2li4 



(il.KAMXCiS IN I5I:K CULTUHE 



Ai>K. lo 



There are many kinds of jjood locations; 

 l>ut all may be classified under two general 

 lieads — one wherein a sinf2;le \ariety of de- 

 pendable nectar-yieldinu; i)lants is abundant 

 over a larjje area, and which has a long pe- 

 riod of bloominj;. such as clover, basswood, 

 wild red ras))berry. buckwheat, alfalfa, saije, 

 etc., or where two or more de|)endable nec- 

 tar-yieldin<i; ])lants that l)loom at the same 

 time are abundant: the other, where several 

 \arieties of dependable nectar- yielding 

 l)!ants that bloom in succession or at difTer- 

 ent i)erioils of the season are abundant over 

 a large area. Sui)posing the total amount 

 of Hora in the first-mentioned kind of loca- 

 tion to be the same as the total from all 

 sources in the latter, the former is capable 

 of jirofltably sui)i)orting the greater number 

 of colonies, for the reason that the honey- 

 flow, while shorter, would be nearly as i)rof- 

 itably worked ])er colony by the greater as 

 Ity the smaller numberof colonies that would 

 l)roperly stock the latter. In the latter kind 

 of location the smaller number of colonies 

 tliat could be profitably kei)t would be com- 

 pensated for l)y the greater yield per colony, 

 owing to the prolonged honey-])roducing sea- 

 son. 



Since it would be unjirofitable to keep 

 enough bees in a location to gather all the 

 nectar as we would harvest a cro]) of i)ota- 

 toes, corn, or wheat, where we secure prac- 

 tically all that has matured on a given area, 

 we must do the next best thing if we would 

 get the most out of the aijiciilturai jiursuit 

 and keep in the ai)iary the number of colo- 

 nies, as nearly as we can determine, that 

 will i»roduce tiie greatest amount of honey 

 at the maximum net profit. 



A location is not stocked to yield the great- 

 est net profit if we stop increase at tlie point 

 where there is the first i)erceptiV)le decrease 

 in the amount of lioney per colony. The 

 number should be increased as the yield i)er 

 colony decreases until the i)oint is reached, 

 as nearly as may be determined, where the 

 a|)iary can be operated at the greatest net 

 l)rofit. Thus will the greatest ])ossible 

 amount of (iod's bounty to the ai)iarist be 

 made available for the use of humanity. 



Sui)iK)se A lias found by experience tliat 

 .■'>nO colonies will i)roduce an average annual 

 cro)) of <)0 lbs. ])er colony or a total of 18.000 

 |l)s.: and sup])ose B. three miles from A. with 

 1(M) colonies on an exactly similar location 

 as to honey-producing i>ossil)ilities. obtains 

 an average annual croj) of so ll)s. i)er colony, 

 or a total of NO') ) lbs. It is obvious that the 

 (iiirerence of li»,ooo lbs., in .\'s favor, the 

 skill of t'le o))erators being eijual. is due to 

 his having stocked his location more nearly 

 to the limits of ])rofita))le ])roduction. 



The reasoiuibly frecpient occurrence of 

 first-class crops of honey indicates a good 

 location, even if there are a good many sea- 

 sons of failure. As a case in ])oint. I have 

 in mind a l)ee-keeper of ('alifornia ha\ ing 

 several ai>iaries in a certain locality, and in 

 a good season the yield is in excess of 100 

 n)s. per colony. In litOl there was a first- 

 class crop: in lltn-J there was a failm-e to the 



extent tluit the apiarist expressed liimself 

 as being al)le to "carry his crop under his 

 arm." In lit();> there was a full cro]) of 

 100,000 lbs. Within ten to twelve miles of 

 this location there were thought to be 10,000 

 colonies of bees, as I rememl)er the statement 

 of my infornumt, wliicii shows tlie estima- 

 tion in which the locality was held, notwith- 

 standing someseascmsol' total failure of sur- 

 l)lus. 



In l!ii).") I had 100 colonies in a certain lo- 

 cation, and within 80 rods were at least oO 

 other colonies. Alsike. white, and sweet 

 clover were abundant and luxuriant, and 

 my crop was lOO lbs. per colony, with an in- 

 crease of To i)er cent. Ilesiding about three- 

 fourths of a mile from tlie ai)iary I had good 

 oi)i)ortunity to observe: and as I had the 

 only considerable number of Italians with- 

 in several miles, my Ijees were easily identi- 

 fied. I saw very few of them more than 

 one mile from the ai)iary. although during 

 the honey-flow they fiew from and to the 

 hives in great numbers. The a|)iary was lo- 

 cated in llie city where considerable of the 

 area is occu|)ied by streets. l)uildings, gar- 

 dens, railroads, and numerous barren stone- 

 quarries. An estimate that one-sixth of tlie 

 area was covered with an abundant growth 

 of honey-i)roducing forage would be ai)i)rox- 

 imateh' correct : and if the l>ees flew in all 

 directions the same as they did where I 

 made ob.servations, which was a wide ex- 

 panse of clover. I am of the oi)inion that, 

 during the honey-flow, not more than five 

 liercent of them flew more than a mile from 

 their hives, and those not greatly in excess 

 of that distance. The area of a circle one 

 mile in radius is •2010.0 acres: and. if 

 my estimates are not at fault. !••") i)er cent of 

 my bees gathered their i)art of the honey 

 from al)out :'>.'?•") acres of flora, or about "iX 

 acres to each of the loO colonies on the range. 

 As the area of a circle increases rapidly as 

 the radius increases it will be seen that, by 

 a flight of a fewadditional rods from theaiii- 

 ary in all directions, a greatly increased area 

 may l)e reached, 'i'hus while the area of a 

 circle ha\ ing a radius of one mile is -ioio.t; 

 acres, that of a circle haxing a radius Ij^ 

 miles is 4V2;5.!i acres, or an area 2 '4 times 

 that of the circle with a one-mile radiu.s. 

 The bees, liy a flight of half a mile beyond 

 theone-mile radius in every direction, would 

 reach 2')l;)..") additional acres. It seemsquite 

 reasonable to believe that bees can work 

 l)rofilably to a distance of at least 1 !'2 miles: 

 and as my l)ees and those of my neighbors 

 did not seem to stock fully the location to a 

 ra<lius (tf one mile. "2'+ times the number or 

 ooN colonies would not have crowded the lo- 

 cation: and I firmly believe the number of 

 colonies that could have V)een worked at 

 greatest profit there that season would have 

 been in excess of .")()0, or at least one colony 

 to each \}4 acres of flora. The honey croj) 

 at this location for the four ])receding sea- 

 sons was al)o\o the average with nearly the 

 same number of colonies. 'I'hat of the sea- 

 son of 1000 was a failure with the same num- 

 ber: l)Ut it is my o|)inion thai, with Kt colo- 



