CHAPTER II. 



THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS VARIETIES. 



There are many species of the genus Apis, or Bee, but 

 only one which stores honey in such a manner as to be 

 practically useful to man, and which Linnaeus dis- 

 tinguished by the name Apis melUfica. The particular 

 variety of this species known to Linnaeus was the Black, 

 or German bee. Since the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century, other varieties were observed and described by 

 Spinola and others, and were classed at first as distinct 

 species. In the year 1862, Dr. A. Gerstaecker, of 

 Berlin, first published the results of his investigations 

 upon the " Geographical Distribution of the Honey-Bee 

 and its Varieties," which is very interesting and of 

 which I gave condensed extracts in my two previous 

 editions, but as the interest of commercial bee-keepers 

 is now chiefly centred in Italian bees, I shall only briefly 

 describe the other varieties. 



The black, or common bee, is inferior to the Italian 

 as a honey gatherer, and as a defender of its hive from 

 robbers and the large wax moth, and it is prone to act 

 as a robber itself. Carniolans are good breeders, but 

 greatly given to swarming, and as honey-gatherers, 

 compared with Italians, I found them very poor. 

 Syrians and " Holy Land " bees are much alike with 

 regard to their qualities, which for profitable work are 

 much below Italians. Cyprian bees are splendid 

 workers, but outrageously vicious, so much so that 

 after two years' trial I was compelled to smother a 

 number of colonies, and it was simply impossible to 

 handle them without being tortured by their stings. 

 Smoke seemed to make them worse; therefore those who 

 have any regard for their feelings had better not venture 

 to keep Cyprian bees. 



7 



