69

THE HONEY-BEE IN NEW ZEALAND 67

ANNUUS (the sunflower), and on the bees, and he has proved
conclusively that it gets upon the bee from the plant, and
not upon the plant from the bee.
In the matter of bee books we have copied largely
from Mr. Cotton and the "Times' Bee Master." The
quotations will easily be distinguished, as we have
allowed the authors to speak in the first person. What
we have aimed at throughout, is to give practical in-
structions in the several operations connected with bee
management. In some instances the operation is
described more than once, but it will be found that the
description is different, the process not being altogether
the same, although either will effect the same purpose.
There is just one little matter not given in any book
we have examined, and that matter we may call the
profit and loss of bee keeping. Thus we will suppose
you have got your swarm at the proper season, that you
have put it all right in your garden in the place specially
prepared for it. You very naturally congratulate your-
self that (according to this and all other bee books) at
the proper season for taking honey - you cannot of course
be bothered with supers, bell-glasses, side boxes, or
anything of that sort, you merely want, say, 30 or 40
pounds of honey from each hive. Well, the proper
season comes and you proceed in your own way to take
the honey; you lift the hive or box, and what do you
find - plenty of bees and plenty of combs, you find royal
cells, worker cells, drone cells, and honey cells - all empty
or nearly so. The bees have made the cells and filled
them with brood and honey, swarms have gone off, each
one taking a large quantity of honey with them till the
parent or stock hive, as it is now, got weak in stores and
workers, and you find the drones masters of the situation.
Bees to be profitable must be attended to; thus a fort-
night or three weeks after getting your swarm (the state
of the weather will very much alter the dates for the
several operations), you must take the extra honey by
super, bell-glass, or side box, or you must enlarge the
hive and prevent swarming, or you will miss the profit
and find the loss.