26o A Modem Bee-Farm 



that the earHer bees settle down, the earher they will be in 

 Spring. The vital energies of a sound population have not 

 been wasted in producing a less hardy unseasonable batch of 

 youngsters, produced too at the expense of the stores of pollen 

 which were put by for early Spring use, and the absence of 

 which totally prevents the production of brood until a new 

 supply can be obtained from the fields. 



Even in Summer the great and constant loss of life is 

 occasioned almost entirely by continued flights ; this is the 

 hard work of the bee, though frequently its wings are first to. 

 wear, and refuse at last to carry home the body that could still, 

 labour. Only add the liability to chill in early Spring, and 

 after considering the practical relation of the foregoing facts 

 one has not much trouble in finding the cause of Spring- 

 dwindling. Very late storage of a heavy crop is on a par 

 with late Autumn " tinkering " with bees. 



It has sometimes been stated that by depriving a colony of 

 its queen during a honey flow a much larger harvest will be 

 secured. Quite true ; if one can always depend upon a heavy 

 flow following her removal ; but what is to compensate for the- 

 wear and tear during the six weeks, more or less, when no» 

 young bees are coming forward to take the place of those worni 

 out ? There is no compensation, and when a queen is given,, 

 these old bees will not raise enough young ones to go through; 

 the winter. The additional surplus, therefore, does not pay. 

 for the total loss of stock. 



To be in the highest degree profitable, year after year, a 

 colony must always be in possession of a good queen. Hitherto- 

 it has been considered that a queen is at her best during, her- 



