254 -^ Modem Bee-Farm 



workers returning to the original stand. It will readily be 

 seen therefore that bees from inferior stock may thus gain the 

 prize in competition with others not so prepared, though the 

 latter may on the whole possess the better qualities. 



The man who enters a large bee-farm for a term in the 

 hope of gaining an insight into the practical management of 

 the same, must not think all the. necessary information js to 

 be picked up simply by looking around and paying occasional 

 visits to the apiary. On the contrary, he must make up his 

 mind to go there to work just as any other apprentice or 

 assistant. The daily routine must be gone through in every 

 particular, and though some manipulations may be repeated 

 constantly, it will be only by such close study and application 

 that he will make himself master of the entire practical 

 management. 



Many inquire how they are to know when honey is coming 

 in. Examination of the hive will, of course, show every 

 vacant cell being more or less occupied with the thin newly- 

 gathered nectar. The bees, too, come in with distended 

 bodies, falling heavily upon the flight board. Sometimes the 

 aroma of the incoming stores is distinctly noticeable, more 

 particularly at evening when many bees are ventilating at the 

 entrance, and a perfect roar is heard throughout the .apiary. 

 Apart from this, the advanced apiarist has an instinctive 

 feeling that honey is, or is not, being gathered. The state of 

 the atmosphere and his knowledge of surrounding crops tell 

 him at once what to expect. The temperature may range 

 anywhere from 70° to 90° in the shade, but if it continue too 

 hot and dry for more than ten or fourteen days, the amount of 

 honey brought in will decrease daily, unless there happen to 

 be a succession of heavy ground crops coming along, when, 



