PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING 25 
ventilation, swarming is found to be no more prevalent among them 
than among other bees of prolific character. The workers are larger 
than most bees and are strong flyers and good honey gatherers, of 
a dusty gray appearance, caused by gray hairs in well defined rings 
on the abdomen. The drones are the largest of any honey bees and 
of a grayish color. The queens are large and vary from light 
leathery color to an almost bronze black. The Carniolans gather the 
least propolis of any known bees. They can be easily handled at 
night, not flying and crawling as most bees do. When handled in 
the daytime they remain quietly on the combs and the rare spec- 
tacle of a queen quietly laying eggs while the hive is open has been 
observed on a comb, so unconcerned are the bees. 
Another strain of bees recently brought to the notice of the 
beekeeping world, yet not extensively imported, are the Banater bees 
of Hungary. These bees resemble in appearance the Carniolans 
but are smaller and not quite so gray, there being more of a ten- 
dency to show yellow. It is said by Hungarian beekeepers that 
-they have no trouble from excessive swarming with their bees, and 
that the Banater bees are prolific and good honey gatherers. Far- 
ther east, over in the Siebenberg region, more yellow is noticed in 
the markings. This is true as one journeys southeastward through 
Servia, Roumellia into Turkey. The writer also noticed a steady 
increase of excitability shading off into the very excitable bees of 
the Orient. 
Continuing the belt of gray bees of Carniola and Hungary are 
the Caucasians found in the province of Caucasus, in the region of 
Southern Russia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. 
These bees are smaller even than the Banater bees, with more point- 
ed bodies, and even more dusty gray than the Carniolans. They 
rival the Carniolans in gentleness of temperament and perhaps are 
the most gentle bees yet known to the world. So very pronounced 
is this characteristic that they have been popularly called stingless, 
although they have well developed stingers and can be provoked 
to use them occasionally. These bees are being imported quite ex- 
tensively and seem to give general satisfaction wherever introduced. 
Toward the south the yellow type begins to appear, bearing out the 
general tendency noticed in the other bees of central Europe, al- 
ready discussed. 
In general it will be noticed that the bees of north Europe are 
