82 SOURCES OF NECTAR 



somewhat in detail. The honey is said to produce a pungent 

 burning taste as soon as the comb has passed the lips. In fifteen 

 or twenty minutes the patients are seized with nausea, abdom- 

 inal pain and vomiting. This is soon followed by loss of con- 

 sciousness, coldness of extremities, feebly acting heart, and com- 

 plete collapse. No less than eight cases were cited from New 

 Jersey in 1896 by Professor Kebler. 



The poisonous honey is said to have been, " dark honey which 

 had a light brown color and a nauseating odor, pungent taste, 

 caused a burning sensation in the back of the mouth similar to 

 that of aconite." The source of this particular honey is not 

 given. 



Overstocking. — The question of overstocking has perhaps 

 been the cause of as much discussion among bee-keepers as any 

 one question relating to the business of honey production. The 

 number of colonies that a given locality will support profitably is 

 one of the most difficult matters to determine. Some writers offer 

 a general suggestion to limit the number in one apiary to 50 or 75. 

 However, seasons and localities vary so widely that no safe rule 

 can be laid down. In this matter, the experience of other men 

 in other localities, even though they be but a few miles distant, 

 is not of much value. A locality may support 200 or 300 colonies 

 splendidly one season, when 50 would nearly starve the next. 



About the best advice that can be offered is to begin with a 

 moderate number and gradually increase until the average pro- 

 duction per colony is no longer profitable, or rather until it 

 would be more profitable to divide the bees into two separate 

 yards three or four miles apart. 



If one happens to have a location where fruit bloom is 

 abundant for early brood rearing, followed by a large acreage 

 of white and sweet clover, with a liberal supply of fall pasturage, 

 he can keep a large number of colonies profitably in a single yard. 

 As a general rule, the number of colonies kept in a single yard in 

 the Central West is thought best not to exceed 100. However, 



