HOW TO KEEP BEES. 



25 



exceptions to this, but the rule is a safe one to go by, and all queens 

 should be replaced by young ones after the second summer. Many 

 successful bee-keepers re-queen all colonies each year. 



THE WORKERS. 



These are the most numerous members of 

 the colony. (Fig. 20.) They are females, but 

 with the reproductive organs not fully de- 

 veloped, and onty under some abnormal con- 

 ditions do any of them lay eggs, such layers 

 being termed "laying workers" and their eggs 

 produce only drones (males) . fig. 20.— worker. 



The workers gather all the nectar, turn it into honey, gather the 

 pollen and propolis, secrete the wax, build the comb, maintain the 

 heat of the colony, feed the larvae, and do all the work of the hive. 

 They are also the ones which do the stinging. They live about ninety 

 days during the busy season of the year. Those hatched in the fall 

 live until the following spring. 



THE DRONES. 



These are the male bees and normally are produced only at such 

 seasons as bees rear young queens and swarm. 

 They have not the instinct nor are they 

 constructed so they can work. Their sole 

 known function is to perpetuate the race. 

 They are much larger than workers or queen 

 and they have no sting. They are dependent on 

 the workers for food and when the latter want 

 to get rid of them they refuse to feed them 

 and drive them from the hive. (See Fig. 21.) 



BEE BEHAVIOR. 



The fundamental law of honey-bee life is cooperation. Though 

 each individual goes about her work of her own volition, the results 

 of her efforts are added to those of the rest of the colony. 



