CHAPTER XIX. 



CALENDAR AND BEE-KEEPER'S AXIOMS. 



VARIABILITY OF SEASONS. 



No invariable rules can be laid down for the work to be 

 done in an apiary each month, which can be strictly followed 

 in every place, nor even in the same place in every year. 

 The whole plan of operations must be suited in the first 

 place to the normal climate of the district in which the 

 apiary is situated, the nature of the bee forage available 

 both in the spring and the honey season, and to the natural 

 habits of the bees as influenced by their local peculiarities. 

 If these circumstances be properly taken into account, a set 

 of general rules may be established suitable to the average 

 of seasons; but even these must be liable to modifications at 

 the judgment of the apiarist, according to the variations, or 

 the more or less abnormal features, of different seasons. 



In the arrangement of apiary work for the different months 

 throughout the year, as a handy guide to the novice, I have 

 chosen the dates of the average bee seasons for the latitude 

 of Auckland, New Zealand, as a basis to calculate from. In 

 many parts of Australia the seasons are earlier, while those 

 in Tasmania approximate closely to those in New Zealand 

 to the South of Auckland. 



January. — In average seasons a goodly proportion of the 

 crop of honey is secured this month in districts South of 

 Auckland, and in some parts of the extreme South the main 

 portion is taken. Swarming still continues, but every effort 

 should be made to keep it down, otherwise it will seriously 

 interfere with the honey yield. Remove sections from the 

 hives as soon as completely sealed, and place them in the 

 honey house for a few days to ripen before packing them 

 for market; take care that there are no bee moths in the 

 house. Extract as often as necessary the rurplus honey in 

 frames. Supersede old queens. 



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