FIFTY YEARS A^IO^G THE BEES ISl 



time the egg was laid till the bee became a gatherer. 

 Clearly, then, only such bees as came from eggs laid five 

 Aveeks or more before the close of the honey harvest were 

 available as gatherers. Why not have the colony queen- 

 less during this five weeks? So I took away the queen, 

 leaving in the hive three combs, one of which contained 

 eggs and brood in all stages, the other two containing 

 lothing from which queen-cells could be started. 



Once in ten days the comb of young brood with its 

 queen-cells was taken away and a fresh one given them, 

 and at the close of the five weeks, which was about the 

 close of the harvest, the queen was returned. 



NOT A SUCCESS. 



As a preventive of swarming, it was a complete suc- 

 cess. Xot one colony thus treated swarmed ; how could 

 they? As a means of securing a large crop, I think it was 

 an egregious failure ; although I can hardly tell with great 

 definiteness,, the season itself being a failure. Possibly 

 the absence of the queen itself had something to do with 

 lessening their stores, but I doubt it. But when all combs 

 of brood but one were taken away, a large force of pros- 

 pective bees were taken away that would have hatched out 

 in the next twenty-one days. 



If I had allowed four or five frames of brood, chang- 

 ing every ten days, the result might have been quite dif- 

 ferent. Moreover, the one frame they did have was, for 

 the most part, filled with brood so young, that little or 

 none of it hatched while in the hive. If I should try any- 

 thing in the same line again, I should keep four or five 

 frames in the hive, and this should be mainly brood well 

 advanced so that much of it would hatch out to replenish 

 the wasting numbers. 



KEEPING QUEENS CAGED. 



Success was reported by others with the plan of keep- 

 ing queens caged in the hive during part or the whole of 



