BEE-KEEPING 245 



ECONOMY OF THE HIVE 



At the beginning of the honey-gathering 

 season, the population of the hive consists of 

 (i) the queen mother, or as she is usually 

 called the "queen"; (2) a few hundred 

 drones ; (3) from 40,000 to 50,000 workers. 



Queen Drone Worker 



The queen is the only perfectly developed The Queen 

 female in the hive, and it is she who lays all 

 the eggs from which the other bees are 

 produced. A good queen, in her prime 

 (from one to two years old) lays between 

 2000 and 3000 eggs per day, during the 

 breeding season. 



If allowed, the queen will live from four 

 to five years, being considerably longer lived 

 than her subjects. 



