14 SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 



existence of their race. But they are subject to failure. Why? Because 

 they are dependent on man for culture and weather for progress, which 

 I wish to prove. As soon as this clustered swarm of bees is hived in a good 

 box, log gum, box hive, a neat modern hive, or reaches its future abiding- 

 place in a crevice or hollow in a tree in the forest, the bees will at once begin 

 to build comb from the top of the hollow or some other seemingly good 

 place to them, or in the top of the hive, should they be hived, and store their 

 honey and rear their young. As they build the comb downward they will 

 form what bee-keepers call a brood-nest, which will be about the center of 

 the mass of comb when it is completed. This central portion of the comb 

 called the brood-nest will be occupied by the queen and the nurse-bees in 

 rearing the young. In the comb around this they will store the honey upon 

 which they live. Now the colony of bees is established in its new quarters, 

 but not permanently, unless man comes to their assistance. At the time 

 this swarm issued from their parent colony there was a honey-flow on, and 

 prosperity was smiling upon them with a great glare, and even the weather 

 conditions seemed favorable to their progress; but soon after they are in 

 their new quarters, weather conditions may change, the wind, cold, or rain 

 may drive them in from their pasture where they are gathering honey; and 

 by the time the weather changes in their favor the honey-plant that was 

 yielding honey is done blooming, and they haven't enough honey saved to 

 tide them over the honey-dearth until some other honey-plant begins to 

 blossom. The result is that the once strong vigorous swarm of bees, so full 

 of life, and destined to accomplish so much, is now on the road to destruc- 

 tion, and will soon reach it if men do not intervene and feed them. Should 

 they scrimp along and not all perish until the next honey-plant came in 

 bloom they would not be in any condition to gather honey; consequently 

 they would die soon afterward, or be cleaned up by the bee-moth. 



Suppose the weather conditions remain favorable after this swarm issues, 

 and they save plenty of honey to tide them over any honey-dearth, the 

 queen, which does all the egg-laying for the colony, is likely to die at any 

 time ; and very often, during a honey-dearth, she will cease egg-laying for 

 a short time, and may die during this time, and leave the colony with no 

 eggs or very young bees from which to rear them another mother. The 

 colony will speedily go to destruction if man does not come to their assist- 

 ance and give them another queen and some eggs or young bees from which 

 they can rear them another queen. 



If the queen does not fail in this way she may for some cause cease 

 laying worker or fertile eggs, and lay unfertile ones ; and before the bees 

 are aware of the failure of their mother they have nothing from which to 

 rear them another queen except unfertile eggs or young drones, which can 

 not produce a queen. So the swarm is again at the mercy of man. 



Then, again, suppose the colony would thrive and cast a swarm. The 

 old queen would go with it and the parent (or old) colony would be left in 

 the care of a young queen which, on her wedding-tour during which she is 

 mated, is lost or returns to the wrong hive and is killed by the bees. The 



