306 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



fired up, and capable of an indefinite amount of exertion. 

 A bee cannot put forth more than a certain amount of 

 physical effort, and a large portion of this ought not to be 

 spent in contending against difficulties from which it 

 might easily be guarded. They may often be seen pant- 

 ing after their return from labor, and so exhausted as to 

 need rest before they enter the hive. 



Dzierzon's* experience as to the profits of bee-keeping 

 has already been given (p. 21). With proper manage- 

 ment, five dollars' worth of honey may, on an average of 

 years, be obtained for each stock that is wintered in good 

 condition. The worth of the new colonies I set off against 



* " It is by no means easy to devise a rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture, 

 whether we regard the number of colonies or the number of square miles. He is 

 not the best Apiarian who obtains the largest yield from a single hive, but keeps 

 only one or two. By very judicious and careful management, a hundred colonies 

 might yield a large profit, yet fall far short of what three hundred would have 

 yielded in the same location and same season, with much less supervision and atten- 

 tion. He is not the most successful farmer who produces the most extraordinary 

 yield from a single rod of ground, but he who secures the amplest crops from an 

 extensive area, well cultivated. The swarming system may be very advantageous 

 in certain localities, in spite of its manifest wastefulness ; though, in other localities, 

 it would, because of that unavoidable wastefulness, render bee-keeping a decidedly 

 losing business, since the system involves a vast expenditure of honey for the pro- 

 duction and maintenance of brood, which scarcely matures before it is doomed to 

 the brimstone-pit, leaving to its owner often a smaller quantity of honey than the 

 swarm would have produced if taken up three weeks after it was hived. 



" Confine the queen of an artificial swarm, so as to prevent her from depositing 

 eggs in the combs, and the colony will, in a short time in the gathering season, 

 accumulate much larger stores of honey than one whose queen is left at liberty, 

 though equal in age and population. Thus, also, a colony having a very prolific 

 queen, will, even in favorable seasons, lay up much less honey, unless ample store- 

 room is given them, than one whose queen lays fewer eggs. From these and 

 similar facts, which might bo enumerated, it is evident that a very large number 

 of particulars must be taken into consideration when endeavoring to form some 

 general rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture." DZIERZON. 



The old-fashioned bee-keeper should know well the honey-resources of his 

 district, in order to decide upon the best time for " taking up " his bees. If bees 

 are smothered, it will be found decidedly advantageous to remove and destroy their 

 queens, at least three weeks before taking their honey. In this way, the produc- 

 tion of brood and consumption of honey will be checked, and the combs will be 

 in a much better condition for melting. 



