A. AND M. COLLKGE APIARY. 21 



inally from Italy, is of medium size, and the workers have three distinct 

 yellow or golden bands upon the abdomen, the remainder being of a dark 

 leather or brownish color. The thorax (that part of the body to which 

 the wings and legs are attached) is covered with a dark yellow pubescence 

 a coating of fine hairs closely set. They are as a usual thing of a 

 remarkably even temperament, and can be handled readily with the use 

 of smoke. When handled rapidly and roughly, as is frequently the case 

 during a heavy honey flow, they are not nearly so quick to battle as are 

 both the Cyprians and Blacks, and can be depended upon to give a better 

 average honey crop than the latter. While Italians are usually easier to 

 handle than Blacks they are found to better defend themselves against 

 natural enemies, and especially against the wax-moth. In fact the Ital- 

 ian bee is the best bee for the beginner to select and better adapted to a 

 greater variety of conditions than any other. Where it is not practicable 

 to make a start with pure Italians the ordinary Blacks can be easily Ital- 

 ianized by giving each colony a tested Italian queen. 



Golden Italians. These have been produced by selective breeding from 

 the regular Italian, special reference being given to securing as much 

 yellow as possible on the abdomens of the workers and drones. The best 

 Goldens show distinctly five yellow bands upon the abdomen, and at a 

 short distance appear to be of a pure golden color entirely. The Golden 

 has been bred exclusively with a view to appearance, and while Mr. W. 0. 

 Victor, of Wharton, Texas, has produced a strain that proves to be excel- 

 lent honey gatherers, the breeding process has often been at the expense 

 of honey gathering and other qualities, and has doubtless in many cases 

 resulted in a reduced vitality. For the bee fancier they are well adapted, 

 but for the average bee keeper the regular three-banded or imported ItaLr 

 ian is to be preferred. The latter differs but little from the familiar 

 three-banded Italian, but as a usual thing the direct descendants of an 

 imported queen show a darker color than those which have been bred in 

 this country for some time. For this reason the recently imported bees 

 are often designated as "leather-colored" Italians. They are preferable 

 to the Italians that have been "American-bred," except in cases where 

 the breeding of the latter has been of a strictly selective nature with 

 a view to producing the best bee possible. 



Hybrids. Having given the five distinct races Carniolans, Cyprians, 

 Holy Lands, Blacks and Italians- there are possible ten distinct hybrids 

 as the result of the first cross, one race with another. Owing to the 

 abundance of the Italians and the Blacks, the cross between these two 

 races is the one most frequently met with, and the one popularly desig- 

 nated as hybrid. In many cases these hybrids are found to be as good 

 average honey gatherers as the pure Italians, and in many cases excep- 

 tionally energetic workers. This doubtless results from the stamina due 

 to the addition of foreign blood. While reputed generally among bee 

 keepers to be of a cross disposition, our own experience is that they are 

 not crosser than the Italians, and in many cases a colony is found that 

 is much more docile than the average colony of the latter race. The 

 amateur bee keeper, in Italianizing an apiary of Blacks, will invariably 

 get Italian queens mated to Black drones and in the resulting bees he will 

 have a vast opportunity for observation on these points. 



