CHAPTER VI 
EARLY WORK IN THE BEE-CITY 
HE “turn of the days,” when the winter 
sun has passed its nadir of feebleness and 
just made its earliest wan recovery in the 
skies, marks the true beginning of the honey-bee’s 
year. Then the first few eggs are laid in the 
heart of the brood-nest; the drowsy cluster begins 
to show an interest in life; the water-carriers 
bestir themselves, watching for a bright warm 
morning that they may sally forth to ply their 
trade. 
Dangerous work it is at this season, yet most 
necessary. Without water the rearing of the 
young bees is impossible on any but the smallest 
scale. Water is needed at every stage of their 
development, and, lacking it, the progress of the 
colony must be fatally checked. Even the mature 
bees will starve and die in the midst of plenty, if 
their honey-stores are candied, and no water is 
available to dissolve the inassimilable sweets. 
The hive that shows honey crystals thrown down 
on the floor, and littering the entrance, is sure to 
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