58 



A Modem Bee-Farm 



CHAPTER V 



HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD WORKING 

 STOCK. 



IN all apiaries it is found that a certain colony, or 

 perhaps a few stocks, surpass all the rest in the 

 amount of honey collected ; and the remark is often 

 made that of two colonies standing side by side, ap- 

 parently equal in every respect, one gave a large surplus 

 while the other did almost nothing. Reader, let us reason 

 together, and see if it be not possible to explain the 

 apparent mystery. As a matter of fact 



The Whole Secret of Successful Honey Production 



consists in always maintaining the proper proportion of 

 adult working bees in relation to the quantity of brood 

 and young bees on hand. Here, then, can be discerned 

 the difference. One colony was so favourably constituted 

 that the queen was able to produce the full working force 

 before the honey flow came on ; while the other could not 

 breed to her fullest capacity until after the season com- 

 menced. In the latter case the working force is unable to 

 do much more than keep the rapidly increasing brood nest 

 and large population of young bees supplied. With such 

 an undue proportion of consumers on hand the queen now 

 has it all her own way, and her combs are one mass of 

 brood. 



