APPLE BLOSSOMS. 87 



combs suitable for market, and ripening it, when 

 otherwise they would be idle, not getting honey 

 enough from day to day to supply the needs of the 

 hive, and hence consuming a part of what they had 

 already stored. 



8. So far as I could see, it seemed certain : 



(a) That whatever honey was fed to a hive would 

 be kept by the bees in the hive. For them to take 

 it outside the hive would be contrary to all that 

 was known of the nature of the bees. 



(b). That a portion of what was fed them would 

 be consumed by the bees themselves, but they 

 would eat no more than they needed. It was most 

 profitable for me that they should have all they 

 needed. 



(c). That some of what was fed them would be 

 fed to the young brood. The more they used for 

 this purpose the better for me. The more bees 

 raised in the hive the more workers there would be 

 to store honey when the white clover and linn 

 opened their nectar-laden blooms. 



(d). That whatever the bees did not eat them- 

 selves, nor feed to the young brood, would be stored 

 in combs in the most marketable shape. 



(A That the number of pounds of comb-honey 

 would be less than the extracted honey fed the 

 bees, but the comb-honey would be worth so much 

 more per pound, that, after making a large deduc- 



