altitude of about 4,000 ft. The peasant farmer rarely
attempts to remove it, though it occupies a large proportion of his land
to the detriment of the crops. In the hills the villagers dry the bulbs
and feed them to their sheep, cattle and donkeys. A paste is also made
from the roots which is used by boot-makers to stick the leathers
together. To make this paste the roots are dried in the oven and ground,
and then mixed with ground vetches or maize and made into the gum or
paste locally known as "tsirichi."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: _A quantity of stored plant was destroyed by fire, reducing
the output._]

VI. MINOR AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES

_Bee-keeping_

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.

[Illustration: 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