96 THE APIARY; OU, 



kind. When of pure Italian blood, these bees are by some apiarians 

 thought to be hardier than our own. That they forage for stores with 

 greater eagerness, and have little hesitation in paying visits to other 

 hives, we can testify from our own observation. The following 

 anecdote will illustrate their intrusive propensities. Another bee- 

 keeper living in the neighbourhood of our apiary, when inspecting 

 our hives, observed the yellow bees ; he exclaimed, " Now I have 

 found out where those strange-looking bees come from ; for," said 

 he, "these yellow -jackets are incessant visitors to my hives. I 

 thought they were a species of wasps that had come to rob, and 

 until now I have been unable to account for their appearance at 

 the entrance of my hive, so that I have killed them by hundreds." 

 This was not at all pleasing intelligence for us, and we trust that 

 our neighbour has been more lenient to " the yellow-jackets " since 

 his visit. We are inclined to believe that more visiting takes 

 place amongst bees of different hives than bee-keepers have been 

 accustomed to suppose ; where the Italian and black bees are kept 

 near each other, the foreigners being conspicuous by their lighter 

 colour, there is less difficulty in identifying them when at the 

 entrances of other hives. 



This season (1864) we have had more honey from a Ligurian 

 stock than from any one of our colonies of black bees. From this 

 Ligurian hive we have taken a glass super containing 40 lbs. nett 

 of honey, besides having drawn from it an artificial swarm ; and, 

 after all, it remains the strongest hive in our apiary. 



The Baron Von Berlepsch and Pastor Dzierzon, who are probably 

 the two most intelligent and skilful bee-keepers of Germany, award 

 to the Italian a very decided preference over the common bees. The 

 Baron says that he has found: — 1. That the Italian bees are less 

 sensitive to cold than the common kind. 2. That their queens 

 are more prolific. 3. That the colonies swarm earlier and more 

 frequently. 4. That they are less apt to sting. 5. They are more 

 industrious. 6. That they are more disposed to rob than common 

 bees, and more courageous and active in self defence. They strive, 

 whenever opportunity offers, to force their way into colonies of 

 common bees ; but when strange bees attack their hives, they fight 

 with great fierceness, and with incredible adroitness." 



It is said, that the Italian bee can extract honey from some 

 flowers which the common bee is unable to penetrate. For instance, 



