16 HONEY BEES. 



bees attempt to overcome the difficulty, by length- 

 ening the worker cells to accommodate the mon 

 strosities. 



The queen has a sting, yet she may be handled 

 with impunity, for she will not use it except when 

 in deadly combat with a rival queen. She receives 

 the most marked attention from all members of her 

 family ; deprive a swarm of their queen, and they 

 will, as soon as the loss is known, manifest the 

 greatest agitation and alarm, and if the swarm is 

 one just hived, and only a few hours from the 

 parent stock, they will all return at once to the old 

 home. They appear to fully realize the vast im- 

 portalice of a mother, and that with no means to 

 supply her place they must soon perish ; and to 

 avoid their impending fate they return to the old 

 tiive. With old stocks deprived of their queen the 

 result is different, as will be shown further on. 

 Every one who keeps bees should strive to become 

 familiar with the appearance of the queen, that 

 they may be able to recognize her at a glance 

 among thousands of workers, as it will often be 

 necessary to look her up in my new system of bee 

 management. In looking for the queen in full 

 hives, she is usually foiind on the brood combs, 

 unless in opening the hive she may have been 

 frightened, and taken refuge in some hiding place, 

 as the corner of the hive, at the bottom ends of the 

 comb-frames, or some similar hiding place. After 

 we become familiar with her appearance and move- 

 ments we are able to find her quite readily, even 

 when the hive is crowded with bees. 



