait 

 of running from the combs and, even more, will run upon the hands 

 and bite viciously like ants, which, it is to be remembered, are neat 

 relatives of bees. They show less yellow, and are inclined to rob. 

 They produce fertile workers, and are very poor winterers. They 

 are nearly as difficult to handle as Egyptians, which resemble them 

 in many points. They are, however, good honey gatherers and 

 quite prolific. The Persian bees are, in general, very similar to the 

 preceding Oriental races described. The Tunisian, sometimes 

 called Punicebees, are not unlike this general Oriental type. They 

 are perhaps the greatest propolis gatherers of all bees. Coming 

 northward again we may cite the Dalmatian bees found on the east- 

 ern shores of the Adriatic. Several attempts at importing these 

 bees have failed. There appear, from reports, to be two varieties, 

 one yellow and one gray, which will be seen to be true of several 

 races and so not such a striking thing as at first it would seem to be. 



Closely following the importation of the Cyprian and other 

 Oriental bees came the importation of the Carniolans, from the small 

 province of Carniola, in the southern part of Austria. Coming from 

 the Carnic Alps, these bees are found to be the best winterers for 

 our northern climate. They are, with perhaps one exception the 

 gentlest bees known. The queens are quite prolific and the colon- 

 ies, in contrast to the Italians, build up very rapidly in the early 

 spring. There has been some objection raised to the fact that they 

 swarm excessively. This is probably due to the fact that, when 

 first introduced, beekeepers were used to the spring dwindling of 

 Italians, and so governed accordingly and crowded the prolific 

 Carniolans in the early spring, resulting in the casting of early 

 and numerous swarms. If these bees be given plenty of room and 



