AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



783 



I guess the number that would nat- 

 urally be iu a normal colony that has 

 not swarmed. — J. H. Lakbabee. 



As many as are required to nurse the 

 brood, work wax Into comb, and main- 

 tain the necessary heat. — C. H. Dibbern. 



It depends upon how long the flow is 

 to last. We want all the bees we can 

 get during the clover flow, because we 

 get something else afterwards. — Dadaxt 

 & Son. 



I do not know. The future value of 

 a worker-bee depends more upou the 

 amount of labor it has performed than 

 it does on the number of days it has 

 lived. — Emekson T. Abbott. 



To answer this would require an arti- 

 cle. In brief, all that one good queen 

 can be induced to rear up to two weeks 

 before the end of the honey-flow ; after 

 that, 3^ or % as many. — R. L. Taylor. 



I don't know, but I'm growing toward 

 the opinion that the bees left to them- 

 selves w\\\ not have too many. More- 

 over, I suspect they may change to the 

 right number by having bees start to the 

 field sooner or laHer than 16 days. — C. 

 C. Miller. 



This question, to my mind, is wholly 

 theoretical. The colony should contain 

 a full force of foragers at such time, and 

 with a good queen brood-rearing will be 

 constantly going forward. Some advise 

 removing the queen during the honey 

 season. — J. E. Pond. 



I do not know that I understand what 

 " Theorist " is driving at. If he means 

 at what age a bee will gather the most 

 honey, I shall have to acknowledge that 

 I do not know, and if I did, I could not 

 have them all of one age, so I am will- 

 ing to take my chances with a good, 

 full colony, and some hatching every 

 day. — S. I. Freeborn. 



The only way that you can barely ap- 

 proximate the proper proportion of field- 

 workers and nurse-bees at the time of a 

 honey-flow is to select a colony that is 

 storing honey as fast as the best work- 

 ing colony can. Now, take a look at the 

 inside of the hive when the bees are all 

 at home in the early morning, then ex- 

 amine them at about 11 o'clock, when 

 the field-workers are in full force at 

 work, and make your estimate. Perhaps 

 the field-workers should be four to one 

 nurse-bee. — G. W. Demaree. 



Non-Swarmlni anJ lane Hiyes. C 



Perplexities of an '^ApieuUural 

 Liiterarian." 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



A Binder for holding a year's num- 

 bers of the Bee Journal we mail for 

 only 50 cents; or clubbed witb the 

 JouBNAL for $1.40. 



If the "honest reports and opinions 

 from honey-producers who make bee- 

 keeping pay" were not so largely the- 

 oretical in condemning opposite courses 

 which they have not tried (not necessari- 

 ly contradictory, but different), I might 

 be diffident about contributing to that 

 "perpetual curse" so pathetically al- 

 luded to by Mr. Heddon. As it is, I 

 shall make no apology for inflicting a 

 few theories on the readers of the Bee 

 Journal ; for where angels fear not to 

 tread, fools may be excused for rushing 

 in. 



When the "men who have produced 

 honey by the ton " speak, we have a right 

 to expect, either that they will satisfac- 

 torily answer our questions, or satisfac- 

 torily show why they cannot be an- 

 swered. The calm indifference shown 

 by the veterans to anything outside of 

 the beaten track, as if there was but one 

 road to success, makes me feel like sling- 

 ing mud and adjectives and things, as 

 Hasty says. Here's a challenge, and a 

 bomb for you, Bro. Alley : The 8-frame 

 hive with its methods is not the acme of 

 comb-honey production! Now,8-framers! 



CONTRACTION OF HIVES. 



Take the case of contraction. The 

 more bees, of course the more honey 

 consumed ; and if in summer, outside 

 of one short flow, no nectar at all is to 

 be had, of course many are useless con- 

 sumers. 



Well, is that always or everywhere the 

 case in short-flow localities ? When not 

 the case, is the mere absence of surplus 

 sufficient reason for shutting down on 

 the population ? 



If there is a small honey-flow from 

 something or other, from spring to fall, 



