CONSIDERA TIONS. 147 



and my practice to the emergencies of the case. 

 Having a thorough knowledge of the structure and 

 instincts of the bee, I had a rational basis for judg- 

 ments as to the probabilities of success or failure 

 from any methods of work. 



3. I was constantly among the bees. One of the 

 neighbors said he "guessed that John Allen jest 

 slept with the bees, for he always saw him around 

 the hives the last thing at night, and the first thing 

 in the morning." I was always working among the 

 bees, or observing them. Observing I found just as 

 profitable as working, for it led to the best methods 

 of work. 



4. Early in the season I obtained young, strong, 

 prolific queens. When honey was coming in these 

 queens would lay rapidly. When no honey was 

 coming in the hives were fed enough to keep the 

 queens laying. By moving combs apart, about 

 every second day in the early part of the season, and 

 inserting an empty comb in the center, I gave the 

 queens abundance of empty cells, in which to de- 

 posit eggs, in the central and warmest parts of the 

 hives. 



5. The use of the extractor early in the season 

 also kept 'the cells empty so that the queen had 

 plenty of room to do her best. Thus when the 

 second stories were put on, nearly every comb in 

 the lower stories was full of brood. Hence, as the 



