APIS MELLIFICA — VARIOUS RACES. 17 



due cousideratioii. Italians are, however, certainly ])referable to the 

 common brown or black bees, for they show greater energy in gather- 

 ing honey and in the defense of their hives against moth larvae and 

 robber bees, while at the same time they are gentler nnder manipula- 

 tion tlian the blacks, though they do not winter as well in severe 

 climates. 



Italian workers nearly equal Carniolans in size, and show across the 

 abdomen when the latter is distended with honey not less than three 

 yellow bands, which approach more or less a reddish or dark leathery 

 color. By selection in some instances, and in others by the introduc- 

 tion of Cyprian blood, Italians and Italian hybrids have recently been 

 bred which show four or five yellow bands or which are even yellow to 

 the tip of the abdomen. They are certainly pleasing to the eye, and 

 in case due heed has been given to the vigor and working qualities of 

 the stock selected when establishing the strain, no valid objection can 

 be brought against them except the tendency they have to revert to 

 the original tjq^e of Italians. This is due to the comi^aratively short 

 time they have been bred, and with each season's selection will of 

 course grow less. 



Carniolans. — These, the gray bees from the elevated Alpine province 

 of Carniola, Austria, are the gentlest of all races, and as, besides their 

 other good qualities, they winter the best of any, it is not surprising to 

 see that they have steadily grown in favor. Their sealed combs are 

 exceedingly white, as they do not fill the cells so full that the honey 

 touches the capping, and they gather little i)ropolis, qualities highly 

 appreciated by the producer of comb honey. They are quite prolific, 

 and if kept in small hives, such as have been popularized of late iu the 

 United States, are somewhat more inclined to swarm than the other 

 races introduced here. This tendency becomes more pronounced when 

 they are taken into a country whose summers are hot, like ours, and 

 their hives are not well shaded, as they have been bred for centuries, 

 with only slight introduction of outside blood, in a climate where the 

 summers are short and cool. Moreover, the practice in Carniola is to 

 place the long, shallow hives used almost exclusively there, iu beehouses 

 and side by side, one above the other, with intervening air spaces, so 

 that at most only the front ends are exposed to the sun. This manage- 

 ment long continued has doubtless tended to develop and fix more or 

 less permanently in this race certain characteristics which should be 

 taken into account in their management elsewhere. With these pre- 

 cautions they do well in all parts of the United States. (See Plate I, 

 tigs. 1, 4, and 5.) 



The Carniolan worker is readily recognized by its large form, less 

 pointed abdomen, and general ashy gray coat, the abdominal segments 

 especially presenting a ringed appearence on account of silvery white 

 hairs which cov^r the posterior half of each of these segments. By 

 crossing Carniolans with Italians or with Cyprians a yellow t>'])e with 

 452G— Xo. 1 2 



