254 SUMMER. . 



Boon would have. I continued to watch, them with 

 much interest, but somehow, after a few weeks, there 

 did not seem to be quite. as many bees ; a few days 

 later, I was quite sure there was not. I examined the 

 combs, and behold there was not a cell containing a 

 young bee of any age, not even an egg in any one of 

 . these old stocks. My visionary anticipations of future 

 success speedily retrograded about this time. 



I had, it is true, my new swarms in condition to 

 winter, although not quite full ; but the old ones 

 were not, and nothing was gained. I had some 

 honey, a great deal of bee-bread and old black comb. 

 Had I let them alone, and put on boxes, I should 

 have probably obtained twenty-five or thirty pounds 

 of pure honey from each, worth five times as much as 

 what I did get ; besides, the old stocks, even with the 

 old comb, would have been better supplied with 

 both honey and bees ; altogether much better, as 

 stocks for wintering. Here was a considerable losa^ 

 merely by not understanding the matter. 



I carefully looked the bees over, and ascertained to 

 a certainty that neither of them had a queen. I 

 smothered what few there was left in the fall. I then 

 knew of no better way. I had been told that the bar- 

 barous use of fire and brimstone was part of the 

 " luck;" that a more benevolent system would cause 

 the bees " to run out," &c. 



FURTHER EXPERIMENTS. 



Subsequent to these experiments, I thought per- 

 haps the jarring of the hives in driving might luave 



