554 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



African Bees. — A correspondent 

 in the British Bee Journal asks the 

 editor, Mr. Thos. W. Cowan, to write an 

 article on African bees, and here iswhat 

 he says about them : 



Aniong the African bees with which 

 we are acquainted, are those from 

 Algeria, Morocco and Tunis — all varie- 

 ties of Apis mellifiea. They are prolific 

 black bees, said to be good workers, but 

 which have not sustained their reputa- 

 tion ■ when introduced into Europe. 

 Queens of any of these varieties could 

 be purchased for a few francs, and some 

 years ago Algerian queens were offered 

 for ten francs apiece by M. Feuillebois 

 at Beni-Amran. 



The variety cultivated by the Kabyles 

 is shiny black, and the workers much 

 smaller than the average European 

 bee ; the drones, however, are quite as 

 large. The Kabyles inhabit the mount- 

 ains lying towards the Desert of Sahara, 

 where they live in small villages, and 

 derive a considerable income from 

 honey, and more particularly from wax. 

 These bees are called tliizizoun thik'' 

 arriin, and are cultivated in cylinders 

 of cork-bark, basket-work, or earthen- 

 ware. 



Some of the natives have as many as 

 500 of such hives of bees. They were 

 first imported into. France in 1874, and, 

 by their behavior, showed that they 

 came from a warm climate. They are 

 great propolisers, which shows that they 

 are not used to cold. Although quiet at 

 times, if stimulated they become very 

 savage, and not only attack persons, but 

 even enter the houses in their vicinity. 

 They have not proved satisfactory in 

 Europe, and we know no one now who 

 cultivates them. 



We know nothing about the so-called 

 Punic bees, and can give no information 

 as to their value. Possessing as we do 

 one of the largest libraries of bee litera- 

 ture in the kingdom, it is strange that 

 we have never found such a race alluded 

 to. The word Punic means faithless, 

 treacherous — neither of which should be 

 considered good qualifications for bees. 

 Punic bees are said to come from Africa, 

 but the only varieties of African bees we 

 know of are those alluded to above. 



In reply to another correspondent, Mr. 

 Cowan writes thus : 



Our correspondent says the word 

 Punic does not necessarily mean treach- 

 erous, or faithless, but he does not say 

 what else it does mean. We can supply 



the omission, as it may interest some of 

 our readers. 



It is derived from the Latin puyiicus, 

 meaning of, or pertaining to, the Car- 

 thagenians ; deceitful, treacherous, 

 faithless. Punica fides, Punic faith, the 

 faith of the Carthagenians; meaning 

 perfidiousness, unfaithfulness, treachery^ 

 Punica fides was applied by the Romans 

 to the faith of the Carthagenians because 

 they believed in the perfidy of the latter. 

 Are we to suppose a similar belief has 

 given the name of Punic to bees ? 



We repeat that we know no such 

 race, and the only African bees we 

 know of are the varieties from Algeria, 

 Tunis and Morocco, which we described. 



The Punic bees have been styled Apis 

 7iiger, and although we are tolerably 

 well aquainted with the bees of Africa, 

 we know no such species, and have 

 strong reasons to doubt the existence of 

 such a species. 



Our correspondent has not adduced a 

 single fact to prove that what he calls 

 Punic bees are a distinct race or species, 

 or that they may not be the common 

 black bees, which we have mentioned as 

 cultivated in the countries of Northern 

 Africa, with which bees we are ac- 

 quainted, and which have, as we stated, 

 not sustained their reputation when im- 

 ported into Europe. 



It is not enough to assert that there 

 are such bees; we want corroborative 

 evidence to prove it, and until such 

 proof is forthcoming, we must decline to 

 recognize such a species as* Apis niger, 

 alias Punic bees. 



As tlie Time for the Columbian 

 Exposition approaches, the interest in 

 the great city of the World's Fair 

 increases. The Cosmopolitan for No- 

 vember devotes 27 pages to a very full 

 descriptive article by Capt. Charles King. 

 The article is illustrated with 27 

 sketches from the pens of the two 

 most famous artists in the line of 

 architectural work in this country — 

 Farry Fenn and A. F. Jacassy. It con- 

 tains an immense amount of informa- 

 tion regarding the city, and will serve 

 as a guide to those who are looking 

 forward to a visit to the Exposition. 



Ship comb-honey now — before cold 

 weather comes. Combs are very brittle 

 in frosty air. 



