306 
THE HIVE ANI) HONEY-BEE. 
fired up, and capable of an indefinite amount of exertion. 
A bee cannot put forth more than a certain amount of 
physical effort, and a large portion of this ought not to be 
spent in contending against difficulties from which it 
might easily be guarded. They may often be seen pant- 
ing after their return from labor, and so exhausted as to 
need rest before they enter the hive. 
Dzierzon’s* experience as to the profits of bee-lceeping 
has already been given (p. 21). With proper manage- 
ment, five dollars’ worth of honey may, on an average of 
years, be obtained for each stock that is wintered in good 
condition. The worth of the new colonies I set off against 
* “ It Is by no means easy to devise a rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture, 
whether we regard the number of colonics or the numbor of square miles. lie is 
not the best Apiarian who obtains the largest yield from a single hive, but keeps 
only one or two. Iiy very judieious and careful management, a hundred colonies 
might yield a large profit, yet fall far short of what three hundred would have 
yielded in the same location and same season, with much less supervision and atten- 
tion. lie is not the most successful farmer who produces the most extraordinary 
yield from a single rod of ground, but he who secures the amplest crops from an 
extensive area, well cultivated. The swarming system may be very advantageous 
in certain localities, In spite of its manifest wastefulness ; though, in other localities, 
It would, because of that unavoidable wastefulness, render bee-keeping a decidedly 
losing business, sinco the system involves a vast expenditure of honey for the pro- 
duction and maintenance of brood, which scarcely matures before it is doomed to 
the brimstone-pit, leaving to its owner often a smaller quantity of honey than tho 
6warm would have produced if taken up three weeks after it was hived. 
“ Confine the queen of an artificial swarm, so as to prevent her from depositing 
eggs in the combs, and tho colony will, in a short time in the gathering season, 
accumulate much larger 6torcs of honey than one whoso queen is left at liberty, 
though equal in age and population. Thus, also, a colony having a very prolific 
queen, will, even in favorable sensons, lay up much less honey, unless ample store- 
room is given them, than one whose queen lays fewer cgg6. From these and 
similar facts, which might be enumerated, it Is evident that a very largo number 
of particulars must be taken into consideration when endeavoring to form some 
general rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture.”— Dziekzon. 
The old-fashioned bee-keeper should know well the honey-resourccs of his 
district, in order to decide upon the best time for “taking up " his bees. If bees 
are smothered, it will be found decidedly advantageous to remove and destroy their 
queens, at least three weeks before taking their honey. In this wny, tho produc- 
tion of brood and consumption of honey will be checked, and the combs will be 
in a much better condition for melting. 
