BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



97 



OTHER RACES. 



Practically every other race of bees known in the United States is 

 on trial in Massachusetts. Several mention the newly introduced 

 Caucasians. The Punic, Cyprian, and Banat bees are also reported. 



Considering the races by localities in the State, it is difficult to see 

 that either the Italians or the Germans are more common to any one 

 section than to another. Italian blood tends to predominate. Per- 

 sonal observation, however, shows that hybrids or the more purely 

 German are found in the back country, where newer methods of bee 

 keeping usually receive less attention; the pure Italians and more 

 recently introduced races are found near the large communities. 



Table VI. — Prevalence of different races of bees. 



Number reporting . 

 Percentage 



Italian. 



594 

 50 



Hybrids.** 



342 

 30 



Black or 

 German. 



196 



16 



Carnio- 

 lan. 



Other 



a Hybrids are largely an admixture of Italian and German races. 



HIVES. 



In 1852 Langstroth patented his movable-frame hive, which marked 

 the beginning of modern bee keeping. In the same year he moved 

 from Philadelphia, Pa., to Greenfield, Mass. Bee keeping was then 

 in a deplorable condition, as he remarked, most of the hives in use 

 being those impractical devices classed under the names of " box 

 hives," " patent hives," and the like. According to the writer's ob- 

 servations, these old-fashioned hives are fast being replaced by frame 

 hives ; colonies in box hives in the country are being exterminated by 

 disease; they are also bought up for transferring and for use in 

 cucumber greenhouses; at present, bee keepers seldom, if ever, start 

 with anything but frame hives. Of those who reported the kind of 

 hive which they use, 10 per cent have exclusively box hives and 8 

 per cent more acknowledge having a few. Moreover, there are a 

 thousand persons who did not reply, and it is fair to presume that a 

 considerable percentage of these have box hives. It will, conse- 

 quently, not be exaggerating to estimate that 25 per cent, and possibly 

 30 per cent, of the bee keepers of Massachusetts still use these hives to 

 some extent. Lamentable' too, is the fact that the apiaries in Berk- 

 shire County, against the New York State line, are perhaps in worse 

 condition, so far as the box-hive problem is concerned, than other 

 apiaries of the State, for figures show that one-third of the bee keep- 

 ers of Berkshire County are using the old-fashioned hive. This 

 circumstance is particularly unfortunate because the flora promises 



