Although Cyprus bees are world-famed, bee-keeping in the Island is still in its infancy.
The native hive is generally an earthenware cylinder or pipe about 2 ft. 6 in. long and 9 in. in diameter (see Plate VII, fig. 1). Hives are also made of a mixture of earth and chopped straw, similar to native mud-bricks. These hives are also cylindrical, about 18 in. long and 10 to 12 in. in diameter with a 3-in. thickness of wall. These are cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and produce stronger colonies than the earthenware ones.
Plate VII.
Fig. 1.—Cypriot Earthenware Beehives.
Fig. 2.—Shipping Fruit at Larnaca.
Of late years the Agricultural Department has introduced modern hives with movable frames, and had it not been for the high cost of timber since the war, the number of these would have increased rapidly. The difficulty is to get the local carpenters to construct them properly and with finish. Practical hive construction is taught at the Agricultural School.
Cyprian bees are, par excellence, the yellow race of the world. They are of uniform colour, size and character, slightly smaller than the Italians and the blacks. They have great power of flight, are very prolific and vigorous and good honey-gatherers. They are by many considered vicious and ill-tempered. This is possibly due to the constant war they have to wage against hornets, which in this country are a real plague and frequently exterminate whole colonies and sometimes whole apiaries. Various devices are employed for the protection of bees in or near the hives.
A good number of Cyprian queen bees have been imported into Europe and America, and are very highly regarded wherever they have been established. In the eighties Cyprian queens were sold in the United States of America at £2 each. This high price checked the importation and the crossing of Cyprians with Italians and blacks took place, the hybrid offspring being sold by dealers as Cyprians. These, however, did not possess the best characteristics of Cyprians, and for a time they brought about a reaction in favour of other breeds.