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SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



The Caucasian bee has only recently been introduced into this country 

 and has not yet established wide popularity. It is prolific and so gentle 

 that some report it to be without sting. This, however, is not the case. 



The Italian bee is the most satisfactory and profitable. It is more 

 gentle than either the German or Cyprian, and quite prolific. It is hand- 

 some in color, having yellow bands, and is an energetic worker in gathering 

 honey. It is also most active in defence of its home against marauders. 

 In order to winter well, the Italian bee must be well protected. 



Personnel and Activity of Colony. — A bee colony consists ordinarily 

 of one queen bee, who is the mother of the colony, and a multitude of 

 females (sexually undeveloped), who carry on the work of the hive. The 



The Honey Bee. 1 

 A — Worker. B — Queen. C — Drone. Twice natural size. 



queen bee lays all the eggs. The female workers lay no eggs at all. It is 

 their duty to gather honey, feed the young, keep the hive clean; in fact, 

 perform all the labors of the hive. 



During some parts of the year, hundreds of males, commonly called 

 drones, live in the colony. These perform no labor. Their mission is to 

 mate with the young queens. Their number should be restricted by the 

 keeper. 



The bee hive permits of no idlers after the young queens are mated. 

 The drones are then destroyed by the workers. Even the queen bee is 

 killed or superseded by a younger queen as soon as she lays no more eggs. 

 In fact, any individual in the colony who ceases to be useful is immediately 

 put to death or thrown out to perish. 



The length of life of any bee depends much upon the time of year and 

 amount of labor performed. In summer, which is the working season, a 

 worker bee will live about 45 days. During the winter months, while 



Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletin 447. 



