16 BULLETIN 1349, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



weeks, with the emergence of many bees in both the second and third 

 hive bodies, the queen had more room and was able to approach a 

 rate comparable to that attained in the same period of the following 

 year. In the second place, there was an exceptionally large quantity 

 of honeydew available, associated with incoming pollen during June, 

 and also a certain amount of nectar from sweet clover. Throughout 

 this month the queen had all the room needed for a normal response 

 to these stimuli. In both seasons, after July 1, the brood curves 

 follow parallel courses during the remainder of the major periods. 

 At the end of July in each season brood-rearing activity had been 

 reduced to approximately one-half that represented by the maximum 

 of the same year. 



FINAL CONTRACTION, COLONY NO. 4 



In each year the final seasonal contraction in brood-rearing activity 

 took place almost entirely in October, covering only three weeks in 

 1921 and four weeks in 1922. The abruptness of the contraction in 

 these few weeks is shown from the fact that in the last week of 

 September there were practically half as many cells of sealed brood 

 as were found in the maximum counts for the respective years. As a 

 result, the colony entered each following season strong in bees. 



The brood-rearing record of this colony, although not ideal, is the 

 most satisfactory of any of the 16 colonies because the maximum 

 brood rearing bears some correlation to the initial expansion. The 

 portion of the major period immediately following the period of 

 main nectar secretion is not marked by a disproportionate degree of 

 brood-rearing activity. In the late stages of the major period, more- 

 over, there is an increase in brood rearing, providing a sufficient 

 number of newly emerged bees at the beginning of the final contrac- 

 tion to insure successful wintering and an auspicious beginning of the 

 next active season. That conditions within the colony remained 

 nearly constant during the two consecutive years is indicated by the 

 striking similarity in the curves of brood-rearing activity during 

 both active seasons. (Fig. 18.) At the beginning of the experiment 

 this colony was fairly strong; and, although it was subjected to no 

 special manipulations except to have plenty of room and stores 

 available at all times, it was fully as strong in bees at the beginning 

 Of the seasonal suspension in the fall of 1922 as it was in early spring 

 in 1921. The performance of this colony, therefore, leads to the con- 

 clusion that, other conditions being equal, a strong colony tends to 

 remain strong. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE REMAINING COLONIES 



Having given the record for colony No. 4 in some detail for the 

 two seasons, it is not necessary to discuss so minutely the records 

 of the remaining colonies observed during the season of 1921. Only 

 the outstanding points regarding the various colonies will be con- 

 sidered. Unless otherwise stated, all colonies lived through the 

 winter of 1921-22. 



Colony No. 1 had been wintered without packing but was provided 

 with an abundance of stores and had a 1920 queen. The brood- 

 rearing activity of this colony furnishes a good example of the re- 

 sponse of a mediocre queen to such a combination of factors as suf- 

 ficient stores, sufficient worker bees, and sufficient brood cells at the 



