CHAPTER V 



THE BEE FAMILY 



XTTHATEVER the race of bees kept, we 

 ' * find at the beginning of the season 

 that there are but three kinds of bees present 

 in a hive, — the queen, the drones, and the 

 workers. 



With very rare exceptions there is usually 

 but one queen present, a Hmited number of 

 drones for propagation, and about thirty 

 thousand workers, or about six quarts of bees 

 by measure. 



The queen is the mother of the entire 

 colony, and under average conditions will lay 

 from three thousand to five thousand eggs in 

 twenty-four hours, doing her best during the 

 spring and early summer. She is revered 

 by the workers and tenderly cared for, not be- 

 cause of any regal traits she possesses or royal 



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