. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 174 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL May easily be too old for the production of the largest crop. On the other hand, it is equally true that a working force with a majority still too. young to en- gage actively in field work will not do justice to the honeyflow until the bees age a bit. It then frequently happens that the best of the flow is over. There is evidently a definite period previous to the honeyfiow, during which the raising of bees is the most favorable thing a colony can do. For practical discussion, the fac- tors which may be considered as de- termi
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 174 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL May easily be too old for the production of the largest crop. On the other hand, it is equally true that a working force with a majority still too. young to en- gage actively in field work will not do justice to the honeyflow until the bees age a bit. It then frequently happens that the best of the flow is over. There is evidently a definite period previous to the honeyfiow, during which the raising of bees is the most favorable thing a colony can do. For practical discussion, the fac- tors which may be considered as de- termining this period, as above indi- cated, are the length of life of the worker and the age at which bees first go to the field. Since the usu- ally accepted average for the life of the worker is six weeks, bees emerg- ing previous to the sixth week before the honeyflow are of no use during the flow. Hence, brood-rearing, from the beekeeper's standpoint, assumes first importance in the colony activity for a month and a half before the honeyflow. Yet of the workers pro- duced then only those that are just becoming field bees when the flow starts will be of maximum value. When brood-rearing is at its best, it is not unusual to see 75,000 cells of brood at one time, and we would like to exert some magic which would in- sure all this brood present as eggs about 35 days before the flow. Should the harvest last over six weeks, of course, it is important to continue with a renewed force of workers until it ends. There are regions and seasons when, under a natural stimulus, this peak of favorable population is long past before the flow begins and the beekeeper's problem is then compli- cated iDy the need of delaying the peak in some way, or of continuing the heavy brood-rearing. No two sea- sons are alike in this and the bee- keeper must be alert enough to be able to shift his program to meet the needs of the occasion. It is generally unsafe to depend entirely on the nectar resources at t
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
