6 N. H. COLLEGE EXTENSION SERVICE [Bulletin 15 



reflected heat from the soil surface in spring and fall is no doubt helpful in brood rearing. 

 A stand of wood, stones or bricks raising the hive four to six inches above the ground 

 surface is beheved to be best. The stand should provide a slight slope toward the hive 

 entrance to keep out water. An alighting board sloping from the ground to the entrance 

 of the hive is also useful in sa\'ing the bees time and helping them gain ready entrance to 

 the hive when they return heavily laden with nectar or pollen. All of these hive parts 

 are shown in Figure 2. 



ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT 



In addition to the hive and its parts, the following accessories should be provided to 

 enable proper and convenient manipulation of the bees: 



I. Smoker. In constant use when working with the bees. 

 2 Bee- veil. Always desirable and nearly always necessary. 



3. Gloves. For beginners especially necessary; as experience is gained they are fre- 

 quently discarded. 



4. Hive-tool. In constant use. A screw driver or strong putty k ni fe will serve the 

 purpose fairly well. 



5. Bee-Escape-Board Fitted with Porter Bee-Escape. Especially useful in removing 

 supers of comb honey. 



6. Queen-Excluding-Boards. Either the wire or the perforated zinc tjrpe. Essential 

 where the queen is to be confined to one body as in producing extracted honey. 



7. Wire, for wiring frames. 



8. Wire Embedder. 



9. Wax foundation. The heavy or medium weight for brood frames and the thin 

 super foundation in case section honey is to be produced. 



10. As many additional hives as are needed or as are advisable for making increase of 

 colonies. 



II. A Section Foundation Fastener. There are several good makes. An excellent 

 one is made by A. A. Byard of West Chesterfield, N. H. 



12. In case comb honey is being produced, at least four or five supers for each strong 

 colony should be on hand at the beginning of the spring honey flow; for extracted honey 

 two extra bodies of nine frames each should be provided for each strong colony. 



13. An extractor, a bee brush, an uncapping knife, a settling tank and bottles or other 

 receptacles must also be provided where extracted honey is to be produced. 



LIFE HISTORY OF THE BEES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE HIVE 



Let us examine a strong healthy hive of bees some bright morning in June when both 

 nectar and pollen are being brought in, and select for this examination, if possible, a hive 

 of pure bred Italians; for while during a good honey flow all bees are more or less docile, 

 it is a decided pleasure to work with Italians, since they will mainly continue their various 

 duties, and the queen even her egg laying, seemingly little concerned as to our presence 

 and inquisitiveness. 



First, we observe that there is a continual stream leaving the entrance and another 

 stream arriving; some of these latter are heavily laden with pollen bearing a little mass 

 on each hind leg; and while the others do not show it, they too are working carrying in 

 nectar, from which by the evaporation of most of the water they produce their honey. 



Second, we notice a few bees just in front of the hive entrance. They are facing the 

 entrance and are standing almost on their heads, with abdomen pointing upwards and 

 with wings in rapid motion. These are the forced-draught operators, fanning a current 

 of air inwards and upwards over the combs, partly for ventilation, but chiefly to evap- 

 orate the large amount of water from the nectar recently carried in. 



Still other bees are acting as entrance guards. They aim to satisfy themselves, ap- 

 parently by sense of smell, that every bee entering the hive is a member of their own 

 colony. They are ever ready to start the fight of defence against robber bees from other 

 colonies, which are sure to be lurking around in times of nectar shortage, especially if 

 they suspect the hive of weakness. These sentries also aim to keep out bee-moths and 

 other insects, and to drive off animals and man unless he observes certain rules of the 

 game known to beekeepers. 



The bees which we have so far noted are the workers, of which there are often 50,000 

 to even 100,000 or more in the case of exceptionally strong colonies. These workers' are 

 in reaUty females, but not completely developed sexually. They never mate, but under 

 certain conditions where a hive is without a queen one or more of them sometimes 

 develops egg laying, but lays only unfertihzed drone-producing eggs. In addition to 



