48 PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 



people who keep bees secured surplus honey, worth 

 the name. 



To secure honey, in quantity it is necessary that 

 the stocks should be at their strongest just at 

 the time when the main honey flow occurs in their 

 particular locality — just at the time, neither before 

 nor after. This is only to be secured by having 

 good queens at the heads of the colonies, and by 

 careful attention in the way of management as 

 described in the previous chapter. At the time 

 when the honey flow is about to commence the 

 brood-chamber of all hives should be a solid mass 

 of brood, and if it is not in that conditiqn it must 

 be made so. This may be done by uniting the 

 Stocks as described elsewhere. It is a common 

 failing with the majority of bee-keepers to esti- 

 mate the strength of their apiary by the number 

 of hives containing bees. This is entirely wrong, 

 for often half of the hives ' contain bees that are 

 but remnants of colonies. §uch hives are of no 

 use at all for honey production, and left to them- 

 selves they might secure sufficient honey for their 

 own consumption, but that would be all. If, how- 

 ever, they are united under one roof, making up 

 a colony packed with bees and brood, good re- 

 sults will be secured if the season be favourable. 

 That is the great secret of honey, production — 

 hives packed with bees and brood at the right 

 time. Two colonies of bees under one roof will 

 secure far more honey than if they, were separate, 

 and therefore as honey is what is required, unite, 



