Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-09
from the elevated Alpine province of

from the elevated Alpine province of
Carniola. Austria, are the gentlest of
all races, and as besides their good
Qualities, they winter the best of any.
II Is not surprising to see that they
nave steadily grown in favor. Their
sealed omb are exceedingly white.
as they do not fill the cells so full
that the honey touches the capping.
and they gather little propolis, quail
ties highly appreciated by the pro
Queer of comb honey. They are quite
prolific, and If kept in small hives.
such as have been popularized of ate
IN the United States, are somewhat
more inclined to swarm than the other
races introduced here. This tendency
pronounced when they
are taken into a country whose SUM
mers are hot, like ours. and their
v are not we'll shaded, as they
nave been bred for centuries, with
Only slight Introduction of outside
blood, In a climate where the
are short and cool. Moreover, the
practice in Carniola is to place the
n shallow hives used almost ,ex-
clusively there. in bee houses and side
by side. one above the other, with
intervening air spaces, so that at most
only the front ends are exposed to The
sun. RMS management long con-
tinued has doubtless tended to develop
and fix more or less permanently in
this race certain characteristics which
should be taken into account in their
management elsewhere. With these
precautions they do we'll in all parts
of the United States.
Common Black or Brown Bees
Ihese bees are found commonly
throughout our countr from ocean
to ocean, both wild and rdomesticated.
Exactly when they were introduced
from Europe is not known, but con-
siderable evidence exists which shows
that there were no hive bees in this
country for some time after the first
colonies were established; also, it was
not until near the close of the last
century that they reached the Missis-
slppl, and less than half a century has
passed since they were first success
FULLY landed on the Pacific coast.
Many bee keepers, having more at
.tractively colored and frequently bet
ter bees, are inclined to consider this
race as possessing hardly any re-
deeming qualities. or at least to under
rate them because accompanied by
undesirable traits. While it is true
that they have some serious faults, the
latter are not SO great as those of
some other races. They have become
thoroughly acclimated since their first
importation, over two centuries ago.
and besides possessing good wintering
and comb building qualities, they
will. when the flow of honey is quite
abundant, generally equal Italians in
gathering. But the disposition which
bees of this race have Of flying toward
n who approaches the apiary and
singing him, even though the hives
have not been molested, their way of
running e~xcitedly over the combs and
dropping in punches when they are
handled, besides singing the backs Of
the operators hands unless the whole
colony has first been thoroughly SUBJ
dued and the bees induced to gorge
themselves with honey, or are con-
stantly deluged with smoke. are very
annoying to the novice who under
takes to perform necessary .m%anipula-
tons with them, and may even 80 dis
courage and daunt him az to cause
the neglect of work of great import
ance to the welfare of the. colony,
The Easy disbursement Of bees Of
this race when q sudden check in the
flow of honey occurs is also a pc
culiarity which does not commend
them. These things. tending to re-
duce profts: . often dampen the be-
ginner's enthusiasm, before he has
acquired the knowledge and skin
necessary to make the work genuinely
successful. He had therefore better
chose either Italians or Carniolans.
and use ~ breeders only queens that.
are known to, have mated purely.
There is quite q variety in bees as
we'll Is in many other things. The
common bee in this region Is doubt
less Italians. Read the bulletins and
bee booklets. Dairytng and sweet
clover are greatly on the increase in
the Dakotas, but II will take q lot Of
to make this . land flowing With
milk and honey" Help the bees do
Note.-In the southern part OF orr
country, sugar or honey ID referred to-
NJ "Bhort" sweetening, ana molastast