The Florida agriculturist., 1907-10-30
THE DIFFERENT RACES OF
BEES.
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this discussion We will first consider
the races of the first or larger type.
The Black, Brown or German bee
probably needs no introduction here
and few words will suffice with this
race. Blackness and spitefulness are
their chief traits. It is not a prolific
race, does not defend its hive we'll, and
is a poor winterer. For these reasons
the common black bee is generally con-
sidered an undesirable bee to keep. Of
course there are a few colonies which
do we'll and under favorable circum-
stances prove quite as valuable as other
races, but taking the race as a whole
it is lacking in many desirable traits
which are to be found in other races.
One good point in their favor is hat
they are exceptionally white cappers of
their comb, and thus turn out an ex-
cellent grade of comb honey.
The Italians or some cross OF the
Italian are the most kept Of all bees
in this country, and are as familiar
to all of us as the race just mentioned.
There are several strains Of Italian
bees-the three-band, long tongue, or
leather color, as it is variously called;
the fve-band, or golden; and what
is known as the albino. The three
band, as indicated by it's name, is
bee possessing three yellow abdomi
nal bands, and are by far the most
common of the three strains, being the
original strain from which the other
two have been obtained. Likewise,
the fve-band possesses five yellow
bands The Albino has whitish bands
in place of the yellow bands of the
three-bander Italian queens vary
from a pure yellow color to dark cop
per, but most queens show the majori-
ty Of their abdomen yellow This is
moderately prolific race, good honey
gatherer. and caps its honey white
The golden strain has been obtained
from the three-band by selection, but
there seems to be no improvement
along other lines, such as wintering,
honey-gathering etc. Under manipu-
1ation most bees of the golden, or five
band strain, are slightly crosser than
the regular three-band, but either
strain is gentle enough for all practi-
cal purposes
The Carniolan race, from Austria,
is probably second to the Italian race
in numbers kept in a pure state in
this country. The bees are very large
and gray; the queens are typically
dark bronze, but are often much light
er and the drones are large, black fell
lows. The race is very gentle, and
prolificness and exceptional hardness
have been bred into them from their
native mountainous home, which is
subject to the most sudden changes
in temperature. AS to the cappings
of their comb, theirs is of the whitest,
making them a very desirable bee for
comb honey. In this country they have
been branded" on account of a repu-
tation for excessive swarming This
is largely due to the use Of hives too
small for such hardy prolific queens.
| know of bee-keeper, and a queen
breeder, in California, who made the
brood nest with capacity of twenty
Langstroth frames. The queen lasted
two years, and her bees produced
more honey than any other colony
in his large apiary and did not swarm,
the queen being superseded. This may
have been an exceptional queen, but
it is fact that this race asserts itself
when given the proper care, and many
such reports as the above have been
given where they have been given
such treatment. The Carniolans are
exceptionally good winterers, and be-
gin breeding early in the spring.
We pass to the second, or smaller,
type. AS stated, the general charac-
teristics of this type are their more
sharp-pointed abdomen and more ner-