36 BULLETIN 1349, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



daily egg-laying rates found by Briinnich (6) even the highest is 

 slightly below 2,000. In fact, he states his belief that a daily rate of 

 2,000 eggs has never been exceeded in any of his colonies. 



At the end of his article already referred to, Dufour (11) makes a 

 statement which applies with equal effect to the colonies used in this 

 work. Although he recognizes that the egg-laying rates which he 

 publishes are only averages and, as such were undoubtedly exceeded 

 at times, he justly asserts that the results of his work do not warrant 

 the assumption that any such daily egg-laying rates as 3,000 or more 

 had ever been reached in any of the colonies used in his experiments. 

 Since the daily egg-laying average for any season is far below the 

 daily egg-laying average for any particular number of days within 

 the maximum of that season, it is readily seen that the remarkably 

 high rates of egg laying over short periods, so often published in 

 beekeeping literature, can not be used as the daily averages for an 

 entire season. 



CONCLUSIONS 



In this work no special effort has been made to modify the time of 

 the various phases of brood rearing or to increase their intensity other 

 than to provide adequate stores and ample room at most times; the 

 colonies were therefore in much the same condition as might be found 

 in an average apiary. The following conclusions may be drawn from 

 the records of brood rearing presented here : 



The number of bees in the colony at the beginning of brood rearing 

 in the spring, the ability of the queen, the abundance of stores, the 

 suitability of the combs and proper insulation are the most important 

 factors within the control of the beekeeper which, determine the 

 amount of brood reared by a colony. 



The seasonal brocd cycle in any region is marked by certain definite 

 phases — the initial expansion, the major period, and the final con- 

 traction. These tend to remain constant from year to year, their 

 normal occurrence and magnitude being determined to a large degree 

 by local weather conditions and by the local honey flows and pollen 

 yields. 



A strong colony tends to retain its strength from year to year, 

 other things being equal. s 



A queen at times transfers her egg-laying activity from one hive 

 body to another, without any appreciable diminution in her rate of 

 egg-laying if the combs are good. 



The possibility of young bees occurring to such an excess as to be 

 conducive to swarming is reduced if the queen has ready access to 

 another hive body, in case egg laying in the one already occupied 

 becomes restricted through incoming pollen, nectar, or brood-rearing 

 activity. 



Every colony used in 1921 shows a migration of the queen from 

 one hive body to another, from which it may be inferred that if 

 only one hive body had been available the amount of brood reared 

 would have been reduced. 



There is a decided tendency for the brood area of the colony to 

 be confined to adjacent combs in one or more hive bodies in such a 

 way as to maintain the brood area in compact form. 



Although it can not be concluded from this investigation that the 

 use of old queens is always disastrous, the records show that their 

 use is accompanied with risk. 



