The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-04-20
Bees That are Cousins.

-Four species of honey-bees are known.
Three of them are indigenous to India.
The fourth, known as the " Mellifica,"
is distributed all over the globe. 1t in
cludes number of varieties all of
which were very likely derived from
one stock. Bees, like rats, have spread
with man, though from a different
cause. They have accompanied the
human race as servants, not as scaven-
gers. 1t is well known that the an.
clients kept bees. They are frequently
represented on the monuments of
Egypt, and in that country, centuries
before Cleopatra reigned, they were cul-
ands of barges freighted with hives
order TO afford the insects pasture on
the flowers along the banks. There
were no bees in America until the sew
enteenth 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 finer breeds. Important
among these is the Italian, which was
fetched to this country first in 1859.
Italian bees have many advantages from
the industrial point of view They are
docile and easily handled; they are very
prolific, and protect their hives better
than the black ones do from the raw
ages of moths. The moths lay their
eggs in the combs, and the larvae feed
upon the wax and pollen, destroying
the cells. In 1881, Mr.. Benton, we'll
known Xpert, went abroad and brought
hllher choice breeds from Cyprus, Sy-
ria and Palestine. These, particularly
the Cyprians, are very handsome and
thoroughly business bees, possessing
extraordinary energy i'll honey gather
ing. They are irritable, and for that
reason difficult to handle unless one
knows how. Nowadays bee-keepers
select their stock as carefully as farm
ers do cattle. Hundreds of people all
over the country make a profitable
business of raising pure bred Italian or
other queens for market. Ia each hive
are engendered from a dozen to three
hundred queen bees, depending upon
the race. If LETT alone, they would
nearly all be killed by being stung to
death in their cells, because bee
household can never have more than
one mistress; but the breeder removes
the portion of the comb which con-
tains the queen cells before their occu-
pants are ready to emerge, and he puts
me of them, with bit of comb and
honey, into each or number OF minia-
lure hives made for the purpose, with
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 So each,
the business is lucrative. For some
Punic queens of an alleged new stock,
as much as $50 apiece has recently
been asked. In fact, however, these
are merely of the Tunisian variety from
Africa, figuring under fresh name.
When the young queens are ready to
mate, the brt elders shut up the dlones
in all the hives save those coutlining
the best stock, thus securing the most
desirable offspring. A queen, to fetch
IA good price, must have already pro-
duced satisfactory progeny, so that the
mating shall have proved all right
Ne0 York Evangelist.