CHANGING OLD QUEENS l^R 'SOUNG ONES. 91 



of the worker is only a few months — not more than 

 from two to four — a great many do not live out half 

 that time. So it will be seen that it is only by keep- 

 ing healthy and prolific queens in each stock, that 

 we can have populous stocks, such as will pay a 

 good profit. 



In my experiments I have in several instances 

 taken from a vigorous and very populous stock their 

 qtieen, and at the same time deprived them of the 

 means of rearing another. This was done in the 

 honey season. In such cases the bees kept on with 

 their labor, though with visible reluctance and an 

 appearance of discouragement, the number of bees 

 decreasing very rapidly, and in from two to three 

 months nearly all had disappeared, not more than 

 two or three hundred remaining, where there had 

 been from thirty thousand to fifty thousand all in a 

 prosperous condition. 



Other instances have come under my observation, 

 clearly showing that the life of the worker honey 

 bee is only of a few months duration. One case in 

 fact will show : I removed the native queen from 

 a very strong stock of native or black bees, in the 

 honey season, and introduced an Italian queen, in 

 order to change the stock from native to Italian. 

 The reader will readily understand that every egg 

 deposited by the Italian queen, after her introduc- 

 tion, will produce the Italian variety, the workers 

 of which are entirely distinct in color from the na- 

 tives. In a few days after the introduction of the 

 Italian queen I found the natives were disappearing, 

 and soon after the Italians began to appear. The 



