BREEDING BETTER BEES 119 



a result the individual soon wears her life away 

 in adding to the store of the community. 



The Queen Is Producti\t:. — Since all the 

 eggs from which this large working force is 

 produced are laid by one queen, she must be 

 enormous^ productive. xVll the beekeeper's 

 plans are laid with the end in view of bringing 

 each colony to the beginning of the honey har- 

 vest with the gi-eatest possible number of bees 

 in the hive. One extra strong colony will store 

 more honey during a hea^y flow than two or 

 three medium colonies, and often more than 

 a dozen weak ones. It is estimated that queens 

 in populous colonies lay from two to three 

 thousand or more eggs daily during the height 

 of the season. In spite of this large produc- 

 tion the colony often does not apparently in- 

 crease in strength after the honey flow is really 

 on, so rapidly do the workers wear themselves 

 out in the harvest field. 



It is then of the utmost importance for the 



