and its Economic Management. 65 
The apiarist must not be content with bees of average 
or less than average quality, as too frequently happens. 
The usual yield is from 25 lbs. to 30 lbs. of surplus, 
and yet it is possible, by careful selection in breeding, 
to secure an average exceeding 100 lbs. per hive. 
CHAPTER V. 
HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD WORKING 
STOCK. 
N most apiaries it is found that a certain colony, or 
$ perhaps a few stocks, surpass all the rest in the 
amount of honey collected ; and the remark is often 
made that of two colonies standing side by side, apparently 
equal in every respect, one gave a large surplus while the 
other did almost nothing. Reader, let us reason together, 
and see if it be not possible to explain the apparent 
mystery. As a matter of fact 
The Whole Secret of Successful Honey Production 
consists in always maintaining the proper proportion of 
_adult working bees in relation to the quantity of brood 
and young bees on hand. Here, then, can be discerned 
the difference. One colony was so favorably constituted 
that the queen was able to produce the full working force 
before the honey flow came on; while the other could 
not breed to her fullest capacity until after the season 
commenced. In the latter case the working force is unable 
to do much more than keep the rapidly increasing brood 
nest and large population of young bees supplied. 
The colony which gained the proper balance of population 
at an early date, on the contrary, has the larger proportion 
iy 
