408 ENTOAIOLOGICAL NEWS. [Nov., '14 



and white cow, tethered about forty feet from an apiary, was 

 one afternoon attacked and badly stung by bees. On examina- 

 tion it was found that the black spots had five or six stings to 

 one on the white. All noticed this fact, although no one was 

 able to offer any explanation. A white horse is in much less 

 danger of being stung, when driven near an apiary, than a 

 black one. It has, indeed, been observed repeatedly that 

 domestic animals of all kinds, if wholly or partially black, are 

 much more liable to be attacked by bees, if they wander among 

 the hives, than those which are entirely white. 



Many beekeepers have reported that a dark suit always re- 

 ceives more stings than a white one ; and a well-known Cana- 

 dian apiarist will not permit any of his assistants to work in 

 his apiary unless wearing light-colored clothing. A black felt 

 hat will be "literally decorated with stings," while a gray hat 

 will not get a single sting. A dozen bees will follow the black 

 glass head of a hat-pin all over the bee-yard, jabbing viciously 

 at it. Mr. E. R. Root, editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture, 

 after relating his personal experience, adds that so much proof 

 has been adduced to show that bees will sting black more than 

 white that he does not see how the fact can be questioned. 



Bee-keeping in the Transvaal, South Africa, is carried on in 

 a very careless manner, and as a result bees belonging to neigh- 

 boring apiaries not infrequently attempt to rob each other. 

 Among the stock lost in one instance, when the bees went on 

 the rampage, were black pigs, fowls and a black dog; while a 

 buff-colored dog on the premises did not receive a single sting. 

 In another instance 29 black fowls and a black and white cow 

 were killed by the bees. There were nine Buff Orpinton 

 fowls in the yard with the others, which were very carefully 

 examined after the fray, but only three stings were found on 

 them, while the dead black fowls were literally covered with 

 stings. {Gleanings in Bee Culture, 41, 612.) 



The observations recorded are from very widely separated 

 localities, and were described by apiarists of very extensive 

 experience, while the apparent antipathy of bees to black was 

 very pronounced. But the instances cited occurred for the 



