THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



315 



simply lacked the ambition to fill it. 

 We have killed about 7") queens of this 

 strain and introduced new queens, 

 mostly of the Moore strain, and next 

 year we expect to be able to tell a dif- 

 ferent stor}' rej^'^ardinp: these colonies. 



This matter of stock is one greatly 

 neglected by (he average bee-keeper, 

 yes, and b3' the professional. I>azl- 

 ness is not tlie only feature to be looked 

 after and removed. Length of tongue, 

 about which we talked so much a few 

 years ago may be all right. Then 

 there is endurance, and power of flight, 

 that will allow of gathering hone3' 

 from long distances. The colonies that 

 g'et the irsiilis are the ones to breed 

 from. Right in this line there is an 

 excellent article bj' Mr. J. E. Crane in 

 a late issue of Gleanings. Mr. Crane 

 says :— 



It has been claimed by some most ex- 

 cellent authorities that bees will not 

 fly, as a rule, more than one and a 

 half to two miles to gather nectar from 

 flowers, while Mr. Doolittle claims 

 they will fly from three to six miles 

 from choice. Here is certainly a great 

 dift'erence of opinion, honestly given. 

 How can it be accounted for ? It seems 

 probable that, in part, it can be ac- 

 counted for in the topography of the 

 country, the season of year, and the 

 scarcity or abundance of nectar near at 

 hand or at a distance. It seems reason- 

 able to suppose that it is no more ex- 

 hausting to a bee to fly four miles and 

 gather a load c>f honey from flowers 

 3 ielding an abundance than to glean 

 a sacful from flowers two miles from 

 home where, perhHps, twent}' or fifty 

 limes as many fluwers have to be 

 visited to secure a load. Yet Mr. 

 Dadant claims that his bees failed to 

 gather from flowers yielding abund- 

 antly on an island one end of which 

 was within one and a half miles from 

 his apiar^v. 



I think no one would doubt that some 

 bees under favorable conditions flj' 

 long distances. Some thirt}' years ago 

 or more I met Mr. Harbison, of Cali- 

 fornia. He said there were i!o bees in 

 San Diego County till he moved his 

 down there; and, very soon after, he 

 found bees from ten to twelve miles 

 from his ranch. At five miles he found 

 bees ver}' abundant, while at ten miles 



there were a few, while at the g-reatest 

 distance only now and then one could 

 be found. In other words, while he 

 found them fifteen miles in extremel3' 

 limited numbers, they continued to in- 

 crease as he came nearer to liis yard. 



These facts or illustrations have not 

 been given to determine how far bees 

 will fly to gather their stores, bnt, 

 rather to show that there is a great dif- 

 ference in their strength or ambition or 

 endurance. If Mr. Doolittle's bees 

 will readily fl3' four or five miles to 

 gather nectar, why will not Mr. Da- 

 dant's fly just as far ? And this brings 

 me to the point I wished 1o make, viz., 

 that strength and endurance are of the 

 greatest importance in any strain or 

 colony, or in individual bees. Doubt- 

 less we have all noticed the great dif- 

 ference in horses. Take two of equal 

 age and weight, give each the same 

 feed and care, and one will endure one 

 and a half times or twice the hard 

 work of the other, without any incon- 

 venience. Of course so great a differ- 

 ence would be greater than the average. 

 We have also seen the gr^at difference 

 in the capacity as well as endurance 

 of different specimens of the genus 

 homo. And have we not all seen two 

 colonies of bees, so far as we could 

 judge, of equal strength, equally pro- 

 lific queen, and ample stores, one 

 building up early in the season, while 

 the other lagged far behind ? 



I remember very well some colonies 

 that have attracted mv attention. I 

 found them weak in the spring, but 

 thought bv careful nursing the3' mig'lit 

 become useful, and b3' the close of the 

 hoi:ey season have succeeded in getting 

 them into fair condition, but not soon 

 enough to gather suflicient stores for 

 winter use. The next season found 

 them in the same pitiable condition as 

 in the previous year The more a man 

 has of such bees the poorer he is; for 

 they are far more profitable dead than 

 alive, and can be made useful only by 

 destroying their queens at the first 

 convenient opportunity and giving 

 them one whose oftspring are more en- 

 terprising- or capable of greater en- 

 durance. 



I remember one colony in one of my 

 yards th;it. wliile one queen was at the 

 head of aft'airs, would insist on and 

 succeed in g^etting more honey than 

 an3' other colony, and this for three 

 years in succession. It was not that 

 they were stronger in numbers, but of 

 greater vigor than other colonies. I 

 remember one year they continued to 



