RACES; OF, BEES. 109 



capping. If this was their only, - defect I could 

 forgive them; hut it is not, for while admitting 

 the prolificacy, of the queens, my .pure stocks 

 never aittained the strength nor did they show 

 results equal to my blacks. This I lay entirely. 

 to the delicacy of the adult bees, which caused 

 their death-rate to be far higher than with other 

 colonies. They do not seem to be sufficiently, 

 hardy for our fickle Northern climate, but I firmly 

 believe in their great value for crossing with and 

 improving the native race. 



Car,niolans are bees very similar in appearance 

 to our own, and by many would be taken for 

 such. They have, however, a more greyish ap- 

 pearance, and are much quieter in disposition than 

 brown bees. Their queens are very prolific, and 

 the workers are energetic and build splendid sec- 

 tions. Their worst , defect is that they are in- 

 veterate swarmers, but, like Italians, they are very 

 valuable for crossing purposes. 



All these Eastern races have the swarming trait 

 very strongly developed, and this feature causes 

 considerable trouble to their owners, for if left 

 unchecked some colonies will swarm while there is 

 a. pint of bees left in the hive. 



Coming to our own brown bee, which is not a 

 pure race at all, I do not consider that it can be 

 beaten, provided that a good strain is secured. 

 They are not so gentle as the foreign bees, J. 

 admit, but they are good workers, fairly prolific, 

 and do excellent work on sections. A good strain 



