50 QUEEN-REARING IN ENGLAND. 



home well from robber bees. A\'orking in temperatures of 

 75 degrees and o\'er, it is more industrious than the black 

 bee and will travel long distances in search of nectar when 

 flowers are scarce. The queens are more prolific than black 

 queens and the colonies, more populous than black colonies. 

 Italians withstand cold winters well; they can also endure 

 great heat in summer and do not die so quickly in confinement 

 as iuiglish blacks; but they dwindle in cold springs. Wax 

 moth larvae do not flourish in their combs. The vast 

 majority of bee-keepers in America, Australia and New 

 Zealand esteem Italians more highly than any other race. 



The half-breds produced by Italian queens mated by 

 English black drones are hardy and energetic, and in average 

 seasons in England will yield heavier weights of honey per 

 hive than the blacks, but in damp cold seasons they con- 

 sume much honey and will starve if not fed. Their 

 temper, too, is rather uncertain, though an experienced bee- 

 keeper can easily manage them. 



3. The Catniolan Bee. — This is a bee that occurs in 

 Carniola, a small, mountainous province of Austria. The 

 ground colour is entirely black, but the abdominal bands 

 of short white hair are very strongly developed, giving the 

 bee a grey appearance. It is a very good-tempered bee, but 

 in the English climate has been found to be too much given 

 to swarming and to be not such a good honey gatherer as 

 the nati\'e bee. In America, however, it has been reported 

 to be a good honey gatherer, but probably most of the 

 reports have been of colonies that were not pure. It caps its 

 comb white; The bees produced by Carndolan queens mated 

 by English black drones are hardy and good honey gatherers. 



4. The Cyprian Bee, from the Island of Cyprus, is 

 rather smaller than any of the preceding, and has the testa- 

 ceous bands on the abdominal segments wider. It is quick- 

 tempered. The queens are extremely prolific. The British 

 summer climate is too cold for Cyprians to gather much 

 honey ; they also swarm freely. 0\er a hundred queens are 

 often reared in preparation for swarming. On loss of queen, 

 fertile workers are readily de\eloped. The half-breds pro- 

 duced by Cyprian queens mated by British black drones are 

 industrious and fairly hardy, but very irascible, stinging 

 the operator badlv on the least provocation ; they continue 



