96 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



honey-crop is lost for want of bees to gather it. 

 If, therefore, the new system of plurality of queens 

 both justifies and establishes itself, the near future 

 may see a revolution in all ideas relating to bee- 

 manship. All that can be said for certain at 

 present is that as many as five queens have been 

 induced to occupy the same hive in peace and 

 quiet together ; but whether this portentous state 

 of affairs can remain a lasting one is still to be 

 proved, 



A curious and, to the expert, a startling outcome 

 of these efforts to break down an old and almost 

 universal custom in bee-life, is that the successful 

 establishment of several mother-bees in a single 

 hive appears to lessen the swarming impulse. 

 Hives so treated do not send out a swarm so far 

 as is known. One of the most disappointing 

 experiences in bee-craft is to see prosperous stocks 

 breaking themselves up into several hopelessly 

 weak detachments just before the great honey- 

 flow, when strength of numbers is the one vital 

 thing ; and if plurality of queens will prevent 

 this vexatious evil, the old time-honoured custom 

 is sure to go. 



The student of bee-life, watching the year's 

 work in the hive from its earliest beginnings, and 

 marking its steady, cautious development, will 

 readily see how the ancient idea of the mother- 

 bee's absolute monarchy gained its vogue. The 

 deception of appearances is all but complete. 



