30G 
THK niVE ANT) TTONEY-EKE. 
fired up, and capable of an indefinite amount of exertion. 
A bee cannot put forth more than a certain amount of 
physical effoit, and a large poi tion of this ouglit not to bo 
spent in contending against difiicultics from which it 
might easily be guarded. They may often be seen pant¬ 
ing after their return fi’om labor, and so exhausted as to 
need rest before they enter the liive. 
Dzierzon’s* experience as to the profits of bee-keeping 
has already been given (p. 21). With proper manage¬ 
ment, five dollars’ wortli of honey may, on an avei'age of 
years, be obtained for each stock that is wintered in good 
condition. The Avorth of the ncAv colonies I set off against 
* “ It is by no means easy to devise a rule for estimating the proQts of bee-culture, 
whether we regard the number of colonies or the number of square miles. He is 
not the best Apiarian who obtains the largest yield from a single hive, but keeps 
only one or two. By very judicious 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. He 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 
e.Ntensive area, well cultivated. The swarming system may be very advantageous 
in certidn localities, in spite of its manifest wastefulness; though, in other localities, 
it would, because of that unavoidable wastofulness, render bee-keeping a decidedly 
lo.sing business, since the systeuj involves a vast expenditure of honey for the pro¬ 
duction and maintenance of brood, w’hlch scarcely matures before it is doomed to 
the britustonc-pit, leaving to its owner often a smaller quantity of honey than the 
swarm 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 the colony will, in a short time in the gathering season, 
Rccuinulato much larger stores of honey than one whoso queen is left at liberty, 
though equal in ago and population. Thus, also, a colony having a very prolific 
queen, will, oven in favorable seasons, lay up much less honey, unless ample store¬ 
room is given them, than one whose queen lays fewer eggs. From these and 
similar facts, which might bo enumerated, it is evident that a very large number 
of particulars must bo taken Into consideration when endeavoring to form some 
general rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture.”— D/.ibkzun. 
The old-fiishloned bee-keeper should know well the honey-resources of his 
district, in order to decide upon the best time for “taking ui> ” his bees. If bees 
are smothered, It will bo foun<l decidedly advantageous to remove and destroy tholr 
queens, at least three weeks before taking their honey. In this way, the protiao- 
tlon of brood and consumption of honey will bo chocked, and the combs will be 
In a much bettor condition for laclting. 
