34 



A Modern Bee-Farm 



CHAPTER V. 

 VARIETIES OF BEES. 



THEIR CHARACTER AND DISPOSITldN. 



IT will be my endeavour to give an impartial account of the 

 different varieties as I have found them ; and while drawing 

 attention to the great value of the foreign races for crossing with 

 the bees we already have, I must advise the reader not to invest 

 heavily in either of the foreign varieties, but first obtain one or 

 two queens and then compare them with those he already has for 

 two or three years before making any radical change. 



THE BLACK, OR NATIVE BEES 



are still cultivated in many apiaries, principally because they are 

 well adapted to the production of comb-honey. Their newly- 

 stored combs are beautifully white, and therefore comb-honey 

 produced by them commands a good sale. They are not so 

 prolific as other races, and hence do not give as much surplus 

 and consequently are of little use in an apiary where increase 

 is desired ; in fact, I can assert as a fact that the bee- 

 keeper who expects to build up a large and prosperous apiary 

 from black bees alone, will be certainly disappointed. When 



