402 PASTURAGE AND OVERSTOCKING. 



found, while some districts can support perhaps a hundred 

 or more to the square mile. The bee-keeper must be his 

 own judge, as to the honey capacity of his district. 



" When a large flock of sheep, says Oettl, is grazing on a 

 limited area, there may soon be a deficiency of pasturage. But 

 this cannot be asserted of bees, as a good honey-district cannot 

 readily be overstocked with 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 sufficient heat and moisture, the 

 saccharine Juices of plants will readily fill the nectaries, and will 

 be quickly replenished when carried ofiFby the bees. Every cold 

 night checks the flow of honey, and every clear, warm day re- 

 opens the fountains. The flowers expanded to-day must he visited 

 while open; for, if left to wither, their stores are lost. The same 

 remarks will apply substantially in the case of honey-dews. 

 Hence, bees cannot, as many suppose, collect to-morrow what is 

 left ungathered to-day, as sheep may graze hereafter on the pas- 

 turage they do not need now. Strong colonies and large Apiaries 

 are in a position to collect ample stores when forage suddenly 

 abounds, while, by patient, persevering industry, they may still 

 gather a sufficiency, and even a siirplus, when the supply is 

 small, but more regular and protracted." 



Although we believe that a district can be overstocked, 

 so as to make bee-culture unprofitable, yet the above extract 

 gives a correct view of the honey harvest, which depends 

 much on the weather, and must be gathered when produced. 



The same able Apiarist, whose golden rule in bee-keeping 

 is, to keep none but strong colo7iies, 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 adequate supplies for themselves, and a surplus 

 besides. Sometimes, indeed, he came near despairing, when 

 April, May, and June were continually cold, wet, and un- 

 productive ; but in July, his strong colonies speedily filled 

 their garners, and stored up some treasure for him ; while, 

 in such seasons, small colonies could not even gather enough 

 to keep them from starvation. 



