Races of Bees. 45 
riority for queen rearing, I feel sure that these bees are 
a very great acquisition to American apiculture, and I 
believe are among the best bees that have, as yet, been 
domesticated. South of Mount Carmel in Palestine, are 
found the Holy Land bees. These are more banded with 
light hairs than any of the other yellow races. Mr. Ben- 
ton thinks them a distinct race. ‘ 
I have now tried these Syrian bees for several years, | 
and have found them gentle and easy to handle. My 
numerous students go among them freely, handling them 
often with no protection, and even in the autumn we pre- 
pare them for winter with no trouble. Queenless colonies 
are likely to have fertile workers. The comb-honey of 
Syrians is said to have very thin capping, and so is not very 
salable. I have not observed this peculiarity. I think the 
honey fully equal in appearance to that of the Italians. 
OTHER RACES. 
The-Egyptian hees are very yellow, intensely cross, and 
frequently have fertile workers. These are probably the 
bees which are famous in ‘history, as having been moved 
up and down the Nile, in rude boats or rafts, as the vary- 
ing periods of nectar-secreting bloom seemed to demand. 
The heath bees of Northern Germany are much like the 
~ common German bees, of which they are a strain, except 
that they are far more inclined to swarm. 
The Carniolan bees of South-western Austria, also called 
Krainer bees from the mountainous region of Krain, Aus- 
tria, are praised as a very hardy variety. They are black 
with white rings—a sort of albino —German bee. They 
are like the heath variety, but are specially noted for their 
very gentle dispositions. Some European bee-keepers 
claim that this strain or variety is much superior to the com- 
mon German bees. After a trial I am pleased with these 
bees. I am now crossing them with the Syrian, in hopes 
to develop a superior race of bees. The Hungarian bees 
are longer than the typical German race, and are covered 
with gray-hairs. During the poor season of 1875 in Europe, 
these bees, like the Carniolans, were found superior even 
to the Italians. The beautiful Dalmatian bees are slim, 
