THE HIVE BEE 

 A Manual of Beekeeping for Hawaii 



By E. C. SMITH, 



Manager Garden Island Honey Company. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The hive bee is a familiar example of an insect under domes- 

 tication. The history of its domestication is lost in antiquity; 

 for the art of bee culture has been known since the earliest 

 times. In the wild state bees range the woods, nesting in 

 hollow trees, in crevices in rocks or in any place that will 

 afford them protection, often in the most inaccessible places. 

 Searching for these nests in order to plunder their stores of 

 honey constitutes a favorite pastime in the countryside. This 

 method of procuring the bee's products, however, is wasteful 

 and uncertain. The bee has small place in human economy 

 until its cultivation as a domestic animal insures a lively and 

 continued interest. 



Under domestication the bee has received considerable at- 

 tention. Its cultivation among the historical peoples dwelling 

 on the shores of the IMediterranean has led to the recognition 

 of well-marked races, from different characteristics of size, 

 color, behavior, etc., and some improvement in quality of the 

 different races has been made through the application of well 

 known principles of breeding. As a domestic animal also it 

 has 'been carried with the stream of human migration to prac- 

 tically all parts of the earth. 



The German or black race of bees was .the one commonly 

 propagated by the early beekeepers and received a wide dis- 

 tribution ; but more recently the superiority of the Italian or 

 golden race has become recognized and it is now largely re- 

 placing the German bee. The early spread of the black bee 

 is deplored by many beekeepers on account of the trouble it 

 gives when they attempt to maintain pure breeds of the 

 golden races. The principal characteristics of the Italian bee 

 are its high color, great energy and peculiar gentleness. The 

 queen is frequently a bright golden on the abdomen, workers 

 are not so brightly colored and generally have five distinct 



