OVERSTOCKING. 235 



there would be more honey than they could gather. 

 Now suppose there were four times that number to 

 the square mile, what would be the result ? I think 

 my experience will justify me in assuming that one 

 out of every eight would die from starvation, and 

 one-third of those surviving would be in a feeble 

 condition when the clover harvest arrived, and con- 

 sequently it would require several weeks to recruit 

 their numbers and store the hive with honey, without 

 yielding any profit either in swarms or surplus honey 

 during the clover season, and probably none within 

 the year. 



This is not a fancy sketch. I have had just such 

 experience, and know well what I say. It is true, 

 that by feeding bees properly during this period with 

 syrup, or by cultivating flowers, very large quantities 

 of bees may be kept ; but I think it must be apparent 

 to every reflecting mind, that bees, like any other 

 stock, requires a certain quantity of food simply to 

 enable them to live without making any improve- 

 ment, and that it requires a certain amount more 

 to make them improve and be profitable. It is also 

 evident that any given district of country produces a 

 certain amount of honey each year, and if a due pro- 

 portion of bees is kept in that district, they will do 

 well ; but if the proper bounds are exceeded, loss and 

 disappointment will inevitably be the result. 



Any district can be overstocked with bees, on the 

 same general principle that it may be overstocked 

 with cattle or sheep. But this applies more directly 

 to extensive apiaries. Where but a few colonies are 



