24 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 
suddenly. They cannot be quelled by smoke like other bees, but 
when smoked a little, respond well. If smoked too much. they 
stand and sizzle, and as soon as the smoke clears away, retaliate 
with vigor. 
Closely related to the Cyprians, exhibiting many of their traits, 
are the Syrians, found on the mainland from Cyprus and north of 
Mt. Carmel. They are not as constant a race showing greater vari- 
ation in markings and temperament. They begin to show the 
gray of the bees found a little farther north. The queens are larger 
than Cyprians, yet not so active. South of Mt. Carmel are found the 
Palestine or Holy Land bees. These bees again exhibit the trait 
of running from the combs and, even more, will run upon the hands 
and bite viciously like ants, which, it is to be remembered, are x1eat 
relatives of bees. They show less yellow, and are inclined to rob. 
They produce fertile workers, and are very poor winterers. They 
are nearly as difficult to handle as Egyptians, which resemble them 
in many points. They are, however, good honey gatherers and 
quite prolific. The Persian bees are, in general, very similar to the 
preceding Oriental races described. The Tunisian, sometimes 
called Punicebees, are not unlike this general Oriental type. They 
are perhaps the greatest propolis gatherers of all bees. Coming 
northward again we may cite the Dalmatian bees found on the east- 
ern shores of the Adriatic. Several attempts at importing these 
bees have failed. There appear, from reports, to be two varieties, 
one yellow and one gray, which will be seen to be true of several 
races and so not such a striking, thing as at first it would seem to be. 
Closely following the importation of. the Cyprian and other 
Oriental bees came the importation of the Carniolans, from the small : 
province of Carniola, in the southern part of Austria. Coming from 
the Carnic Alps, these bees are found to be the best winterers for 
our northern climate. They are, with perhaps one exception the 
gentlest bees known. The queens are quite prolific and the colon- 
ies, in contrast to the Italians, build up very rapidly in the early 
spring. There has been some objection raised to the fact that they 
swarm excessively. This is probably due to the fact that, when 
first introduced, beekeepers were used to the spring dwindling of 
talians, and so governed accordingly and crowded the prolific 
Carniolans in the early spring, resulting in the casting of early 
and numerous swarms. If these bees be given plenty of room and 
