Cyprians are smaller-bodied and more slender than bees of European races. The abdomen is also more pointed and shows, when the bees are purely bred, three light orange bands on the three segments nearest the thorax. The underside of the abdomen is even lighter orange colored nearly or quite to the tip. The postscutellum—the small lunule-like prominence on the thorax between the bases of the wings—is likewise orange colored instead of dull, as in European races. The rest of the thorax is covered with a russet-brown pubescence. Cyprians are the yellowest of the original races, and their bright colors and symmetrical forms render them attractive objects.
Italians.—Through the agency of the United States Department of Agriculture bees of this race were introduced direct from Italy in 1860. There had previously been repeated individual efforts to secure Italians bred in Germany, where the race had been introduced some years earlier, and a small number of queens had been landed here alive in the autumn of 1859, but most of these died the following winter and the few remaining alive seem not to have been multiplied as rapidly as those obtained in Italy by a purchasing agent of the Department of Agriculture and landed here early in 1860. Their good qualities were soon appreciated, and they had become well established and widely spread long before the Cyprians, imported twenty years later. For this reason, together with the fact that they cap their surplus combs whiter than some other races and because less skill is required in subduing and handling Italians, they have retained their popularity over bees which, though better honey gatherers, are more nervous under manipulation. Their golden-yellow color has also proved so attractive to many that the good qualities of more somber-hued races—gentler, better winterers, and better comb builders—have not received due consideration. Italians are, however, certainly preferable to the common brown or black bees, for they show greater energy in gathering honey and in the defense of their hives against moth larvæ and robber bees, while at the same time they are gentler under manipulation than the blacks, though they do not winter as well in severe climates.
| Bul. 1, new series, Div. of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. | Plate I. | ||||||||||
Honey Bees.
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Italian workers nearly equal Garniolans in size, and show across the abdomen when the latter is distended with honey not less than three yellow bands, which approach more or less a reddish or dark leathery color. By selection in some instances, and in others by the introduction of Cyprian blood, Italians and Italian hybrids have recently been bred which show four or five yellow bands or which are even yellow to the tip of the abdomen. They are certainly pleasing to the eye, and in case due heed has been given to the vigor and working qualities of the stock selected when establishing the strain, no valid objection can be brought against them except the tendency they have to revert to the original type of Italians. This is due to the comparatively short time they have been bred, and with each season's selection will of course grow less.
Carniolans.—These, the gray bees from the elevated Alpine province of Carniola, Austria, are the gentlest of all races, and as, besides their other good qualities, they winter the best of any, it is not surprising to see that they have steadily grown in favor. Their sealed combs are exceedingly white, as they do not fill the cells so full that the honey touches the capping, and they gather little propolis, qualities highly appreciated by the producer of comb honey. They are quite prolific, and if kept in small hives, such as have been popularized of late in the United States, are somewhat more inclined to swarm than the other races introduced here. This tendency becomes more pronounced when they are taken into a country whose summers are hot, like ours, and their hives are not well shaded, as they have been bred for centuries, with only slight introduction of outside blood, in a climate where the summers are short and cool. Moreover, the practice in Carniola is to place the long, shallow hives used almost exclusively there, in beehouses 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. This management long continued 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 well in all parts of the United States. (See [Plate I, figs. 1, 4, and 5].)
The Carniolan worker is readily recognized by its large form, less pointed abdomen, and general ashy gray coat, the abdominal segments especially presenting a ringed appearance on account of silvery white hairs which cover the posterior half of each of these segments. By crossing Carniolans with Italians or with Cyprians a yellow type with silvery rings is produced, and by continued selection in breeding the gentle disposition of the Carniolans can be secured with the greater honey-gathering powers of Cyprians should these be employed in forming the new strain.
German, common black, or brown bees.—These bees are found commonly throughout our country from ocean to ocean, both wild and domesticated. Exactly when they were introduced from Europe is not known, but considerable evidence exists which shows that there were no hive bees (Apis mellifera) 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 Mississippi, and less than half a century has passed since the first were successfully landed on the Pacific Coast.
Many bee keepers, having more attractively colored and frequently better bees, are inclined to consider this race as possessing hardly any redeeming qualities, or at least to underrate these 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 one who approaches the apiary and stinging him, even though the hives have not been molested, their way of running excitedly over the combs and dropping in bunches when they are handled, besides stinging the backs of the operator's hands, unless the whole colony has first been thoroughly subdued and the bees induced to gorge themselves with honey, or are constantly deluged with smoke, are very annoying to the novice who undertakes to perform necessary manipulations with them, and may even so discourage and daunt him as to cause the neglect of work of great importance to the welfare of the colony. The easy discouragement of bees of this race when a sudden check in the flow of honey occurs is also a peculiarity which does not commend them. These things, tending to reduce profits, often dampen the beginner's enthusiasm before he has acquired the knowledge and skill necessary to make the work genuinely successful. He had therefore better choose either Italians or Carniolans, and use as breeders only queens that are known to have mated purely.