Three years ago we had a hive which we considered
second to none. In the autumn previous it received a
large swarm, and therefore was very populous. It was a
large hive, and weighed about 50 1b. It was deemed the
best hive in our possession. It lost but few bees during
the winter. We expected an early swarm trom it, but
somehow it loitered behind the rest. It gathered three,
four, and five pounds of honey a-day off the fruit-tree
blossoms. Still it did not come up to the swarming
point. At last we swarmed it before it was ready ; and
three weeks later we drove all the bees out of it into an
empty hive. We then found the cause of its sluggish
-movements: four-fifths of the breeding combs were filled
with farina or bee-bread. Pollen is mixed with honey
and water when used in the feeding of young bees. And
occasionally it may be mixed with wax in the manufacture
of lids of cells. Bees do not eat it. They die of starva-
tion with a superabundance of it in their hives.
PROPOLIS, 57


CHAPTER XII.
