February, 1916. 



American ^ae Journal i 



*'rhe student will takeone of these courses 

 in each term of the Kreshman year and the 

 other two in the Sophomore year. 



.luNioR Year. 



Durinn the Junior year the student who 

 wishes to specialize in beelteepint; should 

 lake Entomoloey. Botany, Bacteriology, and 

 Chemistry, and enough of other courses to 

 total 16 hours credit in each semester of the 

 college year. 



Senior Year. 



During the Senior year the student will 

 take research courses in beekeepintr and 

 apiary inspection and other courses offered 

 in the college to total i6 hours credit in each 

 semester of the college year. 



Persons wishing information in detail as 

 to the work offered should write to the 

 Registrar. Iowa State College. Ames. Iowa, 

 for the I0I5 16 catalog and information in 

 regard to courses in apiculture. 



When it was learned at the Iowa con- 

 vention that this course had been es- 

 tablished, a special letter was written to 

 Pres. R. A. Pearson and signed by most 

 of those in attendance in that session. 

 It is understood that the president has 

 interested himself personally in the 

 success of this new work, and the bee- 

 keepers wished to convey to him evi- 

 dence of appreciation of his efforts. 



We congratulate the Iowa beekeep- 

 ers on the recognition which the Iowa 

 Agricultural College is extending to 

 the industry. Prof. C. E. Bartholomew 

 was elected president of the associa- 

 tion when it was first announced, a 

 year ago, that some work in beekeeping 

 would be given. This was an expres- 

 sion of confidence in the institution 

 and in Prof. Bartholomew that evi- 

 dently has not been misplaced. 



We hope to be able to give our read- 

 ers some information concerning simi- 

 lar work in other States before long. 



Distance Bees Fly for Honey 



An interesting article on the above 

 subject is given in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture for Dec. 1, by an experienced 

 Florida apiarist, F. M. Baldwin. He 

 states that, in his locality, "bees work 

 over a radius of less than a mile." The 

 Editor endorses this view, saying that 

 bees seldom go over \% miles for har- 

 vest. However, he has seen bees occa- 

 sionally over 3 miles from home. 



His suggestion is that, bees having a 

 long range of vision, they may be able 

 to see the fields of blossoms far away, 

 and that their flight may depend upon 

 this. In the part of Florida inhabited 

 by Mr. Baldwin, the country is level 

 and covered with pines, swamp land, 

 etc., and this is the reason why the 

 range of flight is short. 



Having some curiosity as to the 

 opinions expressed on this much de- 

 bated subject by former writers, we 

 hunted all references to it in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, back to 1883, a period 

 of 32 years. A greater variety of ex- 

 pressions could not be found on many' 

 subjects. Some leading beekeepers 



sustain the extended flight. Ira Bar- 

 ber, of New York, comes first with the 

 statement that bees work profitably 

 at from 4 to 10 miles. Doolittle, 

 Gallup, J. E. Pond, J. O. Enos, of Cali- 

 fornia, Edwin France (father of N. E. 

 France) hold that they can readily 

 harvest as far as (i miles. A Texas api- 

 arist, L. B. Smith, wrote repeatedly 

 that his bees, by preference, worked at 

 4 miles rather than at a mile from the 

 hive. He acknowledges, however, that 

 the lay of the country has much to do 

 with the extent of their flight. 



On the other hand, many large api- 

 arists do not think their bees work 

 profitably beyond \% to 2 miles, some 

 reducing that distance to 1 mile or less. 

 Adam Grimm, a man who became 

 wealthy in extensive beekeeping, ad- 

 vised the placing of outapiaries 3 miles 

 away. J. E. Pond, though holding that 

 they could go 6 miles, preferred to 

 have the field inside of a mile. Hutch- 

 inson did not think they travel over 3 

 miles. J. L. Byer and hosts of others 

 don't want the blossoms over 2>^ miles. 

