1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



859 



ers — in fact, the readers of any bee-journal, 

 I am sure, do not have a hand in this fool 

 policy of rushing" their jM-oduct off to mar- 

 ket at any price. It is the bee-keepers who, 

 while saving- the price of a live bee-journal 

 that would keep them posted, actually throw 

 away a hundred times its price through ig-- 

 norance of the market.— Ed.] 



LOCATION AND OVERSTOCKING. 



' ' Here I come from Western New York to 

 have a little chat with you reg^ardiug- a lo- 

 cation, and whether there is danger of over- 

 stocking a place with too many colonies of 

 bees. Vhat would 3'ou advise regarding a 

 location ?" 



"If I were at libert}^ to choose a location, 

 when and where I desired, and could find 

 such a one, it would be in a place where 

 the land sloped gentlj' to the southeast." 



"But the lay of the land would not be 

 the main feature for a selection, would it?'' 



"No, b_v no means; but this has much to 

 do with getting our bees ready for an earlj' 

 harvest. Besides the 'lay of the land,' I 

 should want flowers as follows: somewillow 

 to stimulate early brood-rearing, with su- 

 gar maple to follow; then apple-blossoms, 

 as an assurance of plenty of honey from 

 then to white clover, which should be in 

 abundance. Next I should want plentj' of 

 basswood, and that on a hillside or moun- 

 tain, so as to proloqg its bloom; and, last- 

 ly, where buckwheat is raised as the main 

 crop. Of course, if asters and goldenrod 

 could be plentiful in the late fall this would 

 make it still better." 



"But I do not wish to go far from my old 

 home. What am I to do in such a case?" 



"This shows that you are much like the 

 majority of bee-keepers who have other ties 

 besides the bees which fix their location, 

 and, owing to these ties, they put up with 

 such locations as they may have. And al- 

 low me to say that the man is to be honored 

 who can be contented and bring about good 

 results with only limited bee-pasturage 

 about his home, where duty calls him to re- 

 main." 



"Which of the flowers mentioned do you 

 consider the best for the bees?" 



"If I could have but one of the sources 

 named for honey, and were at liberty to 

 choose, I would select basswood first, clover 

 second, and, lastly, buckwheat." 



"Why select basswood?" 



"Because, from all sources of information 

 which I can gather, basswood is the great- 

 est honey-producer in the United States for 

 the length of time it is in bloom; and if the 

 apiary is located at the foot of a hill or 

 mountain which is covered with basswood- 

 trees, the season is prolonged to such an 



extent that nectar is secured from basswood 

 for from 25 to 30 days." 



"Which way would you have the hives 

 face? " 



"To the south or east, if possible, as the 

 bees start earlier in the morning than when 

 they face north or west; also our prevailing 

 winds are from the north and west; and 

 when blowing in at the entrance during 

 spring and early summer such tend to re- 

 tard brood-rearing." 



"What do you think about overstocking a 

 locality?" 



"My views on overstocking may not be 

 considered quite orthodox by some, yet I 

 think I can give facts to prove my position. 

 If I had a location like the first I described 

 to you I should not fear overstocking it with 

 from 300 to 500 colonies; but I think from 

 150 to 200 would be as many as an average 

 location would support to the best advan- 

 tage, while there are places I know of that 

 50 colonies would be as many as would give 

 good results to their owner. When we take 

 into consideration that bees fly, from choice, 

 from two to four miles from home, and are 

 often led on by receding blooin to five, six, 

 and sometimes seven miles, this matter of 

 overstocking is not so much to be feared as 

 many imagine." 



"But I have read that bees do not go more 

 than one and a half miles from horne; and 

 if they should ever do so it could not be 

 made profitable, as so much time would be 

 consumed in flying that it would not pay." 

 "I know we sometimes so read; but to 

 the first I would say that plenty of proof 

 can be brought that such are mistaken ideas. 

 In my earlier years in bee-keeping the Ital- 

 ian bee was brought into a village three 

 miles distant in a straight line. The next 

 spring, before there were any other Italian 

 bees about here, I saw those bees at work 

 on the apple-bloom in our orchard; and 

 yipon counting I found about one of the Ital- 

 ians to five blacks, and this with apple- 

 bloom in profusion everywhere. It was not 

 necessary for them to come all the three 

 miles for nectar from apple-bloom, for there 

 was orchard upon orchard white with 

 bloom all about where they were kept." 



"And you say those Italian bees were at 

 least three miles from home when at work 

 in your orchard?" 



"Yes. And this is not all. In haying 

 time, that year, I was cutting a field of red 

 clover which was in full bloom; and on see- 

 ing bees at work on this clover I made an 

 examination, and, to my surprise, found an 

 average of about five Italians to two blacks 

 at work on that clover, which was one mile 

 from home, or four miles from those Italian 

 bees, in a direct line. And there were 

 fields red with clover everywhere at the 

 time, so these bees were not compelled to 

 come over this distance of four miles in 

 search of food." 



"Well, that does seem to do away with 

 the mile-and-a-half idea. But how about 

 its being unprofitable for bees to fly thus 

 far?" 



