Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-02-18
BEES THAT ARE COUSINS.

Tho Honey Bee aud tn" humble Be
Su&t,in Tit i:el::1lon.
The humble bee and the honey
making bee are cousins. Scientifcal-
~ speaking they are families belong
ing to the same order, asserts the
Washington Star. Four species of
honey bees are known. Three of them
are indigenous to India and are found
nowhere save in that part of the world.
The fourth, known as the ..Mellifica
is distributed all over the globe. It
includes a number of varieties all of
which were very likely derived from
one stock at the beginning. Bees, like
rats. have spread with man, though
from different cause. They have
accompanied the human race as SER
wants, not as scayengers. It is we'll
known that the ancients kept bees.
They are frequently represented on
the monuments of Egypt and in that
country centuries before Cleopatra
reigned they were cultivated on a very
large scale. Thousands of barges
freighted with hives were hoated up
and down the Nile in order to afford
the insects pasture on the flowers
along the banks
There were no bees Ia America un-
til the seventeenth century, when the
common black variety was brought
over from Germany. 1t is that kind
which swarms all over the United
States to-day. But within recent
years Bookkeeping has been reduced
to scientific principles, and so it has
been sought to procure from abroad
timer breeds. Important among these
is the Italian, which was fetched to
this country first il. 1859. Italian
bees have many advantages from the
industrial point CT view. They are
docile and easily handled; they arc
very prolific and protect their hives
better than the black ones do from
the ravages of moths. These moths
lay their eggs in the combs, and the
larvae feed upon the wax and pollen,
destroying the cells. In. 1881 Mr..
Benton, well known expert went
abroad and brought hither choice
breeds from Cyprus. Syria and Pales-
tine. These, particularly the Cyprian
are all very handsome and thoroughly
business bees, possessing extraordi-
nary energy in honey gathering. They
are irritable, and for that reason diff
cult to handle unless one knows how.
Nowadays beekeepers select their
stock as carefully as farmers do cat
tie Hundreds of people all over the
country make profitable business of
raising pure bred italian or other
queens for market In each hive are
engendered from dozen to 800 queen
bees depending upon the race. II
left alone they would nearly all be
killed by being stung to death in their
cells, because bee household can
never have more than oae mistress;
but the breeder removes the portion
OF the comb which contains these
queen cells before their OCCUPANTS are
ready to emerge. and he puts one Of
them. with bit Of comb and honey.
into each Of q number of miniature
hives made for the purpose with a
few handfuls Of bees in each. Thus
many Thousands of queen bees may be
produced in season, and. inasmuch
as well-bred ones sell from So to IS
each, the business is lucrative. For
some Punic queens. of an alleged new
stock, as much as $50 apiece has re-
Gently been asked. In fact however.
these are merely of the Tunisian va
riety from Africa. figuring under a
fresh name. When the young queens
are ready to mate the breeders shut
up the drones in all the hives save
those containing the best stock, thus
securing the most desirable offspring.
a queen. to fetch good price, must
have already produced satisfactory
progeny. SO that the mating shall
have proved all right