30 
themselves to death. Notched and torn wings are the 
signs of old age. Such as are raised in the fall will live 
about six months. By introducing an Italian queen, 
we are able to arrive at their age, as all the young will 
be of a different color, and by counting from the time 
the queen was introduced until the time when all the 
black bees disappear, we have the length of life of those 
that were just mature at the time the queen was intro- 
duced. 
BROOD AND BREEDING. 
The breeding is, to a large extent, dependent : 1st. 
On the strength of the colony: 2d. On the amount of 
food, (honey, bee-breed and water): 3 d. On the season 
of the year. Stocks having the first two requsites will 
usually begin in the latter part of January, occupying at 
first a small circle in the centre of the cluster of bees, 
exactly opposite on each side of the comb. This circle 
is enlarged ; small circles of brood begun on the next 
adjoining combs, spreading more and more as spring 
advances, until, during the flight of swarming-time, it 
occupies nearly all the cells not occupied by bee-bread 
or honey ; after the swarming season is over the amount 
of brood decreases until about November, when breed- 
ing ceases for that year. 
The brood of a fertile queen is compact and uniform, 
while the brood of a fertile worker or an unimpregnated 
