228 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



If a strong stock of bees in a hive of moderate size, 

 which admits of thorough inspection, is examined at the 

 height of the honey harvest, nearly all the cells will often 

 be found filled with brood, honey or bee-bread. The great 

 laying of the queen, according to some virriters, is now over, 

 not however as they erroneously imagine, because her fer- 

 tility has decreased, but merely because there is not room 

 in the hive for all her eggs. She may often be seen rest- 

 lessly traversingjthe combs, seeking in vain for empty cells, 

 until finding none, she is compelled to extrude her eggs only 

 to be devoured by the bees. (See p. 52.) If some of the 

 full combs are removed, and empty ones substituted in their 

 place, she will speedily fill them, laying at the rate of two 

 or three thousand a day ! When my strong stocks are from 

 time to time deprived of one or two combs, if honey can ea- 

 sily be procured,* the bees proceed at once to replace them, 

 and the queen commences laying in the new combs as soon 

 as the cells are fairly started. If the combs are not removed 

 too fast, and care is taken not to deprive the stock of so 

 much brood that the bees cannot keep up a vigorous popu- 

 lation, a queen in a hive so managed, will lay her eggs in 

 cells to be nurtured by the bees, instead of being eaten up ; 

 and thus, in the course of the season, she may become the 

 mother of three or four times as many bees, as are reared 

 in a hive under other circumstances. By careful manage- 

 ment, brood enough may, in this way, be taken from a sin- 

 gle hive, to build up a large number of nuclei. Towards 

 the close of the season however, as such a hive has been 

 constantly tasked in building comb and feeding young bees, 

 almost all its honey will have been used for these purposes, 

 and although it may be very populous, unless it is hberally 

 fed, it will be sure to perish. Since the discovery that un- 



* If they cannot obtain it, the Apiarian must himself furnish it. 