 The Victorian apiarists in convention 

 thought apiaries should be located 3 

 miles apart. The Missouri State bee- 

 keepers, in 1892, at their meeting, 

 wanted the field within \yi miles, for 

 profitable harvest. The Chicago-North- 

 western, in 1907, discussed the subject, 

 and the speakers limited the profitable 

 range to 1% miles. 



In very hilly countries, like Switzer- 

 land, beekeepers invariably hold the 

 view of a very limited range, not to 

 exceed 1 '4 miles, and even limit the 

 possibility of matings to that distance, 

 in spite of the stronger wing power of 

 the drones, evidently owing to the rug- 

 gedness of their land. 



In our personal experience, with api- 

 aries located apart at distances varying 

 from 3 to 10 miles, we have seen such 

 contrast in the yields that we believe 

 the best paying crops are gathered at 

 very short range, for with apiaries 4 

 miles apart the crop has often been 

 quite different in both quantity and 

 quality. 



For all that, it is out of the question 

 to dispute the experiences of men like 

 Doolittle, Enos, France, etc. We must 

 seek the differences in different condi- 

 tions. To the suggestion of Editor 

 Root, who believes bees can see fields 

 of flowers several miles away, when 

 the configuration of the country per- 

 mits it, we will add the still more 

 plausible one, to our mind, of their 

 being able to smell the honey in the 

 direction from whence the wind comes. 

 Why not ? Human beings can detect 

 odors a mile or more away. We are 

 located on the bluff of the Mississippi 



river. Diagonally across the stream, 

 at Keokuk, Iowa, is a pickle factory, 

 over a mile and a half in straight line. 

 In summer, the sour odor of the pick- 

 ling vats is wafted over the housetops 

 and across the immense stream and is 

 plainly discernible. When we reflect 

 that bees are most admirably adapted 

 to the requirements of their pursuit, 

 we should not be astonished if they 

 detect the odor of strong-scented 

 bloom, such as basswood or buckwheat, 

 several miles away. Moreover, a con- 

 tinuous field of bloom may lead them 

 on. 



The configuration of the country has 

 additional influence upon the range of 

 flight. If there is bloom in the direc- 

 tion of the wind, not only must the 

 bees find it easily, but the wind which 

 brought the stimulus also helps them 

 back towards the hive. 



We are tempted to suggest the pos- 

 sibility of some climates being more 

 favorable to long flights, owing to a 

 lesser atmospheric pressure or greater 

 dryness of the air. Several Texas re- 

 ports indicate that in the broad plains 

 of that State long flights with profit- 

 able results may be more likely than in 

 many other spots. 



As the distance traveled by bees is of 

 great importance in establishing api- 

 aries, prospective beekeepers should 

 look into the matter in their own local- 

 ity. In countries where flowers abound, 

 large apiaries may be kept close to- 

 gether. If a range of only 2 miles in 

 any direction is of common occurrence, 

 this still gives the bees of an apiary a 

 circle 4 miles in diameter, amounting 

 in round numbers to about 8000 acres. 

 A range of 4 miles in any direction 

 would give them over 30,000 acres. If 

 bees commonly traveled 4 miles for 

 honey, there would be no need of out- 

 apiaries, for a thousand colonies could 

 feel sure of an abundant harvest, if the 

 country was at all favorable to honey- 

 producing plants. 



Dr. Miller has favored the short dis- 

 tance reach in his former writings. We 

 asked hi(n to give us his latest views 

 and they follow. c. p. d. 



I have had no experience lately as to 

 the matter of distance bees will travel 

 to gather honey, and for that matter 

 never had, but I have watched pretty 

 closely all that has been written on the 

 subject, and have come to have less 

 faith than I formerly had in long-dis- 

 tance gathering. Even though it should 

 be clearly proven that a chance bee 

 went 5 or 7 miles from home and re- 

 turned, that is no proof that it could 

 ■wotV. profitably half that distance. F. 

 M. Baldwin's article is illuminating' 



