72 BREEDING. 



guessed at. If we examine a thrifty stock in the 

 height of the breeding season, Ave shall find combs 

 filled with brood, amounting frequently to three quar- 

 ters of all in the hive. Now by t)bserving the number 

 of cells to the square inch, it is easy to get the num- 

 ber to the square foot; then multiply this number 

 again by the number of combs in a hive, and we shall 

 have the whole number of cells. For instance, a 

 comb one inch square of worker cells, contains on 

 both sides about 50; at this rate, one twelve inches 

 square contains over 7,000. Suppose a hive contains 

 eight such combs, and that 120 square inches of each 

 of the eight combs are used for brood, we have eight 

 times 120 square inches of brood ; 50 to the square 

 inch would multiply into 48,000 cells. A part of 

 these cells, say one or two combs would contain cells 

 for drones ; these are a little larger, and would reduce 

 the number some ; also, some few might be empty, the 

 young bees having just left them, and a few might be 

 occupied here and there with bee-bread or honey. In 

 all, the number might be one quarter of what is termed 

 brood comb. Take this number from the 48,000, and 

 we have left 86,000 cells actually occupied at one time 

 with brood, including eggs, larvae, and chrysalis. "We 

 must remember that the time, from the egg first de- 

 posited to the mature bee, is not over 25 days at most; 

 we perceive that all now in the cells must have been 

 put there by the queen within the last 25 days I This 

 number divides into about 1,500 for each day ! Here 

 are some data to guess from. Eggs are frequently found 

 in new hives in a few hours after being hived, but they 



