1 8 Bee-keeping for Beginners. 



of foreign bees, though that opinion is not universal. 

 The ItaHan or Ligurian bee was first introduced into 

 England in 1859. It is about the same size as our 

 native black bee, but is lighter in colour and looks 

 more like a wasp than a bee. Its good qualities are 

 that it is more prolific than ours, works earlier and 

 later, and having a longer tongue, it can get nectar 

 from flowers where ours cannot. In its pure state, 

 the Ligurian is an amiable creature, but when crossed 

 with the English bee, the temper is not always 

 improved. The way to change a hive of English 

 bees into Italians is to remove the English queen, 

 and substitute the Italian. The queen being the 

 mother of all the bees in the hive, the old bees quickly 

 die off from overwork, or are killed, and after a few 

 months the whole hive would consist of Italian bees. 

 The Cyprian and Syrian bees have many of the good 

 qualities of the Italians, but when they are crossed 

 with ours, they are frequently very vicious. As far 

 as their introduction is concerned, my advice is that 

 of Punch to those about to get married, " Don't." 



The Carniolan is a totally different bee to the 

 others. It comes from Carniola in Austria, hence its 

 name. It is hardy, good-tempered, and makes 

 beautifully white combs. When crossed with ours, 

 the temper is on the whole improved, certainly not 

 the opposite. Its bad qualities are its propensity for 

 excessive swarming, whether in its pure state or 

 crossed with others. There are methods of checking 



