34 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



It is evident, on reflection, that this pursuit, if well attended 

 to, must occupy some considerable share of a man's time 

 and thoughts. He must be often about his bees, which will 

 help to counteract the baneful effect of the village inn. 

 " Whoever is fond of his bees is fond of his home," is an 

 axiom of irrefragable truth, and one which ought to kindle 

 in every one's breast, a favorable regard for a pursuit which 

 has the power to produce so happy an influence. The love 

 of home is the companion of many other virtues, which, 

 if not yet developed into actual exercise, are still only dor- 

 ' mant, and may be roused into wakeful energy at any mo- 

 ment." 



The fertility of the queen bee has been much under- 

 estimated by most writers. It is truly astonishing. During 

 the height of the breeding season, she will often, under 

 favorable circumstances, lay from two to three thousand 

 eggs, a day ! In my observing hives, 1 have seen her lay, 

 at the rate of six eggs a minute ! The fecundity of the 

 female of the white ant, is much greater than this, as she 

 will lay as many as sixty eggs a minute ! but then her eggs 

 are simply extruded from her body, to be carried by the 

 workers into suitable nurseries, while the queen bee herself 

 deposits her eggs in their appropriate cells. 



f 



On the WAT IN WHICH THE EGGS OF THE QuEEN BeE ARE 

 FECUNDATED. 



I come now to a subject of great practical importance, 

 and one which, until quite recently, has been attended with 

 apparently insuperable difficulties. 



It has been noticed that the queen bee commences laying 

 in the latter part of winter, or early in spring, and long 

 before there are any drones or males in the hive. (See 



