UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1349 



Washington, D. C. T September, 1925 



THE BROOD-REARING CYCLE OF THE 

 HONEYBEE 



W. J. NOLAN, Associate Apicuiturist 



Division of Bee Culture Investigations, Bureau of Entomology 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Method 4 



Annual Brood-Rearing Cycle 6 



Description of the Colonies Used in 1921 12 



Seasonal Characteristics of 1921 13 



Brood Rearing of a Typical Colony for Two Successive Seasons '. . 14 



General Observations on the Remaining Colonies 16 



General Discussion of the Records for 1921 25 



Observations in 1920 27 



Migrations of the Queen Within the Hive 30 



Compactness of Brood Nest 32 



Time Relation of Brood Rearing to Nectar Gathered . .' 33 



Egg Laying 35 



Conclusions 36 



Literature Cited 37 



Tables 38 



Graphs 44 



WASHINGTON 



GOVERNMENT PRINTINC OFFICE 



192S 



