VI. 

 APPLE BLOSSOMS. 



While queen-rearing was going on, other work was 

 not at a stand-still. In transferring I had learned 

 very accurately the condition of every stock. All 

 had honey enough ; all had pollen stored for the 

 brood ; all had brood coming forward, yet some 

 were in much better condition than others. All 

 of my original hives, which had been wintered in 

 the cellar with careful attention to temperature, 

 were strong in bees. They seemed almost to fill 

 the hive even at that early season of the year. 

 Those which I had purchased had an abundance of 

 honey, but they had fewer bees than my old ones. 

 I at once turned attention to rearing bees, for a 

 hive that is weak in bees will scarcely gather honey 

 enough for its own use, but one that is very strong 

 in bees will, in a good location and a good season, 

 store a large quantity of surplus honey. My aim 

 in keeping bees was to make a profit from them, 

 and to do this I must have every hive boiling over 

 with faithful workers. 79 



