and its Economic Management. 207 
Spring without finding breeding going on to some extent ; 
consequently sound old combs must be looked upon as a 
mine of wealth, which only the most reckless bee-keeper 
would think of destroying. 
Here is another Picture. 
Just look at the stock on nearly new combs, and the 
totally different state they present. They may be the 
stronger lot in Autumn ; but now watch how rapidly their 
stores disappear, there is little or no breeding through the 
cool season, and in Spring no great energy is displayed in 
that direction until the other hive is almost ready to swarm, 
and yet the latter still has the larger reserve of stores. 
Can any sane man question which is going to be the more 
profitable colony ? 
Large Combs. 
There is another very important matter to be re-con- 
sidered where honey-production as a profitable pursuit on 
a commercial scale is to be carried out. No bee-keeper 
dare neglect the advantages offered by large combs in the 
stock chamber if he is looking for a reliable source of 
revenue year after year. This desirable consummation of 
many a bee-keeper’s hopes has time after time been 
utterly unattainable, because of the simple fact that the 
hive and frames used, more often than his own manage- 
ment, have been quite unsuited to the object in view. The 
larger comb-surface of the Commercial frame affords 
Greater Security in Winter, 
from the fact that the combs are better filled because of 
the more prosperous condition of the colony at all times, 
while a larger stored surface is within reach of the winter 
cluster, and early Spring breeding is more regular. 
