ii8 BEE-FARMING. 



Nature for her care in preserving and multiplying the 

 species. But from these facts we must now admire her 

 precautions in exposing certain individuals to a mortal 

 hazard."* 



The queen bee may survive five or six years, but she 

 is not so productive after the third year. In ordinary 

 years, in our climate, she ceases laying in October, and 

 commences again in January, or, as is sometimes the case 

 in very cold springs, in February. It is curious to note 

 that when enfeebled with age she still lays abundantly, 

 but the eggs produce only drones. 



Hives such as the bar-frame hives, which allow the 

 queen to be removed when the bees can raise another and 

 younger queen from the worker brood, are invaluable to 

 practical hee-farmen. 



THE WORKER-BEE. 



The worker-bee is an imperfectly-developed queen or 

 female. They vary in number, for in a prosperous colony 

 they may number above fifteen thousand, whilst in a weak 

 hive there may be no more than ten thousand. Some 

 writers have divided them into several sections, according 

 to their work or tasks assigned them in the hive; thus 

 they have nurses, wax-makers, ventilators, honey-collectors, 

 &c. This we believe to be only imaginary, lor every bee 

 in the course of its life may undertake each of the above 

 divisions of labour. 



This, the hard-working member of the industrious 

 hive, is very short-lived. Dr. Bevan thinks the limit of 

 its age to be from six to eight months. When we 

 consider the immense numbers killed by accident or eaten 

 by birds we are astonished to think how the strength 



* Bevan. 



