PRACTICAL QUEEN 

 REARING 



CHAPTER I 

 The Races of Bees. 



The family of bees is an extensive one, embracing hundreds 

 of species. On a warm day in spring, one can often see many 

 different kinds of soHtary wild bees among the blossoms of the 

 fruit trees. Aside from their usefulness in the pollination of 

 plants, these are of little economic importance. A little higher 

 in the scale we find the bumble bees living together in small 

 families of, at most, a few dozen individuals. In the tropics 

 the stingless bees are still farther advanced in their social organ- 

 ization, and store small quantities of honey which is often 

 taken from them for table use by the inhabitants of the warm 

 countries. However, the amount of honey stored is small 

 compared with the product of a colony of honeybees. While 

 an extended study of the habits of the various species of wild 

 bees would open a fascinating branch of natural history, the 

 genus Apis is the only one that is of practical importance to 

 the honey producer. 



Much interest has been manifested in the giant bee of 

 India and Ceylon, Apis dorsata, and at one time an attempt 

 was made to introduce it into this country. This bee builds 

 a gigantic comb in the open, usually suspended from a branch 

 of a forest tree. Dorsata has a reputation of being very fierce, 

 which Benton denies, saying they are no more so than other 

 bees. Its habit is such that it is very improbable that it 

 could be induced to occupy a hive, because of its single large 

 comb, as our honeybees must do, to be properly managed. 



In the east there is another species, Apis florea, a gentle 

 little bee, much smaller than the honeybee. It builds a delicate 



