306 
THE HIVE AND 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 bo 
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 4 to 
need rest before they enter the hive. 
Dzierzon’s* experience as to the profits of bee-keeping 
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 
* M 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 nurnbor 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 ho 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, since the system involves a vast expenditure of honey for tho 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 the 
swarm would have produced if taken up three weeks after it was hived. 
“ Confine tho 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 tho gathering season, 
accumulate much larger stores of honey than one whose queen is loft at liberty, 
though equal in ago and population. Thus, also, a colony having a very prolific 
queeu, will, even 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 
6iinilar facts, which might bo enumerated, it is evident that a very large number 
of particulars must be taken into consideration when endeavoring to form some 
general rule fo*- estimating tho profits of bee-culture.”— Dziebzon. 
The old-fashioned bee-keeper should know well tho honey-resources 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 way, tho produc¬ 
tion of brood and consumption of honey will bo checked, and the combs will be 
in a much better condition for melting. 
