BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 47 



fectual, even during the natural life of the queen, then 

 the theory of impregnation with the drones on the wing 

 is untenable. But such proof cannot be adduced — on 

 the other hand, it is perfectly reasonable, that the queen 

 should never lose the virtue of a primary coition, be- 

 cause there is seldom, or never, a total cessation of lay- 

 ing in the strongest families. I contend that in every 

 strong and healthy family of bees, brood may be found 

 every month in the' year, and that the ovary of the 

 queen is never wholly void of the fecundating principle, 

 after once being fully impregnated. I do not say that 

 brood may be found in every hive, because half of the 

 hives in existence at the present time, are not in that 

 condition that nature intended a family of bees to be in. 



There have been so many tinkers at work, of late 

 years, in forcing bees out of their natural habits, that it 

 would not be surprising if the whole race of bees should 

 become extinct, before the beginning of the next cen- 

 tury. Nature so intended a family of bees, that a suf- 

 ficient body of them should always be together, to be 

 able to generate a natural animal heat even in the dead 

 of winter ; and such families, having a healthy queen, will 

 seldom or never be wholly void of brood in their tene- 

 ments. I do not suppose or contend, that in the winter 

 season, the bees are breeding so as to make any mate- 

 rial accession to their numbers, even in a state of the 

 greatest prosperity, but a very few larvae may be found 

 in the coldest weather, in many strong families. 



But what are we to do with those families that are 

 weak, and in which the queens discontinue laying in 



