. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 1919 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 127 They force the pace, and seek to ac- celerate the energies and desires of the queen for ovipositing. Jog trot procedure is not for them, even the speed of an express train is too slow, and they wish to hurry on at the rate of an aeroplane. If seasons were always good, if supplies were always available, if queens could last forever, this would be an ideal pro- cedure—perhaps. But seasons are variable, the flow of nectar uncer- tain, and so checks, hindrances, de- terrent influences, intervene, making frequently the last st
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 1919 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 127 They force the pace, and seek to ac- celerate the energies and desires of the queen for ovipositing. Jog trot procedure is not for them, even the speed of an express train is too slow, and they wish to hurry on at the rate of an aeroplane. If seasons were always good, if supplies were always available, if queens could last forever, this would be an ideal pro- cedure—perhaps. But seasons are variable, the flow of nectar uncer- tain, and so checks, hindrances, de- terrent influences, intervene, making frequently the last state of the stimu- lated stock worse than the first. The colony attains the crest of the wave at too early a date, the big battalions reach the maximum before nectar is to be had in anything like a copious flow. If there is any one golden rule in apiculture more valuable than any other it is this: Bees should be at their strongest just when the flow is at its best. The two should synchro- nize as to time. A week too early or too late may mean that the bees have missed that tide which, taken at the flood, leads on to success. I am not personally a strong advo- cate of either of these extremes. I certainly don't belong to the stimu- lative party, but I would not strongly advise to let the bees severely alone. Rather seek for and find the golden mean between the two extremes. Bees are all the better for the guid- ing hand of their owners in spring, then perhaps more than at any other season of the year. The iron hand in the velvet glove may be too harsh a simile, the moral suasion which guides and directs without manifest- ing its presence might be better. Early, very early, discover if the bees are all alive, if stores are holding out, if breeding is in satisfactory prog- ress, if the interior guarantees the community is warm and dry. Few will dispute that the less agi- tation created early in the spring, the better it will be for the welfare of the community; but when milder da
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
