New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-01
THE urC4STzN BIKE
H Introduction WU TnEs Ar@
Fer of Being Stu1g.


Ereoent dispatches from that part OF the word
would lead one u think otherwise One OF them
Is q bee Although nesghbor ID the Syrian, or
Holy Land. be- which has record among bees
TOR temper and the ancestors Of which accord
hg TO the writer Of the Pentateuch, chased Che
ancient Hebrews with al the luminosity Of the
tmorites. Il is the most aIniabIs OF al known
bees While provided with sting as al bees
should be II they are to be worth anything as
honey producers. it is almost Impossible to make
tHsung the human being. II Is being introduced
into the United States. Il was seen by the
leading beeknepers Of the country for the frst
time early IN September at Jenkiutown near
Philadelphia, at their national convention As
SOON as the supply is large enough Il VIII De
possible for the most tinorUus to take UP apS-
culture without fear Of being stung
The Introduction Of the Caucasian bee IN this
country is one Of the benefcent works Of ths
Department Of Agriculture In 1902 Frank
Benton. the expert apiarist in charge Of ths
governmental hives at Washington. D. c.
brought number of mated Caucasian queens
TO this country. After the manner OF queen
bees, upon their arrival here they proceeded to
lay eggs by the thousand In a short time the
government had number Of queens and thou
sands upon thousands Of the gentle honey
CATERERS. They were studied most carefully
It vas found that almost nothing that a human
being could do would persuade them 70 attack
hin Their hives could be shaken One could
rub them of the comb with the unprotected
palm Of the hand They were not disturbed in
the least The only times they showed any
irritation were On cool mornings when the hives
were severely Jared. or when they had been
robbed by other bees. With the exception Of
the testy CypTian bees, they were found TO be
the equal OF any bees IN the gathering of honey.
fc hell hat +EeI
honey business number Of queens have been
distributed, but the only imported queen bee of
the race IN the aPiary Of the department died
z short tine ago. and, as it is impossible to
secure any more at present from the Caucasus,
where MI Benton has gone. owing to the up
rising there, no more can be distributed this
year
It VII take q long tine to eradicate from
the American mind the fear OF 4 bee Long
proximity 70 the singing Q lrieties has deeply
impressed upon the American the wisdom Of
giving the busy bg1zzing bees 4 wide berth The
first bees brought to this country were the com
non brown, or German ones They came over
n one Of the tubby vessels Of the seventeenth
century For two centuries they held their own,
end were distributed from the Atlantic TO the
Pacific Ii comparison with the other races
now known they have nothing 10 recommend
them For all this bee was q spitefuI Great
against other bees II was lazy in the matter
Of gathering honey, anyway. Just as soon as
the supply OF nectar began To decrease and g
little energy was required IN order To find Il
the bee gave up the effort It did not multiply
rapidly so the hives at the beginning Of the
harvest were likely To be as shOrthanded as the
Kansas wheat farms Therefore, when in 1860
the comparatively gentle, prolific and indus
t1ous Italian bees were imported the beekeep-
fuy world became much excited Fabulous
Prices were paid for the Cueena Then score
az years later cane the CEprtan bees, from
Cyprus These bees were busters In the NAB
~ Of gathering honey. One colony has REQ
e-d OF one thousand pounds in one season But
t5aey were variable devils. Nothing would sub
d1e them Smoke only trritated them Occa-
EsonaIlv they went out hunting for trouble Ths
g1-ry is told Of one swarm Of these bees which
drove an e2tire family into the cellar and stuIlS
every living animal II the neiShborhood, in
ending horses. COWS. pigs and chickens These
were followed by the large gray bees from the
Anime provinces Of CarniOIa- Austria These
bees were gentle and also good gatherers Of
honey Last Of all have come the Caucasian
bees which one can handle practically With no
u7ure danger than If they were many lies