> Punic Bees:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/68713921

In 1892, H.L. Jones imported some Punic bees from America to Australia.
Interesting the article in the above reference says they are Apis nigra.  I
thought they were Apis intermissa.  In January 1893 Jones was advertising
three queens for one guinea.  They were:- a choice tested Italian queen, 1
young carniolan queen and 1 young punic queen.  One guinea was one pound one
shilling which in today's currency would be $2.10.  A single queen
advertised at the same time was 8 shillings i.e. 80cents.

In 1904, A.F. Spry, from Brisbane in Queensland Australia  was using punics
although by now they were crossed with Italians.  They talked of bringing in
fresh punic queens but I could not find any record as to whether they came.
Spry's description of the punics was "Very good bees, savage, slow to start
brood rearing, breed at the right time when no honey is being gathered and
almost stop breeding when the honey starts and fill the hives right full of
honey; as soon as the honey flow stops they again start rapid breeding.  The
bees are good white comb builders."

I could find no other records of punics here in Australia so it seems they
must have been diluted out or they stopped using them.

Trevor Weatherhead
Australia


 

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 8081 (20130305) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com
 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html