OVERSTOCKING. 397 



vinced that the less they depart from the old system, the 

 larger will be their profits. The most successful Apiarian;,, 

 are those who intelligently use improved systems of mar, 

 agement ; next to them are the dogged adherents of the old 

 box, and the brimstone match. 



The following remarks from Oetle, on overstocking, paftt; 

 298, are much to the purpose : " When a large flock of 

 sheep is grazing on a limited area, there may soon be a de- 

 ficiency of pasturage. But this cannot be a.sserted of bees, 

 as a good honey-district cannot readily be overstocked w»iii 

 them. To-day when the air is moist and warm, the plants 

 may yield a superabundance of nectar ; while to-morrow, 

 being cold and wet, there may be a total want of it. When 

 there is sutEcient heat and moisture, the saccharine juices of 

 plants will readily fill the nectaries, and will be quickl3' re- 

 plenished, when carried off by the bees. Every cold ni^ !;i 

 checks the flow of honey ; * and every clear warm day re- 

 opens the fountain. The flowers expanded to-day must be 

 visited while open, for if left to wither, their stores are h^l 

 The same remarks will apply substantially in the case o( 

 honey-dews. Hence bees cannot, as many suppose, collect 

 to-morrow what is left ungathered to-day, as sheep may 

 graze hereafter on the psisturage they do not need tio-.v. 

 Strong colonies and large Apiaries, are in a position to coileci 

 ample stores when forage suddenly abounds, while by pa- 

 tient, persevering industry, they may still gather a suffi- 

 ciency, and even a surplus, when the supply is smai!, but 

 more regular and protracted." 



The same able Apiarian whose ^oZrfen rule in bee-keeping 

 is, to keep none but strong colonies, says that in the lapse of 

 twenty years since he established his Apiary, there has not 

 occurred a season in which the bees did not procure adeqyaie 



* The same is true of the flow of sap from the sugar maple. 

 34 



