*22 NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 



15. It is a mistake not to examine all the colonies early 

 in March. Those that are queenless should be supplied at 

 once, and those that have not honey enough to carry them 

 through the Winter should be fed without delay . 



1 5. It is a mistake to put off feeding until the nights 

 become cold. Better to be done too early than too late. 

 In New Zealand bees rarely require feeding. 



17. It is a mistake to visit the bees too often during the 

 Winter. It is apt to disturb them ; they become restless, and 

 sometimes discharge their faeces, and by this means produce 

 a stench that is enough to destroy them. Better have their 

 Winter quarters so constructed that we can ascertain their 

 condition without disturbing them. 



Things to Know. Every beginner at bee-keeping 

 should know and remember : 



1. That the life of a worker bee during the working 

 season is only from six to eight weeks duration, and that a 

 majority of them never live to see seven weeks. 



2. That a worker is from five to six days old before it 

 comes out of the hive for the first time to take an airing ; 

 and that it is from fourteen to sixteen days old before it 

 begins to gather either pollen or honey. 



3. That all swarms engaged in building comb, when 

 they have not a fertile queen, build only drone comb, and 

 that all the comb in the lower or breeding apartment should 

 be worker or brood comb, except a very small quantity of 

 drone comb, four inches square being amply sufficient. 



4. That the more prolific the queen is the more young 

 bees you have, and the more surplus honey will be gathered, 

 other things being equal. 



5. That you ought never to cut mouldy combs out of 

 the hives, for the reason that you should never allow it to 

 become mouldy. 



6. That you ought never to double swarms or stocks of 

 bees in the Autumn, because you ought to attend to that 

 and make them strong during the Summer, by taking brood 

 from the strong stock and giving it to the weaker. 



