26 



should be as small as possible. Contact with bare earth is very, very bad. Four bricks, 

 one at each corner, are good, so are a couple of pieces of unplaned 2x4 lumber a little 

 longer than the width of the hive, one placed under each end of the bottom board. As 

 has already been said, the bottom board must be perfectly level across the frames, but 

 a little higher at the back. No vegetation of any kind should be permitted to grow 

 above its level ; better still, destroy it entirely, as all growth interferes with the flight 

 of the bees. 



Our first excursion through a bee-hive has been quite a long one and has disturbed 

 the arrangements of the inmates not only to a considerable extent, but possibly to the 

 injury of the young, for in May it is a rather extensive incubator where as many as 

 10,000 eggs are being hatched, while 50,000 young bees are being brooded. An open 

 hive means the loss of heat ; therefore, we resolve that in future we will do the necessary 

 examinations as speedily as possible, and never lift the cover unless the shade tempera- 

 ture is about 65°, or warmer. 



CHAPTER V. 

 The Bee People. 



From the dawn of histor}' the greatest intellects have found a fascination in the 

 study of the inmates of the liive, for here is a form of society which closely resembles 

 that of human beings. Only in recent times has its actual organization been understood 

 with all the marvellous activities that are carried on night and day. The subject is an 

 entrancing one, but this is not the occasion to enlarge upon it ; our business at present 

 is to become familiar with such facts as will lead to success in our aim, which is the 

 production of surplus honey. 



The inmates of the hive are of three kinds — queen, worker, and drone. The queen 

 is not the ruler of the colony, as was for centuries supposed, but is the mother of a big 



Fig. 17. 



Queen. 



Drone. 



Worker. 



family. Her sole function is to lay eggs, her capacity being literally thousands every 

 twenty-four hours. From October to February she lays very few, but with the advent 

 of the first pollen from the willow in spring she resumes her activity, laying eggs as fast 

 as the worker-bees can take care of thenj. About May Ist the colony becomes strong 

 enf)ugh to permit her to develop her full gait, and this she will keep until the honey-flow 

 in June deprives her of the use of the cells. In the fall, as tlie cells are emptied, she 

 resumes her laying for a few weeks to provide bees for the winter, then enters upon her 

 period of rest. 



