L. L. Langstroth’s

BEE-KEEPER’S AXIOMS

From the book A Practical Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, by L. L. Langstroth, 1853.
Punctuated and emphasis as originally printed:

There are a few first principles in bee-keeping which ought to be as familiar to the Apiarian as the letters of his alphabet :

1^st. Bees gorged with honey never volunteer an attack.

2^nd. Bees may always be made peaceable by inducing them to accept liquid sweets.

3^rd. Bees, when frightened by smoke or by drumming on their hives, fill themselves with honey and lose all disposition to sting, unless they are hurt.

4^th. Bees dislike any quick movements about their hives, especially any motion which jars their combs.

5^th. Bees dislike the offensive odor of sweaty animals, and will not endure impure air from human lungs.

6^th. The bee-keeper will ordinarily derive all his profits from stocks, strong and healthy, in early Spring.

7^th. In districts where forage is abundant only for a short period, the largest yield of honey will be secured by a very moderate increase of stocks.

8^th. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, will, in the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and cheapest mode of managing bees.

9^th. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee-moth, or by robber-bees.

10^th. The formation of new colonies should ordinarily be confined to the season when bees are accumulating honey ; and if this, or any other operation must be performed, when forage is scarce, the greatest precautions should be used to prevent robbing.

The essence of all profitable bee-keeping is contained in Oettl’s Golden Rule : KEEP YOUR STOCKS STRONG. If you cannot succeed in doing this, the more money you invest in bees, the heavier your losses ; while, if your stocks are strong, you will show that you are a bee-master, as well as a bee-keeper, and may safely calculate on generous returns from your industrious subjects.

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