6o8 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
the Pacific, they were originally conveyed thither by 
Europeans; and, respecting their introduction to North 
America, it has been remarked that the Red Indians 
were in the habit of noting the gradual absorption of 
their territory by the white man through the forward 
advance of his herald. Apis mellijica. This species 
has also been carried to India and Northern, Western, 
and Southern Africa. 
The structural similarity obtaining among the dif- 
ferent species greatly simplifies our present task, for 
all our past studies apply, with equal force, to nearly 
every member of the genus ; and our work now lies 
in merely marking differences in colour, size, temper, 
and capability, together with such variations in habit 
as may make the several species more or less desir- 
able for culture. 
Apis mellijica^ the brown or German bee, which 
is indigenous to middle and Northern Europe, and our 
only native, domesticated species, commonly referred 
to as the black bee, is of sombre hue, though its 
brownish-black body is relieved by definitely arranged 
hairs of lighter colour. It is well known to us all, 
and must, therefore, be our standard of comparison. 
The advent of the brighter-coloured Southern and 
Eastern bees has eclipsed mellijica perhaps more com- 
pletely than was just. True, its temper, although not 
equally irritable in our different strains, is always 
uncertain, and it is far too fond of buzzing before the 
operator’s nose in threatening style, even showing its 
general awkwardness to those who only venture near 
to its door. If long under manipulation, it gets into 
a ferment, and is prone to boil over the top of the 
