4 Kansas State Horticultural Society. 



of the Carniolans is more definitely gray than the Caucasians. These bees 

 are very proUfio, the queen continuing to lay even after the honey flow has 

 ceased. On account of their prolificness they swarm excessively. They are 

 very good workers, cap their honey white, and pass the winter well. They do 

 not run about on the combs when the hive is opened as do the black bees. 

 The most serious facts against them are that they swarm excessively and that 

 they resemble the black bee so closely that it is hard to tell when the matings 

 are pure. 



The most popular and most successful race of bees in this country is the 

 Italian. They combine a great many of the good points of the other races, 

 while many of the faults of the others are lacking to a very large extent in 

 this popular race of bees. The typical color is for the abdomen to be 

 marked with three transverse yellow bands, and are usually spoken of as 

 being leather-colored Itahans. The workers are the best indication as to the 

 purity of the race, as the drones and queens are apt to vary a great deal 

 in their color markings. The Itahan bees do not cap their honey as white 

 as do the three first-named bees, nor are they as prolific as the Caucasians 

 and the Carniolans, but they are much more so than the German bees. 

 They are ordinarily gentle, but even in this respect they do not equal the 

 Caucasians or Carniolans. However, they are good workers. They defend 

 their hives against robbers and against moths. They are very resistant to 

 European foul brood. In fact, whenever this disease occurs the treatment 

 recommended is to replace the queen in the diseased colony with an Italian 

 queen. The Italian queen will cease brood rearing when there is a dearth 

 of nectar, which fact is often valuable, as she will stop producing bees that 

 will not take part in any of the work, but merely be consumers. The fact 

 that these bees winter well, are of such a good disposition, protect their 

 hives from enemies, and especially that they are resistant to foul brood, 

 makes them the most satisfactory race of bees that we have in this country, 

 and the ones to be recommended generally. 



The Goldens are Italian bees, which are distinguished by having five bright 

 yellow bands on the abdomen instead of three. These bees have a great 

 many characteristics of the regular Itahan, and resemble them so closely that 

 it would be hard to distinguish them from the characteristics of the regular 

 three-banded Italian bees. Reports as to their value vary, some reporting 

 that they have exceptionally good results from the use of these bees, while 

 some claim that their disposition is not pleasant and that they are not 

 good workers. Until these bees have been more thoroughly tested it will be 

 well to use the standard three-banded Italian bees. 



The so-called hybrid bee may be a cross between any two races, but in 

 this country it usually refers to a cross of the black and the Italian. It is 

 the one most commonly found in the timber, box hives, or other places 

 where the strain has been allowed to deteriorate. These are very variable 

 in characters, but mostly they combine a few bad traits of the others, and 

 then add a few more bad ones of their own. 



The fortunate thing about beekeeping is that the race of bees in any 

 colony can be changed in a short time by killing the original queen and 

 introducing another of the desired race. Before long, then, the colony will 

 be of the same race as the new queen. 



