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EGYPTIAN BEES. 
The native home of this variety is Egypt, Arabia and 
Syria, and it is also found, with slight variations, on the 
northern declivity of the Himalaya mountains in China. 
The bees that exist in Palestine at the present day are 
the same as the Egyptian variety, the only difference 
being that the first-named are a little larger ; they in- 
habit hollow trees and clefts of rocks, and it is sup- 
posed that it was from them that honey was obtained 
by Samson. 
The Egyptian variety was brought from Cairo (Egypt) 
by the Acclimatization Society of Berlin, in Prussia, 
(Germany,) in i864, under the supervision of G. Vogel. 
In the following year they were imported to England, 
and subsequently to the United States. Rev. L. L. 
Langstrath speaks of the workers as having a yellow 
spot on their backs, and brilliant yellow, black and 
white abdominal rings. He also speaks of the queen as 
being elegantly marked, and drones very beautiful. 
Prof. Gerstacker, of Berlin, Prussia, says the Egyp- 
tian bee is nearly one-third smaller than the common 
bee or the Italian. Her abdomen resembles that of the 
latter, but the corselet or shield is yellow. The downy 
hairs of the thorax and abdomen are whitish. 
When the bees of an Egyptian stock begin to fly, 
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