56 HAUDY BOOK OF BEES. 



filled with it, is generally th.e most prosperous, — all other 

 things heing equal. 



Three years ago we had a hive which we considered 

 second to none. In the autumn previous it received a 

 large swarm, and therefore was very populous. It was a 

 large hive, and weighed about 50 lb. It was deemed the 

 best hive in our possession. It lost but few bees during 

 the winter. We expected an early swarm from it, but 

 somehow it loitered behind the rest. It gathered three, 

 four, and five pounds of honey a-day off the fruit-tree 

 blossoms. Still it did not come up to the swarming 

 point. At last we swarmed it before it was ready ; and 

 three weeks later we drove aU the bees out of it into an 

 empty hive. "We then found the cause of its sluggish 

 .movements : four-fifths of the breeding combs were filled 

 with farina or bee-bread. Pollen is mixed with honey 

 and water when used in the feeding of young bees. And 

 occasionally it may be mixed with wax in the manufacture 

 of lids of cells. Bees do not eat it. They die of starva- 

 tion with a superabundance of it in their hives. 



