46 Beekeeping 



Brood. 



The developmental stages of bees (Fig. 35) are discussed 

 in a later chapter (p. 93) and, for our present purpose, it is 

 necessary only to present a general statement concerning 

 the numbers of individuals in these developmental stages 

 in the colony. In the earliest stages of brood-rearing (in 

 late winter in the North), the queen lays only a few eggs a 

 day and the number increases to 1500 or more a day in an 

 average colony. In exceptional cases, however, this may be 

 exceeded until there are in the combs at one time as many as 

 40,000 developing bees in all stages, and possibly of all three 

 kinds of bees. Incidentally, this gives some basis for an 

 estimate of the death rate of the adult bees of the colony. 

 If bees emerge from the comb at the rate of 1500 a day dur- 

 ing a honey-flow, the population of the colony is not notic- 

 ably increased, indicating that 1500 or more bees from that 

 colony are dying daily. In the spring when the bees are 

 working less in gathering nectar, the population increases 

 rapidly, indicating a much lower death rate. Truly, bees 

 are creatures of a day. 



NATURAL NEST 



In a wild state, the bee colony lives in a hollow tree or 

 cavity in the rocks, although they thrive in the artificial 

 hive provided by the beekeeper. An examination of a wild 

 colony will assist in the understanding of various manipu- 

 lations and hive arrangements. The combs which form 

 their abode are composed of wax secreted by the workers 

 (p. 108). The horizontal, hexagonal cells of the two vertical 

 layers constituting each comb have interplaced ends on a 

 common septum (Fig. 36). In the cells of these combs are 

 reared the developing workers and drones, honey and pollen 

 also being stored in such cells. These combs hang from the 

 top of the cavity and are frequently also attached to the 

 sides. They are rarely built upward from a lower support. 



The cells built naturally are not all of the same size. The 



