286 LOSS OF THE QUEEN. 



extra size and slower flight make them a most tempting 

 prey to the birds, ever on the watch in the vicinity of the 

 hives ; and many, in this way, perish. Others are destroyed 

 by sudden gusts of wind, which dash them against some 

 hard object, or blow them into the water ; for they are, by 

 no means, exempt from the misfortunes common to the very 

 humblest of their race. 



Queens not unfrequently, in spite of all their caution to 

 notice the position and appearance of their habitation, make 

 a fatal mistake on their return, and are imprisoned and de- 

 stroyed as they attemp to enter the wrong hive. If suitable 

 precautions to prevent such a calamity, are neglected, those 

 who build their hives of uniform size and appearance, will 

 lose many more queens than they would in the old-fashioned 

 boxes, hardly any two of which looked just alike. 



I am confident that inore queens are lost, by mistaking 

 their hives, when they return from impregnation, than from 

 any or all other causes ; and that the use of patent hives, 

 has served, most widely, to increase the evil. Under the 

 old system of management, the hives were usually of such a 

 variety of shapes and sizes, that queens were materially 

 assisted in regaining their own, even when the colonies stood 

 very close together. For this reason, the most ignorant bee- 

 keepers, persisting to use a miscellaneous assortment of 

 forlorn and rickety hives, many of which are so rotten and 

 shaky as with difficulty to hold together, are often far more 

 successful than those whose hives are of the very best con- 

 struction. The former class lose but few of their queens, 

 while the latter class lose them in almost exact proportion to 

 the taste and skill, which induced them to fashion all their 

 hives alike, in size, shape and color. 



As I have now come to a point of the very greatest practi- 

 cal importance, I solicit the most careful attention of all who 



