THE COMMON OR WORKING BEES. 17 
of early life—oceupy themselves exclusively in field 
tasks, except when there are an insullicient number 
of younger ones to attend to them. The bees’ out- 
door labours are also adverted to under the heading 
just noted, as well as in the section upon ‘‘ Bee 
Pasturage.” 
The longevity of the working bees has often 
furnished matter for dispute, and erroneous ideas have 
been engendered where a family has been seen for a 
series of years to continue in a populous and thriving 
condition. But during this period the queen (or more 
than one in succession) has been incessantly occupied 
in laying eggs innumerable, to supply by new births 
the place of the countless thousands of bees that 
periodically disappear. Their dwelling has remained, 
but successive generations of tenants have kept its 
works in repair, giving way in time to fresh occupants. 
The determination of the age they do really attain 
has been rendered comparatively simple by the in- 
troduction of the Italian bee; for nothing more is 
needed than to substitute an Italian queen for a 
common one, and then to note carefully the interval 
before the last of the old variety has disappeared 
from the hive. The results vary widely according 
to the season of the year, for the summer labour, 
especially if the bees have to fly gréat distances, 
or amongst corn or other vegetation damaging to 
their wings, will shorten their lives from four to ten 
fold. In fact during this season an active worker 
can never live longer than three months, while 
numbers will be worn out in as many weeks, and six 
weeks is set down as the average summer term of 
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