NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE. 13 



things. In the height of the summer season, with 

 combs in good order, a Queen will lay two thousand to 

 three thousand eggs per day, and she lives four or five 

 years. 



Dzierzon says most Queens in spacious hives, and at 

 a favourable season, lay sixty thousand eggs in a month, 

 and a specially fertile Queen in four years, which she on 

 an average lives, lays over one million eggs. The rate 

 at which eggs are deposited is largely governed by the 

 strength of the population and the cell space at the 

 Queen's disposal. Under the most favourable circum- 

 stances. Bees and stores abundant, hive dry, and clean 

 empty Worker combs, in no month will breeding entirely 

 cease. But although a hive in mild weather appears toler- 

 ably full of Bees, on the appearance of frost the Bees 

 draw closer together, and when very cold, numbers even 

 get quite into the vacant cells, until but a small space 

 retains the necessary heat (from ninety to a hundred 

 degrees Fahrenheit) to hatch eggs or rear larvae. Of 

 course it is useless for the Queen (were she able) to lay 

 outside the cluster, and consequently it soon happens, 

 from the want of warm empty cells, that breeding 

 diminishes or ceases. At all times a daily loss of Bees 

 by natural deaths occurs, and it is of vital importance 

 to replace the dead by young Bees, or when spring-time 

 arrives the hive will be found to contain only a popula- 

 tion of old Bees, which will succumb to the first hard 

 work. 



But one Queen is allowed to exist in each hive, 

 although exceptional cases have been recorded where 

 this almost invariable rule has for a short time been 

 broken. In four instances which have come under my 

 personal cognizance, the dual monarchy has only been 

 permitted to continue a few days, and in three cases out 



