bee-keepers' axioms. 555 



Thus, bees that come back loaded from the field, or bees that 

 have gorged themselves for swarming, are not dangerous. 



2d. The bees that are to be feared are those that have 

 joined a swarm without fully gorging themselves. In the 

 hive, the guardians, and the old bees that are ready to depart 

 for the field, are the most dangerous. 



3d. During a good honey harvest, the bees are nearly all 

 filled with honey and there is but little danger from stinging. 



4th. Those races of bees that cannot be compelled, by 

 smoke, to fill themselves with honey, are the most dangerous, 

 to handle. 



5th. Bees dislike any quick movements about their hives, 

 especially any motion that jars their combs. 



6th. The bee-keeper will ordinarily derive all his profits 

 from colonies, strong and healthy in early Spring. 



7th. In districts where forage is abundant only for a short 

 period, the largest yield of honey will be secured by a very 

 moderate increase of colonies. , 



8th. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, 

 will, in the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and 

 cheapest mode of managing bees. 



9th. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will 

 inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee-moth, or 

 by robber-bees. 



10th. It must be obvious, to every intelligent bee-keeper, 

 that the perfect control of the combs of the hive is the soul of 

 a system of practical management, which may be modified to 

 suit the wants of all who cultivate bees. 



11th. A man, who knows "all about bees," and does not 

 believe that anything more can be gained by reading Bee- 

 Journals, new bee-books, etc., will soon be far behind the 

 age. Yet, as what is written in the journals and books, ours 

 included, is not always perfectly correct, every bee-keeper 

 should try to sift the grain from the chaff. 



12th. The formation of new colonies should ordinarily be 

 confined to the season when bees are accumulating honey; 



