equally efficient the second season. Few, if any, favor retaining a 
queen after she has given service two seasons, unless she is kept 
for breeding purposes. 
Drone 
A great horde of drones in the hive adds to the general unrest 
and serves to aggravate the swarm impulse. Try as we may to pre- 
vent, the bees will raise more drones than will ever be needed. The 
remedy, besides having a young queen, is to provide such condi- 
tions within the hive that drone-rearing will be restricted. This 
may be accomplished by using full sheets of foundation in the 
frames, and better results will be had when medium brood founda- 
tion is used rather than light brood foundation. The light weight 
is too much subject to damage by the bees, often resulting in “sagged” 
cells of such a size that drones are reared in them. 
Ventilation 
Bees have a ventilating system which provides that there shall 
be a current of air passing through the spaces within the hive in 
summer. This insures that the temperature shall be kept below a 
point where the combs and brood would suffer damage. When a 
considerable number, say two dozen, of bees are seen on the alight- 
ing board with heads turned towards the entrance vigorously fan- 
ning with the wings they are drawing a current of the air out of the 
hive and another current rushes in to replace that withdrawn. Not 
alone are the bees working on the alighting board in this manner, 
but there are bees so working all through the hive. This takes a 
great many bees from other work and creates a condition of unrest 
within the hive favoring the swarming impulse. This condition 
can be remedied to a considerable extent by providing more space 
for the egress and ingress of air. This is accomplished by raising 
the front of the hive from the bottom board and supporting it by 
a block under each front corner, the block to be 3/4 inches or 7/8 
inches thick. This provides a front entrance 3/4 or 7/8 inches deeper 
as the case may be, and also provides a triangular opening on 
either side, securing much better ventilation. Sometimes the hack 
of the hive is similarly raised. 
The hive should be replaced directly on the bottom board by the 
time cool nights occur in the fall, if not done before this time. This 
blocking up should not be done unless the bees show by their excessive 
fanning that it is needed. No damage will occur to a colony so 
manipulated when it is strong enough to indicate this need of more 
ventilation. 
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