potas 
* 
96 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
honey-crop is lost for want of bees to gather it. 
If, therefore, the new system of plurality of queens 
both justifies and establishes itself, the near future 
may see a revolution in all ideas relating to bee- 
manship. All that can be said for certain at 
present is that as many as five queens have been 
induced to occupy the same hive in peace and 
quiet together; but whether this portentous state 
of affairs can remain a lasting one is still to be 
proved. 
A curious and, to the expert, a startling outcome 
of these efforts to break down an old and almost 
universal custom in bee-life, is that the successful 
establishment of several mother-bees in a single 
hive appears to lessen the swarming impulse. 
Hives so treated do not send out a swarm so far 
as is known. One of the most disappointing 
experiences in bee-craft is to see prosperous stocks 
breaking themselves up into several hopelessly 
weak detachments just before the great honey- 
flow, when strength of numbers is the one vital 
thing; and if plurality of queens will prevent 
this vexatious evil, the old time-honoured custom 
is sure to go. 
The student of bee-life, watching the year’s 
work in the hive from its earliest beginnings, and 
marking its steady, cautious development, will 
readily see how the ancient idea of the mother- 
bee’s absolute monarchy gained its vogue. The 
deception of appearances is all but complete. 
