36 BULLETIN" 1349, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
daily egg-laying rates found by Brimnich (6) even the highest is 
slightly below 2,000. In fact, he states his belief that a daily rate of 
2,000 eggs has never been exceeded in any of his colonies. 
At the end of his article already referred to, Dufour (11) makes a 
statement which applies with equal effect to the colonies used in this 
work. Although he recognizes that the egg-laying rates which he 
publishes are only averages and, as such were undoubtedly exceeded 
at times, he justly asserts that the results of his work do not warrant 
the assumption that any such daily egg-laying rates as 3,000 or more 
had ever been reached in any of the colonies used in his experiments. 
Since the daily egg-laying average for any season is far below the 
daily egg-laying average for any^ particular number of days within 
the maximum of that season, it is readily seen that the remarkably 
high rates of egg laying over short periods, so often published in 
beekeeping literature, can not be used as the daily averages for an 
entire season. 
CONCLUSIONS 
In this work no special effort has been made to modify the time of 
the various phases of brood rearing or to increase their intensity other 
than to provide adequate stores and ample room at most times ; the 
colonies were therefore in much the same condition as might be found 
in an average apiary. The following conclusions may be drawn from 
the records of brood rearing presented here: 
The number of bees in the colony at the beginning of brood rearing 
in the spring, the ability of the queen, the abundance of stores, the 
suitability of the combs and proper insulation are the most important 
factors within the control of the beekeeper which determine the 
amount of brood reared by a colony. 
The seasonal brood cycle in any region is marked by certain definite 
phases — the initial expansion, the major period, and the final con- 
traction. These tend to remain constant from year to year, their 
normal occurrence and magnitude being determined to a large degree 
by local weather conditions and by the local honey flows and pollen 
yields. 
A strong colony tends to retain its strength from year to year, 
other things being equal. 
A queen at times transfers her egg-laying activity from one hive 
body to another, without any appreciable diminution in her rate of 
egg-laying if the combs are good. 
The possibility of young bees occurring to such an excess as to be 
conducive to swarming is reduced if the queen has ready access to 
another hive body, in case egg laying in the one already occupied 
becomes restricted through incoming pollen, nectar, or brood-rearing 
activity. 
Every colony used in 1921 shows a migration of the queen from 
one hive body to another, from which it may be inferred that if 
only one hive body had been available the amount of brood reared 
would have been reduced. 
There is a decided tendency for the brood area of the colony to 
be confined to adjacent combs in one or more hive bodies in such a 
way as to maintain the brood area in compact form. 
Although it can not be concluded from this investigation that the 
use of old queens is always disastrous, the records show that their 
use is accompanied with risk. 
