196 
Beekeeping 
Cyprian. 
This bee has been given a thorough test by American 
beekeepers. It is somewhat smaller than the Italian and 
the abdomen is pointed, with three yellow bands, similar 
to that of Italians but somewhat lighter in color. The 
queens are small and very prolific. These bees winter well 
unless the colony wears itself out by breeding in winter. 
The workers are exceptionally cross, are not subdued by 
smoke and do not run on the combs. They build many 
queen cells (less than Syrians). Sent (unsuccessfully) to 
America by Gravenhorst in 1877 and first imported by 
Stahala in 1879: additional shipments by Jones and Benton 
in 1880. They have been widely advertised and tested but 
were abandoned because of their unmanageable qualities. 
Grecian. 
These bees resemble a hybrid between Italians and Ger¬ 
mans. So far as known they have not been shipped to 
America. They were sent to Germany in 1860 by v. Roser. 
Caucasian. 
These bees vary in color from three bands of yellow on 
the abdomen to black or gray according to the region from 
which they come. The ones introduced into America have 
shown virtually no yellow color, having come from the more 
northern parts of the Caucasus. The yellow examples are 
said to resemble Italians markedly. This is the most 
gentle race known, although they defend their hives well 
against robbers. They seldom enter the wrong hive, win¬ 
ter well, cap their honey cells white and are, in the main, 
desirable bees. The hybrids are not gentle. They were 
first taken from their native country by Butlerov in 1877 
and were shipped to Germany in 1879 to Vogel, who de¬ 
scribed them carefully. The first exportations were chiefly 
the yellow strains. In 1880 Julius Hoffman, Ft. Plains, 
New York, received two colonies of these bees but condemned 
