64 A Modern Bee-Farm 
mountains. Successful results have been secured from a 
large apiary of these bees, in their native country, by Mr. 
Baldensperger, in Jaffa. Their temper is very disagreeable 
at all times. 
Other Varieties 
-have been brought forward from time to time, including 
the South African, Caucassian, Minorcan, and Punic or 
Tunisian. The first named are merely hybrids varying 
(in the same colony) from. three yellow bands to almost 
black in colour, with the usual lighter bars of whitish hair 
between each segment of the body, in this case of a 
peculiar ashen-white colour. The queens are almost black, 
while the workers are smaller than those of any other race 
cultivated. A number of undesirable traits, apart from 
being hybrids, prevented their general introduction.* 
The Minorcans were freely offered for sale in this 
country, but these again, though similar to our native race, 
had no merit of sufficient value to claim the attention of 
practical bee-keepers, and hence gained no favour. 
The Tunisian is another of the darker varieties which, 
however, at one time came in for some notoriety, but the 
race has been proved inferior to our native variety. 
The novice should be careful about investing in new 
varieties of bees, unless he can see some tangible evidence 
of superiority after careful trial, or he is convinced by 
independent testimony that he is running no risks in 
changing his stock. 
* This opinion was gathered from the Author’s personal experi- 
ence with this variety, imported from a prominent South African 
bee-keeper some 30 years ago. Since this time many Italians have 
been used in the colony, so that the darker shade of the workers has 
been largely obliterated, and a more uniform type of bee is the 
result in a few districts. 
