420 Report of Farmers' Institutes 



and vegetables mature crops from which their own kind is repro- 

 duced, according to natural law; so the bees gather and store 

 honej for its life-sustaining and reproducing results : and, when 

 properly utilized, all these natural products contribute to the 

 happiness of humanity. 



The animal and vegetable creation generously respond to man's 

 efforts, and the honey bee will yield a liberal reward for intelligent 

 care and culture. Since the science of bee culture is now so far 

 advanced, our labor in this direction is certain of its reward. 



The devotee of rural life and nature studies, when living in 

 the city, will find that a colony of bees in the back yard or on the 

 housetop will add much pleasure and enjoyment and furnish the 

 table with an abundance of ^STature's choicest luxury. 



We shall gain much practical knowledge of the natural laws 

 and life habits of bees by observing the various changes and 

 developments transpiring in a colony during the year and noting 

 the causes that produce these changes, which are constantly going 

 on during the season of activity. 



THE MAKE-UP OF THE COLONY 



A colony of bees in normal condition has one mother bee, called 

 the " queen bee," which is the only fully-developed female bee in 

 the colony. She lays all the eggs and is truly a parent, imparting 

 her peculiar characteristics and personality to all the others. She 

 is honored and reverenced by all, and her loss is the greatest 

 calamity that can befall the realm of the hive. There is nothing 

 that the bees desire more than a queen, and the knowledge of her 

 presence is their greatest inspiration. 



There are several thousand abortive female bees, called " worker 

 bees," the number varying with the different seasons. They are 

 all the progeny of the queen. They live a short and strenuous life 

 — longer or shorter in proportion in their activity — averaging 

 from sixty to ninety days. They gather the stores, build the 

 comb, hatch the eggs, and do all the work. 



During the summer there are several hundred male bees, called 

 " drones." Their number can be limited by proper management. 

 Their only useful function is to fertilize the young queens, and 



