bee-keeping teaches one to be self-reliant and develops initiative, 

 so that shelving difficulties for others to tackle, breeds laziness and a 

 lack of self-confidence. 



Moreover, it is all wholly unnecessary, for the keeping of quiet 

 and docile bees is, I consider, essential to the successful prosecution 

 of the craft. The owners of bees who do not relish going to them 

 are therefore strongly advised to dispose of such colonies at the 

 earliest possible moment or to change the strain, by re-queening. 

 What pleasure is there for the bee-keeper or his family or for visitors 

 to be greeted at the garden gate by spiteful and vicious insects which 

 attack without provocation ? Furthermore, even in comparatively 

 quiet bees there is normaUy about one in every ten thousand or 

 so that persists, apart from all the rest, in buzzing around the house, 

 and if one is sitting out of doors, in sizzling around one's face and 

 head, with a high pitched irritant buzz that eventually succeeds in 

 driving any but a bee-keeper indoors. 



In recommending a good strain of bee, there are a number of 

 other very desirable qualities to be considered as well as docihty. 

 These are, quite briefly, good nectar gatherers, non-swarming, disease 

 resistant, clean white comb builders and, of course, gentleness. 



It is unwise to sacrifice all the former in favour of the last. For 

 instance, Carniolan bees are often recommended to beginners for 

 their amiable behaviour and gentleness in handling, but as they are, 

 on the whole, proUfic swarmers, they tend to get beyond all control, 

 and the trouble involved is just not worth while. They are best 

 left alone. 



Caucasian bees, if pure, are also quite a good strain of bee, but 

 have faihngs which make them awkward bees to use. These are 

 chiefly their habits of building brace comb everywhere, and a tendency 

 to gather excess quantities of propoUs. 



Black bees of various races, as well as such bees as Syrian and 

 Cyprian, are mainly vicious in character, and should be avoided in 

 spite of otherwise attractive features. Cross-breeding invariably 

 produces a deterioration in temper, and mongrel bees are always 

 more vicious than those which are pure in race. It is extremely 

 difficult to acquire, and even more so to maintain a colony of bees 

 in a pure state, and so it happens that the bulk of our bees in this 

 country are cross-bred. 



For this reason the best bees should be obtained from a reliable 

 bee-breeder, and the type recommended is the British-bred Italian 

 bee. They have faults, but on the whole they are more tolerable 

 than any of those already mentioned. Having obtained an assurance 

 that a colony of bees are docile, and experience proving that they 

 live up to their reputation, they can then be used to breed from 

 for re-queening other stocks. 



It might perhaps be thought that keeping stingless bees would 

 overcome the prejudices of timid persons against the honey-bee 

 Unfortunately these bees are of httle use as honey gatherers and in 

 any case are not indigenous to this country as they are found only 



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